sports interaction ripped me off.

[phaedrus]

This thursday i placed a wager at Sports Interaction, home of the inflated favorites on Chicago Bears +6.5

It was my first NFL wager with them, and i only opened the account b/c i knew that they had super high favorite lines.

Apparently here is what they don't tell you about their favorite lines. If the bet wins, they go ahead and change the selection to give you the loser.

After placing my wager on Chicago, and confirming that it was in fact correct. I went about my business only to return back to the website today to find that they had switched the side to Detroit.

Now i have accounts with ABC islands, WSEX, CRIS, Olympic, Skybook, Sportsmarket, Bowman International, even Intertops. In addition i also have a Don Best premium subscription, as well as an Island Xpress. In short i never bet into a bad line. When i placed my bet on Chicago, the line at most of these books was +5 or +5.5.

There is no way in hell i would place a bet on Detroit at -6.5 when i could have looked at the "screen" and placed the bet for anywhere between -5 or -5.5.

When i talked to SIA today they said, that there is nothing they could do, i should have called them earlier, and it was me who placed the bet.

When i challenged them on this, they told me to call some Ireland number that does not work from Canada.

I told them to go ahead and send me the rest of my funds, and i will go ahead and rip them in every bulletin board i could get my hands on.

If you are thinking about opening up a sportsbook account with SIA b/c of their off lines, don't bother, they won't pay you off.

I suspected that this might have been an error at first, and perhaps it was (error on their part not mine) however the fellow who answered the phone was less than helpful, and the icing was the incorrect telephone number.

If SIA is out there, go ahead and respond to this, you know who i am.

PS. i even told them to go over all my previous bet and analyze them for value purposes, ie. i was only using them when the line was way off, and they said that they already knew that about me, but it was still my fault, i was the one who placed the bet.

[The Guesser]

Sorry to hear that. I've been with them for 1 1/2 years and never had a problem. Did you get the Confirmation E- mail of your bet? If so, problem solved. Did you look in your history? It is possible you ticked the wrong button and did bet Detroit;, it's easy to do if you are not careful. Whatever happens, Good luck.

[ghostly]

I've been w/ SIA since August and do a lot of action there-at least 50 limit wagers and at least another 25 wagers. My balance has only gone up there and I've never had a problem w/ receiving funds or with any of my wagers.

[phaedrus]

The only time i have received back confirmation is when i have won a bet. I believe this is an option you must select and i probably did not select it.

I am sure i selected Chicago, but the issue was also the crappy customer service i received over the telephone the gentlemen was rude and gave me some number in Ireland which did not work.


And had the attitude that he didn't care for my business.

[mls]

I have dealt with SIA for 1 1/2 years - never a problem with many many limit bets.

I have, however, during my betting career made several errors involving accidently betting the wrong side. Places like WSX and Carib will void/change the bet if you call immediately. Sometimes I just had to bet the other side and lost the juice to offset the bet. Ocasionally, liek you, I failed to catch it until after the game.

My take on this is you made a mistake and did not catch it - it has happened to me and probably everyone else who makes a lot of plays.

[ShiftySheik]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I've always been afraid to open with them because their screwed up lines. Some freinds of mine sometimes send me their lines. They must get one sided dog action on every game. Does anyone really think that they have that many square players betting the favorites? I think the bad lines is their way of attracting new business.

[buckeye]

I'm with mls on this one, mistakes are made both ways, but it is more likely that you didn't double check before submitting and you had the wrong side selected. I try to double-check my plays "online in history" before they go off, as you might get the benefit of the doubt calling then. By waiting until after the game was over, it was too late. Don't expect any book to bend over backwards to help you in this situation.

Why did you feel it necessary to include the fact that you could have gotten the line at 5 elsewhere? This has no relevance if they had actually reversed your bet on you. Sounds to me like you're trying to further justify why the mistake COULDN'T POSSIBLY have been yours. Why would they pick on you? If they had reversed sides they probably would have had the problem for everyone who made the bet.

