PEEVED PUNTER
He won $110,000 — then the TAB seized it back
Aseasonal worker thought his life was about to change when $110,000 popped into his account after winning a TAB multi bet. But then the money disappeared. Now the TAB refuses to pay out on his bet where he claims to have won more than $110,000.
Corbin Nepe placed a $14 live bet on a six-leg English football multi bet at long odds of 7869-1 early on May 2. As each result came through, he realised he had won a whopping $110,175.91.
“Once I saw each bet tick off I started getting really excited and starting planning what I’d do with the money. I couldn’t believe this was really happening,” he told the Herald on Sunday.
“I was thinking about maybe putting a deposit down for a house or starting my own business.”
The TAB deposited the winnings into his betting account — but then the betting agency took it back.
Nepe, who lives in Hawke’s Bay, contacted the TAB who told him there had been an error with the odds at the time the bet was placed so it had voided his multi and refunded his $14 stake.
Simon Thomas, the TAB’s general manager of customer and betting, said they suffered a “technical malfunction” and decided to void and refund all bets that were placed during a four-hour period.
“Regrettably, the TAB’s betting platform suffered an unexpected technical malfunction between approximately 2am and 6.15am on Sunday, May 2, which meant that the betting odds were not updating on the TAB’s website.
“Bets were able to be placed on live events at odds that did not reflect the match situation, and were substantially incorrect. This meant that there was an opportunity to bet on events that were all but over.
“As a result, we made the rare decision to void all bets placed after the matches had commenced, to ensure the integrity of the bets. It was very regrettable and we apologised to impacted customers for any inconvenience.”
All six of the games Nepe bet on started at 2am, the same time the technical malfunction occurred.
The TAB claims it voided 1232 bets during the malfunction, including some losing bets.
According to the TAB’s terms and conditions, it can void and refund any bets where a “pricing error is so substantial that it cannot reasonably be attributed to an error in judgment on behalf of the TAB”, and/or that a “demonstrable technology or software malfunction” had occurred.
Nepe disputes the TAB’s claims of a malfunction and asked them to provide evidence. He claims the TAB had shown him odds on a different website at the time his bet was placed in a bid to prove their own odds were substantially incorrect and a malfunction had occurred.
But he argues another betting agency’s odds are not relevant to those displayed on the TAB’s own platform.
Although he could not comment directly about Nepe’s case, Smith and Partners senior solicitor Nathan Tetzlaff told the Herald on Sunday terms and conditions were typically enforceable.
However, he said if a customer believed the terms and conditions had not been met, there were steps they could take.
“The first step would be to consider whether the situation is genuinely covered by the particular clause in the terms and conditions.
“The second step would be to consider whether it is lawful for the provider to rely on this particular clause in all of the circumstances.
“The last step is to ensure that the service provider can actually prove that the situation is covered by the clause. In the case of a failure of technology, I would request proof from the provider to back up their claim.”
Nepe doesn’t hold out hope of receiving his six-figure winnings he believes he fairly won, but hopes the TAB will offer some type of fair compensation.
He said the thrill of winning $110,000 — only for it to be taken away— had taken a mental and emotional toll on his wellbeing.
“It’s like winning Lotto then two days later they say ‘nah jokes sorry’.
“I’m just frustrated they can make an error but the customer is the one that’s punished. Punters make errors all the time but don’t get refunded, yet the TAB get away with their error.”