Cessation and Refund of Premium Charges

I rarely pay too much attention to emails from Betfair, but this morning's was certainly a pleasant surprise. 

The news that Betfair are not only ending the Premium Charges first introduced in 2008 "with immediate effect" was welcome enough, but that they are proceeding with a full refund of all Premium Charges previously paid "to avoid a lengthy and costly litigation process, likely to be damaging to our reputation" was beyond my wildest dreams. 

Hmmm - Let me think about that... YES PLEASE!

I'm actually still in shock, but credit must go to those users who have turned up the pressure and highlighted special deals for some people, actions which Betfair are apparently unwilling to justify in court. 

It's also not clear whether all users will be receiving refunds, or just those with an account history dating back to pre-September 2008. I guess their reasoning is that anyone joining after that date was aware of Premium Charges, which seems reasonable. 

One of the most unfair aspects of their introduction was that it penalised previously successful traders, i.e. moved the goalposts.   

The full rules are here and I'll check them in detail later, but right now I'm off to buy myself a McDonalds Egg White Delight McMuffin breakfast meal as I'm feeling a little more prosperous today, as Warren Buffett might say.