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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Considering 85 reviews, most reviewers were unhappy with their experience overall. Many customers encountered significant issues with payment processing, particularly concerning withdrawals, which were often slow and complicated, with some reporting delays of several days or even weeks. People frequently experienced poor communication and extremely long response times from customer service, making it difficult to resolve problems, especially when accounts were suspended or locked. The website also presented challenges, with some users finding it less functional after updates and others struggling with account verification processes that were described as overly intrusive and slow. However, some customers also noted positive experiences with customer service, highlighting quick responses and helpful interactions, particularly through live chat, where issues were resolved promptly. These users appreciated the efficiency and politeness of the support staff, finding them capable of addressing their queries quickly.

What people talk about most

Customer service

Users describe ambiguous interactions with customer service, with many reviewers expressing significant... See more

Payment

People report negative experiences with payment, with many customers expressing frustration over missing... See more

Response time

Reviewers highlight significant dissatisfaction with response times, frequently reporting long waits for... See more

Website

Customers consistently note negative experiences with the website, with many describing it as poorly... See more

Customer communications

Consumers find contact to be a source of frustration, primarily due to unresponsiveness via email, with many... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Just had my account suspended and I have sent email asking why as can't do live chat unless you are signed in. Still waiting for a proper response after 3 days.

Company replied

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Opened an account as I've not had another exchange account since joining Betfair years ago. Anyone trying to establish themselves in this niche market is going to find it tough competing ag... See more

Company replied

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I am using several years now. But week ago they requested documents from me which i provided. They dont talk to me on email and wont let me login to acess their live chat

Company replied


Company details

  1. Betting Agency

Information provided by various external sources

Smarkets is the company fusing sports betting, prediction markets and financial technology into a sleek exchange.


Contact info

2.6

Poor

TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

595 reviews

5-star
4-star
3-star
2-star
1-star

Replied to 100% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 1 week

How this company uses Trustpilot

See how their reviews and ratings are sourced, scored, and moderated.

Companies on Trustpilot aren't allowed to offer incentives or pay to hide reviews. Reviews are the opinions of individual users and not of Trustpilot. Read more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Michael

It’s hard to read the negative reviews of Smarkets. Smarkets have always been brilliant for me. There is no problem getting matched in the main sports and the customer support is the best out there. First class.

September 16, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Thanks so much for the great review! We're thrilled to hear that you're enjoying our platform, also that the agents have been helpful and made your experience enjoyable — appreciate your support!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Unable to withdraw funds because…

Unable to withdraw funds because Smarkets customer service are too busy or can't be bothered to change the card registered to my account - the card was lost and cancelled and I have proved that the new card registered is the same account but 4 days later still not able to withdraw my money. Poor customer service excuse after excuse very frustrating every other site I use sorted this issue within a couple of hours. - update 11 Sept claim issued in the county court because Smarkets still not paying - dont bother emailing support you'll wait days for them to respond with further delaying tactics
Regarding the message below please contact support@smarkets! contacted them 4 times over three days - no response, no acknowledgement, nothing not even we'll look into this for you absolutely nothing - shameful. Prove me wrong Smarkets - tell trustpilot you have responded and I will expose your lies further

September 9, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

We’re sorry to hear about your experience and the difficulties you’ve had with your withdrawal request. We always aim to make our processes as smooth as possible while also meeting necessary regulatory requirements, and it’s disappointing to see that this was not the case for you. Please contact us at support@smarkets.com
with your details so our team can review this directly and help resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Alice was extremely helpful resolving a…

Alice was extremely helpful resolving a problem with an expired account.

September 9, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Thanks so much for the great review! We're thrilled to hear that you're enjoying our platform, also that the agents have been helpful and made your experience enjoyable — appreciate your support!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The live chat support (especially Jack)…

The live chat support (especially Jack) was super professional and fast!

September 5, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Thanks so much for the great review! We're thrilled to hear that you're enjoying our platform, also that the agents have been helpful and made your experience enjoyable — appreciate your support!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

So here we are again

So here we are again, a week AFTER being told to contact support, I’m still waiting to withdraw my funds. A guy called Mark even claimed there’d be a “smooth transition of funds”. This is the least smooth experience I’ve ever had from a company and they clearly couldn’t care less about their customers. I wait the generic “apology” and request to contact “support”. An absolute farce of a company..

September 3, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

We’re sorry to hear about your experience and the difficulties you’ve had with your withdrawal request. We always aim to make our processes as smooth as possible while also meeting necessary regulatory requirements, and it’s disappointing to see that this was not the case for you. Please contact us at support@smarkets.com
with your details so our team can review this directly and help resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Get your documents ready

Don't know what has happened to Smarkets. Started with them in 2017, was a great platform.

Trying to get my account reactived, I have been asked for:

Multiple account statements
Multiple saving statements
Payslip
ID

All provided. I'm on day 11 now, and it appears still no closer to verification.

