African Palace Casino STOLE my money

[jetset]

These African Palace and Indio people were bad news when they were with Futurebet, and they certainly don't seem to have reformed judging by the reports here of non-payment, ignoring players etc.

As for Playtech, it's very disappointing that after several months now they still haven't managed to get this disputes channel they boasted about working properly. Very disappointing, and one has to ask whether they really have the will to do this, or if their statements were just cosmetic.

 

[moneyfornothing]

Add me to the list of people burned by Indio side of this company. I have been waiting over two months for my 4 figure cashout and have not recieved the first real response. Let me explain their only response: I live in an area hit by Katrina and when I returned to my damaged house, I recieved a hard-to-understand phone call asking if I was ok. I was thinking...wow..how nice of them to call. I jokingly told my wife that they were calling to see if I was dead so they would have an excuse not to pay my cashout. At the time I thought that was funny. That was two months ago. Since then I've contacted Playtech-no response. Emailed Mathew Peters-no response. I have been told at least twenty times by the live chat help and phone support that I will be contacted within a day nothing ever happens. Could you imagine having a job where you are instructed to shamelessly lie to your customers day after day? Sorry...had to vent.

A big thanks to Bryan who is trying to help. I hope we all get paid. Best of luck to everyone.

 

[sookie]

Bryan is your only hope...

Playtech doesn't care what this casino group does. They will say they are powerless to do anything. Waiting since July...I've been waiting since June. Playtech should hang their head in shame for doing NOTHING!

 

[Lord_Have_Mercy]

Playtech is officially off my list as of today. I hate that they allow these type of stuff to happen and don't seem to care. Their BJ isn't worth writing home about. And yet to hear anyone winning a Jackpot off their software as often as MG. And this 5 days waiting period for cashouts is sad.

 

[sookie]

Touche!

I agree!

 

[cheleel]

Hi just thought i would comment on african palace i have been waitng since feb for my 1199.00 winnings they completly ignored me. Been promised many times for my money nothing. So i will never deposit there

 

[The Dude]

Playtech is officially off my list as of today. I hate that they allow these type of stuff to happen and don't seem to care. Their BJ isn't worth writing home about. And yet to hear anyone winning a Jackpot off their software as often as MG. And this 5 days waiting period for cashouts is sad.

You can't lump them together because the licensees have differing contracts. Each have their own payment policies and sometimes these are dictated by third parties. Some provide their own support and payments (like the Main Street group), some don't. So it's like comparing apples to oranges.

As for jackpots, Playtech doesn't have the player base to compare to MG - but they have paid the highest payout:
https://www.casinomeister.com/static/news/october2005.html

You need to start reading Casinomeister's news

 

[The Dude]

Playtech doesn't care what this casino group does. They will say they are powerless to do anything. Waiting since July...I've been waiting since June. Playtech should hang their head in shame for doing NOTHING!

According to African Palace, they're on schedule.

 

[sookie]

And why don't they have the player base?

African Palace Casino is the pits. You know my play history. Stop defending this dump and the fact they they make up terms of use to suit there needs, and they ignore everyone. Playtech doesn't have the player base because they do nothing when a place like this treats people like crap.

 

[tjhooker]

After 6 months, 30 phone calls and 28 emails today I finally got to speak to David, the manager of African Palace. Not that he followed through on his promise to pay me of course...

That's not the reason for this post though. I thought that forum members and Bryan would be interested to know about this email sent from Matthew (the First Grand rep, and seemingly a helpful kind of guy) to a First Grand affiliate, promising that all casino meister complainants had been paid and the disputes were over.

[addresee withheld]

Thank you for getting back to me and for addressing your concerns.

We have been listed on some sites, which came as quite a shock to us, however the situation has been resolved. We had some problems with bonus seekers, who in turn laid a complaint with Casinomeister. If you have a look at our website(africanpalacecasino.com/bonus_us.html), you will notice that the bonus structure has been changed. This new bonus structure was drawn up to avoid a situation like what happened from ever being repeated as we were being spammed with bonus seekers. As mentioned to you Casinomeister, we did not hold back any withdrawals for no particular reason. We had been invaded with bonus abusers and fraudulent players and we had to take a stand. I hope that you understand where we were coming from.

