YOU'VE WON A FREE SPIN - no you haven't!

A free spin should be one of the simplest concepts on the internet. Apparently not.

For years, I’ve taken advantage of the daily free spin offers on Sky Bet and Sky Vegas. I’ve probably won a couple of hundred pounds over time, so I’m well aware of how the mechanics work.

Recently, though, I noticed my account balance was lower than expected. Checking my betting history, I initially only saw a small 37p bet (which I’d turned into 74p), so I stopped looking and thought nothing more of it.

The next day, I took my daily Sky Super Spin and won 5p. Later that afternoon, I saw the button displaying "FREE Super Spin" again. Assuming a second spin was available or that the daily timer had reset, I tapped it. I was immediately greeted with a "YOU’VE WON 1 FREE SPIN" message and told "You can claim your Free Spin". I opened Kong Golden Boot and spun the reels, only to realise there was no free spin at all. The game had simply deducted a default £1 stake from my cash balance.

That was the lightbulb moment. It’s exactly what must have happened the day before.

I jumped on Sky Support Chat. The agent explained there was nothing he could do about the first £1 spin because I hadn't reported it immediately, though he did credit my account with £1 cash to cover the second one.

Irritated that a misleading setup had tricked me into spending £2 I never intended to stake, I submitted a formal complaint to Sky Bet and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Sky’s final response was telling. They admitted they "recognise that the wording retained on the landing page may have led you to believe that another spin remained available." However, they pointed to their terms, which state that free spin availability is only confirmed inside the game itself. Sky’s position is that the landing page can remain live after the free spin has been used, and that customers should rely on the message inside the game itself to confirm whether a free spin is actually available.

For me, it was never really about the £2, even if that does cover five or six of my usual bets. It’s about whether a promotional journey should be allowed to say “FREE Super Spin”, “YOU’VE WON 1 FREE SPIN” and “You can claim your Free Spin” when there is, in fact, no free spin left to claim.

I’ve now asked the ASA to take a look. I suspect they may have a different view.