Like Columbo - "just one more thing"... answer the question...wait 2 days.

Work in Financial Services myself, fully aware of money laundering laws and care required and I have never seen anything like this before.

Just hope they are more secure than M&S and Co-op with their customer data which is sent via email.

Frankly an unbelievable process that I'm not sure will ever end.

September 2, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi there, we’re sorry to hear about the frustration with our verification process. We understand how important it is to get set up quickly, and while certain documents are required by regulation, we aim to make the process as smooth as possible. Please contact us at support@smarkets.com using your registered email address, and our team will review your case to help speed things up.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Horrible Kyc wich can take weeks or…

Horrible Kyc wich can take weeks or months.highly invasive needing bank tax and whatever nonsense documents they need/request

Stay away from this company

August 29, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi there, we’re sorry to hear about the frustration with our verification process. We understand how important it is to get set up quickly, and while certain documents are required by regulation, we aim to make the process as smooth as possible. Please contact us at support@smarkets.com using your registered email address, and our team will review your case to help speed things up.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Account verification

This company has the worst account verification procedure in the whole betting industry as it is possible to read multiple negative reviews about.

They ask things they have nothing to do with which other companies doesn´t ask and then they are extremely slow to clarify things. Just stay away from these clowns.

August 15, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi Carl,

We understand processes like these can be frustrating and/or inconvenient, please accept our apologies, however they are a necessary part of our regulatory obligations.

If you believe this has to be looked in to further, please contact us on support@smarkets.com and we will be happy to help.

Regards,
Seb
Smarkets Customer Experience.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

SHARKETS. AVOID AT ALL COSTS

What a waste of time. Opened an account and within 7 days my account is suspended. No update as to why and shocking service in trying to get this resolved. There is compliance and then there is Smarkets who make you jump through hoops. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. THIS IS NOT A BETTING SITE THAT HAS FULL TRANSPARENTCY.
Reply received asking me to email in. This is a waste of time and therefore my advice is avoid Smarkets and make sure you use Betfair. You need to join a site with total transparency and Smarkets is not that company.

August 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi Kevin,

We understand processes like these can be frustrating and/or inconvenient, please accept our apologies, however they are a necessary part of our regulatory obligations.

If you believe this has to be looked in to further, please contact us on support@smarkets.com and we will be happy to help.

Regards,
Mark
Smarkets Customer Experience.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

You may as well rename the company Rumpelstiltskin as you all but demand someone's first born child .

Smarkets locked my account for "verification" despite having opened my account over 10 years ago. They were made aware that I am a matched bettor but had only recently started again after a 5 year break. Thus money passing in and out of my account was low.

Asked me for bank statements then began asking about friends who made transfers into my account. When I sent a sarcastic email saying that they are a gambling company, not a mortgage broker, they closed my account saying they had "concerns about affordability". This is hilarious given that I match bet and do not gamble.

They will undoubtedly give the usual bog standard copy and paste reply, but I will be clear that no other gambling company is this intrusive. These questions are beyond the scope of the new regulations. There is a reason why gamblers (which I am not) are moving to crypto casinos based overseas. With any luck a trend will follow for this for exchanges.

Smarkets were ironically the best exchange several years ago - low commission and a reasonably functional desktop site, even though liquidity could be hit or miss. Its simply more practical to use Betfair (who do not ask me for my blood type at this rate). You may as well rename the company Rumpelstiltskin as you all but demand someone's first born child.

No I will not be replying to your ridiculous "please email us". I will be filing a complaint with the Gambling Commission. Given that you have raised issues of "affordability", I will also raise a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. This is given that you cite "regulations". I note repeated reviews speak about your excessive and intrusive requests from customers. As you have zero interest in tackling this, it would seem appropriate that FOS intervene. You do, after all, exist as a financial organisation and you claim this is to "prevent harm" (to matched bettors, not gamblers). It would seem that FOS will be able to examine whether or not your "checks" are relevant, or, as many others state, unnecessarily intrusive.

EDIT: it is worth pointing out that part of the reason these "regulations" were introduced was due to, among other extreme examples, one idiot managing to spaff £70k in a 48 hour period on gambling. This is not anyone else's problem nor responsibility. Examples like this are, to put it mildly, excessive and the responsibility, if any third partner can be blamed, lies with the person's bank (for not flagging this) and the gambling operator. Ultimately, the buck still falls with this individual.

However, because we live in a nanny state, everyone else must be punished for the actions of irresponsible parties. I personally fail to understand how the "government" really cares about preventing me or anyone else from spaffing my full salary on slots because if the government actually cared about anyone's wellbeing then my rent wouldn't be twice what it was pre-Covid.

Given that matched bettors are a significant part of exchange customers (in order to lay off said bet), Smarkets could easily verify this by requesting proof of the lay bets being backed on another site. They do not have this kind of common sense because they would much rather have your full financial information and a DNA test to prove your dad really is your dad.

