pitch a bitch - player arbitrationCASINOMEISTER’S PLAYER ARBITRATION SERVICE FAQ

Work In Progress.

At the moment, we are rewriting some of the policies for the PABs. Due to the GDPR, we want to ensure that all is correct and compliant to the new regulations on how your private information is handled by us. In the meantime, hang tight. This should be finished in the next day or two.

If you have a complaint, please feel free to post a query in our forum – or contact a casino rep here.

If you’d like to read more about our awesome new privacy policies and terms of service, you can check them out here: Casinomeister’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Examples of Successfully Resolved PAB for our members


 


Introduction to the Player ArBitration (PAB) Process

All current and active members of Casinomeister may submit a PAB per the quidelines on our main PAB page.

Assuming you follow those guidelines and abide by the advice given here in the FAQ, you should expect that your PAB will be received and processed within 10 business days, usually within a day or so if you submit it during the regular work week (EU timezones applicable).

Our Process:

  • The Player Arbitration process is a private exchange between the complainant, our staff and the casino representatives, staff and management.
  • Case information is typically entrusted to us by casino staff with the understanding that it remain private and confidential, we are committed to seeing that it remain so. Our standard operating procedure is that case details are not published, distributed, shared or divulged to anyone at any time. In rare cases where such actions would be appropriate we do so only with prior written permission to proceed.
  • Our records regarding PABs, past or present, are ONLY available to authorized Casinomeister staff.
  • Complainants cannot expect that information gathered regarding their casino activities or their PAB case will made available to them. As mentioned above that information is private and confidential: complainants have no right to ask for and will not receive case information that we deem confidential.
  • It is the PAB user’s responsibility to read, understand and comply with our procedures as described herein. Complainants who fail to comply with these PAB quidelines can expect their PAB to be delayed and/or fail.

The PAB service is offered and operates throughout in English. It is the PAB user’s responsibility to read and understand this FAQ. If you are not proficient in English please get someone who is to help you. If you need assistance finding someone to help you please ask us on fhe forums or via Private Message and we can usually get you the assistance you need.

1.1 Q: What is Player ArBitration (PAB)?

A: Player ArBitration (aka “PAB”) is a service we offer to our members for them to lodge a formal complaint against a casino, poker room, etc. This is typically done when the player has exhausted all other avenues to resolve an issue they have with a casino and need some serious help getting the issue addressed.

The PAB is a formal process, meaning that a detailed and trackable procedure is used to take your issue to the casino management for analysis, comment and (hopefully) resolution. The casinos are expected to respond(albeit privately) to these issues: specific consequences will ensue if they ignore or thwart our attempts to raise these issues with them.

The PAB process is private from start to finish: please see the “Our Process” statement in the Introduction.

The PAB is not a way to make casinos pay. If this is what you are concerned with, then please contact an attorney or government agency that can deal with this. We merely provide a service that can get your complaint viewed by the right people – in most cases of course.

The PAB is specifically not a public announcement service since the details of the PAB are not publicly visible. If you wish to make a public announcement then you should post on our forums where others can read and comment on your issue.

1.2 Q: Under what circumstances would my PAB NOT be accepted.

There are a few things that would keep us from accepting your PAB:

