Sports bettors forced to wait weeks for winnings from OLG
CBC
It's been four weeks since Carl Zhou first tried to withdraw his deposits and winnings on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation sports betting platform, Proline, he says.
Since signing up during a promotion in November, the Mississauga resident says he's made successful bets on college basketball, hockey and football games. But despite submitting all the necessary paperwork and multiple chats with customer service, he says he isn't any closer to receiving his money.
"I'm a little bit disappointed at the lack of response that I've been getting," said Zhou, adding he's on competing platforms and hasn't run into similar problems there.
"Usually … if you have a problem with this type of issue, you report it to some like, government entity. But in this case, this is the government."
Zhou is one of multiple OLG Proline gamblers waiting indefinitely since roughly last month to claim their winnings and who are now turned off of using it as their main digital gambling platform as a result. OLG says the delays are due to having to verify a wave of new accounts, but one expert says they show the Crown corporation is failing to adapt and compete with private companies.
In an email to CBC News, OLG wouldn't confirm how many people are affected by the delays due to the "highly competitive nature of Ontario's open gaming market," according to OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti.
The corporation says it registered "a significant influx of new players" ahead of last month's Super Bowl and is working through a backlog of bank account verification requests — a process required by the its regulator, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
"We appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers while we work diligently to review and subsequently verify bank accounts as quickly as possible," Bitonti said. "OLG prides itself on always paying its winners and also carefully complying with regulatory standards."
The Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario confirmed to CBC Toronto that the OLG falls within its jurisdiction, and said in an email that anyone affected can reach out.
OLG also won't say how many people signed up as a result of the promotions it ran ahead of the Super Bowl, but Bitonti said the OLG is "pleased with customer response" to what it offered.
One past promotion on its website suggested people could get over $500 in bonuses after betting $50.
That campaign was what ultimately convinced Waterloo, Ont., resident Val Strambu to make a Super Bowl bet. After hearing about sports betting from his daughter and her partner, he told CBC News he decided the return was "worth the gamble," particularly with a "trusted" brand like the OLG.
But while Stramu says he won over $1,000 from his bet, he's been waiting over a month to claim it. He says he doesn't understand why verifying his bank information is taking this long when OLG had no trouble accepting his money.
"Opening the Proline account was a breeze," he noted.
East of the small village of Coutts, Alta., a stone’s throw from the border with the United States, Cindy Bosch’s day-to-day life looks much like it did a year ago.
For years, police have been on the front lines of mental health crisis calls in Toronto, but the city's police chief believes it's now time to rethink that approach.
One of Prince Edward Island’s last surviving Second World War veterans has died.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has too much regulation and not enough investments in clean energy and technology — and he's making his most direct repudiation yet of his predecessor's environmental policies.
WARNING: This story contains distressing content, including racist, violent and antisemitic language.
A national Jewish advocacy organization is taking legal action against Manitoba's medical regulator over a complaint it made last year alleging a prominent doctor made antisemitic comments on social media.
A cat that went missing in a remote area of northeastern B.C. is finally back home with its family in Oklahoma, five months later.
It wasn’t clear trolleys would be a hit in Medicine Hat, but the Sunshine Trolley has wound its way into Hatters’ hearts.
More than 200 volunteers and politicians gathered in Etobicoke Saturday for the Daily Bread Food Bank’s holiday sort.
The rising cost-of-living has already made supporting a family difficult this year. But, the holidays can make staying on budget that much harder.
Strong winds across the Maritimes left thousands of N.B. Power customers without electricity on Saturday afternoon — and it could be days before all customers have their power restored.
Toronto police say they located a body inside a downtown Toronto home Saturday.
Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge is responding to public outcry against his government’s policy changes for non-permanent residents by making a plea to the federal government.