We are in communication with the owners of those websites to have us removed. All the cases mentioned on Casinomeister has been resolved and Casinomeister is aware of this. I sincerely hope that we can still work together. Please contact me should you wish to discuss this further.

Regards,
Mathew

Any comments Matthew?

 

[sookie]

Was David a gem or what?

So they still haven't paid you then? I can't believe they are still in business.

 

[moneyfornothing]

Any updates? I just hit the 3 month mark without being paid.At this point I don't think anything short of divine intervention will get these guys to pay what they owe. At what point do you give up? Has anyone been paid after waiting 3 months?

 

[tjhooker]

I have some good news regarding my situation, but I will refrain from posting until it is sorted 100%; there's still one element that I am waiting for; once it's done i'll post an update here. Should be done by mid next week. I will also be posing an amusing question primarily for the UK posters to do with African Palace and a purchase I recently made.

All will be revealed next week. Til then, anyone waiting for cash don't give up.

TJ

 

[tjhooker]

OK, well my last post said i'd write again within a few days when everything had been sorted. That was over a month ago, and it's only just been sorted today.

So, after 7 months, 55 emails, 70 phone calls to the casino and Playtech I have now been paid every cent of my 5000 owed to me. I received 3000 last month, and was promised the balance into my bank account the next day. Now it seems that a month later the balance is actually being paid into my Neteller instead. No matter, it's all good.

I would like to thank the Casinomeister, for his initial help and hard work, and for allowing me to use this forum to keep in touch with other people owed cash. And i'd like to thank all those other people, especially the ones I am now working with to get this outfit closed down (you know who you are).

I know that there are many people on this forum who have lost a great deal of money, and i'm happy to help where I can- I think I created just the right amount of fuss and irritation for the casino, while being professional and rational in all my dealings with Playtech management. Drop me a PM and maybe we can work something out. I'd also appreciate anyone who has a good idea on what to do with my shiny new domain- www.africanpalace.co.uk

Overall, if you are owed money, don't give up. You deserve to be paid, and i've proved that with enough hassle, they WILL pay up eventually. Good luck everyone

TJ

 

[sookie]

Glad you got paid...

I wrote to Playtech after a delay in my monthly payment due December 20th and received the monthly payment yesterday (only a little over a week late-a record for African Palace). Every month I have to ask for my monthly payment and get Playtech involved to help me get it. I am still waiting for the balance of my four figure withdrawal (since June 2005), but happy to get anything from this place.

I hope others reading this forum will at least learn a lesson from our mistakes playing at African Palace/Indio.

Now they are trying to skate by their terms of use and not pay me the balance of what they owe me come January when I'll be with them for a year. Their terms of use say after one year of being registered with the casino you are entitled to a maximum of $20K per month. So my thought is after January 5th, I will have been registered with the casino for one year. Their rules, not mine. Then I should get the balance of my withdrawal as a lump sum since it is less to 20k. Unfortuneatley I wrote management and was told I was not eligible for this. They never bothered telling me why. That was 12/18 when I received an e-mail from them telling me the accounts department will explain to me while I'm not eligible for higher payouts. Never heard a word after.

They try ANYTHING to skate around paying people timely. Hopefully we can give them the outcome they deserve, which is to be out of business.

Glad again you got paid TJ....what a nightmare that I'm sure you are happy is over!

 

[adamruns]

wish I saw this thread first. Deposited played with the bonus got the balance up to a nice figure. Overall I did over 10k in wagering and then when I went to cash out I was denied my winnings and only received my deposit back.

What can I do? is pitching a bitch just gonna waste Brian's time? Contact playtech themselves?

One thing I will be doing is telling everyone not to play at this site.

 

[sookie]

I'd do both...

I'd Pitch a Bitch and write Playtech. The only way to get these folks out of the business of ripping people off is to collectively complain.

