Player Arbitration (PAB) Policies and Procedures

Last update: October 2024

1. Our complaints process is free of charge and available to all persons registered and in good standing at Casinomeister.
2. Ours is a "documents only" arbitration service:
   1. Our service shall be conducted through the use of any of the following: text submissions, digital scans and/or screenshots, chat transcripts, emails, other digital media EXCLUDING audio and/or video.
   2. If either party wishes to be interviewed, to submit evidence in person, or provide evidence in any verbal manner they will have to go elsewhere as we are not able to provide such services.
3. We reserve the right to refuse any complaint for any of the following reasons:
   1. the complaint relates to social games such as Facebook browser games, or eWallets and eTellers, etc.
   2. the issue is frivolous or vexatious.
   3. the complainant has failed to contact the party against whom they are lodging a complaint (see item 1.1 below).
   4. the issue is too old (see item 1.3 below).
   5. the issue is too new: for example, if the casino specifies a specific time within which payments will be processed and you haven't waitied for that period to pass then your issue is "too new".
   6. the issue is currently with or has has already been ruled on by a designated ADR or other service whose rulings we respect.
   7. the issue amounts to relationship counselling eg. getting one party to be nicer/kinder/more polite/apologetic/more generous to the other. This includes asking for more/better/any bonuses: bonuses are a privilege not a right and it is entirely up to the casino to decide when, what and to whom they are given.
   8. the complainant is requesting that: games be tested; RTP verified; game design and/or layout modified; etc. Such requests are beyond the scope of the PAB service. The same applies to any requests that unlawful activity be investigated, the casino be shut down, casino operators be prosecuted, etc. We are not the police and we are not the courts.
   9. the complaint issue is posted on the forums, either just before or shortly after the PAB was submitted.
   10. the case has been or is being taken up by legal council or the courts or law enforcement or an applicable government agency.
   11. the complaint amounts to nothing more than a demand that the casino be blacklisted: we investigate complaints and will only blacklist a casino if and when the results of that investigation show that blacklisting is fully justified and, in our sole judgement, the appropriate action to take.
4. PABs are private and closed. Any evidence given in a case is considered confidential and private.
   1. Case information and discussions are never published nor shared.
   2. At no time is case information publicly accessible although a brief, anonymized summary which will appear in the PAB Summary Pages.
   3. PAB Tickets are only seen by Casinomeister staff, the person who submitted the Ticket and, where appropriate and permission has been given, the casino representative.
5. All parties involved are expected to respect the privacy of the PAB process. Violations of this privacy will be considered sufficient grounds for dismissing the case in question.
6. Ours is an arbitration service not a court of law. If a complainant is looking for legal representation they'll have to look elsewhere.
7. The PAB service only requires you to keep your issue with us -- and us alone -- while we are working on it for you. After that you're free to take it anywhere that you see fit, no exceptions.
8. PAB service is provided in English only: this means we'll need you to submit your PAB and any subsequest communications in English. If you need help translating we'd recommend asking on our forums since our membership is very international. Please note that automatic or machine translation often provides poor results.
9. We reserve the right to post monthly case summaries which will include a brief description of the case and its outcome: these case summaries are fully anonymized.
10. Violations of these PAB Policies and Procedures will put your PAB at the back of the queue (meaning "expect delays") or cause it to be cancelled entirely. Please read and respect the PAB rules.

1. PAB Policies and Procedures (PAB P&P)

1.1 - Before you submit your complaint to us you must attempt to resolve the problem with the casino directly. The Casino Representatives list will help you find someone from the casino to discuss your issue with. Please allow at least 10 working days for the casino people to resolve your issue AFTER you have provided them with the necessary details.

1.2 - Be aware that complaints against casinos listed on our Rogue Casinos page are very likely to be unsuccessful: these casino have earned their bad reputation and like tigers they seldom change their stripes. We'll help if we can but do not count on a happy result.

1.3 - Issues that date back a year or more are generally considered too old and may, at our discretion, be considered ineligible for the complaints service here at Casinomeister.

