Casino La Vida (Red Flush)

[pmhcfc]

Isn't it typical...I leave the online gambling world alone for a while, come back, and the two casinos I chose to play at cause me problems. I did have a little problem with G's casino but give them their due, they did finally come back with an answer and put some money in my account after the bad customer service I received, fair play to them I have no problems with them at all.

I just wish the same could be said for Casino La Vida...Deposited via debit and credit cards - no problem with that their end, they happily took my money with no questions asked. Didn't achieve a single cashout and then the other night I had a $100 left in my account so withdrew it. However, they won't let me have it...some bull about a million and one items of documentation required Now I have explained to them that I don't have a picture driving licence/up to date passport nor a utility bill (mine are all paperless) but that's not good enough for them - they are holding onto my measly $100 with a vice-like grip...doesn't matter what I say to them.

They are now ignoring my Emails, the telephone number for the UK is a fax number and the live chat is a complete waste of time. I've had cash outs from virtually every casino I've played in the past and not once have I had a problem...Ladbrokes, G's, GoWild, William Hill - to name but four - all happily pay out to the method I deposited with.

Casino La Vida boasted on one Email that they have won awards at Casinomeister, which makes them (they say) an honest and trustworthy casino - what a joke. I deposit thousands, lose, lose, lose then request a tiny withdrawal of $100 (which is the minimum withdrawal at these casinos by the way) and they won't let me have it. I don't care what they say...the belong in the rogue pit in my opinion.

And yes, I did try to contact the rep here but my PM has been ignored as well.

Bad, bad, bad Casino La Vida

[denamoutz]

i played there free welcome chip and cashed out the max of 200. I sent in all my docs and received my money, no problem, i give them a thumbs up!!!!!

[Marie2473]

Hmm, if the police would stop you on the street for some reason, asking for identification? What would you do? Do you mean that you have no ID what so ever?
I think it is up to you to be able to show proof of who you are, even to an online casino. THEY are in my opinion doing this to make it more safe for us players!!

I know that in some countries there is a law saying that it is your obligation to be able to show identification when and if beeing asked...

[Seventh777]

Hmm, if the police would stop you on the street for some reason, asking for identification? What would you do? Do you mean that you have no ID what so ever?
I think it is up to you to be able to show proof of who you are, even to an online casino. THEY are in my opinion doing this to make it more safe for us players!!

I know that in some countries there is a law saying that it is your obligation to be able to show identification when and if beeing asked...

Out of the many casino`s i`ve withdrawn from none have ever asked for id documents, at best I think there was one which asked for a copy of a utility bill, I remember when I had my 1st withdrawal at the 32 Red group I rang them up and asked if they needed verification and the reply was..`No need, we`ve already verified you`,.

How does verification of withdrawals make it more safe for players?, when you are requesting a withdrawal to be made to the same card you deposited with, with no verification needed whatsoever.

My withdrawals.....

All four of the 32Redgroup.

Virgin.

Sky Vegas.

Ladbroke`s.

GoWild.

3Dice.

Topscratch.

Zodiac.

Desert Dollar.

Kerching.

Royal Vegas.

Gnuf.

Purple Lounge.

And many more from the same groups etc I mentioned.

If casinos are that concerned about identify theft and verification protocols, it begins with deposits, plain and simple.

[sparkz]

Hmm, if the police would stop you on the street for some reason, asking for identification? What would you do? Do you mean that you have no ID what so ever?
I think it is up to you to be able to show proof of who you are, even to an online casino. THEY are in my opinion doing this to make it more safe for us players!!

I know that in some countries there is a law saying that it is your obligation to be able to show identification when and if beeing asked...

This story comes up time and time again here. To put it simply. There isnt any government issued ID in the UK whatsoever. They were going to implement ID cards with finger print scans and whatnot but scrapped the idea as it was far too expensive.

If people stop someone in the UK they dont ask for ID (unless your driving they ask for your licence or ask for name, dob etc to check on the DVLA database). They ask for name, dob, and whatnot and radio in to confirm the details are correct. They may even ask for something like a bank card which shows your name on so they know they were given a correct name. (Take a look at illegal immigrants here. They get away with it because they use the tactic of not carrying any ID cards on them or anything with their name. That means when they are busted they can say they dont understand english and because they have no identification the police can only let them go)

"Proof of age" as in to buy alcohol or cigarettes is usually in the form of a provisional driving licence. Which is useless because not everyone wants to learn to drive. Many years back at school there was a proof of age scheme where everyone under the age of 18 gets a card to keep and use as ID. Funnily enough though when I became the legal age of 18 and tried to use the card at a tescos they told me the scheme had stopped and the ID cards were no longer valid.