 

[Slotmachine]

Every month I have to ask for my monthly payment and get Playtech involved to help me get it...

....come January when I'll be with them for a year.

I'm just wondering... why did you keep playing there if you had to get Playtech involved every month to get your money?? Why didn't you quit after the first sign of problems

Cheers,
SM

 

[sookie]

I won in June of 2005 and they are paying me in installments

I haven't played there since I won and couldn't collect in FULL at one time. They ignored my VIP status when I finally won and said I had to get paid in $3,000 installments according to their terms of use.

Their terms of use say once a user is REGISTERED with the casino for one year (which will be January for me) they can get $20,000 per month.

So, I did stop playing immediately with them when they gave me the runaround and told me I could only get my money in installments.

They got 5 times the money I won at least before I won and didn't have a problem taking everything I deposited at once. Then when I won they didn't want to pay me in full.

Still waiting for the balance of my money....and I should get it all now since I've been registered for more than a year...but they'll find an excuse to get around that too.

This is a DUMP! Use your money somewhere reputable like 32Red

 

[Slotmachine]

Right...I understand your predicament now. Hope you get paid in full.

Looks like this casino is on the Meister's Not Recommended list. To me, they seem crooks, and should be on the Rogue list...


Cheers,
SM

 

[caruso]

Hmmm...so all African Palace / Indio debts are now paid in full, is this correct?

 

[sookie]

Who told you that lie?

Nope, still owe me a ton of money and now they are not sticking to their terms of use. Not responding to ANY of my e-mails. Who told you that lie or where did you hear that?

 

[caruso]

I read it right here:

https://www.casinomeister.com/rogue-casinos/

I must say, I was surprised to see that debt of approximately $80,000 all told apparently reduced to zero.

 

[sookie]

That's stretching it quite a bit to say they resolved things...

Week after week I hear a new complaint about others who are left unpaid from African Palace and Indio Casino site. They still owe me a ton and as of January 8th I was a registered player for one year and according to their terms of use they owe me the balance of my money, originally withdrew in June of 2005 !!!!! If you're a top level VIP player at one of their casinos and you win (like I was), you can expect NEVER get your money in lump sum...installments is the only way they pay... and expect to fight for your money every month and beg Playtech and the Meister for assistance throughout the process. If that isn't a ROGUE casino I don't know what is.

Here we sit and they won't respond to anything about the balance of my withdrawal that they owe me in full. I've e-mailed them half a dozen times. I've e-mailed Playtech and the licensing group for this casino. This casino is a ROGUE casino to put it politely. If I had to tell you what I think of them I'd probably be banned from the forum. I wouldn't play with my worst enemies money at this place. That's telling you something. I wouldn't give them a freaking dime -- EVER!

 

[The Dude]

Some of you need to refresh your memories on what I've stated about the "Not Recommended" section. Not recommended means don't play there - period. It doesn't mean take a chance and see what happens - it means it is not recommended to do so.

It is not recommended to put a loaded gun to your head and pull the trigger.
It is not recommended to drive on the wrong side of the freeway.
It is not recommended to swim in shark infested waters with a nose bleed.
It is not recommended to play at Indio/African Palace casinos.

Okay, now sookie is being paid - seemingly reluctanctly and very slowly by installments. She claims that they are behind - they keep claiming that they are on schedule.

Tjhooker's complaint was supposidly taken care of. Their manager contacted me on Friday to find out what that was all about.

I'll take another relook at this this week and update the site.

 

[caruso]

It is not recommended to put a loaded gun to your head and pull the trigger.
It is not recommended to drive on the wrong side of the freeway.
It is not recommended to swim in shark infested waters with a nose bleed.
It is not recommended to play at Indio/African Palace casinos.

I will rephrase:

It is absof**kinglutelyinsanitypersonified to put a loaded gun to your head and pull the trigger.
It is absof**kinglutelyinsanitypersonified to drive on the wrong side of the freeway.
It is absof**kinglutelyinsanitypersonified to swim in shark infested waters with a nose bleed.
It is absof**kinglutelyinsanitypersonified to play at Indio/African Palace casinos

OK, it reads right now.