1.4 - Please DO NOT file your complaint here if:

• you are unwilling to identify yourself properly.
• you have opened multiple accounts at the casino.
• you have colluded with other players.
• you have registered at the casino using stolen or fake identities.
• you have been abusive toward the casino staff.
• you think it's acceptable to be abusive toward us at any time for any reason.

1.5 - Summarize your complaint:

• 50-100 words is almost always sufficient. Excessive wordage is unnecessary and unwelcome.
• Saying "go look at my post" or equivalent is not an acceptable substitute for a proper description of your problem.
• If you are expecting to recover money from the casino don't be coy about it, tell us how much.
• Abusive material of any sort will not be tolerated; your complaint will be canceled and discarded without notice.

1.6 - When you submit your complaint please DO NOT:

• attach or send supporting materials : the basic PAB details are almost always sufficient. If we need additional material from you we will ask for it.
• name more than one casino : ours is a "one casino per PAB" process. Submit another PAB if you have an issue regarding another casino.

1.7 - You will have opened your complaint with us via our ticket system on the forums, we will normally reply to you in the Ticket within a few working days. Further progress on your case will be announced and can be discussed in the PAB Ticket.

• Please confine discussions with us regarding your PAB to the PAB Ticket.
• we ask that you only Private Message or email us regarding your PAB if absolutely necessary or specifically asked to do so.

1.8 - We often require your input while we work on your complaint: if you are unresponsive within a reasonable time your complaint will be closed and note will be made that you have misused our service: your future use of the PAB service may be restricted or denied.

1.9 - While your PAB with us is active and open please do not post on our forums regarding your case, nor on other forums regarding your case, nor file your complaint with another 3rd party arbitration service(s) nor take your case to an ADR.: we strive to get your issue resolved ASAP so please respect our efforts and don't confuse things through continued public debate of your issue nor by asking for outside assistance while we are engaged on your behalf. Failure to comply will, at our discretion, result in your complaint being cancelled and discarded.
The same holds true in reverse: if your issue is already active elsewhere we are unlikely to accept that same issue here at Casinomeister.

1.10 Please understand that our arbitration service is non-binding on the parties involved. We try to reach resolution through mutual agreement but if that is impossible you may have to seek redress through the courts.

1.11 - If the online gaming property named in your complaint refuses to cooperate with us regarding your case and offers no reasonable arbitration alternative we may, at our discretion, publish a Casinomeister Warning against them. Or, if we deem the casino to have acted unfairly and/or unreasonably towards you and/or other players, we may publish such a warning. For any such warning the details will be anonymized before publication. Any casino with a Warning against it is a likely canditate for being added to the Casinomeister Rogue Casinos list.

1.12 - If and when legislation in your jurisdiction precludes our involvement we will withdraw from any ongoing complaint as is required to comply with said legislation.

1.13 - Under all normal circumstances you will be notified of our decision regarding your complaint. If you have committed fraud or otherwise tried to mislead us or the casino we reserve the right to make our final decision and withdraw from the case without notice or further explanation.

1.14.1 - If we deem that you have abused our arbitration service by misuse, false claims (including lies), being uncooperative or repeated failure to comply with these Policies & Procedures we will, at our discretion, close any ongoing cases you may have, bar you from future access to the arbitration service and/or terminate your membership at Casinomeister.

1.14.2 - If you are abusive towards us or have been abusive toward the casino staff we will, at our discretion, close any ongoing cases you may have, bar you from future access to the arbitration service and/or terminate your membership at Casinomeister.

2. DOs and DONTs for a successful PAB

2.0 - DO be aware that the PAB service is provided in English only.

Automatic or machine translators typically do a poor job of translating the complexities of a complaint, it is always better to conduct the conversation in the target language: English. Using an automatic translator could result in your PAB being delayed. We advise you to seek the assistance of an English-speaking person. Feel free to ask on our forums for someone to assist you with translation.

2.1 - DO provide a BRIEF description of your problem.

When you submit your complaint details there is a text box to describe your problem. Please do so in 100-200 words. Yes, that's brief but trust us, that's a good thing.
If you don't provide a problem description as requested our work on your PAB will automatically be delayed while we contact you directly to get it.

