The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a Betfred ad for a “risk free in-play bet” for not making “significant conditions” of the offer sufficiently clear to punters.
The email ad from Betfred’s Gibraltar-based online arm was first sent on 5 March, offering a “a “risk-free £10 bet” on a Manchester United Champions League game that evening. “If you don’t win, we’ll refund your first in-play bet up to a tenner…”, read the body of the email.
Two complainants argued the ad was misleading because it did not make it clear the offer was paid as not in cash but as a free £10 bet, and also because any punters who went on to with the free bet would not have that initial stake returned.
Betfred defended itself by arguing all the emails contained a link to the full T&Cs for the offer, and that these were also published on the Betfred.com website and mobile platform Betfred.mobi, with this making it clear the offer was to be “fulfilled in free bets”. They added that the promo was only sent to existing Betfred customers who were familiar with offers and bonuses of this nature, and understood free bet stakes would not be returned.
The ASA however considered that the qualification that losing bets would be returned as a free bet rather than cash funds was “a significant condition” that should have been stated clearly in the body of the email, not in separate T&Cs elsewhere. And while it accepted there was indeed “no risk” attached to the first bet, it also upheld the complainant’s point that any winning bets resulting from the £10 free bet refund on a losing bet would not result in that stake being returned, resulting in an overall loss compared to a scenario where the intial bet had been returned as cash and then staked.
The UK ad regulator ruled that Betfred’s ads breached its codes on misleading advertising, qualifications and sales promotions, and that it must not appear in its current form. The operator was also told to ensure in future taht such significant conditions were clearly stated in the body of the email.
Article written by Stephen Carter