Tjhooker's complaint was supposidly taken care of. Their manager contacted me on Friday to find out what that was all about.

According to post 114 of the previous page, he was paid.

OK, well my last post said i'd write again within a few days when everything had been sorted. That was over a month ago, and it's only just been sorted today.

So, after 7 months, 55 emails, 70 phone calls to the casino and Playtech I have now been paid every cent of my 5000 owed to me. I received 3000 last month, and was promised the balance into my bank account the next day. Now it seems that a month later the balance is actually being paid into my Neteller instead. No matter, it's all good.

 

[sookie]

I agree with those analogies wholeheartedly...

Okay, so they say they are paying me on time? Every month they are late and I have to write to Playtech to get my money. Now I am still owed a ton of money (the balance of my June 2005 withdrawal) and I have officially been "registered" with the casino for one year as of January 8th, 2006. Where is the balance of my money then? I've been registered for one year and their own TERMS OF USE say they will pay up to $20,000 per month for anyone registered for a year with them. SO, that means they owe me the balance of my money as of Janaury 8th! Where is it? Ask them that? Ask them why they say I am not eligible for full payment under their own rules and their own terms of use.

Not recommended....hmmmmmm....well, if you say so. I say ROGUE to the last drop...

 

[caruso]

African Palace problems finding their way to SportsBookReview:

Link Removed ( Old/Invalid)

The matter is also mentioned in succinct headline format on the homepage.

 

[sookie]

UNBELIEVABLE!

Sounds like the conversations I've had with them on the support line. I kept a few. One day I'll post them so everyone can have a good laugh about this dump. ROGUE CITY!

 

[sookie]

Good News and More P*** Me off Bad News

The good news is I got my monthly INSTALLMENT payment from African Palace today which is correct, the 20th of the month. The bad news is they owed me the BALANCE of my money originally withdrew in JUNE of @ 2005 today, not an INSTALLMENT, and they still only paid the installment. According to THEIR OWN terms of use a person registered with the casino for more than one year is entitled to a maximum payout of $20,000 per month...which means they owed me the balance of my money as of January 8th, 2006. A person registered for under a year is only going to get a maximum of $3,000 per month by the way-PATHETIC COMPARED TO EVERYWHERE ELSE.

But no, once again, now they defy their own terms of use which they used to skate around paying me in the first place. Now they don't even honor THEIR OWN TERMS OF USE.

Meister, let's hear the reason why I'm not eligible for increased payments now that I've been with that s***hole for a year?

Can't wait to hear this excuse. Why doesn't #18 apply to ME?

Here's their terms of use:

17. The maximum amount that a new player playing at the casino for less than twelve months can cashout when winning USD 5,000, EUR 5000, or R10,000 or more within a 30 day period from all of First Grand Gaming N.V. Casinos, is USD 3000, EUR 3000, or R5000 per month.

18. No more than USD 20,000, EUR 20,000, or R50,000 plus the total amount that you have deposited into your account in the past 30 days, can be withdrawn per month (maximum of USD 20,000, EUR 20,000, or R50,000 in winnings can be withdrawn per month for players registered at the casino for more than twelve months).

 

[liquidsoap]

wow i just went throught this whole thread and was amazed by how many people were owed money
but its kinda of appealling to money losers like me, makes me kinda want to play there seeing all the big wins

but in all serouisness i do hope you all get payed
miester, you work wonders with these complaints

 

[adamruns]

Does anyone know how long it should playtech to respond? Their auto e-mail said within 72 hours. Obviously that is not the case.

 

[sookie]

Try sending it to Iris Toledano at Playtech

She will be the one handling it anyway. That is if all the complaints from African Palace/Indio haven't caused her to run screaming from her office at Playtech.

