Betfred closed my account and retained my withdrawal under "Safer Gambling"?! Help!

[sponge2025]

Hi everyone, looking for some advice or similar experiences regarding a nightmare situation with Betfred today.

My Gamstop exclusion officially ended a few days ago and I went through the proper removal process over the phone and received my official confirmation that I was deactivated.

I opened a Betfred account earlier today, deposited just over £800 in total via bank transfer, played for a bit and withdrew £300, and then requested a £200 withdrawal (both by bank transfer). Then about an hour or two later I was locked out of my account.

I jumped on Live Chat and the agent told me that my account had been closed as a "commercial decision." Ok fine. When I asked about my £200 withdrawal and the rest of my balance, the agent literally told me:

"Due to Safer Gambling policies the account is to remain closed and the funds are to be retained. We wouldn't be able to escalate this any further."

I said so you'll be returning the deposits I made then?

"We wouldn't be able to accept or process any withdrawals for the account."

"Our online account can accept deposits however if there is activity or wider Safer Gambling policies in line with our terms & conditions we reserve the right to close the account & retain the funds."

"I do apologise but as I have advised everything I can for this query I wouldn't be able to escalte this any futher and will need to end the chat", and then they exited the chat.

I'm absolutely dumfounded... Is this even legal?!!?

I've already emailed their customer support saying I want my withdrawal or my deposits back.