Consumers have filed roughly 2,400 complaints against the three largest U.S. sports betting operators in the last three years, citing delays or glitches in withdrawing winnings.
That’s according to a report Saturday (Nov. 12) by the Wall Street Journal, which cites records from the Better Business Bureau for complaints against DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM. Many of these complaints, the report said, came from customers who waited days or even weeks to get access to their funds.
In some cases, customers have reported confusion about things like redeeming offers or cashing in their winnings. The WSJ report said the Better Business Bureau sends complaints to the companies and grades those businesses on whether they respond to those complaints.
FanDuel and DraftKings told the WSJ that withdrawal requests are sometimes delayed when there are indications of possible money laundering or fraud, which must be investigated according to financial regulations.
Both companies have a 100% response rate for Better Business Bureau complaints, according to the group, while BetMGM’s response rate was 86%.
Shawn Henley, DraftKing’s senior vice president of customer experience and community, told PYMNTS in an email, “We operate in a heavily regulated industry that requires the careful evaluation and collection of personal information. Compliance is a core pillar of our business, and we believe legal and regulated sports betting is in the best interest of consumers.”
Last month, PYMNTS’ Karen Webster spoke with Trent Striplin, vice president of payments and fraud at Caesars Sportsbook, who said instant payouts are a crucial part of the company’s overall gaming experience, helping to improve customer satisfaction.
“The speed of withdrawals is something that’s very important to people in their experience with the Sportsbook,” he added, saying bettors expect payments to go at the speed of the internet.
With the new Caesar’s new payment option — made possible through a partnership with Ingo Money — winnings are delivered in near-real time. Striplin said that for about 97% of Sportsbook users, this process takes about an hour to make sure the company is complying with “regulatory, financial and accounting controls and fraud reviews.”
Aside from making customers happy, instant payouts could also have an added effect of keeping funds moving throughout the Caesars ecosystem — across both online and brick-and-mortar channels, PYMNTS reported.
“I personally cannot imagine winning a bunch of money and then being told [by the site], ‘OK, we’ll send you a check in a week.’ … This needs to be a digital-first experience,” Ingo Money CEO Drew Edwards told PYMNTS earlier this year.
