2.1 Q: I have a complaint that I need help with. What is the first step?
Before you come to us the first, obvious thing for you to do is to contact the casino support people, aka Customer Service. You can usually find this by going to the casino site and looking for a Help, Contact Us or Servicelink.
If casino Customer Service fails you and you find yourself here looking for help your first step is to make yourself aware of the Posting Complaints section of our “Forum Rules and Regulations”. These are mandatory requirements for help and assistance here at Casinomeister.
2.2 Q: The casino support people haven’t helped me. What can I do?
Go to the I-Gaming Forum Reps page and see if there’s a representative listed for the casino in question. If there is then you should contact that person via Private Message.
If there is no representative listed then proceed to “I need to file a formal complaint” below.
2.3 Q: I’ve tried contacting the casino representative but the issue remains unresolved. What’s the next step?
If you’ve tried contacting casino support and the representative listed on the I-Gaming Forum Reps page and still haven’t been able to resolve your issue then it’s probably time to get serious: you need to submit a formal complaint.
2.4 Q: I need to file a formal complaint. Where do I do that?
Ok, so you’re tried the casino Customer Service: no joy. You’ve looked up the rep and there either isn’t one or you did find one and it was the same as before: no joy. At this point you feel you need to get some outside help on this:
Is the casino listed at eCOGRA? If so then the casino is a member of the eCOGRA group: contact Tex Reese, the eCOGRA officer who handles these things, here.
If the casino is not listed at eCOGRA, or you’ve tried eCOGRA and it hasn’t worked out, then you should:
- Ensure you don’t already have a PAB on the go. If you do then please wait until that PAB runs to completion: we generally won’t accept more than one PAB per person at a time.
- Check if your casino is in the Rogue Pit or is listed on the “No Can Do” List. If you find your casino listed on either of those then we can’t help you, sorry.
- Is this your first PAB? If yes then please read about the “One Free Shot” Rule (here) to see if that applies to your issue.
- Finally, assuming there are no problems with the previous items, you should move to the next step in the process, Submitting a PAB.
2.5 Q: Is the PAB service only for players, or can affiliates PAB as well?
The PAB service is for affiliates as well as players. Many of our casino points of contacts are with affiliate managers, so it makes perfect sense.
2.6 Q: I have already, or would like to, post about my complaint on your forums. Is that a good idea?
That depends on whether you plan to use our PAB service or not.
A PAB is a private negotiation process between us, you and the casino people. It works because it gives the casino people the best possible opportunity to resolve your issue calmly and fairly in talks with professional industry people without external pressures or influence. In other words it’s a fair and level playing field, more or less.
A message posted on the forums is quite the opposite: it creates a very public public-relations issue that the casino people generally feel forced to contain, or ignore, as best they can.
Because of the pressures involved a forum post on a given issue will usually derail any PABs that are in progress on that issue, and this is why we advise that forum posts be withheld until the PAB process has had a chance to run it’s course.
We reserve the right to discard any PAB that where that same issue has been posted to the forums. This relates to threads started by, or contributions to other threads by, the person who filed the PAB. This applies equally to posts made before or after the PAB was filed.
In other words in the case where the material was posted before the PAB was filed we will determine whether those posts would damage or thwart the PAB process before we decide if we will proceed with the PAB. In the case where the material was posted after the PAB was filed there is a very high probability that we will suspend or discard the PAB at that point.
Once we indicate that we are finished with a PAB the person who filed it is free to post about the issue as they see fit (all the usual Casinomeister Forum Rules are applicable).
2.7 Q: What is the “One Free Shot” rule?
Your first PAB can be on any casino except, generally speaking, those listed in the Rogue Pit or on the “No Can Do” list. Only under special circumstances will PABs against Rogued or NCD casinos be considered.
The One Free Shot policy means that any subsequent PABs from you will only be accepted if they concern sites that are on the Accredited Casino list.
In other words after their first PAB Casinomeister members are expected to know about the Accredited Casino list, the Rogue Pit and the “No Can Do” list. These listings are there to inform players of sites that are trustworthy and those that are not. So after the first PAB Casinomeister members are expected to proceed with all due caution: if you insist on playing at dodgy and/or un-Accredited sites then (generally speaking) you’re on your own if you run into problems.
2.8 Q. I think the PAB service would be a great way to force the casino people to give me what I want. Let’s do it!
Let’s not! Under no circumstances are you free to use the PAB process, Casinomeister, or the names of any Casinomeister staff to coerce, bully or threaten the casino or anyone else into “cooperating” with you. Any attempts to do so will be viewed as blackmail, which is what such an attempt would be, and both your PAB and your membership at Casinomeister will come under immediate review. In most cases this will mean that your PAB will be discarded and your membership at Casinomeister permanently closed.
2.9 Q. I just remembered a problem I had with a casino years ago, can I PAB about that now?
Generally speaking, no. Ancient issues are almost impossible to pursue with any real chance of success and tend to both annoy the casino people — thereby drastically reducing your chances of success — and be a waste of our time.
If you insist on resurrecting an old issue you’ll need an EXCEEDINGLY good reason for doing so and you’d better provide that right up front in your PAB form. Please note that “I forgot” or “I’ve been busy” do not qualify as good reasons. If you’ve just come out of a prolonged coma or somesuch then maybe we’ll consider it, otherwise we’ll do now what you’ve been doing all along and that’s not be bothered with it.
In general:
- if your issue is 12 months or older — and nothing has been done in that time — then you’re probably out of luck.
- if the casino has changed hands and your issue well pre-dates the hand-over then you’re probably out of luck.
- if the casino is defunct and you’re trying to get your money from the previous parent company you’re almost certainly out of luck.
- if you can’t remember when you signed on at the casino and you’ve forgotten your account details you’re definitely out of luck.
- if you’re attempting to do this on behalf of a deceased person, forget it: you are almost certainly out of luck.
Hopefully you get the idea: the fruit of years past is generally dead and gone.