Was this a freak occurance?

[grigsy]

I was trading an event in Australia (Rockhampton race 6) and, with about 30 secs till the off on the countdown clock on Bet Angel, I had an open lay order for $160. Suddenly, Peter's voice chirped up "this event is now in-play." Bet Angel concurred with Peter's announcement but, on the live TV feed, less than half the field had been loaded. I checked Betfair and, sure enough, it was also showing in-play.
On going in-play, all open orders were cancelled of course, and I was trying to get my bearings when, about 20 seconds later, Peter announced "this event has been suspended." Once again, Bet Angel and Betfair both agreed. On the screen, still the horses were being loaded. I guess this was the point where Betfair realised they had sent the event in-play and suspended the market.
The race probably began (for real) 20-30 seconds later, and Peter's voice announced once more that it was in-play, this time on cue.
I have never traded in-play and did not have a strategy to help me work out what I needed to do. When the race was called in-play in the first place, my open order was one tick away from the market price and it would have scratched me at zero. I was confident I was going to get matched and, if not, would have cut out with a small loss before it started.
As the race began (2nd time in-play), my green-up option was at -$39. I didn't expect to see that and I regret not taking it now as the option disappeared after about 5 secs and for the rest of the race it showed simply +$444 on the horse I was trading, and -$160 on the rest of the field. I didn't know what to do and ended up doing nothing, the race was run, my horse came nowhere and I was down $160.
I rang Betfair and they told me yes they had sent the event in-play earlier than expected, but could not offer an explanation why, other than they suspended it as soon as it came to light, and I was not permitted to talk to anyone from 'market operations'. All they would tell me after that was that the result stood and if I refered to my terms and conditions I would see that they are covered for instances such as this, and that I should have traded out in-play.
I was wondering whether this is an isolated instance or whether it is something that happens from time to time and is something that we should have a contingency plan for. In which case, I need to work out what to do when my greening up option does not provide me with any assistance.
A $160 loss is huge for a newbie like me with a very small bank, but I imagine those of you who trade in multiples of $1,000s would have had a bit more to say about it if it happened to you. Then again, I'm sure you also have strategies to cope with that eventuality.
Just by the by, the Betfair rep was very guarded with his language. He offered sympathy but did not offer any apology or admit that Betfair had made a mistake.

[Green Park]

Unfortunately Betfair screw up quite often and when they do they just shrug their shoulders and say 'tough luck'. If you argue they just point to terms and conditions.

A freak event yes, will it happen again, quite likely.

[LeTiss]

Unfortuntely, when Betfair stuffs up it invariably costs people money

You chose not to accept the -£39, just in case things went back the other way

Had your horse gone on to win, you wouldn't have won £444, you would have thankfully greened up for a small profit

This is what happens when people end up going 'in play' - it becomes a game of shit or bust