Ladbrokes offering poor customer service ?

Howjoe1

I'm not one for backing on Virtual Racing as a rule, but given the bad weather and the lack of options, I backed on a view recently. On two occassions in Ladbrokes I had a bad experience.

1. I placed €5 ew on a runner that finished second. I got to the counter before the count down for the off to place bet. The cashier was a trainee. She processed the bet slowly and I sat down to watch the cartoon race and saw my horse finish 2nd. When I went to collect I was told it could not be paid out since it was 2 seconds late ! Any late timing was on the part of the trainee cahier processing it:mad:

2. Yesterday I placed €5 ew on one virtual race in another Ladbroke shop.
My docket fell to the ground at the counter and I quickly picked it up and asked the girl was I still ok to place the bet since off time was very close. She replied "yeah". She processed it and I again enquired that it was on ok, again I got "yeah". I asked because I was wary given previous experience.

The horse finished second and would return me a small profit of €4 on my €10 ew bet. But when I go to collect I am told that it was 7 seconds late and could not be paid out but voided and stake only returned:mad: I explained that I asked her twice was it ok for timing and she just responed, "i didn't hear you say that".

Now I know it was only €4 , but I did go out of my way to check that it was ok. What's most annoying is, had it come nowhere they had my €20 for a bet I was never going to get paid out on.

Surely their system should should stop them taking the bet in the first place if they have no intention of honouring it?

On a seperate note. I have twiced recently won in Ladbrokes. Winnings less than €1k and I've had to go back 2 or 3 times before they had the cash to payout, i.e. waiting over a day. Seems bad for such a big company.

I'm I unique in finding Ladbrokes poor when it comes to customer service in Ireland ?

ALTESSE12

Not called Ladcrooks for nothing:cool:

wicklowdub

Most bookies wont carry much cash these days with robberies etc, could they not do you a cheque?

Browney7

Get on to their head office and explain to them that you are a long term customer and that due to their poor customer service they provide you won't be giving them your custom for the foreseeable future. You might a free bet out of it.

Their rules on the virtuals are ridiculous alright whereby if it's a second late they void your bet. To be honest I never use Ladcrooks. Unhelpful, unfriendly staff, sh1te prices and crap offices.

With regards to the 1k payouts they probably do have that kind of money but they just don't want people knowing they do. I used to work in a bookies and we usually had well over a thousand hidden in places behind the counter to cover large payouts.

Morgans

Browney7 wrote: »

Get on to their head office and explain to them that you are a long term customer and that due to their poor customer service they provide you won't be giving them your custom for the foreseeable future. You might a free bet out of it.

Their rules on the virtuals are ridiculous alright whereby if it's a second late they void your bet. To be honest I never use Ladcrooks. Unhelpful, unfriendly staff, sh1te prices and crap offices.

With regards to the 1k payouts they probably do have that kind of money but they just don't want people knowing they do. I used to work in a bookies and we usually had well over a thousand hidden in places behind the counter to cover large payouts.

Ladbrokes are the only bookies I know of where you (the customer) have to inform the teller that the winner you backed has returned a better SP than the board price you took. Every other bookies this is done automatically. Wonder how many inexperienced punters are stung this way. Sharp practice at best.

Howjoe1

Browney7 wrote: »

Get on to their head office and explain to them that you are a long term customer and that due to their poor customer service they provide you won't be giving them your custom for the foreseeable future. You might a free bet out of it.

Their rules on the virtuals are ridiculous alright whereby if it's a second late they void your bet. To be honest I never use Ladcrooks. Unhelpful, unfriendly staff, sh1te prices and crap offices.

With regards to the 1k payouts they probably do have that kind of money but they just don't want people knowing they do. I used to work in a bookies and we usually had well over a thousand hidden in places behind the counter to cover large payouts.

Agree. I general avoid Ladbrokes and William Hills because of poor customer service. Not anti English, but why are these chains so bad at customer service ?

In relation to prices I don't find them too bad to be honest. Boylesports win this award by a mile. Check any price mover on Oddschecker and Boyles will offer the worst odds by a mile. Try but a decent e/w bet on with Boyles and they will refuse or offer you part of it "win only"

Howjoe1

Morgans wrote: »

Ladbrokes are the only bookies I know of where you (the customer) have to inform the teller that the winner you backed has returned a better SP than the board price you took. Every other bookies this is done automatically. Wonder how many inexperienced punters are stung this way. Sharp practice at best.

Morgans,

agree. And when you question it you have to wait half an hour because they blame the computer.

