Betsson and BetSafe Downgraded to C-

During the first half of 2012, Betsson.com has been the subject of an unusually high number of player complaints regarding voided bets and confiscated winnings. No longer willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, due to the volume of complaints, SBS lowered their rating to C- today on our Betting Site Ratings Guide. We also included another company they own BetSafe.com in the downgrade. We will be researching to see if any reasons not to initiate other brands they own at C- rating exist. Such brands include NordicBet, TrioBet, and ToBet.

Most Recent Betsson Complaint

The most recent Betsson complaint involves a player named Lukas from Poland. He’s a football (soccer) punter who makes all of wagers in-play (live betting). Lukas initially deposited the Polish Zloty equivalent of €15 to take advantage of a small promo offer. Then after researching the site he followed this up with the equivalent of a €500 deposit, then later another for the Zloty equivalent of €1,100. With this third deposit he had success running his balance up to €6744. One day after requesting payout of his full balance his account was locked with a note to contact support.

Lukas was then told he had to pass phone verification which involved asking him a series of questions. He passed this no problem, and had already previously provided a scan of his ID and utility bill. He was told by support his account was verified and he could withdrawal. He then logged in and re-requested his full balance withdrawal to Skrill. When a couple days passed with no payment, he contacted live chat. They told him his account was under investigation and it would take a couple days.

Soon later Lukas received an email from Betsson that informed him all bets he made for the life of his account were voided. His balance then changed to reflect only the amount he had ever deposited. Betsson quoted their catch all rule that gives them the right to void bets and close accounts at any time. They’ve yet to provide any valid reason for voiding his bets.

This is NOT an Isolated Incident

Even if does turn out there is more to the story Lukas provided than SBS has uncovered, this still does not excuse Betsson on past complaints. One such 2012 complaint involved them confiscating another player’s balance for the stated reason her voice did not sound feminine. A competitor of ours, who handled that complaint, uploaded a video worth watching to YouTube. I’ve embedded that video below:

There have also been disputes of seized poker balances and other sports betting disputes that used the catch-all we reserve to void bets without reason rule. A simple Google search for Betsson scam will bring up several complaint threads.

SBS Decision to Downgrade Betsson and BetSafe

Considering SBS does not recognize the Lottery and Gaming Authority (LGA) of Malta as a reputable regulatory body, we have no choice but to assess the situation on what the eye can read. There appears to be far too many complaints regarding Betsson for it to be coincidence based. As a result we’ve downgraded Betsson.com and BetSafe.com to C- on our Betting Site Ratings Guide.

Editor’s note: Players from Poland looking for good alternatives to eFortuna should refer to our page on Polski Złoty betting sites, and also avoid depositing at Betsson.com or BetSafe.com.