Account blocked by Grand Virtual casino - Help needed

Paj

Dormant account
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Location
UK
Hello,

I signed up to a Grand Virtual casino (1st one I have signed up for) and was playing there when I became unable to login. I e-mailed customer services to find out why this was and received the following response.

Thank you for your inquiry. Your account has been permanently blocked
by our Operations Department. The reason for blockage is that your
computer used to set up your player account has been connected to a
known fraud ring. There will be no further debits and/or credits posted
to your credit card or your preferred payment method and thus no
winnings will be paid out.

Regards,
Customer Care Team

I had deposited $200 and my balance was approx $760 when I became unable to login.

How should I proceed as this is clearly not true?
 
Can you please post a link to the casino? I don't know of any casino called "grand virtual", unless you mean it's powered by grand virtual software?
 
I personally have used Casino Fantasy, which is another Grand Virtual casino. I have won there and been paid after 24 hours. So they are definitely a legit operation.

Unfortunately the Pitch-A-Bitch section is currently closed and will be re-opened on the 8th of November. Until then, I suggest waiting until Bryan (Casinomeister) views this thread.

If as you say that their accusation is clearly not true, then I do believe that things will be resolved swifty as they are legit.
 
Contacted customer services for further information on the ban, received the following response.

Your account has been permanently blocked by our Operations Department.
There will be no further debits and/or credits posted to your credit
card or your preferred payment method and thus no winnings will be paid out.

If you wish to have more information, please see:
You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

6.0 Termination.

At its sole discretion, Casino Management may terminate this Agreement
and the Player's ability to use the Casino at any time and for any
reason, and in particular in case of any activity that may harm the
Casino or other Players including, but not limited to: fraud; abuse of
promotions or privileges; misuse of the Casino website, software or
services; or frivolous or unsubstantiated claims.

We consider this matter closed.

Regards,
Customer Care Team
 
Was your computer new, out of the box and NO-ONE else has ever used it for online gaming? Have any other adults ever used it online? This is really important to know.

Often people 'fudge' this answer and continue on to pitch a bitch, as you can see that service isn't available right now. The reason for that is that too many people either didn't understand the rules, or were knowingly fraudulent and thought they might have a chance to get paid if CasinoMeister got involved. He finds them out every time, fraudsters never win.
He almost has the backlog cleared up, and as Ugaboga mentioned the service will be available again, probably with some refined rules soon.

I hope it is a minor misunderstanding and that you will be paid if you have it coming. Good luck.
 
This will be a tough one since the Grand Virtual casinos are not known to pull off stunts like this as an excuse not to pay players. When Bryan gets involved, it is likely that Imperial will give him more info on your case and if the meister does not agree with them that this is in any way related to fraud, he might be able to help out. The PAB Section will reopen on 8 Nov. Until then, please exercise patience and refrain from posting on this case again.
 
This bears repeating:

"The reason for that is that too many people either didn't understand the rules, or were knowingly fraudulent and thought they might have a chance to get paid if CasinoMeister got involved. He finds them out every time, fraudsters never win."
 
I am absolutely certain that no one else has ever used this computer for casino play other that me. My IP address is static and has never been used before I had it.
 
This has now been cleared up and they added a $75 bonus to my acccount also for the inconvenience caused.
 
Good to hear as I really trust this group of casinos.

Do you mind elaborating more on how the error/mis judgement occured?
 
I'm not really sure why this happened. They e-mailed me asking for driving license, recent bill and moneybookers screenshot. Provided this and they removed the block.
 
I find these stories rather annoying. First the casino accuses the player of fraud, and more or less gives "case closed - no appeal", and will not look into it further. Then casinomeister contacts the casino rep and all of a sudden it's a horrible mistake and player gets $75 bonus.

WHY WAS THIS NOT RESOLVED INTERNALLY IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!

While there is fraud in many of these cases, and Bryan does indeed find them out, here is an innocent player who would probably NEVER have got justice had they not known there was another avenue for appeal. This has happened not with a rogue, or "not recommended" casino, but an accredited one!
Casinos have to take this matter more seriously, and PROPERLY investigate such issues before levelling accusations, trial, jury, and execution at the player involved. This industry is having trouble enough already with it's reputation in some quarters, and must remember that there really is NO official redress for players beyond the intervention of third parties like Casinomeister who independently vet and help with complaints.

