William Hill refuse to pay out £23,400 to Salford fans

Salford fans Gary Smeaton and Kris Shenton have been left furious, after bookmaker William Hill refused to pay out their £23,400 winning bet, report the Manchester Eveing News.

The pair each stumped up £50 to place a single £100 “double” accumulator bet that Jackson Hastings would win Man of Steel (25/1) and the Red Devils would finish in the top five (8/1).

They reckon they should return a massive £23,400, however William Hill say the bet should have never been taken.

They have cited “related contingency” – where two bets are directly linked as one has a direct influence on the other – as their reason for not paying out.

Gary Smeaton expressed his anger at the decision: “I put the bet on nine months ago at the Swinton branch of William Hill. The guy in the bookie’s wrote it out for me. My mate kept the betting slip. We never dreamed that it would ever come in.

“I never thought Salford would finish top five, but I did have an inkling about Hastings winning the Man of Steel. I am a massive Salford fan. I sponsor Tyrone McCarthy and the Devils’ mascot.

“I was on holiday abroad when we beat Wigan to get to the Grand Final and then Jackson won his title. I was made up. Even Jackson’s mum was pleased for me. Then she sent me a message after reading what William Hill had said and said she was gutted.”

“William Hill have now said they regard our bet as two £50 bets and are prepared to pay out £1,700 to each of us. I am not settling for that. I will take it all the way, The Chief Executive of William Hill has refused to speak to me.

“Kris and I were so elated at the weekend. now we are so annoyed after coming down with a massive thud on Monday.

“I went back to the branch where I placed the bet and the person who wrote it out for me said he ‘must have been half asleep’ when he did it.”

A William Hill spokesperson has responded, saying: “As stated in our rules, a related contingency occurs when one or more parts of the bet placed affect the outcome of the bet. In this case, the prices of Jackson Hasting winning Man of Steel and Salford finishing in the top five are related. Were one outcome to happen, the other would be directly affected and as such the double price would be significantly smaller.

“This bet has been struck as a result of human error and as such has been corrected. At no point was the double on offer before the start of the season. Unfortunately, we realise this is disappointing for the customer and we can only apologise.

“In cases such as this, IBAS (Independent Betting Adjudication Service) offer an impartial adjudication on disputes between customers and licensed gambling operators.”

Gary, however, has refused to accept the decision: “There is no way I am letting this drop. I have taken it to the Independent Betting Adjudication Service.

“How can their explanation of human error pacify me?

“The choosing of the Man of Steel is done by a secret panel so how can that influence Salford finishing in the top five?”