Iris[at]Playtech.com

She's probably going to put you in the stack with the hundreds of others this casino has ripped off. No one should ever play here if they read this first. If this thread isn't warning enough....good luck. You'll hopefully get paid but don't hold your breathe waiting. And get ready to be lied to about 1000 times by support and this place when you try to get your money. Par for the course.

They seem to pay, but it takes them like 6 months to a year to finally pay people.

 

[Simmo!]

I just read the whole thread too.

The thing that i find most unsettling is Playtech's perceived lack of concern. Its been left to players, Bryan and Jetset to get to the bottom of this.

I'm sure they will wheel out the argument that they are not responsible for their licensors, but they surely should realise that issues at one licensor have a negative effect on their other customers? If I was a Playtech licensor, I'd have some concerns.

Simmo!

 

[caruso]

I've heard some interesting things about changes in the management structure here, changes which appear to have led to some recent issue resolutions.

Hopefully all issues will now be revisited and settled.

 

[sookie]

Meister said he would update us..

but haven't heard. Still waiting for the balance of my withdrawal from last June which was due in full to me earlier this month. Their changes haven't fixed my issue yet.

 

[cheleel]

Im still waiting on a withdrawl from feb 2005 i did nothing wrong i do not know why they won't pay me i email them everyday thinking they might get tired of me but i guess not

 

[Slotmachine]

When they changed from Boss to Playtech they said new and EXISTING customers would get a 100% bonus.
So I deposited 100 and got the bonus. But about 3 days later, after I had done about 90% of the WR, they suddenly removed the bonus and sent me a standard vague BS letter letter with no explanation.

I got the same treatment from Nostalgia/Phoenician. Had deposited in both casinos before, and when they changed software to MG, they sent me an e-mail offering existing players a 100% bonus, and then denied in on the grounds that I'd had an account with them before.

Cheers,
SM

 

[caruso]

Just to say that, far from all issues being resolved here as I originally and erroneously thought a couple of weeks ago, there are currently substantial outstanding debts at African Palace / Indio.

I shot off my first email to Iris two days ago. I'm hoping that our meeting at ICE won't turn out to be nothing more than a whitewash PR job. Time will tell.

I'm not trying to butt into site admin matters, but I do need to say that this entry...

https://www.casinomeister.com/rogue-casinos/

...is a tad incorrect. Debts may have been cleared up, but substantial ones still remain.

 

[sookie]

I agree

It almost sounds like if your not a bonus hunter it's ok to play there. Where's the answer to why I haven't been paid the balance of my money now that I've been there for a year.

They are ROGUE as can be and should be on the ROGUE list.

 

[Slotmachine]

I shot off my first email to Iris two days ago. I'm hoping that our meeting at ICE won't turn out to be nothing more than a whitewash PR job.

I have no idea where this association came from, but a news clip sprang to mind. Check it out, it's fairly amusing..

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

download this file:
Shepard_Smith_blooper.wmv

Sorry about the digression..

Cheers,
SM

 

[AussieDave]

Playtech were strongly advised when setting up this dispute channel that it should be quickly responsive and management supervised, so there may have been a technical glitch that will be quickly sorted out.

This latest response from African Palace is unacceptable - if the casino sets the T&C's and if the player fully complies with them he is entitled to full payout.

This has been said ad nauseum on every major fora, but some of these operators still just don't (or won't) get it. The "spirit" of the bonus has nothing to do with it - we're dealing with specific numbers and amounts promised in return for certain actions, and if the player is within the casino's clearly stated boundaries he gets paid. Period.

What happens after that is up to the casino. If they feel the player is taking advantage of them then they can exercise their right to exclude him from further promos or even close his account. Or they can tighten up their T&C, or impose special conditions in respect of that particular player. All of these remedies are within their control.

But they first pay what they owe in terms of their own T&C.

Any other way of handling this is wide open to abuse by the casinos, and we see that abuse by disreputable and dishonest outfits far too often.

