Boycott Coral! Bookmaker faces protest after refusing to pay out on a football fan’s 485/1 bet
Furious football fans were today threatening to boycott bookmakers Coral – for refusing to pay out on a punter’s 485/1 winning bet.
Chris Fear was delighted when his £1 bet came in on Saturday after his beloved Bristol Rovers’ 3-0 away win against Fleetwood.
He had placed a £1 bet that Rovers would win by that margin with midfielder Jonjo O’Toole scoring at anytime during the match – with Coral giving odds of 485/1.
Chris Fear, 33, outside the Coral betting shop which is refusing to pay out on his 485/1 winning bet
But the bookie refusing to honour its end of the deal when the bricklayer, 33, went into the Coral in the Fishponds, Bristol, to collect his winnings.
The betting giant – which turned over more than £1.1 billion last year – said they don’t do ‘anytime scorecasts’ and the bet was taken in error.
Father-of-two Chris, from Kingswood, Bristol, said: “He gave the odds and took the bet but when I went to collect they said it was a human error on their behalf and wouldn’t honour it.
“The bet was an ‘anytime scorecast’ but they now say they don’t do it and that it was a busy betting shop so they can’t expect all their staff to know all the rules.
The winning betting slip for a Bristol Rovers 3-0 away win against Fleetwood
“I was sat listening to the match on the radio and I was absolutely ecstatic when they scored their third goal and the odds came in.
“I was angry when they said they wouldn’t pay but I stayed cool. They said they would pay as a single bet but not a complete bet.”
Football fans from all clubs have hit out at the decision not to honour the bet with supporters on Twitter saying they will boycott the bookie unless they pay out.
A number of supporters have started using the #boycottcoral hashtag to protest the bookies’ decision.
Chris added: “Everyone thinks it is a disgrace and they are all supporting me.”
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The odds would be nowhere near those stated for the player to score anytime in the match and for them to win 3-0 anyway as the two parts of the bet are related, which would result in reduced odds.
The facts are the odds were displayed by corals in their betting shop, Chris hasn’t just made up the odds. The bet was taken and his stake paid. Question how many bets have Corals taken over the years where the bet was seamingly lost but the punter has not returned to reclaim his partial winnings stake – I guess None.
I have had a similar experience with Corals not paying out the true odds displayed and they have just remarked as a plausible human error, this is rubbish they obviously need to retrain their staff.
I have also boycott Corals Bookmakers.
incorrect the odds that would of been displayed in store it’s first goal scorer correct score odds. Corals don’t offer any time goal scorer correct score doubles. In fact the bet they offer first goal scorer correct goal scorer isn’t a double its a scorecast at reduced odds.
i think all bookmakers are the same they like to take your money but dont like to pay out thats stealing money ive been caught the other week paid 10 pound short but didnt check before iwent they try anything not to pay up what a disgrace they are
you can bet on anything, if you wright out something on a betting slip, say, its going to snow on Christmas day, if they take your money and put the odds down, they got to pay out.its there business, they cant always win
Still not getting my previous message regarding the displayed odds at Corals were the odds Chris expected to be returned and payed. If the comment in reference to the bet being related then why was this so say obvious issue not mentioned when the bet was layed. This underlines the fact the staff and or System Corals are using are not up to the task. Also consider there are many new punters that don’t know what a related bet is, so maybe this should also be clearly identified within corals shops.
We are pleased to say this issue has now been resolved with the customer, after we offered an ex-gratia payment of £204, based on our calculation of the correct odds.
If you do not do ‘anytime scorecasts’ how can there be ‘correct odds’?
Bookmakers can pretty much price anything, Corals just chose to not have an anytime scorecast bet.
Anonymous
If you read the article properly you would have seen that was not the issue but that he had been given those odds and there fore wanted coral to honour the bet as it was not his fault there staff member made the mistake. Jeze there’s always one
The bet he wanted never existed, the responsibility lies with the punter.
Absolute disgrace. They should honour the original odds as stated
Take it to a small claims court and get traiding standards in dont be fobbed off they got to pay dont let them fool u once a bet is taken its on
First and foremost the bet is incorrect, if it is it is not an issue for claims courts and trading standards as they don’t touch bookmakers, it falls under the bookmakers rules which are accepted by the Gambling Commission and regulated by a third party called IBAS, if the bet is accepted in error which it clearly is then the bookmaker on the whole generally has 2 options, void or replace at corrected odds as there are no ‘correct odds’ the bet should be void. It would be nice for Coral to offer some sort of Gesture but they don’t have too, people need to read the rules before making stupid assumptions that bookies have to pay out and talk of courts etc
Reference Anomymous comment May 6 (9.57), there is NO quote that Chris took the displayed odds which should have been over viewed by Coral staff before accepting the bet. If as it now appears the system was incorrect to wrongly display these odds then there is a major suggestion of betting Corruption(perhaps this is why the courts and trading standards don’t want to get involved with Bookmakers), as the punter is reliant on displayed odds from any listed sporting event to be true. To finalise the comment that punters should read the rules before making stupid assumptions is also a joke as the long exhausting list of rules are always stuck in the corners of betting shops in dim light.
I’ve got a worse story about Ladbrokes Livingston shop – more to follow if not resolved in 48 hours
Coral have always been a crapy bookmaker you should try their online site.Out of all the big online sites this is the worst.
I had a similar problem with betfred i took it to ibas the bookies regulator and they made them pay me in full and its a free service so i would go down that route before small claims court.
