I am helping my partner to take Ladbrokes to Court. He found out about a known National issue they were having regarding cancelled bets. He had been getting bets cancelled for a long time and assumed it was normal. As well as this, there were several more issues which led to his complaining to them directly.
He read about this cancelled bets issue, and discovered he had been denied £1000's in winnings illegally, and then obtained proof of over 100 cancelled bets from his account history. The details however, were not available to him. Things like selections and potential winnings, etc.
Complaining to Ladbrokes got us nowhere. Then they closed his account. He made a Data Protection request and they responded by telling him there were zero cancelled bets in his history, not knowing we have screen shots that show at least 100.
Okay. With me so far? Here are two news stories about the issue:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...ormer-employee
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...reatens-to-sue
So we took things through money claim online. Here is what I wrote on his behalf:
"A Ladbrokes cmr 18 mths. They have exasperated me to the point where I will not give them 1 more chance to deal with my complaints, about cancelled bets that would have won big money, wrongly placed bets, promised callbacks that didn’t occur, non-cashed out bets, useless staff, wrongly settled bets, a withdrawal to the wrong bank which they assured me would not happen, ruining my holiday. I have given Ladbrokes countless chances to avoid litigation and they have failed every single time. Their system is purposely set up to make it impossible to complain. They also refused to send me a DSAR as per DPA. They have made me into a losing bettor and I am starting a website to tell people about this scam. Total = deposits - withdrawals, at least £3000."
We then had a preliminary hearing, in which the Judge threw out our particulars of claim and told us to come up with new ones which detailed how the £3,000 was calculated. We wrote the following:
"IN THE ??? COUNTY COURT CLAIM No. ???
BETWEEN
????????
Claimant
-and-
LADBROKES
Defendant
____________________________________________
DETAILED PARTICULARS OF CLAIM
____________________________________________
1) Ladbrokes accepted bets from me and then cancelled them afterwards. This is a known issue with this bookmaker and is the subject of the news stories attached to these POC. There must be well over 100 of these cancelled bets in my account, and I estimate that the total winnings I have lost out on because of this will meet, if not exceed, the £3,000 that I have asked for in this case, ALONE, regardless of the further pleadings. I am unable to give an exact figure because Ladbrokes have closed my account and told me there are no cancelled bets. I am now complaining to the Information Commissioner about this despicable bookmaker and their lies.
2) Ladbrokes advised me that a large withdrawal of money from my account would be paid to a specific bank/card and I relied on this information. I then went on holiday to Brazil only to find they had withdrawn the funds to an account I no longer had access to. I warned them I would hold them responsible for the Loss of chance from my ruined holiday as I was penniless by this point, and they refused to reverse the withdrawal, and send the money to the right account, or do anything to take ownership of the mess they created. The cost of this ruined holiday was £2,350.
3) I cashed out several bets I had placed on live games on Ladbrokes website, according to wrongly presented information on said games, such as incorrect scores. The cash out sections led me to believe the cashout total was favorable according to the current results of said games, when in fact the games were going my way, and so the cashout offered was far from favorable. I have proof of this. Total cost from lost winnings is approx.. £550.
4) Ladbrokes website failed to remove selections I had removed from my betslips and then placed the wrong bets. Total money I estimate I am out of pocket is £400.
5) Ladbrokes ‘in game’ live graphics are misleading and have led to my placing bets which did not have a hope of winning. I have proof of this. Total of lost money placed on bets is approx. £400.
6) Even though I am out of pocket, by my conservative estimation, at least £6,700, I could only ask for £3,000. Unfortunately, this was the upper limit of the claim amount, according to the filing fee I could afford to pay."
It appears that the email I sent to the Court had the above new particulars of claim, but for some reason the two news stories did not attach to the email before being sent.
So today, we get this response:
"UPON the Court considering the detailed particulars of claim received on 29/10/19. AND the Court noting that the detailed particulars of claim do not contain a concise statement of the facts on which the claimant relies IT IS ORDERED THAT 1. The particulars of claim be struck out as being totally without merit. 2. Leave to parties to apply pursuant to CPR 3.3 (5) and (6)"
We are really very unhappy about this.
Are we able to start this claim again? Or do we need to make an application?
