I am missing some money and it's out of my visa debit (greendot card) balance, but it's not in my casino account either. I deposited $45 tonight + $2.21 fee at Bodog. The transaction in the casino cashier says it was successful and that same amount was deducted from my available debit card balance. Problem is that the money is gone. Chat rep says transaction was not successful but I have never had an non authorized transaction go missing from my balance.
My transaction history in my greendot account shows as follows:
03/09/2011
Pltpay.com/needthis
+18662700998
Purchase Date: 03/09/11
Category: Retail Stores
Pending -$47.21
I'm baffled and frustrated, as that was my playing money and I cannot access it. Any ideas, people?
Since it still says pending, there is a chance that this is just the first time YOU have seen this on your card, so wait to see what happens when the money moves from pending. It'll either drop back into the account, or end up somewhere with Bodog.
I have had this happen to me numerous times in the past. not only at bodog, but a lot of MG sites. The only time it ever happened was when i was using prepaid debit cards and of course I never saw the money because I could not get a bank statement to try and recover the money. This happens sometimes when the process times out or takes longer than expected. I would recommend staying away from using debit cards to play online and look for a way to transfer the money from something like quicktender, moneybrokers, or even echeck. Paying the nominal fee to make sure you receive your deposit is way worth it. And from my experience with Bodog it will be very difficult to recover your money. When it happened to me they stated that they never received the money even though it had been removed from the gift card. Good luck
This is the kind of bullshit rogue practice they get away with because they are dealing with US players, and they know they are not going to press their banks too much on the issue in case they get "found out" as gamblers, and suffer even worse problems.
Maybe players should exert more pressure on operators once they can confirm the money really has gone, and make it clear that although they will be patient and understanding, they will NOT let the matter drop, and after a more than reasonable period of time has passed, they WILL make a formal complaint to the US banking authorities, or "better business bureau".
Bear in mind this is the LAST thing the operators want, because they would risk losing an entire processor over an unresolved dispute over a few tens of dollars, and quite likely the seizure of any "in transit" funds. This should ensure they conduct a PROPER investigation, because the money has NOT just "gone", SOMEONE has got it, and is ILLEGALLY keeping it.
If money from online purchases really DID simply vanish like this because of "timeouts", a COMMON feature of the internet, there would be a HUGE outcry, not just from customers, but RETAILERS who would have faith in eCommerce completely wrecked.
It seems the problem is SPECIFIC to casinos, so as I said, SOMEONE has the money, and it isn't just "lost". This "someone" is NOT doing their job, but illegally pilfering these sums of money that fall foul of technical glitches, rather than forwarding them, or returning them to source.
