Help needed! Son is 17 and lost £1k!

My son came home today and told he he went to the bookies never got asked for I'd and he went on the fobt machines and lost £1k, I didn't believe him I looked at his bank account and it's gone! What should I do!!!!! Thanks

He spent 1k on the machines?

Yes, he's 17 as well

My son came home today and told he he went to the bookies never got asked for I'd and he went on the fobt machines and lost £1k, I didn't believe him I looked at his bank account and it's gone! What should I do!!!!! Thanks

Give him a fecking good hiding!

Make him learn the hard way. If he gets it back he'll do it again and again . Bitter pill to swallow but worth it in the long run. I've seen people spend their weeks wages in those machines over and over again, the same machine the say pay day. Only to find mumsie bailed him out for the rest of the week, week in week out.

It's tough but the only way to go.

1k on machine?? I cant handle losing 2quid in the bandit!!

Yes, he's 17 as well

Well, firstly you should make sure he's learned his lesson

Secondly, I have no idea. Perhaps you could go to the blooked, explain to them he's 17 and see where that goes.
Apart from that no idea.

How do you spend a thousand in one of those machines? Can you use cards in them?

My son came home today and told he he went to the bookies never got asked for I'd and he went on the fobt machines and lost £1k, I didn't believe him I looked at his bank account and it's gone! What should I do!!!!! Thanks

I'd complain to them saying that you've let an underage person gamble
See what happens then?
Hope that helps!

Yeah he went to the staff and topped it up, he was doing £100 spins, I am really heart broken and don't know what to do

If he's not 18 years of age, then it may be worth approaching the bookies concerned, as they may get into a lot of trouble for allowing somebody under the age of 18 to play/gamble in the shop!

Failing that, you'll have to recover it from his pocket money!

I remember when I was 17 and my mother (god rest her) gave me money to get clothes for my brothers wedding. We were quite poor. My mother scrimped for ages - my father had fucked off and she was bringing 4 of us up alone.
we were always skint.

I put it all in a fruit machine and lost the lot.
I was trying to claw back money i'd lost and just kept on losing.

I was heartbroken knowing i had to come home and tell her.

Lesson learned.

If you want money - you have to earn it.

I've know got my own business and doing well

Sorry for your pain aak - but he has to learn the hard way - dont bail him out brother

Thank you guys ill make him get the money the hard way.

Feel very sorry for you. I don't know what the age of consent is in bookies but if he is underage the licence holder may well be in breach of the rules.

May pay you to visit the premises and take it up with the manager?

Hope this helps and good luck.

I would also read the riot act to hin and put the fear of God in him £1k is a lot of money to throw away.

He needs help but also a lesson, it's not the bookies fault it's his own if he asks to lend money tell him no and keep an eye on him he will put more and more in them machines he will learn but at his own time I bet he's spent a whole lot more than 1000

make him wear a swansea shirt every day for a week that will teach him

make him wear a swansea shirt every day for a week that will teach him

Or a Forest one!

As someone who has done the same on numerous occasions I know hiw easy it is to blow a grand on them. They are worse than crack cocaine. Evil things that should be banned.

Blaming the bookie is not the answer and if you get the money back (highly unlikely) it wont be much of a lesson.

Its good hes come clean to you and hopefully it will nip it in the bud because its an awful compulsion to have.

I have battled against them for years and its a tough fight.

If it gets worse, because it can, then take his bank card off him and give him pocket money.

Its what I have had to do. My missus keeps my card and I draw 3-350 out for the month and its helped me trenendously.

I done something similar a few years ago, used to be £20 here another £20 there and used to do pretty well, this ofcourse let to me being too confident. One weekend I lost £1,000 on a couple of matches and stupidly tryed to 'win' my money back, loosing another £1,000. Its a sickener but its the only way to learn sometimes, sounds daft but looking back I'm fairly glad I lost that money because you never know when I would've stopped. Just put this one down to experience and monitor his habits in future.

make him wear a swansea shirt every day for a week that will teach him

Or a Forest one!

if he was a derby fan yes i suppose that would make sence but seems its a cardiff forum i guess he supports cardiff and swansea are the enemy.

Ok fella I am a manager at a well known high street bookies. There is a chance you can get the money back.

Go back to the shop and take your son, take his identification and ask to speak to the manager, then inform the manager that he is 17 and explain what happened. Stay calm and dont lose your head at them, do not get angry because if you do then you will have no chance at getting the money back. The manager himself will not be able to do anything other than refer you to customer services and the Gambling commission.

If you feel as though the staff are not being helpfull ask them for the gambling commissions number and also their District Managers number, that will soon snap them out of it.

Once you speak to customer services, things should go smoothly and hopefully you will get your money back, if you find they are being less than co-operative then mention the gambling commission and if that doesnt work mention the tabloids. 90% get their money back in these cases honestly try for it.

As long as you can keep your head and dont let your emotions get the better of you then it should be fine.