  1. you already have a PAB in progress. Generally speaking we will only accept one PAB per person at a time.
  2. your PAB names a string of casinos. In general your PAB should be against a single casino unless there is a clear justification (which you should explain) for doing otherwise.
  3. the casino in question is listed in the Rogue Pit. Under normal circumstances we can’t accept PABs against Rogue casinos.
  4. you have submitted a PAB in the past and the casino you want to PAB against now is not on the Accredited Sites list. (see section 2.7 for details)
  5. the site you want to PAB against is on the No Can Do list; sites on this list are not eligible for PABs.
  6. you cannot or will not provide the details necessary to process the PAB.
  7. the goal of your PAB boils down to “I want you to force them to let me play at their casino”. Such issues are not within the scope of the PAB service: if they don’t want you as a customer that’s their decision, we suggest you take your business somewhere else.
  8. the goal of your PAB is to damage, harm or threaten the casino’s reputation and/or standing in the community. Sorry, we’re here to help resolve disputes. Look elsewhere.
  9. the purpose of your PAB is to “let other player’s know how bad these guys are” or some variation thereof. Sorry, publicizing your story is not what the PAB service is for. Try posting on the forums.
  10. the crux of your PAB is “they were mean/rude/disrespectful/unfriendly/curt/abrupt/unneighbourly to me and/or behaved in some other manner I didn’t appreciate. I want you to make them apologise/give me stuff/appease me.” Sorry, relationship counselling is beyond the scope of the PAB process; PABs based on such issues will be rejected.
  11. your PAB asks us to test a game, verity RTP, or similar validations or verifications. Sorry to say that we simply don’t have the resources to do this kind of thing. Generally speaking we will have to pass on issues of this nature. You are probably better off posting your concerns on the forums to see if other players have had the same issues: if there are enough people in a similar situation the casino will almost certainly sit up and take notice.
  12. your PAB asks us to take legal action against a casino or person. Please talk to a lawyer or look into Small Claims court. We are not a legal team and cannot help you with such matters.
  13. your PAB concerns you having been blacklisted in a database somewhere and you want us to fix that for you. Sorry issues of this nature are WAY beyond our scope, we can’t help you.
  14. you have abused the PAB service in the past and have, in effect, been “PAB banned”. If this is the case we will have made it perfectly clear to you at the time we felt it necessary to bar you from further use of the PAB service. For the record this is quite rare: very few people have ever been “PAB banned”.
  15. your PAB issue is too old: generally speaking any issue that has gone unreported for 12 months or more is VERY unlikely to be resolvable. Casino management changes, records are lost, Terms are revised and revised again, etc. If your issue is less than 12 months old then by all means submit it to us. If it’s older than 12 months but LESS than 24 months then you can give it a try but depending on the details we may not be able to help you. Older than 24 months and we’re sorry but that ship has most definitely sailed: we can’t help you.

Other than that we should be able to accept and process your PAB.

1.3 Q: How much will it cost me to have you guys handle my PAB?

Nothing. PABs have always been free of charge. No commission is taken nor percentage of your payment withheld. It’s free!

1.4 Q: Who is actually handling these PAB complaints at Casinomeister? What credentials do they have to do this?

There are two people at Casinomeister who deal with the PAB complaintss:

Bryan Bailey is the head man at Casinomeister and he oversees all the complaints that come through. You can reach him on the forums via Private Message (here) or via email at bryan@casinomeister.com.

As of December 2007 Max Drayman has been our full-time Complaints Manager handling the day-to-day of the complaints process. He receives the PABs, processes them, submits them to the casinos, deals with the casino responses, etc. He is available on the forums as “maxd” or you can reach him via email at max.drayman@casinomeister.com.

In special cases Bryan will step in to assist or even run with the PAB himself.

Our complaints people have all worked in the internet casino industry since it began back in 1997-98. Our complaints service started in 2001 and we have handled over 5500 cases in the 15 years since.

1.5 Q: What happens at the end of a PAB? How is a PAB decision determined?

The final recommendations in a typical PAB are made by the PAB guys — Bryan and Max — after they have reviewed the case details, discussed the issue with the casino and gathered whatever input is required from the complainant.

The primary goal of the PAB process is to have the parties involved resolve the dispute between themselves if at all possible.

If the parties involved can’t or won’t resolve the dispute between themselves then we recommend a course of action based on three things:

  • what the complainant has stated they wish to have done about their issue.
  • the understanding that the casino’s Terms and Conditions are the rules by which the player has agreed to abide.
  • the guiding principle of “fair play” for all.

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 HelpContact 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.


3.1 Q. What do I need before I fill out the PAB form? (proper Email addresses)

All of our PAB communications are carried out via email so that we have a permanent record of what’s happening. These records are an invaluable resource for reference and future issues and we find them absolutely essential to successfully conducting the PAB process. So, the first thing you need is a reliable email address for the ‘contact email’ address requested on the PAB form.

