Hi folks,
I've had quite a frustrating experience with Vernons, myself. I was going to PAB about it, but it happened in March (work and studies have got in the way). It was with regards to them withholding winnings on a no-deposit bonus, so I haven't actually lost anything.
Anyway, there are a few things that I find quite odd, so I thought I would share some of my correspondence with you guys and see what you think. I apologise in advance for the length of this post.
This is my last email to Vernons:
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Dear Sir or Madam,
I have still not received a personal response to my last email to yourselves. You informed me that my email had been forwarded to the relevant department for 'proper assistance'. I do note, however, that a Vernons Representative has left the following response to my complaint on the Ask Gambler's website:
"Hi,
Vernons have been clear with the responses to xxxxxxxx and they have all been based on our monitoring of the player's gameplay since signup with multiple No deposit bonuses. After initial analysis of this gameplay with our bonuses and his withdrawal request our fraud team firstly requested notarised documentation to be sent to our Liverpool office and the account was further investigated. This is only required in situations where we feel there is abuse of our promotional bonuses. Our investigation into the account revealed fraudulent use of bonus activity that meant we reversed any winnings and refunded the player's deposit as per our general bonus Ts&Cs - Section 8.4. As mentioned Vernons is an AGCC regulated site and our CS team deals with all players issues accordingly.
Kind Regards,
Vernons Support"
I responded to their statement on the Ask Gambler's website, but I have not received a response, as of yet.
I have researched what 'fraudulent use of bonus activity' means and it appears that it could be one of the following:
- Customer has multiple accounts with said company, in order to obtain multiple bonuses;
- Customer has charged back their account, either on this occasion or in the past;
- Customer was not of the legal age when the deposits or wagers in question were made;
- The financial instrument used to make deposits into the account were not registered in the customer's name
I am not guilty of any of the above and I take great umbrage at the suggestion I have acted fraudulently. Do you actually know what fraud means? For your clarification, here is the definition:
"Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain".
I certainly have not been involved in any wrongful or criminal deception. It may not be of any importance to you, but I have worked in the finance industry most of my adult life. Now, in order to secure a job in the finance industry, I have had to go undergo thorough screening, including identity checks, reference checks, credit checks and criminal record checks. My integrity is of the utmost importance to me. The fact that you have labelled me as acting fraudulently is causing me a great deal of distress, not only because it is completely inaccurate, but because your privacy statement states the following:
"WHO MAY USE YOUR INFORMATION
In connection with the uses set out above, we may share your Information with the following third parties –
- third parties such as banks and financial institutions, credit reporting agencies, age verification agencies and such other companies that may provide such identification and verification services to us from time to time;
- Other members of our group of companies, our service providers (including, without limitation, the Software Provider) and other third party data processors, who process your Information on our behalf;
- relevant authorities (such as courts, police, legal advisors or any regulatory body) should the disclosure be required by law or in connection with any alleged unlawful or fraudulent activity or money laundering or any suspected breach of the Terms and Conditions by you;
- other online gambling operators, service providers, banks and financial institutions, credit card companies, payment systems providers and / or relevant authorities in the event of any suspected unlawful, fraudulent and / or improper activities".
In other words, you are able to share the seemingly inaccurate information you hold about me with other companies. To me, this means:
- It could negatively impact on any job applications I make in future;
- It could negatively impact on any credit applications I make in future
According to your privacy statement, my information is protected in accordance with the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2001. According to this law, the data you hold about me must be:
- fairly and lawfully processed;
- processed for limited purposes;
- adequate, relevant and not excessive;
- accurate and where necessary kept up to date;
- not kept for longer than is necessary;
- processed in line with your rights;
- secure; and,
- not transferred to countries without adequate protection
It also states that I am entitled to
"a copy of the information they have about you. You should also receive a description of why your information is processed; anyone it may be passed to or seen by, and the logic involved in any automated decisions". And,
"the Data Protection Law allows individuals to apply to the Court to order a data controller to rectify, block, erase or destroy personal details if they are inaccurate or contain expressions of opinion which are based on inaccurate data".
So, please do send me the information which I am entitled to under section 7(1) of the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2001.
If you need further information from me, or a fee, please let me know as soon as possible.
If you do not normally handle these requests for your organisation, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer or another appropriate official.
If the information you hold about me indicates that I have, as you claim, acted fraudulently, I will take my complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner, as the information you hold about me is inaccurate. If there is no such indication that I have acted fraudulently, then I believe I am entitled to my winnings.
I am also concerned about who and where my information has been passed to and seen by. The IP address in the emails I have received from you indicates that they originate from a company in the Philippines, named Paragon International Customer Care. Is this correct? If so, who is this company?
