Grand National

[Linda]

On Grand National Day my partner and I went to place a bet. We are not gamblers and know very little about betting. Our only vice the Derby & National. We filled in the Grand National betting slip asked for the prices paid the money & left. We had 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th place winners and my partner went to collect. The betting shop had written the wrong prices down and they refused to pay the amount. We have been to arbitration and have been told betting shops can correct their mistakes as it is in their agreement to do so. Is this really the case? Also the prices could have been different at lunch time when we placed the bet but we were given the final figures - is this fair.

[TheOldhamWhisper]

All betting agreements are gentlemen's contracts and not binding in a court of law. You may be able to write to the head office of the bookies concerned explaining the situation and they may pay out to starting price as a gesture of good faith but there is no legal obligation on their part.

[Win2Win]

The actual slip is your contract so if you accept it as is, then you don't have much of a comeback.

If you feel done, then write a very polite letter to the Head Office, explaing the problem, and that you are new to betting and don't want this to put you off in the future. Also say, if they will not settle at the true prices, then you will accept 50/50.

You'll be surprised how many time that works :)

[Onlyforfun]

And can you let us know what you are backing in the Derby! :D

[Linda]

Thank you for your help. I am trying to write to the head office today but the address cannot be found. I've tried telephone directories, the website shows pages that no longer exist. Any ideas. The customer care line states you must go through arbitration and we have already done that.

[Win2Win]

We can't help unless you tell us what bookie it was :), and when you do write make sure you forget to tell them you've already been to arbitration :)