Hi all,
I had been gamble free for a few months but in the last couple of days I had a relapse and spent over £1000 in payday loan money on gambling. I feel sick that I've done this and trying to come to terms with it. However, my issue is that the blocks and exclusions I have in place don't seem to be working.
I have gambling blocks on my Natwest account and have done for over a year, but they still let over 30 transactions go through over the past couple of days. I know that sometimes transactions aren't recognised as such but this was a fairly well known gambling site and it showed up as the company name and 'gaming' on my transactions.
I am also registered with the Gamstop. The issue is that with this site I signed up with slightly different details (name etc.) which clearly bypassed it. I recognise that this is my own fault and I need to take responsibility for that, but I did also have to verify with my drivers license on the site so I would have assumed that would have flagged something up?
This gambling session has seriously harmed me financially. I have contacted Natwest anyway to let them know the block doesn't seem to be working. However, is there a case here at all for trying to get the money back? I don't want this to seem as though I'm only focused on the financial loss and trying to place the blame elsewhere. I do recognise this is my responsibility and I need to clearly keep working on my gambling problems, but I have been left really struggling with money because of this so to get some kind of chargeback would be a lifesaver so I actually have money to pay my bills.
Hello there Cerrry93,
Sorry to hear you have had a relapse. We would recommend getting different gambling blocks that are available and more effective. Gamban and Gamstop are both great as they block gambling sites from your devices. Once they are downloaded they block you from online gambling operators.
If you would like to explore different support options and speak with one of our advisors do not hesitate to get in contact with us via the GamCare Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or Netline to explore the additional support available to you. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you would like to talk to one of the GamCare HelpLine advisers.
Best wishes,
Iona
Forum Admin
No chance at all of getting your money back, that’s just part of the compulsive gamblers dreamworld. Despite putting in blocks, you’ve created an account in a slightly different name and or email address and because you’ve lost you call a foul. Your fault unfortunately.
I would check with the bank to make sure the gambling ban was activated because that might help others in the future if somehow certain sites were slipping through.
Only thing to do is accept the money has gone, like many times beforehand, and start again. Don’t go chasing it.
Can you go to a GA meeting or do some counselling through Gamcare? Anything to stop you doing that as well? The more you can do to help yourself the better.
Chris.
Hi
There are certain things I needed to do to amke my recovery eaisier.
This requires me to surrender to the past, I can not change the past, I can not get my money back, I can not take the pain away I caused myself, I need to heal my pains.
I needed to ban myself from all forms of gambling.
I needed to hand over all finacnces to to a person I could trust.
I needed to attend as many meetings as possible to get my focus on to healthier things than gambling.
No one could stop me gambling that was my choice.
Once I understood my emotional triggers and changed my unhealthy reactions to people life and situations recovery and healing would speed my recovery.
I needed to be committed to my recovery.
I needed to exchange all of my unhealthy habits in to healthy habits.
To write down my needs my wants and in time my on going goals.
How committed am I towards finding a healing healthy life.
Going back to Gambling was far to painful.
Going back to Gambling was self destructive.
Just for today only I will not gamble.
Love and peace to every one
Dave L
AKA Dave of Beckenham UK
Bank may offer a goodwill gesture but it really depends on the lengths you have gone to circumvent the blocks
You need to be very careful with using aliases and fake names with gambling companies
They don't mind you losing but if you hit a big win they will very quickly start asking questions that you won't be able to answer
Cut a long story short doing what you are doing more or less guarantees you to lose whatever you stake
You would actually be better off removing the blocks if you are hell bent on continuing to gamble
Thank you all for your replies. It's been a couple of days since I lost the money now and I've come to terms with it a bit more in a positive way. I think my hopes of getting the money back are based on the fact that I could then pretend it hadn't happened as there would be no tangible damage from it. I've still contacted my bank as I want to make sure the blocks are in place and working but I'm not pinning any hopes on getting money back anymore as even without blocks in place it was still my decision to spend that money.
I've enquired about starting some group support sessions so hopefully this can be a new fresh start. Thanks again for your support ?
Hi, I’m with NatWest too and blocked myself but still seeming to gamble today. I’m so gutted. I spent £... When I’ve had the urge to do it before I’ve tried and the bank said no and it’s stopped me and I’ve been ok but when it worked I went into that deep black hole!!! Did they say or do anything?
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.