[Fred]

Phaedrus

Was this via the net or phone?

Either way they ought to have a record of it.

If a phone wager, can you ask them to replay/send a recording to you?

Perhaps you could offer to pay for the cost of this if it turns out you made an error?

Couple of months back I heard they didn't pay some Aussie clients for AFL bets -- this wasn't resolved so i have doubts about them.

Maybe a SIA manager could come to this forum to clear things up.

[phaedrus]

I didn't need to recheck my history with my browser b/c the confirmation screen said Chi +6.5

the relevance as to what the line is elsewhere is just to show that i don't play into a bad line. I always get the best line available to me, and many sportsbooks that i play with had better lines.

I realize that i may have made an error, i place many bets throughout the day, etc. But i am telling you i am positive the i checked off the bears, and the confirmation screen displayed this.

Anyways thanks for your inquiries, guess i will have to chalk this one up to experience.

[cashusking]

Thanks for your advice. Will avoid SIA. Don't need hassles like that. Respect all the people who have not had problems but justice denied one is justice denied all.

Also the unpleasant customer service item is a red flag.

[Sports Interaction]

Hi

Just want to clear this up from SIA's perspective. As most of you know, bets that are placed online are a direct interaction between the person placing the bet and our servers. The only way that phaedrus could have ended up with Detroit on his bet is if he had selected Detroit. To suggest that somehow SIA later changed the bet to Detroit is ludicrous to say the least. If this absurd suggestion had some truth to it, there would obviously be lots of other customers affected and we'd hear a lot more about it here.

I entirely sympathize with phaedrus's mistake, but it was a mistake he made and there's not a lot we can do. When someone mistakenly puts the wrong selection on their bet, we have been extremely sympathetic in the past and have changed bets when requested. But there's not much we could have done the day after the game. We also do all we can to allow customers to verify their selections afterwards by giving the option to receive a receipt or check outstanding bets.

On the issue of phaedrus's view that he received bad customer service, I've talked to the guys who were on when he called, and they are adamant he was not given bad service. As any of you who have done business with us will know, bad customer service is not our style - quite the opposite. I'm sure phaedrus was obviously disgruntled when he called, believed he had been entirely wronged, and anything other than changing his bet was going to be 'less than helpful'.

Once again, I sympathize with phaedrus's mistake, but it's grossly unfair to throw the blame.

All the best.

Jim

SIA

[Fred]

Jim

Thanks for posting.

A couple of months back it was alledged SIA refused to pay some Australian clients, who bet Australian Rules Footbal (AFL), on the grounds that the games were fixed.

Is there any truth to this rumour?

[Sports Interaction]

Hi Fred

That's a long story. But in short it had nothing to with game 'fixing'. It had to do with a dispute which the IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) looked into and expressed the opinion that the company in question had 'questions to answer'. Upon this, the company took the approach of trying to slur the IGC and ourselves with the game fixing allegations. Anyway, they later withdrew the allegations and apologized.

Hope that clarifies it for you.

Jim

[STING]

Sports Interaction, I must say it is refreshing to see you posting here and it gives me more confidence in your company. Now you gotta tell us what's going on with the Mohawks. Your sportsbook could very well set a precedent here.

[Sports Interaction]

Hi Sting,

Thanks for asking!

As you know Sports Interaction became the first Online Sports Book to be licensed in North America. We are based in Kahnawake, just outside Montreal. Unfortunately this has led to speculation that our new location might leave us vulnerable to action by the Federal authorities that regulate gaming in Canada, or even by the provincial authorities in Quebec or Ontario. This simply is not the case. We are licensed & regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, who in conjunction with Mohawk Internet Technologies ensure that fair, equitable and ethical business practices are maintained. It is good for our customers to know they are using a Sports Book regulated by the same kind of rules and authority as that of Las Vegas.

We have been here about two months now and things are working out fantastic, our servers are faster and our bandwidth is wider, though I have been told it gets a little colder here, to say the least. And just to blow our trumpet a bit more - I believe we are setting a precedent.

SIA