Using email addresses from Yahoo (aka Ymail), AOL, ATT.net or Hotmail is not acceptable: these services often discard casino-related emails, the result being that you may or may not receive emails we send you. They are simply NOT RELIABLE for PAB communications.

The issue with these services — Yahoo/Ymail, AOL, ATT.net and Hotmail — is that they are randomly blocking and/or discarding our emails addressed to you. In our experience these deletions are unpredictable, intermittent and have been going on for 10+ years. Our guess it that it’s their way of discouraging the use of their services for this kind of communications without coming right out and making it an explicit policy.

Please note that this email problem is NOT something you have any control over. It’s done on their mail servers long before the emails ever make it to your Inbox. In other words tweaking your spam filters or whitelists will have no effect on the problem because the deletions happen long before these are ever invoked. The bottom line is that this problem well known to us, hence our insistence on using alternate services.

So, to be perfectly clear:

IF YOU USE AN INVALID ‘contact email’ ADDRESS YOUR PAB WILL BE DELAYED. We have to contact you again for a proper email address, you have to get back to us, we have to correct your PAB details, etc. Please don’t waste our time by using Yahoo/Ymail, AOL, ATT.net or Hotmail addresses here: get a more reliable email address BEFORE you submit your PAB.

FYI, Google Mail seems to work nicely. GMX.com is good too. There are many, many other free and reliable email services. If in doubt Google “free email services -hotmail -yahoo -AOL” and look for hits where various services are compared. You should be able to find one that suits you without much difficulty. We know, we’ve done it time and time again over the years, you can too.

In an emergency — say for instance you’ve been having trouble reaching us via email — feel free to use the Private Message (PM) system on our site to re-establish communication. We will certainly respond but we’ll also immediately ask that you find a reliable email service (see above) so we can return to the preferred method of communication, namely email (as explained above).

Hopefully it is clear that email is the way we do PAB business. As such we typically won’t accept offers to discuss PABs via Skype, telephone, chat, etc. These do not provide the “paper trail” we need and prefer so we don’t use them. We’re set up to do things by email and that’s the way we’d like to keep it.

“But I only have one email address.” Or, “My email address has always worked in the past.”

That’s great, we are happy for you, but our EXTENSIVE experience in these matters tells us that is not the norm. Regardless of how lovely your email address has been for you in the past it’s no good to us if we can’t reach you. You MUST provide us with an alternate address that does work. AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo/Ymail, ATT.net are NOT ACCEPTABLE for our PAB purposes.

Sorry to be blunt but we’d appreciate it if you didn’t argue with us about this: either provide a working email address or don’t, your choice. Time we spend debating the email issue is time that could be better spent working on your, and other, PABs. We will proceed once we have that working email address, until then your PAB will almost certainly be marked as “Incomplete – On Hold” and nothing will be done.

To repeat: please cooperate with us on this, get us that working email address ASAP, and we’ll happily proceed with your PAB.

3.2 Q: Where is the form I need to fill out in order to submit a PAB?

The actual form you’ll need is here BUT …

You should read the rest of this FAQ, the advice here could have a significant impact on the success of your PAB.

When you do move on to the actual PAB form Please read all the instructions there before you fill out the form and submit it.

If you don’t read the instructions you’ll probably make a mistake and that will only waste your time and ours. Read ’em! It only takes a few minutes.

3.3 Q: The PAB form asks for a lot of information, how much of it is really necessary?

All of it! We need all the details requested in the PAB form. If you omit sections we’ll simply have to come back to you to get them and that will only delay the process.

Please provide all the information requested in the PAB form.

Look at it this way: your PAB form and the details you provide in it are a key element of the submission we make to the casino when we ask them to look into your issue. If you don’t put the necessary information in your PAB form then the casino people won’t see it and it’s effectively not part of your complaint.

In general the casino people will not follow links you provide in your PAB form so don’t do it: include the necessary information in the PAB form itself. You may think links to your issue details are sufficient, no one else will. Doing so will only stall your PAB until we have had a chance to come back to you and remind you of exactly what we’ve said here in order to get a proper PAB form out of you.

Don’t waste our time: if your PAB says something like “follow this link for details on my issue” then you are doing it wrong. Your PAB will be down-graded to “Incomplete – On Hold” until you provide the necessary information in the PAB itself.

