The point is whether the CS said it was OK to just open a new account. This is LAZY CS, who often cannot be arsed to look up the old login info and reactivate the old account.
Regular players quickly learn it is best to keep a record of your casino accounts, so that you do NOT have to rely on CS to tell you whether or not you have a dormant account.
There are exceptions though, too many casinos now are THWARTING my attempts to keep track of my old accounts by continually renaming, merging one casino into another, changing software, and even CREATING accounts for me at "sister" or even "affiliated" casinos.
What is CLEARLY wrong here is CS then letting the free chip get credited. CS KNEW the circumstances, and should have informed the player that they could not have the free chip since this was merely an "exchange" account, rather than them being a new player at the casino. They certainly should not have gone further and encouraged a verification deposit, as they should already have known the winnings were invalid, and would not be paid anyway.
CS nowdays at many (not all) casinos is TERRIBLE at times, and players often get what is clearly WRONG advice. It has happened to me MANY TIMES, even at ACCREDITED casinos. Sometimes, the advice was not merely wrong, but DANGEROUS, in that if followed, it could have lead to problems based on conflicts with terms and conditions.
CASINOS are FULLY RESPONSIBLE for the advice given to players by their CS, and if the advice turns out to be wrong, it is the CASINO that should "wear" the consequences.
I have noticed also that some "live chat" services DO NOT PERMIT PLAYERS TO HAVE A COPY, this is a serious shortcoming, as it offers players no proof of the advice offered at the time. Savvy players get around this by using cut & paste for an "unofficial" copy, and some that have been posted have shown the most APPALLING levels of CS, and at a time where the industry should be "mature", having started more than 10 years ago.
Any player who even THINKS they have been given the wrong advice by CS, especially when it contradicts the T & C, or even what is considered the norm (such as one account per household), should get it IN WRITING before acting upon it. If it all goes wrong, they have proof it was the casino's fault.
Casino's often seem to have "no record of........" when disputes like this arise.
If you DO, however, have a record of this bad advice from CS, you have enough evidence for a PAB against the casino for letting CS staff tell players to just open new accounts if they cannot access their old one, and then penalising players for FOLLOWING this advice.
This case ALSO demonstrates the HOSTILITY towards this business of the "verification deposit" used by casinos to check a player's details. This is a recently introduced practice that casinos are still struggling to get the player community to accept is necessary, despite being on top of all the other security documentation.
This case shows a casino is prepared to MISUSE a "verification deposit" to "fine" a player for wrong doing, and this is NOT what it is designed for. Casinos NEED to be able to ask players for these "verification deposits", and players MUST have confidence in the system for it to become accepted among the player community. "verification deposits" therefore must NOT be arbitrarily confiscated by casinos, as this will break player's trust in the system, and we will see more angry threads like "xxxxx casino is now asking for a verification deposit - this leaves me open to getting screwed as poster xxxxx was at yyyyyy casino ................. and I am not prepared to risk this........".
PS - It would have helped if the OP had made the complaint clearer. it seems many didn't see this bit that is the crux of the case.
THEY GOT ME ON A SMALL 15.00 DOLLAR BONUS MADE 75.00 ON IT THEN DEPOSITED NOW THEY WONT PAY THE BONUS OR DEPOSIT LOST MONEY. THERE STOREY IS THAT I HAD TWO ACCTS WHICH I DID BUT I TALKED TO CUSTOMER SERVICE BEFORE PLAYING (one was old from previos addresss) AND THEY SAID IT WAS OK (of course that is when i was depositing) WATDO NOT DEPOSIT MONEY AT THIS SITE THEY WILL NOT PAY AND RIP YOU OFF THEY DID ME!!!!! I AM USA PLAYER WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
Actually, where a player is from is NOT always irrelevant. Many casinos make ASSUMPTIONS based on the country a player is from. An example is MY country, the UK, where many Playtech casinos ASSUME we Brits are out to "abuse" or "defraud" them. A case involving UK player vs Playtech casino can have a very DIFFERENT outcome to that of, say, French player vs Playtech casino.
I was once quite happily playing at a Playtech casino when they suddenly denied a withdrawal and bounced it back to my account despite all the terms having been met. It was PURELY down to me being from the UK, and my previous loyalty meant nothing. I then had to play to virtually IMPOSSIBLE rules, which ONLY applied to the UK out of the ENTIRE WORLD (it was a new term, only introduced that month, but tucked away elsewhere). Utter bullshit, followed by a sudden lack of loyalty on my part, and a bit more free disc space
This one may be Rival, rather than Playtech, but Rival are showing all the signs of a brand in decline, or a brand that has "lost the plot" to quote the title of another thread about Rival and their bonuses.