We can be shut for serving people under age, they wont want this to get out

^ do that. Then keep half the money.

Ok fella I am a manager at a well known high street bookies. There is a chance you can get the money back.

Go back to the shop and take your son, take his identification and ask to speak to the manager, then inform the manager that he is 17 and explain what happened. Stay calm and dont lose your head at them, do not get angry because if you do then you will have no chance at getting the money back. The manager himself will not be able to do anything other than refer you to customer services and the Gambling commission.

If you feel as though the staff are not being helpfull ask them for the gambling commissions number and also their District Managers number, that will soon snap them out of it.

Once you speak to customer services, things should go smoothly and hopefully you will get your money back, if you find they are being less than co-operative then mention the gambling commission and if that doesnt work mention the tabloids. 90% get their money back in these cases honestly try for it.

As long as you can keep your head and dont let your emotions get the better of you then it should be fine.

We can be shut for serving people under age, they wont want this to get out

How do they know how much money hes put in them daft machines, so what your saying is any 17 could blag a bookies with ID and claim they lost 50pence to 5grand because they shouldnt have been in them in the 1st place, what next people who go out drinking get in fights start a legal claim for injurys because a certain pub/club sold them the booze yet there under 18 . its the kids own fault let him stew and learn.

I would make sure you have the FULL story before approaching the bookies. Don't go there and get surprised by something your son didn't tell you.

Did they ask for ID? They should ask for it of he looks under 21, never mind 18. Did he show false ID? That little detail could bite you in the arse.

Ok fella I am a manager at a well known high street bookies. There is a chance you can get the money back.

Go back to the shop and take your son, take his identification and ask to speak to the manager, then inform the manager that he is 17 and explain what happened. Stay calm and dont lose your head at them, do not get angry because if you do then you will have no chance at getting the money back. The manager himself will not be able to do anything other than refer you to customer services and the Gambling commission.

If you feel as though the staff are not being helpfull ask them for the gambling commissions number and also their District Managers number, that will soon snap them out of it.

Once you speak to customer services, things should go smoothly and hopefully you will get your money back, if you find they are being less than co-operative then mention the gambling commission and if that doesnt work mention the tabloids. 90% get their money back in these cases honestly try for it.

As long as you can keep your head and dont let your emotions get the better of you then it should be fine.

We can be shut for serving people under age, they wont want this to get out

How do they know how much money hes put in them daft machines, so what your saying is any 17 could blag a bookies with ID and claim they lost 50pence to 5grand because they shouldnt have been in them in the 1st place, what next people who go out drinking get in fights start a legal claim for injurys because a certain pub/club sold them the booze yet there under 18 . its the kids own fault let him stew and learn.

Cameras showing the time he started playing to the time he left and then checking the logs on the back office to see exactly what happened. Quite simple really if you have half a brain. Do you not think everything done in a bookies is monitored these days?

Ok fella I am a manager at a well known high street bookies. There is a chance you can get the money back.

Go back to the shop and take your son, take his identification and ask to speak to the manager, then inform the manager that he is 17 and explain what happened. Stay calm and dont lose your head at them, do not get angry because if you do then you will have no chance at getting the money back. The manager himself will not be able to do anything other than refer you to customer services and the Gambling commission.

If you feel as though the staff are not being helpfull ask them for the gambling commissions number and also their District Managers number, that will soon snap them out of it.

Once you speak to customer services, things should go smoothly and hopefully you will get your money back, if you find they are being less than co-operative then mention the gambling commission and if that doesnt work mention the tabloids. 90% get their money back in these cases honestly try for it.

As long as you can keep your head and dont let your emotions get the better of you then it should be fine.

We can be shut for serving people under age, they wont want this to get out

How do they know how much money hes put in them daft machines, so what your saying is any 17 could blag a bookies with ID and claim they lost 50pence to 5grand because they shouldnt have been in them in the 1st place, what next people who go out drinking get in fights start a legal claim for injurys because a certain pub/club sold them the booze yet there under 18 . its the kids own fault let him stew and learn.

Cameras showing the time he started playing to the time he left and then checking the logs on the back office to see exactly what happened. Quite simple really if you have half a brain. Do you not think everything done in a bookies is monitored these days?

No idea i dont live my life in a bookies although i do the odd bet, no doubt there will be logs on the machines to whats going in on the same time as the camera footage i guess, i dont feel for him as its the only way he will learn anyone who bets shouldnt get there money back although it hurts to lose sometimes even worse when somebody is under the age and trying to get there money back for his son.

seems to be a prerequisite of being a cardiff fan , gambling

although i feel sorry for you,an i would kill my son for doing it.
would you be on here if he dropped 2 grand on them machines
sorry it his mistake an he should learn from it.

Thanks for the advice guys!

make him wear a swansea shirt every day for a week that will teach him

Bloody hell he only lost a grand, not a billion. Make the punishment fit the crime ffs