3.4 Q: There is a “Please explain the problem” section on the PAB form. What guidance can you offer for filling this out?

Ok, in a nutshell that section should be a clear, brief and self-contained statement of your issue.
Here are a few Do’s and Don’t:

  • DO describe your problem in clear, concise statements.
  • DO be brief, 50 to 100 words please.
  • DON’T ramble on with gory details we don’t need. Again, 50 to 100 words. More is almost never better.
  • DON’T include emails, Private Messages, chat transcripts, etc unless absolutely necessary. Generally speaking, if we need that stuff we’ll ask for it.
  • DON’T make statements like “I sent a PM yesterday that described my problem, see that for details”.

The bottom line is that in this section we are asking you to briefly describe your problem so it is clear to us from the statement you give here what is wrong or needs attention. Other people — casino and Casinomeister staff — will be reading this form but almost certainly won’t have access to external documents, PMs, etc.

A good rule of thumb is to re-read your response to this section once you’ve written it and ask yourself this: if the statement I’ve given was the only statement of the problem that I had to work with would I understand what the problem is?

  • If “yes” then you’re probably good to go.
  • If “no” then maybe it needs some work before you hit the “Send” button.

REMEMBER! Clear, brief, and self-contained: 50 to 100 words should do it.

3.5 Q: I have a ton of supporting material (emails, screenshots, chat scripts, etc) to support my claim. How much of this should I include in my PAB?

None of it, at least not at the beginning. Let us know you have it and we’ll ask for it if we need it.

3.6 How to submit a PAB: DO’s and DON’Ts

DO these things to improve your chances of a successful resolution to your PAB:

  • DO: Be calm, present your case clearly and concisely.
  • DO: Be honest: if you misrepresent your case it will be discarded and you will be permanently banned from Casinomeister.
    See also Members who make false complaints.
  • DO: Present all the requested information in a clean, easy to read format (paragraphs, some white-space, etc).
    • One big, fat block of unformatted text is hard to read and a PITA.
      No one likes slogging through ugly blocks of unreadable text, including us.
    • Excessive whitespace — such as sometimes occurs in cut-and-pasted emails — is almost as bad.
      Take a minute and format emails, if it’s necessary to include them at all, so that your PAB form isn’t bloated with whitespace and scrolls on for 15 pages.
    • The bottom line is this: decent formatting will significantly improve the chances of your submission text being read, re-read and respected.
  • DO: Pay particular attention to the “What do you want done?” section of the PAB form:
    • Be clear and specific about what you want from the PAB process, that is, what you feel would be a successful resolution.
    • If you are saying that the casino owes you money, clearly specify how much is owed. (what amount?)
      Again, if you don’t we’ll have to go back to you and ask “How much?” before we can proceed.
      Do yourself a favour: specify the amount you expect from them up front and be done with it!

DON’T do these things, they’ll damage or cripple your chances of a successful resolution:

  • DON’T: Rant about, abuse or insult the casino people. You’re asking for their help too, be polite.
  • DON’T: Tell lies: nobody likes to be conned. If we catch you, we’ll ban you for life.
  • DON’T: Hide information in the hopes that it won’t get noticed. Again, this will seriously increase the chances that we’ll discard your PAB and ban you from the site.
  • DON’T: Be lazy and submit a PAB form that says “go look at this forum thread for info on my complaint”.
    If you can’t be bothered to fill out the form why should we trouble ourselves to fill it out for you?
    Fill out the PAB form in full as requested.
  • DON’T: Make unreasonable demands: asking for the moon will only annoy everyone involved and may get your PAB tossed for being unresolveable.
  • DON’T: Demand compensation for having been inconvenienced, it will only prompt the casino to disregard your complaint.
  • DON’T: Increase your demands as the PAB process progresses: doing so can scuttle an otherwise successful PAB negotiation.
  • DON’T: Continue to play your balance when your PAB is about that balance, you will almost certainly invalidate your PAB and it will have to be discarded.