No doubt, the casino will never say what went wrong here, as this could allow real fraudsters to create a work around for security features, but such a SERIOUS mistake should not happen in the first place, casinos must be 100% sure before making it a "final decision". By all means, lock accounts TEMPORARILY and request documents before withdrawal if they think something does not look right, but never make it final till the can be sure a crime of fraud has been committed.
For every 4 players that know about such fora, there are 6 who do not, and would stay "screwed over" in the event that they really were innocent of charges but thought that there was no avenue other than the "chargeback" to use in pursuit of justice.
While the casino offered $75 compensation, this is peanuts compared to the possible repercussions were a fully regulated UK business to be found guilty of wrongfully removing money from a player's account with their company, be it an energy business or a bank.
Every time I see a story like this where the player is vindicated in short order after being accused of being a criminal by a casino, particularly one accredited here, my confidence in the ability of this industry to self regulate falls.
The industry are fighting to be allowed back into the US and parts of the Canadian market, while at the same time convincing other countries that the US has overreacted by calling them "criminal enterprises". There has to be an improvement in transparency of behaviour, or this industry could die in it's current self regulated form.
I have been playing since 2004, and I have never before witnessed such a torrent of complaints relating to confiscated winnings and deposits before this year, it is not the PLAYERS' fault that the US have decided to really turn the screw, and those players who continue to patronise the casinos, and keep them afloat, deserve better than the lowest standards casinos can get away with.
If it is really a problem with first deposit bonuses, then develop a new model, perhaps one that treats loyal players better than "cash cows" while lavishing huge bonuses on unknown new players that loyal players will NEVER see again in many cases unless they break with the loyalty and defect to a new casino. This would make sense, a casino knows how a loyal player plays, but they take a gamble that a new sign-up isn't just after the juicy bonus.
 
here is an innocent player who would probably NEVER have got justice had they not known there was another avenue for appeal. This has happened not with a rogue, or "not recommended" casino, but an accredited one!

I couldn't have said it better VWM. How many players does this happen to that don't know a place such as Casinomeister exists? No day in court, no appeal..guilty, account locked, money confiscated...done deal. It sure doesn't inspire confidence in this industry.

I've said this before but it bears repeating. I pity newbie players who are just now getting into online gaming, and don't have a clue how things work or where to turn when they have a problem. Bonus abuse, white labels, accusations of fraud where none exist, rogue casinos that offer 500% bonuses too good to pass up....the list goes on. Scary.
 
I'm actually very surprised that Grand Virtual is accredited at all, because when they decide they are going to not pay someone (which happens somewhat frequently from the forum threads I've read and my own personal experiences with them) they not only DON'T pay your winnings (bad enough) they REFUSE to refund your deposit, and tell you that your e-wallet has been permanently blocked from any other transactions (which includes a refund of your deposit).

How can a casino that won't even refund your deposit if they decide not to pay be accredited?
 
This has now been cleared up and they added a $75 bonus to my acccount also for the inconvenience caused.

Interesting situation. From blocked to released and a $75 bonus.
Why would a casino go from freezing the funds to rewarding the player to return!
Wow, I am new here..but amazed.
I did see it's an accredited casino, so I guess they want to protect their reputation.

To address previous posters, I think there's more than meets the eye in this case. Surely the person who wrote the casino's reply or the persons who were involved were shamed if they ever saw this thread.
and is the casino adjusting their methodology for tracking fraud as a result of this public exposure?

All questions that may remain unanswered.
 
How can a casino that won't even refund your deposit if they decide not to pay be accredited?

Just a guess, but maybe they suspected that player (not the one subject of this thread) to be connected to a real fraud ring... like credit card fraud or moneybookers fraud or whatever. You know, there must be real fraudsters using stolen funds, other people's moneybookers accounts, whatever... and then trying to turn a deposit into a big win.
Why should those folks get their deposit refunded?
I believe a number of casinos have conditions that say they can freeze all of your account balance, if it comes down to blocking your account for ever.
 
Perhaps I should have posted this yesterday, but as far as what I have been told, this is not over yet. When I contacted the casino, the fraud squad unblocked this player's account and requested further documents. As soon as these docs are verified, they will release these funds.

Let's not start jumping to a lot of conclusions and start hammering away at a casino that has acted in good faith. They are giving this player a second chance.
 
I'm not really sure why this happened. They e-mailed me asking for driving license, recent bill and moneybookers screenshot. Provided this and they removed the block.

casinomeister, here's your update.

Paj have you tried logging in since then?
What did you decide to do... hey maybe you can win even more money with this new bonus lol
 
Let's not start jumping to a lot of conclusions and start hammering away at a casino that has acted in good faith. They are giving this player a second chance.

