Betfred has been around for quite sometime now
There are tons of “I hate Betfred because of this and that” kind of reviews about this brand on the internet.
Funny such personal takes exist for a bookie that literally began its long never-ending journey back in 1967.
The weirdest part is, I like Betfred.
Sort of.
I’ve always believed (and still do) that apart from bet365 and Betfair; this betting site is unique, in a sense, that it’s probably one of the few remaining companies that haven’t been bought out by a larger conglomerate, or fallen to industry-corrections i.e. gone out of business.
It’s still around, secure in its own concrete fort despite being surrounded by large and fierce business foes like bet365, and Betfair; part of Flutter Entertainment that also own giants like FanDuel in the US.
It holds a mixed bag of good and bad reviews
I snooped around to see what the common man thought about this brand; whether it stood the test of time, or was just disdained by majority of its customers.
To my surprise, it does seem to have quite a number of bad reviews on sites like TrustPilot.
But then I’d like to at least go for an honest take.
It’s a 50/50 thing on there, more like a 3.0 out of 5.0 rating score, based on 7,151 reviews with 5-star ones making up 35% and the 1-star experiences constituting 42%.
This makes it an average betting site, though it ain’t.
It seems half of the people are fairly satisfied, while a good bunch of them have had a terrible experience with bonus rules and payout of winnings.
To each its own I guess.
Here’s an example of its 1-star reviews:
Rubbish and they don’t get back to you it’s a scam. I withdrew my winnings nearly 2 weeks ago and sent all the id they requested, but they have ignored all my emails despite replying to another review on here I left a few days ago.
And now here’s one of the better ones:
Used Betfred for last 5 years payments are quick and I have had a few really good wins lots to bet on and the cash out can be really good.
Needless to say, the egregious reviewers feel more genuine, while “I’m so happy I could burst into a thousand pieces,” look suspiciously botted, as if an AI or an outsourced PR-company-hired rookies did their daily thing.
But in the pretext of being fair, overall, only people having had a bad experience, tend to try to share them on the web.
It is true for all the companies and spreads across all the sectors.
They might actually – and probably do – have more happy customers than not.
However, it seems that their truth is not being reflected out in the open.
I’m not sure, I can’t really say that with conviction though…but this bookie has been around since the 60’s.
Come on cut them some slack.
May be they could do a better job at hiding their shortcomings from the new potentials.
Betfred needs to hire a better social media and PR-handling team.
I mean all the big companies do it. But, then that’s just me saying that.
And, I’m a nobody, writing an article no one would read, since Google will probably not even index it.
I guess in the end, Betfred knows what’s best for itself or works for them; since this is their playground.
I’m just an outsider.
Now for the fine geniuses spending their quality time changing the world, one thread at a time.
Yes, I mean the Reddit – check out the threads Google is showing for it in the SERPs.
For good or bad reasons, seems these known-unknown savants also don’t seem to care much for Betfred.
The list of grievances is long but their main beef is the poor customer support, and not being able to bet big.
Many claim to have throat-choking betting limits imposed on their accounts; but I can see where Betfred comes from in such cases.
Then there’s also cries of jackpot winnings being nulled, if won through bonus money.
Now comes you. Perhaps this is what really matters in the end of the day.
Whether you go for Betfred, knowing how they’re generally viewed by the public, is up to you.
Would I recommend them? Yes I would, sure why not.
From what I’ve gathered during my spy ops on Betfred, I think a lot of the truly negative stuff relates to the bonus funds and account limitations.
These are the dilly dallies of every major book operating out in this massively lucrative market.
Not unique to Betfred. Not at all.
It takes licensing and following the procedure seriously – no partying around
Mind you, Betfred is a legit and trusted brand.
The regulations are tight in this case.
Fully licensed with rather strict rules set by, say for example, the UKGC and the Mpumalanga Economic Regulator in South Africa.
Thing is Betfred won’t break the law, even if it could; and this behavior showers it with an aura of verifiable credibility.
All the low-rated reviews and reported issues, most probably stem from the fact, that they’re very big and thus, having problems managing their growth.
More money, more problems, if you can catch the drift.
Coming back to its legitimacy, it does seem to ardently follow the gambling laws in most countries.
After all they have betting shops all over the UK.
If you don’t live in a country that it legally operates in, you’re out for good.
This means, access to their site is blocked. Full stop.
Betfred could but doesn’t play the grey-market card. But all betting brands – especially the online ones break the law.
Not sure, if they did do illegal stuff in the past.
At least, at present, they’re clean as a whistle.
Like I mentioned before, it’s indeed a jolly good thing that they’re regulated in all major nations, where gambling is legal.
This includes the US (of course in States where it’s got the license), the UK, Belgium and a few others.
But legally they’re physically registered in Gibraltar and hence also licensed by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner.
There are a few jurisdictions where Betfred does act suspiciously, however.
I mean China; it’s where they also sponsor sporting events.
I guess they’re clean only in places that hammer you out of business if you break the law – the West – but it’s a fair game in East Asia where the financial might and the political connections rule.
Picking up Chinese bettors, is illegal, anyway you look at it.
Perhaps I gave them more credit that they deserved.
So, they may not be as kosher, as their image is touted out to be.
But, it’s alright.
Why do you care if they like the Chinese food.
Deposits are easy. No cryptocurrencies but it’s OK
I tested out their platform, made a few deposits here and there.
They can be made through cards, PayPal, common e-wallets, and even through hard cash in their physical betting shops.