NOTE: using email addresses from Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail is not a good idea since these services routinely discard casino-related email as spam. If you use one of these services as your ‘contact email address’ on your PAB form your PAB will not be accepted until you correct this error. There are multiple warnings posted about this so there is no excuse for doing it.

To repeat: do not give us a Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail email address as your ‘contact email’ address. If you do your PAB is incomplete and cannot proceed. Get a more reliable email service: for example GMail (aka googlemail) is free and seems to work nicely.

3.7 Q: I posted about my complaint on the forums. Can’t you simply take the PAB information from there?

No, forum posts are one thing, our PAB form is another.

If you’re serious about seeking a resolution to your complaint you can take the time to fill out the PAB form.

Failure to fill out the PAB form indicates that you’ve got better things to do. So do we.

3.8 Q: My issue has been debated at another website, can’t you simply go there to get the PAB information you need?

No. Our PAB process is independant, unbiased and based solely on our own efforts. If there is material that you think we need to be aware of then that should be included, in brief, in your PAB form when you submit it to us. Under normal circumstances we WILL NOT follow links to offsite discussions of your case.

If you’re serious about seeking a resolution to your complaint you will take the time required to include your case details when you fill out the PAB form. But remember, brevity is very much appreciated: mention what you have that you think might be important, we can always ask you for the details later.

From our point of view you should take the time to present your case details to us as we’ve asked for them. If you can’t be bothered then obviously you’ve got better things to do. So do we.

3.9 Q: What happens to the information I submit in the PAB forms?

Once we receive your PAB details, and have ensured that all the necessary information is there, then we process it and submit the package to the casino. At no time is your PAB information publicly viewable.

3.10 Q: Who sees the information I give to you guys in the PAB form?

Of course the Casinomeister staff see it first. Once we’ve processed it we then passed it directly to the casino or their appointed representative.

Your information is never seen publicly nor can it be accessed by anyone other than Casinomeister staff.
In other words, your information is considered private and personal and is treated accordingly.

3.11 Q: What am I agreeing to when I say “YES” at the bottom of the PAB form?

Once you’ve submitted your PAB we look upon it as though we have entered into an informal contract: you’ve asked for our help and we are working to help you provided you cooperate with our well-established PAB process.

Your part of “the contract” is three-fold:

  1. be available to assist in the processing and pursuit of your case:
    • you must be reachable — and remain in contact — via the ‘contact email’ address you provided in your PAB.
      Note: Yahoo, Hotmail, ATT.net and AOL email addresses are not reliable for Casinomeister emails, please find some other email service.
    • you must respond (via email) in a timely fashion:
      • responding in a day or two is ok.
      • several days is pushing it.
      • a week is too long.
      • longer than that and we’ll have no choice but to take action: your PAB may be cancelled and you may be black-listed from the PAB service.
      • if you’re going to be away from your email address for a few days, or whatever, while the PAB is in progress let us know. If we can’t reach you it is a problem for us so please do us the courtesy of informing us in advance if you’re going to be unreachable.
  2. don’t sabotage your PAB:
    • if your PAB is about the balance in your account, or some portion thereof, then stop playing with that account while the PAB is in progress. If you continue to play your balance then you will almost certainly invalidate your PAB and it will have to be discarded.
    • don’t post about your issue on the forums: wait until the PAB process has ended before you discuss it on the forums.
      (see item 2.6 for details)
  3. inform us if you’ve decided to drop your PAB or the casino has resolved your issue for you.

When you actually submit your PAB you are asked whether you accept and agree to the PAB requirements. If you proceed and submit the PAB you are entering into an agreement that binds you to the responsibilities listed above.

You must treat this process with respect since it costs us time and money to pursue the issue on your behalf. Failing to properly fulfill your PAB responsibilities will, at our discretion, be taken as sufficient grounds to deny PAB service to you in the future.

Failure to fulfill your PAB responsibilities includes negligence such as ignoring your PAB once you’ve filed it or repeatedly failing to respond to emails sent to you regarding your PAB.

3.12 Q: What are my responsibilities once the PAB is submitted?

Once you’ve submitted your PAB we look upon it as though we have entered into an informal contract: you’ve asked for our help and we are working to help you provided you cooperate with our well-established PAB process.

