BetEd Fiasco -- Good News

So awhile back I made a deposit at Beted.com after switching books from bodog. I deposited 500 dollars in my new account. I made a profit of around 250 dollars, I can't remember the exact number as the domain was seized  and  I still had pending bets. But I contacted my bank (Citibank) about 2 weeks later (this was around may) to tell them about this transaction that was 500 dollars and explained to them that it was an unauthorized one. I told citibank that I was unable to contact the merchant for their services because they had shut down and that I was essentially robbed of 500 dollars. On the bank statement it appeared as $ G B SYSTEMS SAN JOSE. 

I spoke with a woman at citibank in order to file this claim to dispute the charge. Eventually she told me that I would find out in about 12 weeks whether or not I'd be reimbursed for the 500 dollars and that there really wasn't anything else I could do but wait.

Two weeks ago I checked my bank statement online and I was credited for the 500 dollars and was issued a new debit card in the mail.

I called citibank and they told me that they reviewed the transaction and deemed it was an "unauthorized" one in which I was granted that money.

Good news, although I'm still missing a nice chunk of change from bets I had won. Glad I got my deposit back at least.

So you defrauded your bank of $500?

Next headline: Citibank to begin charging $5 for debit card usage.

Okay man..

I take it you don't watch the news ? If you did then you would know that all the banks are starting to and ending free checking

Stiln, that's the worst thing you could have done. I would not be surprised if you are on some sort of list now as a chargeback artist.

Very bad move IMO

Douchebag

Double douche move

Yes, he will certainly be on the new national chargeback registers that many companies oversee and sell. That was a total douchebag move and its still like that which is further killing the industry.

I understand you wanting to get your 500 dollars back but to do that is totally crazy.

Did you really expect us to come on here and congratulate you for committing fraud?

It may be a douchebag move but thats not why banks are charging 5 bucks for issues like that. These banks set them selves up for this a long time ago and the fact that they are not able to charge out rageous fee's per each transaction is what has made these banks try and cover there losing ass.

I agree, that move was fraud. However, just like anything when people get scammed or beat, they result to a scammer themselves to try and recoup any loses no matter what it is. It will bring out a bad side of them.

When I filed the claim I spoke with someone for about 45 minutes on the phone and almost all of the questions were yes or no. I told Citibank that I had not received this "service" rather than telling them it was a tangible item that I was purchasing.

You can call me a douche bag or claim that I scammed/defrauded my bank but I didn't do that and I certainly don't believe it was a bad move in the least. I got a nice amount of money back and it feels great. Whining to covers and starting threads about what they're going to do is not going to do jack shit.  The chances of contacting your local congressman and getting your money back is slim as fuck.  I don't know if Covers  really gives a shit about it's forum users that used Beted but they don't feel obligated at all to try and make amends for rating Beted #1 and leading a lot of people in to a bad situation.

I'm sure if I tried to file another claim about a disputed charge I would put myself in a shady position, but for a situation like this  where beted was seized by the department of justice, I'm glad I was compensated by my bank regardless of how you look at it. If anything Citibank should have reviewed this disputed claim more closely and realized that I was at fault for buying a service that is off shores and imperfect to begin with especially since I told them I knowingly purchased this service. I didn't tell my bank that this was charge I was unfamiliar with, I told my bank that I didn't receive the service that I paid for which was placing wagers at beted.

If you used a debit card to deposit money into this book why the fuck wouldn't you contact your bank. Who else can you contact at this point about this fiasco. I'm serious ? Worse comes to worse your bank says we are unable to reimburse you for that charge and then you gotta move on with life. But to not contact your bank see what covers is gonna do for you is just fucking stupid.

I'm not here to flaunt my fortunate story or ask for you to praise anything I did but this is what I did in order to get some kind of compensation. I just don't know why you wouldn't try at least to contact your bank and see if there's anything at all they could do? Various banks have different polices. I may have gotten lucky by getting reimbursed , who knows?

Here is my philosophy on the Beted issue and it will not likely be popular.

99% of people on Covers who actively deposit and play offshore realize it is an illegal industry in the US. You knowingly take the risk depositing to who knows where to get your action.

Covers recommended Beted but if you did any type of research you knew they were NOT a top notch book. As gamblers we are all about limiting risk. Why would you blindly deposit into a book that is not one of the top 3 general consensus is beyond me.

IMO and again it won't be popular but you took a risk and lost just by depositing, even into the top books.

Does it suck what happened? Hell yes.

Should you try to get your money back? Hell yes.

However realistically the likelihood of getting your money back is
minimal. Covers is not going to recover your money. Suck it up learn your lesson and move on.

Did I have money in Beted? Hell no, so sure it is easy for me to say this.

In fact I have not played offshore in several years with the lack of options, fees and general pain in the ass to deposit and withdraw. The writing was on the wall for me.

I wager amongst friends, enter an annual contest 7 picks a week (3 NCAAF 3 NFL and MNF) ran by a guy I played softball with, go to Vegas or place bets with friends going to Vegas and when I am desperate I have a friend who is an agent for a local. I will not play offshore until our fine government changes its position on offshore gambling i.e. minimizing my risk.

It was complete bullshit what Beted pulled but you knew the risk.

As far as contacting your bank regarding services not rendered you are splitting hairs. You deposited made plays won some money and then they folded. Why is your bank responsible for your actions that you knew had some risk.

If you play the stock market is your broker going to repay you if you lost your ass?

Too many people feel self entitled to shit and do not want to take responsibility for their actions. I am not a fan of the banking system but personal responsibility has to start somewhere.