Ladbrokes staff always remind me of the character in Little Brittain whose response to everything is:

"computer says no":D

In_tuition

Ladbrokes only recently introduced better SP to board prices in their high street shops - perhaps the reason why most of the staff isn't familiar with it.

There is only a handful of Ladbrokes shops in Ireland that have over €1k in the tills & safe. There is no problem 'whatsoever' of cashing out thousands out of a Ladbrokes shop if you call customer service, they will in turn make sure the funds are withdrawn from a nearby bank and available in the shop for you.

From my experience, if there is a few shops nearby you, you can withdraw x amount from each of them in the same day.

Their customer service, which is located in London (Rayner's Lane) is poor, very poor.

With regards to odds, on football they are far superior than any other firm offering outright win between matches. There are also competitive (on occasions) with their golf odds.

Overall they are not the worst organisation to bet with, especially if you enjoy football betting, plus they look after their customers extremely well when attending Ladbrokes hosted events.

You won't get a free bet by complaining (as mentioned above somewhere) and telling them you are moving on. The customer service department don't give a fiddler's what you do. They are the biggest betting firm on the planet.

The only thing you can is write an email to the manager of Ladbrokes Ireland stating your case, then and only then will you get an honest response perhaps then with the added small free bet in your account.

Morgans

In_tuition wrote: »

Ladbrokes only recently introduced better SP to board prices in their high street shops - perhaps the reason why most of the staff isn't familiar with it.

No, the staff are familiar with it. Its their systems which dont recognise it. I'm guessing there is some manual override, but the fact that its done automatically by the other "smaller" betting firms who have the technology in place, strikes me as being very convenient for a company who don't care whether you bet with them or not.

Evidence from this thread and my own observations is that they are the most unforgiving when it comes to timing the bets, or taking the board price, which shortens as you wait to be served.

I'm sure all ladbrokes staff are trained at tracking down those who throw away dockets which are in fact void and not losing bets. Wonder how long these void dockets (those placed after the off as in the OP case) are held onto by the shops.

Having cake and eating it springs to mind.

Howjoe1

Morgan,

agree again. another issue I have with them is that recently they were gauaranteing morning and board prices on handicap races in multiple bets.

but when you go to collect they try to pay out on sp. they blame the computer when this happens and someone has to ring head office before you get the correct money you are entitled to.

jkmanc1974

In_tuition wrote: »

Ladbrokes only recently introduced better SP to board prices in their high street shops - perhaps the reason why most of the staff isn't familiar with it.

There is only a handful of Ladbrokes shops in Ireland that have over €1k in the tills & safe. There is no problem 'whatsoever' of cashing out thousands out of a Ladbrokes shop if you call customer service, they will in turn make sure the funds are withdrawn from a nearby bank and available in the shop for you.

From my experience, if there is a few shops nearby you, you can withdraw x amount from each of them in the same day.

Their customer service, which is located in London (Rayner's Lane) is poor, very poor.

With regards to odds, on football they are far superior than any other firm offering outright win between matches. There are also competitive (on occasions) with their golf odds.

Overall they are not the worst organisation to bet with, especially if you enjoy football betting, plus they look after their customers extremely well when attending Ladbrokes hosted events.

You won't get a free bet by complaining (as mentioned above somewhere) and telling them you are moving on. The customer service department don't give a fiddler's what you do. They are the biggest betting firm on the planet.

The only thing you can is write an email to the manager of Ladbrokes Ireland stating your case, then and only then will you get an honest response perhaps then with the added small free bet in your account.

Completely agree ref the Laddys customer service, especially if you ring up Rayners Lane - as mentioned they do not give a hoot....however I have found most of the staff not too bad(certainly down here where they seem to be buying up every single shop anyways!)....however there are advantages to had by punting with them, especially on the greyhounds where some of their prices are way out of line?

As for Hills, old old shops, dis-interested staff(ex Stanleys) and simply will not even lay you a price on certain things if they cannot find it in their system even though it advertised in the post etc?

Brgds
Johnny

ALTESSE12

Only time Ladcrooks were any good was when the tried to price the GAA up themselves..It was money for jam...More recently they still make a howler but are more in line with the irish traders.

raheny red

Morgans wrote: »

Ladbrokes are the only bookies I know of where you (the customer) have to inform the teller that the winner you backed has returned a better SP than the board price you took. Every other bookies this is done automatically. Wonder how many inexperienced punters are stung this way. Sharp practice at best.

The majority of indos are the same.

tatoo

Howjoe1 wrote: »

I'm not one for backing on Virtual Racing as a rule, but given the bad weather and the lack of options, I backed on a view recently. On two occassions in Ladbrokes I had a bad experience.