Your part of “the contract” is three-fold:

  1. be available to assist in the processing and pursuit of your case:
    • you must be reachable — and remain in contact — via the ‘contact email’ address you provided in your PAB.
      Note: Yahoo, Hotmail, ATT.net and AOL email addresses are not reliable for Casinomeister emails, please find some other email service.
    • you must respond (via email) in a timely fashion:
      • responding in a day or two is ok.
      • several days is pushing it.
      • a week is too long.
      • longer than that and we’ll have no choice but to take action: your PAB may be cancelled and you may be black-listed from the PAB service.
      • if you’re going to be away from your email address for a few days, or whatever, while the PAB is in progress let us know. If we can’t reach you it is a problem for us so please do us the courtesy of informing us in advance if you’re going to be unreachable.
  2. don’t sabotage your PAB:
    • if your PAB is about the balance in your account, or some portion thereof, then stop playing with that account while the PAB is in progress. If you continue to play your balance then you will almost certainly invalidate your PAB and it will have to be discarded.
    • don’t post about your issue on the forums: wait until the PAB process has ended before you discuss it on the forums.
      (see item 2.6 for details)
  3. inform us if you’ve decided to drop your PAB or the casino has resolved your issue for you.

When you actually submit your PAB you are asked whether you accept and agree to the PAB requirements. If you proceed and submit the PAB you are entering into an agreement that binds you to the responsibilities listed above.

You must treat this process with respect since it costs us time and money to pursue the issue on your behalf. Failing to properly fulfill your PAB responsibilities will, at our discretion, be taken as sufficient grounds to deny PAB service to you in the future.

Failure to fulfill your PAB responsibilities includes negligence such as ignoring your PAB once you’ve filed it or repeatedly failing to respond to emails sent to you regarding your PAB.

3.13 Q. How many PABs can I submit at once? Can I have more than one in progress at a given time?

Generally speaking we’ll accept one PAB per person at any given time. In other words if you have a PAB in progress then you’ll have to hold off on other issues until your PAB-in-progress is complete.

And remember the “One Shot Rule”: only your first PAB can be against a non-Accredited casino; subsequent PABs will in general only be accepted if they concern an Accredited casino.

 


4.1 Q: How long does it take for someone at Casinomeister to see and review the PAB once I’ve submitted it?

We usually see and read a new PAB in 1-3 working days, often much sooner.

Please note that we generally take the weekends off, so if you submit your PAB late Friday or over the weekend it will be the following work day (or so) before we get to it.

A few times throughout the year we work on summary reports of the PABs (see here). During these times PAB processing will be delayed by a few days or so. As ever, feel free to inquire if you haven’t heard from us in a while (1 week for initial PAB submission, 2 weeks if your PAB is already in progress).

Heads_up: occasionally we get a particularly heavy PAB work load and that will inevitably slow things down a little: it may take a few days longer for us to get to your issue. Please be patient, your issue hasn’t been forgotten or ignored. We’ll be in touch ASAP.

4.2 Q: How long before I get an answer once I’ve submitted the PAB form?

You’ll usually receive a confirmation that the PAB was received and/or submitted within the first few days. After that it depends on how well discussions with the casino (or whomever) progress. The short answer is that we’ll get in touch with you when we have something to report.

Please note that we have dozens of these cases on the go at any given time so it is important for us to use our time as wisely and as efficiently as possible. In other words we are usually very busy and can’t typically afford to send updates unless there is a specific reason to do so. That said, if you haven’t heard anything for a number of weeks and have no specific reason to believe it should be taking that long then do feel free to inquire.

Also, please note the following from the FAQ’a DO’s and DON’Ts section:

NOTE: using email addresses from Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail is a bad idea: these services routinely discard casino-related email as spam.
If you give us a Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail email address as the address where we can reach you then you may never hear from us because they are blocking and/or discarding our emails to you. Get a more reliable email address: GMail and GMX seem to work nicely.

Last but not least, please check the spam folder of your email account. If you haven’t specifically white-listed us then there’s a fair chance our emails to you are being re-routed there.