I am not trying to be a dick and I hope you eventually recover your funds from the Beted fiasco but let me ask you this, if you miraculously get paid by Beted are you going to return the $500 your bank compensated you with?

get that money kid..

I am not even casting aspersions on the rightness or wrongness. Just saying Stiln -- don't be surprised if you get barred from other online books as a result of this. The industry shares information about chargebacks.

nutflopper, I get what you're saying about taking risks and about gambling off shores being illegal in the US. But you can't tell me that beted wasn't a top notch book. It's a lot easier for you to say this after the fact. But no one knew this would happen with beted getting shut down by the doj.

Also I agree with you complaining to covers at this point is like playing a broken record. There's really no point because Covers doesn't give a shit about those who lost money from beted, a "sorry you guys lost your money" on an internet forum is a fucking slap in the face. Also this is an internet forum with tens of thousands of users. They don't give a crap about a few people complaining about them in this gaming forum.

Now here's where you're wrong about splitting hairs about it being a service or a physical item. The woman I spoke to told me before I even started the questionnaire with her that Citibank has certain policies in place for examining situations and determining what they can reimburse and what they can't.  Other banks may have different policies than Citibank but obviously they deemed it was okay to reimburse me for the 500 dollars.

I said that I knew I was taking a risk in my other post so I knew what I was getting myself into and you have to think that the bank is smarter than I am, so then why did they reimburse me? Obviously because they have certain polices that allow for this.

And then you have people calling me a douche... Oh yeah that's a really great one. We should all sympathize with the banks, I'm the bad guy here? Are you kidding me? Poor Citibank, what the fuck?  This may be perhaps the smartest move I could have done. I got a substantial amount of money back. Who else could I turn to? And don't give me the old take it like a man and move on argument. I talked to my bank and tried do something about it. It was up to Citibank whether or not I was going to get my money back.

If I miraculously got paid from beted, then yes I would return the money back to citibank but that's not going to happen so....

My bank wouldn't share this information of me getting reimbursed with other off shore online books though?

You indeed may have got a substantial amount of your money back, Stiln, but you may have also shot yourself in the foot for any future actions you take with offshore books.

Don't try to shift responsibility to Citibank in this one, Stiln , this was your decision to initiate a chargeback. Not making comment on the rightness or wrongness of that action, but it very well could have long lasting consequences for you.

It's not the bank you should be worried about (although they may take a closer look at your deposits from now on). It's the processor who got the reversal or the book itself that will spread this information to the rest of the industry that you have to worry about.

All I am saying is it is a risk to deposit into any offshore book in this environment. If they fold suck it up, you know the risks.

If 5dimes goes down tomorrow will you be surprised. It would be unexpected but I would not be surprised. Any book taking US customers is at risk and has been for years now.

I am not sympathizing with Citibank. I am talking about personal responsibility. A big part of the reason why we are in our current economic situation is because everybody was out to "get theirs" at the expense of others. The economy collapses and everybody points fingers. Nobody takes responsibility anymore. Everybody had involvement including the average citizens running up their credit cards and taking stupid mortgages on houses they couldn't afford. Now they are crying the banks took advantage.

I am sure Citibank can absorb the $500, does it make it right? You made the decision to deposit in Beted, not Citibank.

Okay I understand what you're saying but I don't buy it.  I just can't see that happening where the beted processor would spread my name around the entire online gambling industry.

I'm not placing any blame on citibank at all in fact I'm glad citibank was able to reimburse me for this deposit. Because if it turns out you're right then so be it. I'll have to wait for online gambling to be legalized in the US or take more trips out to vegas or have one of my friends in vegas front my bets for me or keep searching for another book.

This is exactly what I find disgusting. I'm not going to sit back and suck it up. Contacting my bank was the only thing to do in order to get your money back or at least some of it.

It's a lot easier said than done for you. I'm not going to go on rant about how you're not in the same situation as I am but you aren't. And for whatever reason I don't know why more people who used beted didn't try and ask for a charge back if they really wanted their money back.

I know what you're talking about in regard to personal responsibility and the housing crisis. And I absolutely feel that I was out for myself in getting back my money, and like you said it's no sweat off citbanks back that they reimbursed me for the 500 dollars.

You keep telling me that I made the decision to deposit in Beted and I have been agreeing with you since my 3rd post of this thread, "I'm glad I was compensated by my bank regardless of how you look at it. If anything Citibank should have reviewed this disputed claim more closely and realized that I was at fault for buying a service that is off shores and imperfect to begin with especially since I told them I knowingly purchased this service. I didn't tell my bank that this was charge I was unfamiliar with, I told my bank that I didn't receive the service that I paid for which was placing wagers at beted. "


You go on to say that "I am sure Citibank can absorb the $500, does it make it right? You made the decision to deposit in Beted, not Citibank."

But Citibank made the decision to reimburse me for this charge back so what's your point.

I hope it doesn't happen for you Stiln but don't be surprised if it does.

Stiln, I don't blame you.... at least you took action.

For all the people bashing him.... when did all you guys start caring about morals? Stop gambling online if you think what he did was extreme. He did what he had to do, maybe $500 is nothing to some of you guys, but I for one would make sure I get it back as well.

Yeah I hope not man

Exactly, I don't get it. Some of these guys lost more than 1000 dollars. If you used a debit card my question is why wouldn't you try and contact your bank, oh wait never mind, that's a douche bag  move!

Gamblers with morals????????   Go buy yourself a nice juicy steak and enjoy Stiln