How much is an application, and how much more detailed do we need to be?
Have we just been unlucky with an awful Judge?
Would it be the same Judge who considers an application?
He read about this cancelled bets issue, and discovered he had been denied £1000's in winnings illegally, and then obtained proof of over 100 cancelled bets from his account history. The details however, were not available to him. Things like selections and potential winnings, etc.
Complaining to Ladbrokes got us nowhere. Then they closed his account. He made a Data Protection request and they responded by telling him there were zero cancelled bets in his history, not knowing we have screen shots that show at least 100.
Okay. With me so far? Here are two news stories about the issue:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...ormer-employee
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...reatens-to-sue
So we took things through money claim online. Here is what I wrote on his behalf:
"A Ladbrokes cmr 18 mths. They have exasperated me to the point where I will not give them 1 more chance to deal with my complaints, about cancelled bets that would have won big money, wrongly placed bets, promised callbacks that didn’t occur, non-cashed out bets, useless staff, wrongly settled bets, a withdrawal to the wrong bank which they assured me would not happen, ruining my holiday. I have given Ladbrokes countless chances to avoid litigation and they have failed every single time. Their system is purposely set up to make it impossible to complain. They also refused to send me a DSAR as per DPA. They have made me into a losing bettor and I am starting a website to tell people about this scam. Total = deposits - withdrawals, at least £3000."
We then had a preliminary hearing, in which the Judge threw out our particulars of claim and told us to come up with new ones which detailed how the £3,000 was calculated. We wrote the following:
"IN THE ??? COUNTY COURT CLAIM No. ???
BETWEEN
????????
Claimant
-and-
LADBROKES
Defendant
____________________________________________
DETAILED PARTICULARS OF CLAIM
____________________________________________
1) Ladbrokes accepted bets from me and then cancelled them afterwards. This is a known issue with this bookmaker and is the subject of the news stories attached to these POC. There must be well over 100 of these cancelled bets in my account, and I estimate that the total winnings I have lost out on because of this will meet, if not exceed, the £3,000 that I have asked for in this case, ALONE, regardless of the further pleadings. I am unable to give an exact figure because Ladbrokes have closed my account and told me there are no cancelled bets. I am now complaining to the Information Commissioner about this despicable bookmaker and their lies.
2) Ladbrokes advised me that a large withdrawal of money from my account would be paid to a specific bank/card and I relied on this information. I then went on holiday to Brazil only to find they had withdrawn the funds to an account I no longer had access to. I warned them I would hold them responsible for the Loss of chance from my ruined holiday as I was penniless by this point, and they refused to reverse the withdrawal, and send the money to the right account, or do anything to take ownership of the mess they created. The cost of this ruined holiday was £2,350.
3) I cashed out several bets I had placed on live games on Ladbrokes website, according to wrongly presented information on said games, such as incorrect scores. The cash out sections led me to believe the cashout total was favorable according to the current results of said games, when in fact the games were going my way, and so the cashout offered was far from favorable. I have proof of this. Total cost from lost winnings is approx.. £550.
4) Ladbrokes website failed to remove selections I had removed from my betslips and then placed the wrong bets. Total money I estimate I am out of pocket is £400.
5) Ladbrokes ‘in game’ live graphics are misleading and have led to my placing bets which did not have a hope of winning. I have proof of this. Total of lost money placed on bets is approx. £400.
6) Even though I am out of pocket, by my conservative estimation, at least £6,700, I could only ask for £3,000. Unfortunately, this was the upper limit of the claim amount, according to the filing fee I could afford to pay."
It appears that the email I sent to the Court had the above new particulars of claim, but for some reason the two news stories did not attach to the email before being sent.
So today, we get this response:
"UPON the Court considering the detailed particulars of claim received on 29/10/19. AND the Court noting that the detailed particulars of claim do not contain a concise statement of the facts on which the claimant relies IT IS ORDERED THAT 1. The particulars of claim be struck out as being totally without merit. 2. Leave to parties to apply pursuant to CPR 3.3 (5) and (6)"
We are really very unhappy about this.
Are we able to start this claim again? Or do we need to make an application?
How much is an application, and how much more detailed do we need to be?
Have we just been unlucky with an awful Judge?
Would it be the same Judge who considers an application?
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