4.3 Q: How long does it take Casinomeister to process and submit the PAB to the casino?

Usually less than three (3) days, assuming the original submission was complete.
If the PAB form was incomplete we have to contact you for the missing information and that will delay the process, or derail it completely.

4.4 Q: How long does it take Casinomeister to get an answer from the casino once the PAB has been submitted?

This varies widely and depends entirely on the quality of the responses we get from the casino. Very roughly, it’s usually somewhere between one and four weeks before we get a solid answer back. In terms of keeping you updated on the PAB status please refer to item 4.2 above.

4.5 Q: How long to get the casino to pay up, or whatever it is that I’ve requested they do?

It varies enormously: some issues get resolved within 48 hours, a fair percentage within the first week, more within the first couple weeks and most by the end of the fourth week. Those that drag past the end of the fourth week usually have less than a 50/50 chance though some have turned out well after two or more months of grinding away. Exceptional cases can take months or even years to resolve but that’s pretty extreme and not at all typical. It does happen though so keep that in mind.

Please understand that PABs that drag on typically fall into one of two categories, either:

  • we have reason to believe that the casino is or will cooperate so we press on in the hope of finding a resolution. We typically won’t shut down a case that shows some promise of being resolved.
  • the casino is not or won’t cooperate and so the wheels of justice grind slowly but inevitably toward the Rogue Pit. That’s not a decision we take lightly so it can and will take some time.

The bottom line is that PABs take as long as they take: there is no guarantee that any given case will, or can be, resolved promptly.

 


5.1 Q: When can I expect an update regarding the status of my PAB?

Progress in the PAB process depends on several things, including the casino’s cooperation. If we haven’t received anything meaningful from them we have nothing to report to you. You just have to be patient while we are working at getting an actionable response from them. We’ll let you know as soon as we have something worth reporting.

Please keep in mind that there are usually dozens of these PAB cases on the go at any given time. In other words there are simply too many cases to send people update reports when there is nothing to report. Be patient: you’ll hear from us when we have something worthwhile to say and not before.

From the DO’s and DON’Ts section:

NOTE: using email addresses from Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail is a bad idea: these services routinely discard casino-related email as spam.
If you give us a Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail email address as the address where we can reach you then you may never hear from us because they are blocking and/or discarding our emails to you. Get a more reliable email address: GMail seems to work nicely.

Also, please check the spam folder of your email account. If you haven’t specifically white-listed us then there’s a fair chance our emails to you are being re-routed there.

If you haven’t heard from us in a while — say two weeks or more — and you want to inquire where things are at please feel free to contact Max via Private Message on the forums (here) or email (max.drayman@casinomeister.com).

5.2 Q: I received an email regarding “Reply to thread …” but can’t access the link given. What’s up?

Those messages are auto-generated by a bug in our forum software. You’ll notice that the link given points to the PAB forum but that forum specifically says READABLE BY STAFF ONLY. So yeah, apologies for the misleading email but that forum is closed to the public.

5.3 Q: My PAB is taking forever to get resolved! What’s the hold-up?

It could be any number of things but if it’s still in the works then that means we’re still working on it. Some of these issues can take weeks or even months to resolve successfully.

Look at it this way, if we’re still working on it then that means there’s something actually going on … which is a good thing!
Be patient, we’re doing our best. If the process reaches an impasse we’ll issue a Casinomeister Warning against them and let you know about it.

As mentioned above please check the spam folder of your email account. If you haven’t specifically white-listed us then there’s a fair chance our emails to you are being re-routed there.

5.4 Q: What happens with my PAB if the casino doesn’t cooperate or they keep stalling?

We always strive to be professional and respectful of the casino’s needs but we do have limited patience when it comes to non-cooperative casinos. If they repeatedly ignore us or give us the run-around we’ll issue a Casinomeister Warning against them and let you know about it. After that we usually queue the casino up to be added to the Rogue Pit.

5.5 Q: I’d like to see all of the communications that pass between Casinomeister and the casino. How do I do that?

You don’t. The negotiation process is conducted privately between Casinomeister and the casino people. Often security and/or risk assessment issues are involved and that information is not available to anyone outside the Casinomeister-casino loop. The privacy of the process is a large part of what makes the process work. We’ll let you know as soon as we have something for you.

