Retired electrician Phil Worthington thought he was quids in after a "monster" 40-1 bet came off. But the response of Coral bookmakers when he went to collect his winnings sparked his fury.
He had placed £25 on Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea finishing in the top three in the Premier League and Norwich, Burnley, and Watford being relegated. When he had the flutter in January this year, Newcastle United were bottom of the division.
But he says he was told the bet had been allowed "by mistake" when he tried to pick up his £1000 from the company's shop in Davenport, Stockport. Now he considering lodging a formal action with the small claims court in a bid to recover what he believes is rightfully his.
Grandfather, Phil, 72, from Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, said: "I like a bet on a Saturday morning. I saw a tip in a national newspaper on January 15th this year for what they called 'a monster' of a bet with Corals at 40-1 odds for the top three and relegation three in the Premier. I went to the bookies later that day and said I would like to do the bet.
"I showed the newspaper to the manager in the shop. He said he would have to check first, and I waited about 20 minutes while he did. He said yes I could place a bet of £25. I then asked him to sign my betting slip which he did.
"When I went back to collect my winnings I was told the bet was 'a mistake'. They offered me odds of 2-1 which would have meant £50 but I refused. I have been back to the shop three times since but they will not pay out the full winnings.
"How can they pick and choose when they will pay out? It is unbelievable. Coral are making millions, and morally they should pay up. After I placed this bet I had other bets at Coral - they were happy to take the money off me. I am thinking of paying more money to lodge a claim against Coral in the small claims court. It is a matter of principle. How many others have lost out after winning on this bet?"
In a statement issued to the Manchester Evening News Coral said: "The information printed in The Sun editorial section on this particular special bet was incomplete and therefore inaccurate, due to a mistake made when transmitting that information to The Sun.
"The 40/1 special price we were offering at that time was for Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal to finish 1-2-3-4 in that order and for Burnley, Watford and Norwich to finish 18-19-20 in that order.
"The Sun copy didn’t specify the fact that it was to finish in the correct order but, even more importantly, left off Arsenal for the Top 4 correct finishing order, rendering it a significantly more likely outcome at that stage and therefore a significantly shorter price to occur.
"We have never offered a price in our system on any special bet for Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea to finish top three and for Burnley, Watford and Norwich to finish bottom three in any order. So to settle the customer's bet we have calculated the price we believe that eventuality would have been at the time in an attempt to settle the bet fairly.
"The actual 40/1 special bet we were offering was a loser in the end as Arsenal did not finish 4th. If a customer is unhappy with the way a bet has been settled in these circumstances they can seek independent advice from IBAS should they wish to."
The Sun said in a statement: ""Coral gave us the odds by email direct and without specifying the order. Furthermore they took the bet as it stood and so (it is) their legal issues and not ours."
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