I have, in previous emails from you, been asked to send my documentation to an address in the Philippines. The address I was provided with is the same address as listed for Paragon International Customer Care. I asked you who this company was and I was told
'the address was provided to you in error'. I was then told that said company
'is a separate company which validates our customer's documents'. Can you please tell me the truth about your association with this company in the Philippines? As stated previously, according to the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2001, I am entitled to know who my information is passed to or seen by.
Coincidentally, I am currently conversing with another company whose IP address seems to originate from Paragon International Customer Care. I would like to know if this company has a shared database? If so, what other companies are privy to my information? And is the inaccurate information you appear to hold about me going to be shared with other companies who use Paragon International Customer Care?
I would like a response from you addressing all these issues before Saturday, 7th April, 2012. I have already given you ample time to deal with my complaint, but I am prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt. I trust the Vernons brand, it is one that I have grown up knowing, I do hope that my trust has not been misplaced.
Yours faithfully,
xxxxxxxx
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I received the following response from Vernons:
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Dear xxxxxxxx,
This is xxxxx from Vernons Casino.
We regret to hear that you are not satisfied with the manner in which your case has been handled.
We would like to emphasize that Vernons Casino software, powered by Playtech, is built in a way that the player must agree to the terms and conditions before being able to play.
As previously mentioned, according to the terms and conditions for the bonus issued to your account, you have breach one of the terms:
“15. We reserve the right to review transaction records and logs from time to time that relate to the award and fulfillment of Bonuses, for any reason whatsoever. If, upon such a review, it appears that You are participating in strategies that we in our sole discretion deem to be abusive, misuse our systems or are in breach of any of the terms and conditions that apply to such Bonus (including, without limitation, minimal risk wagering), we reserve the right to revoke Your entitlement to the Bonus in question (as well as any winnings earned by use of such Bonus) and/or revoke and/or cancel any other Bonuses (as well as any winnings earned by use of such other Bonuses) that we believe have been awarded, redeemed or won as a result of the same. We also reserve the right in such circumstances to terminate Your Player Account. You acknowledge that players found to be abusing Bonus awards may be barred from receiving further Bonuses.”
In addition,
8.4. If We suspect unlawful or fraudulent activity of any kind on Your part (which shall include, without limitation, that You are abusing or attempting to abuse any of the following: (i) bonuses; (ii) other promotions; or (iii) the specific rules that apply to an individual Online Product), or collusion, or if any of Your payments are charged back, or in the event of suspected card counting in any of the live games that may become available, We will have the right to suspend Your Player Account and/or withhold or otherwise decline or reverse any Winnings and/or Withdrawals from Your Player Account until Our investigations of such suspicions (or those of any relevant authority) are complete. You agree to assist and cooperate with any such investigations. If following such investigations We believe (i) any of the activities referred to above has occurred, We will not be under any obligation in such circumstances to refund or otherwise reimburse You for the relevant Winning s / funds in your Player Account and any such Winnings/funds may be used by Us in order to offset any loss suffered by Us as a result of, or arising in connection with, such activity; (ii) no fraudulent activity occurred, all Winnings and funds in Your Player Account will be made available to You (even though this Agreement may have been terminated or Your Player Account may continue to be blocked pursuant to clause 8.7 below).
To further learn about the aforesaid terms and conditions you may visit this link:
Link Removed ( Old/Invalid)
Regarding the old address for Notarized ID's please note that this is a company which handled documentation for Vernons. However, for the customers' convenience, we have recently change it to the address in the UK which is:
Vernons Customer Services
Walton House
55 Charnock Road
Liverpool
L67 1AA
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any further queries.
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I have still not received a copy of the information they hold me about me, so I will be writing to the Data Protection Commissioner about that.
I hope this post makes sense; I could post more details about it, but it is stupid o'clock in the morning and I realise that my post is already very long.
![CropperCapture[8].webp](https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/data/attachments/4/4583-3261731dfb78da52de3d85850724f478.jpg?hash=uaGVbvDmjc "CropperCapture[8].webp")
![CropperCapture[9].webp](https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/data/attachments/4/4584-e262f156fbb4e3f22f077c7958fdbe13.jpg?hash=__sSqseah9 "CropperCapture[9].webp")
Started with ten. cashed out 110 after some good wins on Pink panther 
Why? Bonuses are not obligatory.
Funnily enough, I could rarely get anyone online when I had a pressing query and actually wanted to chat, though I do give some allowance for this happening at odd hours - but Vernons do claim to have 24/7 support 