2.2 - DO stay in touch.

Complaint resolution depends of communications back and forth between the parties involved. If we can't reach you your PAB can and will fail. If we ask for something from you and you don't reply in reasonable time your PAB will be cancelled and closed.

2.3 - DON'T sabotage your complaint.

Posting about your issue on the forums, or submitting your issue at other 3rd party sites, or raising your issue with a licensing authority while we're working on your PAB undermines our efforts. If we find out you've done so your complaint will likely be canceled. You'll be free to discuss your complaint wherever you like once we've completed our work and given our decision.

2.4 - DO keep us updated.

Let us know if the status of your issue changes. If the casino contacts you and resolves the problem, let us know. If you've given up and are no longer interested in working with us to see your complaint through, let us know.

2.5 - DO allow us time to do our work.

These things take time. If you haven't heard anything from us in a week -- assume 5 working days -- then by all means feel free to ask for an update. Otherwise give it some time; too many interruptions will only slow things down.

2.6 - DO be realistic.

As above, these things take time: some cases are solved in hours, others in a few days, some can take weeks or months. In the worst cases it can take a year or more to see a case to conclusion but that is the rare exception.

• Please remember that some of the factors involved in getting a case concluded are beyond our control (processor issues, change of management, etc).
• If there is some reason to expect unusual delays we'll try to let you know.
• Do keep in mind that if this was a trivial process you would have done it yourself and you wouldn't have needed our assistance.

2.7 - DON'T waste our time.

Please don't use the PAB service for frivolous issues. If you want a nice bonus or more Comp Points or the casino people to be nicer to you then talk to the casino. We're here to help you resolve a legitimate dispute with your casino not get you more/bigger/nicer/faster freebees or provide relationship counseling.

2.8 - DON'T ask us to disclose evidence given by the casino.

As previously stated: Any evidence given in a case is considered confidential and private. Such material will not be disclosed nor shared in any way without explicit permission having been sought and given in advance. If you want evidence from the casino ask the casino, such information is not ours to give.

3. GDPR Compliance

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is now in effect and requires that we inform users of our complaints service of our Legal Basis for Data Usage and our Data Retention Policy:

3.1 - Legal Basis for Processing Data

The GDPR identifies six (6) legal bases upon which personal data may be processed of which two (2) apply to our site, your usage of the site and the work we do:

• Consent: by registering on our site you consent that we can and will hold information on you including your IP address(es) and basic computer profile including browser type, operating system, etc. Furthermore if you use our Player Arbitration Service you will be consenting to us having, holding and using for the purposes of processing that complaint such data as you provide to us or that we gather about you regarding your complaint from the internet gambling property(s) you have named in your complaint and/or the licensing body(s) that regulate those internet gambling properties. For ongoing complaints you may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us with your request. We will act on such requests as soon as is reasonably possible. There will be no penalties for withdrawing consent.
• Legitimate Interests: in the course of pursuing a Player Arbitration complaint that you have filed with us we will process and use your data in pursuit of a resolution of that complaint. Our legitimate interest is to see that complaint fairly and reasonably concluded and what information we have, hold or gather about you will be related to that purpose.

3.2 - Data Retention Policy

Any personal data collected from you or about you in the course of a complaint investigation will be retained no longer than is necessary for that purpose. Typically this will mean that once a decision has been reached any data beyond that required to provide basic identification of the complainant and/or support for our decision regarding their case and/or to meet our legal obligations will be deleted and purged.

4. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about these policies or our PAB service please feel free to contact us on the forums or via email:

• Send us a general message via our Contact Us page.
• Bryan aka Casinomeister has been the head man at Casinomeister from the beginning (1998), message him here. Please note that Bryan will be retiring from Casinomeister in late 2024.
• Max aka maxd is the Head of Complaints (PABs) and the Senior Forum Moderator, message him here, email at max.drayman@casinomeister.com.
• GourdFollower is our Complaints (PABs) Manager, contact here.

5. PAB related links

• Submit a PAB intro.
• Read our How To PAB guide.