Casino LaVida - Careful!!

[pmhcfc]

As I've said in previous postings, I only really play at one casino these days but I had a really good win there the other day and thought I'd try a few $'s at a casino I hadn't played at before. I saw LaVida was accredited here so thought it would be ok to go there...OOpps

First off, I'd like to express my surprise that they are accredited to be honest. I've just read the current thread about them and feel they've acted incorrectly - just my opinion I hasten to add.

I deposited $100 and got a nice bonus, played kinda loose with it and it was soon gone. I decided to try another $100 deposit. Deposited through my MB account and the funds went from there but for some reason it showed as 'pending' at Lavida.

I waited about 30 minutes before I went to live chat. Guy there said he can't understand why but accounts department not in for four hours so nothing he could do, even though I gave him the transaction number. I sent an Email with a copy of my MB account statement (as requested) and requested in that Email that Lavida confirm receipt of it by way of a return Email...didn't happen. So I went back on live chat where the same guy told me he'd received Email and has forwarded it to accounts.

I went to bed, got up in the morning and logged into the casino but funds still not showing- so I phoned them. After explaining things for a third time the rep spoke to accounts who then put the funds into my casino account. Some NINE hours after I first reported it and having been promised it would be done as soon as accounts department were in.

Anyway, I had some play time there, the money drifted away and I though I'd make one more small deposit- same method. I didn't think I had anything to worry about because the rep had admitted the problem was at the casino's end but it was a very rare occurrence. But yes, you have now doubt guessed that the self-same thing happened again!

I've Emailed them again (no reply, again), tried to phone - problem connecting and finally spoke to them on live chat. Joe says accounts are only department that can deal with it and they are not in for TWELVE hours ...Whilst on chat, he took forever to reply to anything I said and seemed totally uninterested...He didn't even bother saying 'Good Night' at the end of the conversation.

I do hope LaVida's accreditation gets reviewed as it's not what I expect from a casino who has been given the honour of that. I'm not suggesting they are rogue in this instance, it's more to do with the fact they obviously have some sort of problem in their accounts department and the awful way they have dealt with this. Couple this with (at least) one other post then one has to begin to doubt how good they really are.

I guess this proves I should have stuck to what I promised myself, and that's play at the only [MG] casino I feel I can trust and leave the rest well alone...Live and learn eh?

[vinylweatherman]

Sister site to Red Flush. I think their support for both is in South Africa, so the timezone differences should be small.

This problem is NOT as rare as they like you to think though, and it is one that has intermittently plagued players for a long time. Some casinos ensure that there is at least someone available to deal with this 24/7, otherwise they have a player who has deposited, but is NOT able to play the money when they want to, and may even NOT want to play it hours later when things get sorted out.
Quite a few casinos (including accredited ones) take their time dealing with this kind of issue, and make the PLAYER do all the "legwork" on top, making them contact the processor for a code, then get back to the casino, who may again get them to go back to the processor with another question.

I have had this with Neteller in the past, and 9 hours is pretty quick to sort this kind of mess out. This shouldn't be happening at all, and the problem is that the system does NOT "fail safe", but rather fails with the money stuck half way, and requiring manual intervention. A better system could be designed, so that where the transaction fails, Moneybookers (or Neteller) simply DECLINE the debit (in effect, reclaiming the money from "limbo"), and pull the code's validity so that control passes back to the PLAYER, who can try again, or play elsewhere if the problem occurs again on the retry.

In practice, the addition of a confirmation step would do. Currently, a code is passed with the funds, and the casino is supposed to credit the player's account. When things go wrong, the code has been issued, and money sent, but nothing has been credited. "limbo" resides on the casino's side, leaving the player with no money in either location.

With a confirmation code, the money would be AUTHORISED and ringfenced, and a code sent, BUT the money would ONLY be DEBITED when a confirmation code is returned from the casino saying the money has been credited to the player's account. IF the money ends up in "limbo", Moneybookers would void the transaction, because the confirmation code was not received. The player would have the authorisation lifted, and could safely try again, or play elsewhere. It would then be up to the CASINO to do the "legwork" when even this system fails, because it would be the CASINO, and not the player, who had their money "stuck in the works". This would be a powerful incentive for the casino to have staff in 24/7 who could handle this, an incentive to get better systems, and the PLAYER would not be inconvenienced anywhere near as much, and would NOT be inclined to "mouth off" at CS, because they would have the option to walk, and take their deposit elsewhere (which is itself an incentive for the casino to get things working quickly).

[pmhcfc]

Sister site to Red Flush. I think their support for both is in South Africa, so the timezone differences should be small.

This problem is NOT as rare as they like you to think though, and it is one that has intermittently plagued players for a long time. Some casinos ensure that there is at least someone available to deal with this 24/7, otherwise they have a player who has deposited, but is NOT able to play the money when they want to, and may even NOT want to play it hours later when things get sorted out.
Quite a few casinos (including accredited ones) take their time dealing with this kind of issue, and make the PLAYER do all the "legwork" on top, making them contact the processor for a code, then get back to the casino, who may again get them to go back to the processor with another question.

I have had this with Neteller in the past, and 9 hours is pretty quick to sort this kind of mess out. This shouldn't be happening at all, and the problem is that the system does NOT "fail safe", but rather fails with the money stuck half way, and requiring manual intervention. A better system could be designed, so that where the transaction fails, Moneybookers (or Neteller) simply DECLINE the debit (in effect, reclaiming the money from "limbo"), and pull the code's validity so that control passes back to the PLAYER, who can try again, or play elsewhere if the problem occurs again on the retry.

In practice, the addition of a confirmation step would do. Currently, a code is passed with the funds, and the casino is supposed to credit the player's account. When things go wrong, the code has been issued, and money sent, but nothing has been credited. "limbo" resides on the casino's side, leaving the player with no money in either location.

With a confirmation code, the money would be AUTHORISED and ringfenced, and a code sent, BUT the money would ONLY be DEBITED when a confirmation code is returned from the casino saying the money has been credited to the player's account. IF the money ends up in "limbo", Moneybookers would void the transaction, because the confirmation code was not received. The player would have the authorisation lifted, and could safely try again, or play elsewhere. It would then be up to the CASINO to do the "legwork" when even this system fails, because it would be the CASINO, and not the player, who had their money "stuck in the works". This would be a powerful incentive for the casino to have staff in 24/7 who could handle this, an incentive to get better systems, and the PLAYER would not be inconvenienced anywhere near as much, and would NOT be inclined to "mouth off" at CS, because they would have the option to walk, and take their deposit elsewhere (which is itself an incentive for the casino to get things working quickly).

Thanks for your great reply

All makes perfect sense VWM - pity the can't implement it...It is very frustrating not being able to play with a deposit when the fault is
with the casino. I've never experienced this problem before

What's annoyed me so much about LaVida is the shoddy way they
have dealt with my particular problem.