1. I placed €5 ew on a runner that finished second. I got to the counter before the count down for the off to place bet. The cashier was a trainee. She processed the bet slowly and I sat down to watch the cartoon race and saw my horse finish 2nd. When I went to collect I was told it could not be paid out since it was 2 seconds late ! Any late timing was on the part of the trainee cahier processing it:mad:

2. Yesterday I placed €5 ew on one virtual race in another Ladbroke shop.
My docket fell to the ground at the counter and I quickly picked it up and asked the girl was I still ok to place the bet since off time was very close. She replied "yeah". She processed it and I again enquired that it was on ok, again I got "yeah". I asked because I was wary given previous experience.

The horse finished second and would return me a small profit of €4 on my €10 ew bet. But when I go to collect I am told that it was 7 seconds late and could not be paid out but voided and stake only returned:mad: I explained that I asked her twice was it ok for timing and she just responed, "i didn't hear you say that".

Now I know it was only €4 , but I did go out of my way to check that it was ok. What's most annoying is, had it come nowhere they had my €20 for a bet I was never going to get paid out on.

Surely their system should should stop them taking the bet in the first place if they have no intention of honouring it?

On a seperate note. I have twiced recently won in Ladbrokes. Winnings less than €1k and I've had to go back 2 or 3 times before they had the cash to payout, i.e. waiting over a day. Seems bad for such a big company.

I'm I unique in finding Ladbrokes poor when it comes to customer service in Ireland ?

Question ;
If your "horse" hadn't finished second and you hadn't gone back to the counter for your expected return , would the staff have notified you that the bet you placed was late and therefore void ?

Somehow I doubt it :mad:

Howjoe1

Tatoo

I know:mad:

Just remembered one other bad bookie experience, guess what, it was Ladbrokes too.

The particular meeting was running late and race schedule unconfirmed. Something to do with a fall and getting a second ambulance.

I had my docket written out for a 4 mile race. Suddenly they were called into line and let run. I race up with my docket, but the girl said she couldn't take the bet because the race was off. I explained it was a 4 mile race and they were not even near the first fence. Ladbrokes staff don't seem to be allowed apply common sense.

I walked out, got into my car, drove to Boyles shop about half a mile away, parked car and was sitting in Boyles watching the last half or thereabouts of the race. And the bloody horse won:mad:

I seldom use Ladbrokes but when I do they never fail to underwhelm me

okidoki987

To be honest I never use Ladcrooks. Unhelpful, unfriendly staff, sh1te prices and crap offices.

+1

Get on to their head office and explain to them that you are a long term customer and that due to their poor customer service they provide you won't be giving them your custom for the foreseeable future. You might a free bet out of it

Write a letter or an email as then they have a record of it.
Would be better if you had an online account with them as well as they would have no record of your bets in the shops.

Ladbrokes are the only bookies I know of where you (the customer) have to inform the teller that the winner you backed has returned a better SP than the board price you took

Most bookies offer this nowadays in response to Boyles and Paddy Powers starting it. That's the only reason they do it.

gauaranteing morning and board prices on handicap races in multiple bets

Would have to be handicaps, wouldn't it :mad:

I had my docket written out for a 4 mile race. Suddenly they were called into line and let run. I race up with my docket, but the girl said she couldn't take the bet because the race was off. I explained it was a 4 mile race and they were not even near the first fence

PP's do betting after the off in most races nowadays.
Normally stops when there is a faller or the fav looks in trouble but at least you have a chance.
I'd imagine some indo's would do them same if the owner or manager was there at the time.

AARRRGH

Speaking of Ladbrokes being difficult, check out this story from today's Irish Independent. What a disgrace. No doubt they would have kept his €5 had he lost.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has refused to pay out an accumulator bet worth £7.1 million to a man who wagered snow would fall on Christmas Day because it was accepted by mistake.

Cliff Bryant, 52, from Southampton, placed two £5 accumulators on snow falling across 24 towns and cities in the North and Midlands on December 25.

But staff at the bookmakers accepted the gamble by mistake as the company rules state such a wager can only be a single bet.

The company has honoured the relevant single bets and paid out only £31.78 instead. It has apologised to Mr Bryant for the mistake.

It is claimed the first accumulator would have netted Mr Bryant just over £4.9 million and the second £2.23 million.

The graphic designer is now seeking legal advice over the error and said he was "gutted" at the decision.

"This is a genuine mistake and if I make a mistake in my work like that it costs me dearly and I think the offer should be a lot more generous than they have made," he told the Southern Daily Echo.

"They are one of the leading bookmakers in the country and I think they ought to do their homework a bit better in future."