I too will never use coral again, apps crap website is crap telephone betting is crap and customer service is even worse, their system allegedly crashed on tuesday and could take no bets unless you we’re willing for a telephone agent to write it on a piece of paper! Guarantee some winning bets went missing after they got stung with sprinter sacre, phone twice to sort out what they were doing about it and was told someone would be in touch never heard from anyone till I phoned again and then got told nothing we can do for you no compensation in free bets or nothing so like it or lump it, so closed my account and will never use coral again, anyone thinking about using them think again and choose a much better rival
I received special offer literature from Coral – Place a £10 bet on
each 1st race at Cheltenham get a £10 free bet token on each
ocassion. (4 £10 bets – get 4 £10 free bets)
Also, place a £20 bet and get a free £20 token.
I did all this – expecting to get £60 in free bets.
It’s been almost a full week since Cheltenham and my online account
only shows £20 in free bet tokens available.
I’ve sent 4 messages, had 1 response from someone who did not seem
able to grasp the problem. Hopeless!!
Your a clown, read terms and conditions, You can only have 1 ACTIVE free bet. So your others you didn’t recieve cause you didn’t use your original free bet!! Dumb arse
Thank goodness i read all these articles as i was about to open an account with Corals…will look elsewhere now thanks
Yeah coral are appalling
i had £7.50 on number 32 on online roullette with william hill number came in stated bets are on then no payment as tech error on my part they said but all the losing bets no error, never paid me to this day,
i am digusted with corals every bookmaker even the small one shop owners paid out on 5th place on the grand national i bet around £15 to £25 a day in your shop here in aberdeen but i wont be putting one more penny into your shop i will now go the few extra yards to ladbrooks to have my daily bet i bet 7 days a week so i guess ladbrooks will be happy to have me i can’t believe the geed of corals and as for that chap chris in bristol in mall my 50 years of betting when a bookmaker struck a bet no matter what they honoured it it was a gentlemans agreement shame on you corals
bankers or bookmakers incestually related when it comes to money ! bank on dave
i also will never ever use a coral betting shop again,i put an eachway horse bet on,they took my bet,my horse came second,but then they told me there was enough runners,the rule were on the wall,nearer to the cieling,infact the manergeress had to stand on a stool to read the out to me,the machine took the bet,the machine refused to pay out,you tak
e these scamers to court.. ken southampton
Had Al Wakra sports club to win earlier, was a cock up on their part. 7/1 when they were 2-1 ahead with 10 mins to go. They won but says the bet is lost…. wonder if i get a response!!!!
You can right anything you want on a betting slip and it can be processed.Doesnt mean the bet stands,sometimes cashiers don’t have time to read every betting slip and its only when electronically getting translated mistakes are spotted.I actually think coral have been kind to pay him out £204,it’s probably only because the bloke went to the press basically showing everybody how stupid he is and thinking he can make up his own bets and put related bets in multiples.If people don’t know what their doing in a bookmakers they shouldn’t be in there wasting their money!
The bloke made the error and is trying to turn it on coral.Not every betting slip can be read before being processed.Its only later on when being electronically translated that mistakes are seen and corrected.I could write Man Utd to beat QPR 1000/1 on a betting slip and it be scanned and my money taken,it doesn’t mean I’ll get paid those odds.
Coral have actually been good in that they paid him £204.Its probably due to the bad publicity he has created for them.This whole case just points to the fact people are gambling when they don’t have a clue what their doing,gambling is hard enough anyway when you know what your doing.
Before anyone claims I’m a bookie or work for coral I don’t,iv been fucked over by bookies before but this bloke certainly hasn’t had anything wrong done to him and coral have paid him out odds on a bet that doesn’t even exist!
They are all the same,Bet fred refused to pay me on a 14 fc as it was 7 seconds too late,they took the bet and if it had lost i would have just walked out of the shop,they can do what they want,they make the rules.the money they make from racing and those stupid cartoon things not to mention the highly addictive roulette machines that ruin peoples lives who are looking for a quick buck,they make me sick.I almost forgot,Bet Fred complaints dept told me that they try to urge punters to check with staff that the bet was not too late on all losing bets just in case they are and a refund is due,SHUT UP,idiots
Have you noticed how many people have a bet without knowing the rules. The original customer placed a bet on a first goalscorer scorecast. He incorrectly wrote the slip out. If the odds never existed for the bet he desired he should only have got his money back as the event actually was in effect a non runner. The other person who backed each way probably fails to tell you that a horse had been withdrawn after he placed his bet and therefore subject to less places. Please learn the rules, shop staff at times will be extremely busy and not notice the exact nature of your bet. It is your responsibility to know the rules.
its not a scorecast its a double. . . if odds are giving then odds should be honoured.
Ha ha yeah because corals would have really settled with the bloke if they thought they were right. You get some clowns on here you really do and how is the average man on the street going to know every rule that’s why they employ staff to help
i think office for trade should investigate the case and hold em responsible for the mess and betrayed the clients also they should look at their machine who are rigged according to the experts because we have seen in horse racing where drugs are used in order to win a race such a styroid and machine drug used in bookies is more lethal they say randoom so it is time about this corrupt institution to clean their act
They did the same to me I asked for a price on a horse it won went to collect my money and they said no your having this price it shouldn’t of said that on the screen then her attitude was shocking telling me to shut why she explains coral are a very very poor bookmaker I stick to betting online with 365 best way
At ladbrokes you can check the price of a horse at anytime through events maintainance . I’m sure other bookmakers have a similar system. And if there’s an error the price in the system at the time that the bet was put onto the system can be checked. I have given the wrong price in error at my shop but then altered it to give the correct price and then paid the customer the correct price at the acceptance of the bet. As punters you must remember that staff are under time pressure all day, how many of you run up at the off and then ask for a price, and when we give it to you then say it was a point higher when I walked up to the counter. Mistakes happen and it is quite possible that the cashier involved has had to go through disciplinary proceedings.