Exactly

 

[schankwart]

Surprisingly, after endless months and emails, I have received the first installment of my African Palace withdrawal today.
Apparently there has been a change in management here, as per the word of their lobby manager.
Over the next weeks I am supposed to get paid an installment each week. -I hope I will not have to waste my time by writing them a single additional email anymore..../

 

[cheleel]

I was told by them i would need to get my payout with installments as well but have not recieved any yet still waiting

 

[sookie]

Too bad when we played we couldn't pay this dump in installments

I thought when we played we hit the REAL MONEY button. We didn't get to deposit in installments, why should we be paid that way?

 

[schankwart]

I thought when we played we hit the REAL MONEY button. We didn't get to deposit in installments, why should we be paid that way?

I hear you. -But I am rather getting it in installments than not at all.
Playtech still never cared to do anything about this, by the way.

 

[caruso]

Posted at Sucks last night:

Update from BigB on First Grand (**The African Palace group**):

Francois walked today. Due to confidentiality agreements, no reasons were disclosed.

That was fast, huh?
It's really rare to see a BAD Outfit, turn around and find the ethics, and morals they never had to begin with.

I figured they might clash.
Francois probably tried to infuse some ethics into the place, and that pissed them off!

Needless to say, I think you all need to CONTINUE to steer clear of Indio, and African Palace.
Just too many question marks.

Not good news for those with cashouts, though good advice at the end for the rest of us.

Hopefully Playtech disputes will now be effective. That said, no word from Iris on a matter I emailed to her a few days ago.

Tick tock...

 

[cheleel]

i got my first payment today from them still owe me 2 more just thought i would share

 

[sdaddy]

Just when you thought you've heard it all about this place...

I'd like to share my long, painful experience with this casino. As a public service to players, Jetset just published the details of my case in his latest newsletter. I'll recopy it here below:

CASINO CAUTIONS
10 February 2006

African Palace and Indio criticised by high roller

The operators of African Palace and Indio online casinos have been in many slowpay disputes with players going back to their days as a Futurebet software licensee. When they switched to Playtech software there were hopes in player-land that this wayward conduct would stop, but unfortunately it appears to have become worse with player complaints surfacing regularly.

One issue that stands out from the crowd in terms of both longevity and value is described below by a high roller who mistakenly thought that these casinos would treat him with respect and honesty.

"In September of 2004 I took part in a weekend promotion running at African Palace Casino and its sister, Indio Casino. The promo was clearly intended to entice well bankrolled players. I received the promotional e-mails, and confirmed that I could participate. Between both accounts, I deposited $25,170 and finally withdrew $41,585, completing the wagering requirements playing mostly VP and some Blackjack.

"Then my troubles began. The previously attentive casinos would not respond for weeks as to why I was not being paid, except to say that management was looking into unspecified irregularities with my accounts. In November 2004, Neteller very creditably agreed to step in and started investigating this case. After several more months, the casino management finally proposed a settlement of $28,740 for the two accounts, which I agreed to in the interest of resolving this case.

"Neteller was the third party in these negotiations and continued to monitor the casinos compliance. While this was not clear at the time of the agreement, African Palace eventually stated that it was only going to pay the settlement in installments of $3000 per month. The monthly payments started in May of 2005 and then ended after only two months without explanation.

"In October 2005, I filed a complaint concerning this case with Playtechs dispute channel. I never even received a response. However, the next month I received an additional $3000 payment from the casino. Unfortunately, the payments did not continue the following month or thereafter.

"To this date I have only received $12,000 of the promised amount and have no expectation I will receive any more."

This is a stunning example of casino bad practice, first in not paying out the original $41,585 to a player who had fully complied with all the conditions, and then subsequently in reneging on its own settlement offer. It's a cautionary tale for any other player - high-roller or otherwise....

Watch this thread for updates on this case. Let's see if any representative of the casino will come here to answer for or correct its terrible misconduct. Because the casino did not fulfill its settlement agreement, my position now is that I will be seeking the original balance I withdrew.

 

[sookie]

Wow!

Glad to see someone else (not glad to see but glad you can relate) to how I feel. This place needs to be removed from business.

Good luck with getting your money - and you're right I'd shoot for every penny you rightfully won!

What a disgrace!