The thing many casinos have started to accept (Well the accredited 1's I had this problem with) is a birth certificate copy.

This can either be your original birth certificate or you can find your birth index number on a site like ancestry, then use that code on another site that lets you order certified copys of a birth entry.

[vinylweatherman]

This story comes up time and time again here. To put it simply. There isnt any government issued ID in the UK whatsoever. They were going to implement ID cards with finger print scans and whatnot but scrapped the idea as it was far too expensive.

If people stop someone in the UK they dont ask for ID (unless your driving they ask for your licence or ask for name, dob etc to check on the DVLA database). They ask for name, dob, and whatnot and radio in to confirm the details are correct. They may even ask for something like a bank card which shows your name on so they know they were given a correct name. (Take a look at illegal immigrants here. They get away with it because they use the tactic of not carrying any ID cards on them or anything with their name. That means when they are busted they can say they dont understand english and because they have no identification the police can only let them go)

"Proof of age" as in to buy alcohol or cigarettes is usually in the form of a provisional driving licence. Which is useless because not everyone wants to learn to drive. Many years back at school there was a proof of age scheme where everyone under the age of 18 gets a card to keep and use as ID. Funnily enough though when I became the legal age of 18 and tried to use the card at a tescos they told me the scheme had stopped and the ID cards were no longer valid.


The thing many casinos have started to accept (Well the accredited 1's I had this problem with) is a birth certificate copy.

This can either be your original birth certificate or you can find your birth index number on a site like ancestry, then use that code on another site that lets you order certified copys of a birth entry.

The UK makes use of electronic methods to confirm ID. Citizens do not get issued with "papers" to carry around as in many other countries. If you are arrested by the police, they will take a DNA sample from you, and this is used to check whether you have ever been arrested before for anything, by any police force in the UK.

If you cannot prove your ID to police when stopped, and have committed an offence that requires the issue of a ticket, or a later court summons, they do NOT just let you go, but can arrest you for the purpose of taking you to the police station in order to confirm your ID.

Illegal immigrants are not just let go if they have done anything wrong, they will be taken to the police station to have their ID checked.

The reason illegal immigrants beat the system is that being foreign in itself is NOT reason enough to be arrested, not even to establish your ID, so by carrying no ID and behaving themselves, illegal immigrants can often escape the system, even more so if they take the trouble to learn English.

There is a new proof of age card scheme, and anyone can get a photo "proof of age" card for £20, and the standards for proving your ID are at the same level as used by the DVLA when issuing driving licenses. Anyone with an old paper driving license can apply to upgrade to a photo version, but the government have deemed this unnecessary, and thus charge a full fee for the process. It is only free where other circumstances require your license to be reissued, such as a change of address or entitlements.
The cost of getting a passport is more than $100 - so in this case it isn't worth the bother.

If the deposit was made from a UK debit card, there should be no problem returing the $100 back that way, and the same applies to a VISA credit card deposit.

The ONLY requirement that the casino have to abide by is to ensure the money goes to it's legal owner, and this is achieved simply by returning it to the original deposit method.

If a cheque is sent, then this can be sent to the registered address, and ONLY if the player gave the correct address would they receive it.

Online bills and statements are made available in PDF format, and when printed off are EXACTLY as they would appear if posted. If you print off a copy of the PDF version of your utility bill, it is IMPOSSIBLE to tell it apart from one that would be sent through the post, since postal ones are simply "printed off" by the provider from what is effectively the PDF file that they make available to online customers, stuffed into an envelope, and posted.

Having all the documents in paper form, along with a photo license or passport merely makes the procedure much simpler and quicker, and failure to have all this to hand makes the procedure slower, but it does NOT make it impossible, and in fact companies that have rejected customers on these grounds were "read the riot act" by government, and told to stop using the rules as an excuse to reject customers they just didn't want. The banks were treated to an extra special bollocking for refusing to allow many benefit/pension claimants to have bank accounts because many didn't drive or travel (you are not supposed to be able to afford such luxuries on benefits), and this was holding up government policy to move all benefits and pensions onto direct bank transfer payments, rather than the old passbook/GIRO system which was more expensive to run.

