I popped in to my local William Hill in June with a view to placing a bet on that evening's football. As I was browsing the betting sheets, I looked up at the screens, and there, at the 2.45pm at Ripon, was a horse called Emily Dickinson running ... at 66/1.

My daughter's name is Emily, so I decided to put a tenner on a straight win. At the till was another punter, waiting for the cashier who was showing another punter the football betting.

He called her over, as the horses were heading for the start. The race started without either of us placing our bets, as there was no one to take them. Emily Dickinson won. I showed the cashier and other punters my slip and they commiserated.

When I politely challenged the cashier, she said she was only trying to help a customer but that they were short staffed, and I should have called her over. But we did. She said I should have bet earlier in the day, but the only reason I am not £660 better off is that there was no member of staff to take my bet.

There will have been CCTV footage, and I did call the complaints department but nobody has called me back.

I know it's a tricky case to argue, but if there had been staff at the till, I'd be a happy man. PA, Islington, London

William Hill has spoken to the shop (one of 2,400 it has in the UK) and its version conflicted slightly with yours.

According to the staff, you showed few signs of urgency around placing your bet, otherwise, they say, they would have reacted differently.

Surprisingly, perhaps, there are no formal rules, and there is some flexibility as races do not always start at the scheduled time. Customers – both online and offline – are made aware that if they do not place a bet in time, then it cannot be placed "after the off" (the formal start of the race). A member of the team was busy assisting another customer – he had clearly come in before you and was taking up her attention.

A spokeswoman for William Hill insisted you have no grounds for a payout, adding: "It is like any transaction that would have a deadline. It is the betting equivalent of a traveller missing a train because a customer ahead took too long on the ticket machine."

We have to say we're sorry, but we agree with William Hill. Would you have complained had your horse come in last?

William Hill's customer services has been in touch to discuss your complaint, and generously offered you a free bet as a gesture of goodwill.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, The Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number

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