Basically, a non-issue.
If you have a problem, and live in the UK, simply walk into one of their 1500 brick-and-mortar outlets and be done with it.
If you got cash in the bank, deposits should be the last thing on your mind.
The only drawback is the lack of cryptocurrencies, for reasons you know already of.
The gambling regulators hate Bitcoin and USDT because both are one of the leading methods used to transfer black money from point A to B.
Withdrawals can take their time, it sort of depends on how much you’ve won
Like hundreds of other bookies, you might face hurdles at first when withdrawing your funds.
Let me be honest here, the payouts will take some time to process; especially if you actually do end up winning a large amount, since you got your stars to thank for that.
For normal processing, you’re looking at 3 to 5 days minimum, provided everything is marked green from their Accounts department.
A full KYC is required. You’re assured of that.
Make sure to keep your ID scans available on the smartphone.
This will probably end up saving you an additional day of hoopla.
Like I said before, if you win a large jackpot, expect things to be delayed even further.
Money won on free spins and bonus funds can complicate the matters.
Fully expect your winnings to be declined, if you won using the free bonus money, because their wagering requirement has its own way of straggling you down.
Unless that is completed, you’re out of options.
But Betfred, for normal odd amounts, wouldn’t make much fuss.
Just don’t count on getting paid 50 grand on a £20 bonus.
Personally speaking you should simply not claim one. The rules are set against you from the start.
Betfred offers nothing spectacular about its first deposit bonuses
Free money is after all not yours.
It’s theirs.
Bonus is mostly for the show, to get you to sign up for a new account.
You should not build castles in the air on something that doesn’t belong to you. It’s not serious, despite of whatever the ad or promo says.
The regulations make it hard for the legal betting brands to gift out massive bonuses anyways.
For example, Betfred offers a standard UKGC-approved first deposit bonus of £50 on a minimum £10 deposit (no deposit bonus is not on the cards by the way).
Sometimes such promotions also carry free spins. Depends on if it’s the holidays or they’re running special marketing campaigns.
Its US-facing sites have similar-ish deals, just in the US dollars.
If you do go for it, just don’t go pro-max on it, trying to figure out how you can maximize your returns because all of that would be meaningless, even if you ended up winning a decent jackpot.
The odds are stacked against you hard.
Thousands of Slot Titles are available, but that is expected from it
Coming to the slot tiles, there’re tons.
Thousands in fact.
Since Betfred is fully licensed, you could theoretically enjoy hundreds and even thousands of slot games – if your wallet and aim backs you up – from multiple reputable iGaming providers.
Spin around and may be you could win a progressive jackpot.
Sports betting is what it wants to do as its core, but live casino is something they’re good at too
Betfred has traditionally always been a sports bookmaker first and foremost.
Their odds on football, golf and tennis can’t be compared with the likes of say, the Betfair exchange, but it does a good job, if their clients don’t really care about such details.
I mean it wasn’t a bother for me; and though, it tends to focus on sports betting (particularly football), its live casino is also something that should be checked out.
Like for example, one can enjoy live blackjack or roulette powered by Playtech and many more.
The platform is big and has enough for all tastes.
Apps are available, but I tend to like its desktop version site
Thankfully Betfred has well-built apps; ones that wouldn’t crash on you during peak live in-play wagers.
Being legal gives you the ability to download their apps for both Android and Apple iPhone.
Also I don’t think one should discount their desktop site.
Frankly I prefer that over its app.
Their very-tabular website design seems to organize itself better.
Try it, and you’ll see what I’m on about.
Offers free live streaming for all kinds of sporting events in all parts of world
Something I found rather interesting was that they also have a live streaming service.
Guess, they took the idea from bet365.
I think it’s a cool feature, particularly if one doesn’t want to spend extra bucks on one-time pay-per-view fee, or subscription for a sports channel that you would probably never ever tune into.
Just sign in to Betfred and watch it there instead.
It’s free.
Support can be slow to respond, but they get the job done in the end – for the most part
I did live chat with one of their representatives after signing up.
The query was related to my account getting limited for some stupid reason.
Didn’t even bet once.
The guy on the other end took his sweet time, but he did manage to get it all sorted after like two working days.
So what I say is that Betfred’s Customer support is not the best, but one can get a hold of them in physical betting shops, on the phone, through email and live chat.
This company needs to work on speed.
People don’t want to wait to get their ID scanned.
You’re a billion dollar company.
Make your good-for-nothing IT department code something that fixes it.
By the way, I haven’t personally contacted them over the phone for support issues, but haven’t read worrisome comments about their non-responsiveness, on the internet, either.
Guess, you should give it a shot.
May be they do a little better for you.
Betfred is old and established and doesn’t really need to prove its legitimacy to anyone
I mean there’s nothing genetically wrong with it.
It’s an old, well-tested, big, well-groomed, and experienced brand, with millions using its platform on a daily basis.
Every company wants to better than its competitors.
Betfred perhaps does also want to do a good job.
It’s not that they’re not trying; but constructing an upward-facing trajectory and creating a fresh image can take months, if not years.
I don’t dislike them.
In fact Betfred has a feel-free-to-sign-up signal from my end.
You can’t possibly lose giving up £/$ 10 or so, to test out their platform.
No one is asking you to bet your house in the first go.
Despite the mix of the good and the bad reviews of this brand; perhaps, you will have a much better time at Betfred, than the rest of the complainypants posting on Trustpilot and Reddit.
Sorry for calling them that.