In this case, the OP could complain to Trading Standards, as since online casinos were formally legalised and regulated, they are being monitored for compliance with UK consumer laws. The UK are ALREADY considering tightening up the current system of whitelisting since they feel many operators have misused the freedoms this gave them to market into the UK and escape having to abide by local UK laws, UK players have no means to take a complaint to a UK body in many cases as they have to complain to the whitelist jurisdiction, some of whom have no effective procedures in place to deal with this.

[chuchu59]

Isn't it typical...I leave the online gambling world alone for a while, come back, and the two casinos I chose to play at cause me problems. I did have a little problem with G's casino but give them their due, they did finally come back with an answer and put some money in my account after the bad customer service I received, fair play to them I have no problems with them at all.

I just wish the same could be said for Casino La Vida...Deposited via debit and credit cards - no problem with that their end, they happily took my money with no questions asked. Didn't achieve a single cashout and then the other night I had a $100 left in my account so withdrew it. However, they won't let me have it...some bull about a million and one items of documentation required Now I have explained to them that I don't have a picture driving licence/up to date passport nor a utility bill (mine are all paperless) but that's not good enough for them - they are holding onto my measly $100 with a vice-like grip...doesn't matter what I say to them.

They are now ignoring my Emails, the telephone number for the UK is a fax number and the live chat is a complete waste of time. I've had cash outs from virtually every casino I've played in the past and not once have I had a problem...Ladbrokes, G's, GoWild, William Hill - to name but four - all happily pay out to the method I deposited with.

Casino La Vida boasted on one Email that they have won awards at Casinomeister, which makes them (they say) an honest and trustworthy casino - what a joke. I deposit thousands, lose, lose, lose then request a tiny withdrawal of $100 (which is the minimum withdrawal at these casinos by the way) and they won't let me have it. I don't care what they say...the belong in the rogue pit in my opinion.

And yes, I did try to contact the rep here but my PM has been ignored as well.

Bad, bad, bad Casino La Vida

my experience with this casino is that they are strict in handling documentation and it is a PITA. however, i never any unanswered emails and after several email exchanges i got the docs approved and my withdrawals were handled smoothly. who did you pm? it should be wayneredreturns. you will get an answer quicker.

[vinylweatherman]

It would help if they put an accurate phone number up on their site, rather than a FAX number under "phone".

I have used the Red Flush phone number from the UK, and this DOES work, so since La Vida is a sister casino, try the Red Flush number and see if they can help, or at least give the correct La Vida UK phone number.

You could still contact Trading Standards to have them look into the problems caused by the UK having no proper ID card scheme, and see what has happened when others have encountered this problem, and not necessarily with casinos, but with ANY business that needs to confirm your ID. They probably have a leaflet on what to do, and this may even be downloadable.
ANY business that refuses to accept GOVERNMENT sanctioned sets of ID documents is treading on shaky ground, as shown by the bollocking the banks got over refusing accounts to benefit claimants and pensioners after the government announced that direct bank transfer was going to be used for payments to claimants.

[WayneRedreturns]

Hi pmhcfc,

I have replied to your PM.

I have checked your account and cannot fault the casino customer service as they have recorded every email sent to you since you refused to send the requested documents.

There are numerous requests for industry standard verification documents. These are government issued ID (this does not have to be a drivers licence) a utility bill and copies of cards used to deposit. I am sure more 90% of the members have gone through this process and I cannot understand your objection or explanation of why you refuse. Simply scan the documents send them in and the payment will be processed.

As vinylweatherman explained there are no issues with the phones and I cannot find any correspondence that has not been responded to.

P.S threatening the customer service guys with posts at CasinoMeister and chargebacks is not the way to resolve the issue IMHO.

Best regards,
Wayne

[maxd]

... threatening the customer service guys with posts at CasinoMeister and chargebacks is not the way to resolve the issue IMHO.

Quite right, in fact it's grounds for having your Casinomeister membership yanked. Note the following sections of the Forum Rules:

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1.10 - Members who commit player fraud (chargebacks, fake accounts, gnoming, multiple accounts, etc.) will be banned from the forum.
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1.17 - Exploiting Your Membership Do not threaten casino operations with blackmail. Mentioning that you are a member is fine, but don't try to instill fear in a casino operation by threatening to post bad reviews or roguing them. Leave the roguing to Casinomeister - it's tricky business and not for amateurs.
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