I'm sure you meant this comment in general and not just to me, but I'm not hammering away at a casino, or jumping to a conclusion. I know for a fact that Grand Virtual's standard mode of operation when they decide not to pay a player is to not pay him his winnings or even refund a deposit because it has happened to me, and it has happened to people I referred to them, back before they tried to steal from me. I got a satisfactory result, but it took a lot of my time and effort, and I doubt that most people are as diligent as I am at getting paid by rogue operations (IE, the brouhaha I went through to get paid by Virtual in the brief period they were on probation). I personally would never play at Grand Virtual again after the ordeal I went through with them, and its a shame considering they used to pay inside of 24 hours and I considered them to be one of the better run casino groups at one time, but I find the theft of deposits to be too big of an obstacle for any webmaster to responsibly promote them.

Refusal to even refund a deposit, is a pretty absurd and indefensible policy to have, and it is something that the casino management needs to change procedure on. I certainly understand/recognize the right of the casino to not pay suspected fraudsters, but stealing their deposit? I'm sorry if they are accredited, but it doesn't matter. Stealing deposits is rogue behavior to me that is severe enough to not mince words over. Regardless of whether or not this guy is legit, I think that the practice of refusing to refund a deposit is rogue-like enough to warrant pulling from the accredited section, and I think if you are promoting them as accredited, that you should bring this issue up with them, because I think most players/affiliates/webmasters would agree with me. Again, all the respect in the world, I'm not here to bash, I'm here to bring up what I consider to be a legitimate concern.
 
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I am logged in and playing again, not getting my hopes up until I cash out.

When I saw the casino's response of "We consider this matter closed." I was furious and if they had of confiscated the deposit in my eyes it would of been theft. Unfortunatly as said there really would of been nothing I could have done.

A huge thank you to Casinomeister for giving the casino a poke and getting the problem resolved :)
 
I still think Grand Virtual needs to explain why it is that their standard operating procedure for people they decide are fraudulent is to steal their deposits, this happened to me and others, is documented in other threads, and has never been explained.
 
I still think Grand Virtual needs to explain why it is that their standard operating procedure for people they decide are fraudulent is to steal their deposits, this happened to me and others, is documented in other threads, and has never been explained.


BBKPoker interesting suggestion, but I think you are mistaken.
I looked up your past posts.
I found
https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/virtual-group-question.20340/
which is about the Virtual Group.
Grand Virtual is different.
So maybe you concluded wrongly?
 
Nope, I'm not at all mistaken.

I had plenty of problems (and pitched several bitches ) about the Virtual Group, specifically Cool Cat Casino, Prism, and Palace of Chance. I've also had a number of problems with Imperial Casino, Casino Elegance and Casino Treasure who belong to Grand Virtual, and all of whom used to pay me overnight back before they disallowed US players, and then one day decided I was a bonus abuser even though I was doing most of my recreational gambling on there at that point, and often depositing with no bonus at all. I was told my account was blocked, I would get none of my winnings, and none of my deposits would be refunded. Their form email was nearly identical to ones two different friends received, after I had referred them. I know they both played with bonuses, but neither fits the description of a bonus hunter or abuser, they both like slots and high edge table games like roulette and let it ride, and all they really care about is that they get paid on the infrequent occasion that they request a cashout in a prompt and courteous manner.

However, unlike some of the other casino forum members who don't read the PAB instructions, back when I gambled a lot online, I did my best to talk to casino representatives and phone managers at casinos prior to going to Bryan, which I view as a last resort. He's a busy man. I also think that most forum members don't do nearly enough to contact and workout their complaints with a casino before posting an inflammatory thread on here, which causes casinos to not take the site as seriously, especially since several of the complaints that come in are from obviously novice bonus hunters who Bryan filters out as fraudulent probably within the first email response he gets back from the casino.

I've had very few times where I actually felt the need to post something as a thread (I think the only full out slam of a site that I've posted since I complained about the Virtual Group was regarding Absolute Poker, and I think most people would understand why that was warranted). I also made sure to include tons of evidence and cite reliable sources rather than just blindly claim online sites are rigged. Hell, I don't even really play on Absolute, I just thought it was important people understand how mathematically impossible it was for any explanation other than outright fraud and cheating to be going on. I also have frequently told people to back off of casino reps who post diligently here, or who make idiotic posts about site-rigging, I took that Greek Thorodisk or whoever to task re: his posts, and the Rival Rep had a thread about Mayan Fortune where he was extremely detailed and courteous in his response, and still got slammed. That all needs to stop. I view Casinomeister as a valuable resource that should be used sparingly when all other options are exhausted, and as such, generally, when I say a site has a problem I consider large enough that it needs to be addressed before they can continue to be promoted, people actually listen to what I have to say. Unfortunately, most people (fraudsters especially) don't have the same level of patience I do.

I've also sent Bryan several items off of his Amazon wishlist so I don't feel that bad when I need to send him a message or two. ;););)
 

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