Pathetic company.

August 4, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi mush love,

Thanks for reaching out.
I understand your frustrations. If you'd like, you may email us at support@smarkets.com to have this reviewed again for you.

Kind regards,
Sam
Smarkets Customer Experience Team

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Expired Debit Card Withdrawl

The operator was able to deal with my request very quickly

August 5, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi Lynn,

Thanks so much for the great review! We're thrilled to hear you’re enjoying the low commission and smooth experience—appreciate your support!

Kind regards,
Sam
Smarkets Customer Experience Team

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I used Smarkets for many years

I used Smarkets for many years, when I won much money they closed my account and stole lots of money from me. They came up with a story I have broke some kind of rule. But how is that possible, betters against betters. Big stay away from this company, they might steal your money whenever….

July 28, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets


Hi Robert,

We're sorry to hear about your experience and understand how frustrating this must feel. At Smarkets, we take account closures and the handling of funds very seriously and only act in line with our terms and conditions, which are in place to ensure fairness and compliance for all users.

We never close accounts or withhold funds without reason. If your account was closed, it would have been due to a clear breach of our terms, and we aim to communicate this transparently. That said, we’d be happy to look into your case further and clarify any concerns.

Please reach out to our support team at support@smarkets.com with your account details so we can assist you directly.


Kind regards,
Seb
Smarkets Customer Experience Team

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Terrible

Terrible!
Apart from giving them my PIN, I have given them every other bit of personal information for them then to say they still haven't received enough details to verify my account.
Name, address, bank details, driving license front and back, pay slips, bank statements and still not enough!
All this after being with them for about month.

July 25, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi Harry!
We’re really sorry for the inconvenience you’ve experienced. We understand how frustrating it is to provide so much information and still face issues.
Please contact our support team at support@smarkets.com so we can urgently review and resolve this for you.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

knowledgeable support online

i had a issue with Smarket. i contacted the support online. the response was super-quick. the adviser, Nova, was courteous and helpful. the problem was sorted quickly and transparently (i had misunderstood a section of the statement interface). very happy. x

July 19, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi Nicky


Thank you so much for your kind review and for highlighting the excellent support

We’re delighted to hear that you found the assistance helpful and went out of your way to help you.

If there’s anything else we can assist you with, please don’t hesitate to reach out via live chat or email at support@smarkets.com.

Wishing you a fantastic day!

Kind regards,
Seb
Smarkets Customer Experience Team

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Stop submitting bank statements to…

Stop submitting bank statements to them; no one should have to humiliate themselves and expose their entire finances just to play at a rotten gambling company. They claim they have to request this, but there's no law that requires it. It's entirely their own decision to humiliate their customers out of fear of fines.

July 13, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi There

We understand your frustration. Requests for documents like bank statements are part of legal requirements we must follow, especially around responsible gambling and anti-money laundering. We know it’s not ideal, but it’s not done to shame anyone — just to stay compliant and protect all players.

Thank you

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

BEWARE

BEWARE! I've had fully matched bets cancelled after been accepted and guess what they all won. I sat and watched a 'winning' full matched bet placed before the off being cancelled when the horses were in running! Other 'winning' fully matched football bets placed at half time were found to be cancelled after the game. Never had a bet cancelled that lost. Some people clearly know how to abuse the system and I suspect it's coming from inside!

July 12, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi Phil ,


We understand your frustration. Bets are only ever cancelled under specific circumstances, such as obvious errors or rule breaches, never based on the result. If you think a cancellation wasn’t justified, please contact our support team so we can look into it. We’re committed to fair play for all users.



Thank you

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic service

Alice on the live chat was so supportive and helpful. I’m still waiting back for correspondence to my emails but she was excellent and extremely helpful.

July 7, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Thank you so much for your kind review and for highlighting the excellent support

We’re delighted to hear that you found the assistance helpful and went out of your way to help you.

If there’s anything else we can assist you with, please don’t hesitate to reach out via live chat or email at support@smarkets.com.

Wishing you a fantastic day!

Kind regards,
Seb
Smarkets Customer Experience Team

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Good service

Excellent service, and I'm happy with it.

July 3, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Hi Alex!

Thank you for your kind words! We're thrilled you enjoyed our service.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

One of the best betting exchanges

One of the best betting exchanges to use. Great interface and easy to match bets. Customer service/support is quick and easy to get hold of to fix issues. User experience is good compared to other exchanges

June 30, 2025
Unprompted review
Smarkets logo

Reply from Smarkets

Thank you so much for your kind review and for highlighting the excellent support

We’re delighted to hear that you found the assistance helpful and went out of your way to help you.

If there’s anything else we can assist you with, please don’t hesitate to reach out via live chat or email at support@smarkets.com.

Wishing you a fantastic day!

Kind regards,
Seb
Smarkets Customer Experience Team

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