Please note in particular that it is not appropriate to ask on the forums for an update on your PAB: the PAB process is private and closed to the public while in progress, the forums are anything but private and therefor not the place to discuss ongoing PAB business. Please see FAQ item 3.11 – What are my responsibilities once the PAB is submitted? for further details.

5.6 Q: I think I can handle the PAB negotiations myself, how do I do that?

Presumably you would have done so when you contacted the casino support people. If you’ve come to us then that part of the process hasn’t worked out and you need our help. Submit the PAB form and let us do our jobs.

5.7 Q: I have news about my PAB issue, what should I do?

Let us know! If you have news we’d very much like to hear it.

Often you and casino will even be able to settle the issue between you.
Or, you may have changed your mind.
Or … any of a number of other things may have come up that now mean your original issue no longer needs to be pursued.

By all means please drop us an email to let us know.

That said, please remember item 3.11 above:

don’t post about your issue on the forums: wait until the PAB process has ended before you discuss it on the forums.”

5.8 Q: I see one or more “PAB” icons under my forum name, what is that about?

Those are called “PAB Badges” and are assigned to show the status of current and previous PABs that you have submitted. See PAB listings in user profiles for details on the meaning of the various badges.

 


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6.1 Q: What happens when you have reached a conclusion on my PAB?

Under normal circumstances we’ll contact you as soon as we’ve reached a conclusion with the PAB.

In most cases the casino will pay you, or re-open your account, or whatever it is that you were asking for. Obviously that’s a good result and we’ll confirm with you that the case has been resolved.

If it’s a case of fraud we’ll inform you and close the case.

If it’s clear that you tried to cheat the casino or lied to us about your case then we’ll flag you as a “fraudster” (see below).

Sometimes it’s a case where the casino hasn’t cooperated, or even responded. In that case we usually flag the casino as being non-responsive to player issues by posting a Casinomeister Warning. We’ll also consider adding them to the No-Can-Do List.

If it turns out the casino is flat out crooked — lies, steals, abuses their Terms, entraps players, etc — then again we’ll issue a Casinomeister Warning and they’ll be added to “pending Rogue” list meaning Max recommends them to Bryan as a potential candidate for the Rogue Pit. Typically Bryan will review the case, do some investigating of his own and make a final decision.

6.2 Q: What if the PAB process fails, or I don’t like the outcome of it?

Then by all means, the forums are your next best step.

Please note that we will not allow the forums to be used deceitfully. In other words if you post about your issue on the boards be honest about it: if you distort the facts or misrepresent the case we may have to become involved to set the record straight.

Also please note that the Posting Rules apply at all times. Don’t let anger and frustration put you in violation of those rules: items 1.6, 1.11, 1.17 and 1.18 are of particular relevance here.

6.3 Q: I’ve heard of “fraudsters” being banned from Casinomeister because of the PABs they submitted. What’s that about?

If someone submits a PAB to us and it turns out they have lied about their case or have tried to commit fraud at the casino then we will flag them as a “fraudster”, discard their PAB and ban them from Casinomeister.

Wilful misrepresentation of a PAB is highly disrespectful of our process and a waste of our time: the bottom line is that we won’t allow it.

In such cases the complainant cannot expect that we will divulge the circumstances of the fraud in question nor the means by which that fraud was detected: educating fraudsters is not something we’re in the business of doing.

Examples of resolved PAB


7.1 Q: A brief history of Casinomeister’s PAB process.

Casinomeister began accepting PAB submissions in July 2001.

We receive an average of one PAB every working day; as of July 2016 we have processed well over 5000 PABs.

Each year we recover roughly US$350,000 for players though that varies considerably from year to year.

As of November 2006 a public record of past PAB results has been published on the site: see the Previous PABs page.

7.2 Q: What is the difference between “Player ArBitration”, a “Pitch-A-Bitch” and a “PAB”?

No difference, PAB is just an acronym for Player ArBitration. Prior to July 2016, it was called Pitch-A-Bitch.