He urged the company to make its rules clearer.

A spokesman for Ladbrokes said company rules state that "snow at Christmas" bets must be singles only, rather than accumulators.

JONJO THE MISER

I avoid ladcroocks like the plague, had awful trouble about yrs ago withdrawing a few thousand from my online account, the only reason i opened the online account was because they had a free 100 bet offer.
The customer service when i was opening my account was woeful to say the least, the girl on the phone could not get it into her head that we have no postcodes in Ireland, it took me at least 10 mins to explain it to her and she still could not understand:mad:. Never again.

FunnyStuff

Have to agree with the Ladcrooks statements here. painful to deal. Tend to stick to paddypower myself, if anything its nice to get my little free diary at the end of every year

Morgans

AARRRGH wrote: »

Speaking of Ladbrokes being difficult, check out this story from today's Irish Independent. What a disgrace. No doubt they would have kept his €5 had he lost.

Dont think any bookies would have paid out on this bet. The singles are all related. Clearly the person taking the bet didnt look at the docket, but no one would have paid out on the accum.

NavyandBlue

Morgans wrote: »

No, the staff are familiar with it. Its their systems which dont recognise it. I'm guessing there is some manual override, but the fact that its done automatically by the other "smaller" betting firms who have the technology in place, strikes me as being very convenient for a company who don't care whether you bet with them or not.

The reason is that Ladbrokes have about 2,500 shops throughout the UK and Ireland, of which only 10% guarantee prices, ie only the 250 or so shops in the south of Ireland. Ladbrokes were dragged kicking and screaming into the whole guaranteed price thing because Boyles and PP were putting the squeeze on them. Prices are not guaranteed up North, or in the British shops as the likes of Corals and William Hill don't either.

The computer systems in these 2,500 shops are linked up together and they settle the bets, but unfortunately as only a small percentage of shops guarantee prices, the computers don't automatically settle a bet at the better price.

This is the explanation although it may not be a very good one. In my own opinion, as someone who works for Ladbrokes, it is rather lazy, as I'm sure some upgrade could be made to automatically settle bets in just the Southern Irish shops. The main reason they won't change the situation is that they view Guaranted prices as a temporary measure - something to put up with for a while with gritted teeth.

And I know movements are a foot to end the whole Guaranteed Price industry wide. If the big three of Ladbrokes, PP and Boyles are all doing it, then no one is gaining much of a market advantage and they are all losing signinifcant amounts of money.
If Ladbrokes could get PP to drop GPs then they will also drop it instantly, with some relief.

Morgans

NavyandBlue wrote: »

Morgans wrote: »

No, the staff are familiar with it. Its their systems which dont recognise it. I'm guessing there is some manual override, but the fact that its done automatically by the other "smaller" betting firms who have the technology in place, strikes me as being very convenient for a company who don't care whether you bet with them or not.

The reason is that Ladbrokes have about 2,500 shops throughout the UK and Ireland, of which only 10% guarantee prices, ie only the 250 or so shops in the south of Ireland. Ladbrokes were dragged kicking and screaming into the whole guaranteed price thing because Boyles and PP were putting the squeeze on them. Prices are not guaranteed up North, or in the British shops as the likes of Corals and William Hill don't either.

The computer systems in these 2,500 shops are linked up together and they settle the bets, but unfortunately as only a small percentage of shops guarantee prices, the computers don't automatically settle a bet at the better price.

This is the explanation although it may not be a very good one. In my own opinion, as someone who works for Ladbrokes, it is rather lazy, as I'm sure some upgrade could be made to automatically settle bets in just the Southern Irish shops. The main reason they won't change the situation is that they view Guaranted prices as a temporary measure - something to put up with for a while with gritted teeth.

And I know movements are a foot to end the whole Guaranteed Price industry wide. If the big three of Ladbrokes, PP and Boyles are all doing it, then no one is gaining much of a market advantage and they are all losing signinifcant amounts of money.
If Ladbrokes could get PP to drop GPs then they will also drop it instantly, with some relief.

I think that is a fair reason. I do wonder if the PP systems in the UK are linked to those here in Ireland.

Healio

Howjoe1 wrote:

Surely their system should should stop them taking the bet in the first place if they have no intention of honouring it?

When your slip goes into their machine, the person behind the counter has to tell the computer what it is. No hope of the computer being able to read a written slip.
My only advice would be to write bets clearly and put them on in good time!!

Howjoe1 wrote:

What's most annoying is, had it come nowhere they had my €20 for a bet I was never going to get paid out on.

