Bonus Complaint Bethard refuses to pay my winnings 'cos of my locked account in their sister casino

somebody

Dormant Account
PABnonaccred
Joined
Mar 17, 2017
Location
Tampere, Finland
Does anyone else have any similar experiences from an online casino? If so, do you know if there is anything I can do about it?

I got bonus offer from Bethard by SMS for 200% first deposit bonus, due for two days. I decided to try that with 35€ deposit. The deposit was successful and I received bonus without problems. I got wagering requirements completed within a day and after that my balance was over 1000€.
I uploaded requested documents for withdrawal and withdrew the balance. Next day. as I tried to log into my account, I received following message: "This account is locked". I went to talk with the live support, but were clueless why this had happened.
After a short while, I received an e-mail regarding the withdrawal. They said that I had temporarily closed my account on their sister site (the name was not mentioned) which means also my Bethard account should've been closed for the same time and thus it will be closed for now for the same time period. Any winnings collected during this period are void and my original stake is returned.

My argument was that I cannot know which is your sister site and if it is how you stated, then my Bethard account should also automatically been locked after my time-out in your sister casino. In the past, that's how several other online casinos have done: I close my account in some casino, they automatically forbid my login to their sister casino(s). So I accept the fact that my account is locked till the temporary time-out from the sister casino is over, but the situation should continue from where I was: Balance with winnings, bonus cleared.
Their answer was that there are some delays in the system and even if I had lost my money, they would have refunded my losses. I find that hard to believe. If I've lost my deposit and I would not have made any withdrawal, the whole matter would have gone unnoticed.

Thanks for the help!
 
this happens quite a lot, but usually with UK licensed casinos, particularly Every Matrix ones.

You are right - if you had lost, then they would have kept your deposit and let you keep depositing until you won.

Not very good practice, but I'm not sure there is much you can do about it, especially if they return your stake.
 
this happens quite a lot, but usually with UK licensed casinos, particularly Every Matrix ones.

You are right - if you had lost, then they would have kept your deposit and let you keep depositing until you won.

Not very good practice, but I'm not sure there is much you can do about it, especially if they return your stake.

Well thats fair enough, except I've just looked through the T&C's and couldn't see anything in there saying they can do this, and the about us page doesn't mention any linked casinos either.
 
Well, they don't appear to have a UKGC license, and the OP is from Finland, in any case.

The MGA list them as sharing a license with these sites:-

APPROVED INTERMEDIARIES:
nightrush.com
fastbet.com
betive.com
sirjackpot.com
livelounge.com
oddsautomaten.com

WEBSITE URLS:
sverigecasino.com
norgevegas.com
sverigekronan.com
suomivegas.com
bethard.com

But even if you have taken a break at one of the sister sites.

As far as I'm aware, unlike the UKGC, the MGA don't have a licensing condition stating that taking a break at a sister site, means you're blocked from all sites.

And in any case it's normally just self-exclusions which are a problem, not TABs

I'd ask them where it's stated in their T&C, and where in their MGA license
 
You are not from the UK, they sent you a SMS offering you a bonus, and they accepted your bets and signup. Case is clear, you should be paid. I would consider a PAB.
 
First of all, I'd like to say many thanks for everyone, you've been very helpful!

I checked the affilities from Bethard webpage and this is what I got:
- Sverigecasino
- Sverigekronan
- BetHard
- SuomiVegas
- OddsAutomaten

I haven't closed my account any of these casinos and actually only casino I even have account from these is SuomiVegas (And like I stated, is still open account)
I went to ask from support which casino they meant and the answer was Fastbet. I do have temporarily self-exclusion at Fastbet, but of course, there was nothing stating Fastbet and Bethard are sister casinos, so there was no way of me knowing this.
When we add the fact that I got this "two days only SMS offer" wednesday and my account was locked temporarily till saturday, there was no way of winning anything at any case!

Do you think this would be enough for PAB? Once again, thanks for your help!
 
First of all, I'd like to say many thanks for everyone, you've been very helpful!

I checked the affilities from Bethard webpage and this is what I got:
- Sverigecasino
- Sverigekronan
- BetHard
- SuomiVegas
- OddsAutomaten

I haven't closed my account any of these casinos and actually only casino I even have account from these is SuomiVegas (And like I stated, is still open account)
I went to ask from support which casino they meant and the answer was Fastbet. I do have temporarily self-exclusion at Fastbet, but of course, there was nothing stating Fastbet and Bethard are sister casinos, so there was no way of me knowing this.
When we add the fact that I got this "two days only SMS offer" wednesday and my account was locked temporarily till saturday, there was no way of winning anything at any case!

Do you think this would be enough for PAB? Once again, thanks for your help!

In my opinion it's plenty enough. I consider these casinos trustworthy, but as they seem to be unwilling to see things your way when you explain it to them, I think there's a good chance going for a PAB and having Max sort it out for you. Just remember that generally speaking you only get one chance at a PAB (against non-accredited casinos) - whether the end result is successful or not. Is 1k€ worth it to you for that one chance you'll get? To me it would be.

Also I'd like to note that while this rule is common at some casinos, it is absolutely ridiculous to expect the player to know that casinos Y and X are related when there's no mention of the other in either one's sites. On top of that, if your temporary exclusion from fastbet was to avoid reversal or such, and not because you have a gambling problem, then I don't see wtf the problem even is. Generally this absurd rule is applied to players who have let a casino know in a group that they have a gambling problem and they want their accounts closed and this rule is then applied to all and any future accounts the player might create in their sister sites - But clearly that's not the case here..?
 
FWIW PAB received and processed. Unfortunately this is an MGA-focused issue and as such the OP will have to file his complaint directly with them in order to proceed. This is standard MGA practice and something we've seen, and complied with, many times before. The OP has been informed of what is necessary, why it is necessary, and been directed to the MGA Complaints page. I'll be happy to resume the PAB once the MGA has given the OP a ruling.
 

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