The problem here is weak management, so what happens is a good manager in another shop will apply common sense, and people will get paid for up to 10 seconds after. Then a customer who has benefitted from this will go to another shop, and wont be given the leeway, which leads to a phonecall to the head office.
Subsequently, the head office will decide: "No leeway for anyone". Which now puts the (junior) staff in the position where any late bets are to be made void, be it the 2 furlong chases at Steepledowns or the 4 milers at Aintree. All because most managers nowadays are glorified cashiers.
Perhaps the recession will bring a better calibre of manager back into the betting shops.

Morgans wrote: »

I think that is a fair reason. I do wonder if the PP systems in the UK are linked to those here in Ireland.

Same systems, linked to head office, but not inter-linked between shops.

Although you can collect a uk slip here, or an irish slip in the uk, converted at the PP rates (unless shop has dual currency/sterling in the shop).

lee_arama

It can be very grim alright. I recently had a bet on a run line in the cricket which was a winner as far as I was concerned but when i went to collect I was informed by customer service that there was no way I could have placed the bet since it wasnt on the system... A run line. Not on the system...

I eventually got my stake back but I'm done with them after that/. I'm a Boyle customer generally anyway, and since PP are likely to be introducing over the counter withdrawals next month I can get the same markets there as on Crooks.

Howjoe1

Healio wrote: »

When your slip goes into their machine, the person behind the counter has to tell the computer what it is. No hope of the computer being able to read a written slip.


Healio,

I would have thought Ladbrook's system is sufficiently sophisticated to ring that a virtual bet is late (and not accept) and therefore deal with the issue before rather than when the race is off ?

If it can tell it was 5 seconds late when you go to collect surely it can recognise it as 5 seconds late when place?

I think a lot comes down to poorly trained staff that don't care. Ironically the shop in question has a staff merit certificate on the counter .

Howjoe1

* after the race is OVER

Healio

I take it you have neither worked in a betting shop, nor understood my post.

When the staff go to put it into their system, that is when it tells them it is late. It will NOT tell the staff when you are at the counter. The onus is on you to not be in a position where your bet might be placed late.

tatoo

Healio wrote: »

I take it you have neither worked in a betting shop, nor understood my post.

When the staff go to put it into their system, that is when it tells them it is late.

It is at precisely that time that the staff member should inform the punter that his bet is void , and not when the race is over .
They don't do that , they'll tell you if you go back up to collect alright , but will they stop you from going out the door without taking back your own voided stake ?

Bluetonic

tatoo wrote: »

It is at precisely that time that the staff member should inform the punter that his bet is void , and not when the race is over .
They don't do that , they'll tell you if you go back up to collect alright , but will they stop you from going out the door without taking back your own voided stake ?

Clearly your not thinking logically here. Their would be massive queues at the counter if all bets had to be validated as they were being placed and not after the bet has been placed as currently exists. Punters and bookies would miss out on bets due to these unnecessary queues, shops would close within months.

It's hardly difficult to have a bit or personal responsibility.

Morgans

Bluetonic wrote: »

Clearly your not thinking logically here. Their would be massive queues at the counter if all bets had to be validated as they were being placed and not after the bet has been place as currently exists. Punters and bookies would miss out on bets due to this unnecessary queues.

It's hardly difficult to have a bit or personal responsibility.

It only matters for a very small percentage of bets placed. If you try online, you'll be stopped from betting after the off, but ladbrokes or whoever dont get to keep your money if your bet loses.

I dont see why its a heads I win, tails you lose when a bet is incorrectly placed after the off. There should be some responsibility for the bookies to have cashiers intelligent enough to know when a bet is void. Otherwise, some leeway should be given, if they are willing to accept a bet on the off. IF the cashiers cant be trained to read the time of the race or motivated enough to be interested in their job, the bookies should pay more and hire more intelligent cashiers. There's a reason why there's a bell to signal the hare is moving in dogs.

It doesnt answer the question of how long the voided bets stay on the system. I know from working in an independent betting shop years ago that all winning bets had to be retained for 10 years.

Bluetonic

Morgans wrote: »

IF the cashiers cant be trained to read the time of the race or motivated enough to be interested in their job, the bookies should pay more and hire more intelligent cashiers.

Even though you worked in a shop 10 years ago I'm sure you can appreciate the sher amount of events which can now be gambled on which change daily? Thats without factoring in the scrawl the poor tellers have to put up with when taking bets. Then there is inconsiderate people who dilly dally around prior to a race before running up just at the off. There is a good percentage of gamblers who don't bother with the time of the race on the docket.

What your proposing is lovely but your not being a realist in my opinion.