Resolved Casino - Bait and Switch?

furbert

Banned User - troll
Joined
May 25, 2011
Location
England
Hello there. Could I get some opinions please? I deposited £2000 at a casino and was given a generous 30% bonus of £600. They have now changed their terms and reduced the wagering contribution of the game I was playing to 10% from 50%. I am around halfway through the wagering and noticed the change today.

I have a screenshot showing the terms as they were on the day I deposited. I have spoken to their live chat who tell me that they have the right to change the bonus whenever they like.

Surely this should only apply to new bonuses? To do anything to an existing bonus is changing the deal after it has been accepted and is classed as a bait and switch?

The manager is supposed to be contacting me tomorrow but I am concerned about this as £2000 is a lot for me so I would appreciate the forums opinions.

The live chat have told me that the manager is happy to answer me here so I will reveal the casino name if I am unhappy with the resolution or with their permission if I am happy.

Thanks in advance.
 
The terms you should be held to are the terms that were in effect when you took the bonus. Taking the screenshot was very smart thinking :thumbsup:
 
You're definitely in the right.
If you can't resolve it with the casino then it could be Pitch-A-Bitch time!
(As long as they're not in the Rogue Pit).

{Edit} Just noticed this is your first post, so to explain PAB in case you don't know it:

First please send the casino representative (if they have one here) a Private Message about your problem.
Reps are listed here: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/members/?key=staff_members

After giving them a reasonable amount of time, if they do not put things right to your satisfaction, you can Pitch-A-Bitch.
This is CasinoMeister's FREE service to help players with problems at non-rogue casinos.
Before you start, make sure the casino in question is NOT in the Rogue Pit or on the No Can Do list.
To submit your PAB, click here: Pitch-A-Bitch
Be sure to read ALL the terms for submitting a PAB, including the Frequently Asked Questions here: PAB FAQs

Welcome to the forum! :thumbsup:
KK
 
The live chat have told me that the manager is happy to answer me here so I will reveal the casino name if I am unhappy with the resolution or with their permission if I am happy.

Hello, Max Drayman writing, I'm the Player Complaints Manager here at Casinomeister.com

There's a couple things you should know before you proceed.

First thing is that you should check our I-Gaming Forum Reps page to see if there is a contact person for your casino. That should be your first step, before posting on the forums.

Secondly you should know that taking your issue to the forums like you have here can and likely will make you ineligible for our Pitch-A-Bitch dispute resolution service. If you have any intention of going that route you should stop posting now, and read the Pitch-A-Bitch FAQ ASAP.

Finally this "if it's resolved I'll post X, if it isn't I'll post Y" sound suspiciously like you are trying to strong-arm the casino into giving you what you want, regardless of your initial "Could I get some opinions please?" approach.

Blackmailing the casino and/or exploiting these forums for your own agenda are serious no-no's -- see the Forum Rules if you want to find out just how serious -- and will likely get you in a world of pain hereabouts.

Needless to say I'm suggesting you take a moment to think over your approach here. Proceed if you must, but you're quite possibly going about this all wrong.
 
Sorry to hear you feel that way. However I don't really see your point about strong arming. I'll reveal the casino name either way but only with their permission if I'm happy with their resolution.
 
Sorry to hear you feel that way. However I don't really see your point about strong arming. I'll reveal the casino name either way but only with their permission if I'm happy with their resolution...
It has nothing to do with feeling a certain way, we have policies on dealing with complaints. There is plenty of information readily available for you to solve it.

The forum occasionally receives postings from players who threaten casinos behind the scenes with bad press. We just hope that this is not the case in your situation.
 
No. I don't believe I have done that. The casino has a rep here and I have given them a link to this thread and advised them that this issue relates to their casino.

I haven't told them do this or I'll post in the forums and tell everyone how bad you are. I have told them that I'll post on here though to ask for help as they seemed so adamant that they can do as they wish.

If the casino has done nothing wrong surely there shouldn't be an issue?

I accept you have a complaints policy and prefer that complaints be kept to that system but I'm not at that stage yet. Is it not ok to post here without raising a complaint? I apologise if I have got this wrong.
 
Casino Name - BigCasino

Hello everyone,

As I said above, the casino in question is BigCasino. I’m posting here to explain the situation with the OP (and 26 more players involved).

We developed some kind of VIP promotion, when player who received from us a VIP Status (we don’t have VIP program, but will have soon) is getting generous bonuses on their large deposits (basically, on EVERY deposit). Please note, that in our Bonus Terms and Conditions we have xB but not x(B+D) so your WR depends only on the amount of your bonus, which IMO makes them more easy to clear and more attractive.

But after close analysis of our games we noticed that with 50% contribution of every Poker Game it’s too easy to clear the bonus and many players just deposited, cleared the bonus and then withdrew. We paid them in full and even didn’t block them and didn’t exclude them from our promotions, but our management has taken a decision to change the contribution. But unfortunately we can’t change contribution only for new players or for those who don’t have any bonus, we can change it only for ALL players. I know it’s not good at all, but I have to deal with what I have. We will update our SW to be able to do that, but the major release is not going to be very soon, sorry.

So we decided to count all players who have the bonus uncleared and contact them personally after we changed the contribution, explain the situation and find the best solution. I know, we could have just sent them emails, but we decided that the situation is extraordinary, and contacted them one by one by the phone. In the most cases, if player was close to complete the WR, we just released the bonus and made it withdrawable. If player wagered more than it required – we released the bonus and added a gift to their accounts. It’s free money, No WR, fully withdrawable, depends on how much they wagered above.

Unfortunately, we didn’t reach them all quickly, and there are still some players unreached (some of them just told us they don’t care, some of them were busy and asked to call them later etc). We also waited for calls, emails or Live Chat from these players to be able to deal with them. For tomorrow there are still 12 players to deal with, including the OP.

The OP actually was the first one who contacted our Support via Live Chat. I think I can explain by the fact that they played only Oasis Poker and noticed that something is wrong pretty quickly.

Anyway, after giving wrong explanation to the OP (Note: in or Bonus T&C we have a statement “BigCasino.co.uk reserves the right to modify, change, suspend or terminate bonus award at any time for any reason without prior notification to players.” – support operator thought the player was asking about Bonus Terms, not about contribution and sent this statement as an explanation) our staff advised to wait for tomorrow when I will come to work and will continue dealing with players.

But the OP disagreed with that and replied to our Support Operator that they are going to raise an issue at public forum.

I think I should reveal few strings from the chat to make it more clear:

Sergey
Please, contact him tomorrow via LiveChat. Starting from 10 AM.
7/14/11 8:29:52 PM
The Player
no I have raised this issue now
7/14/11 8:30:19 PM
I will post on the casinomeister website and ask for their help

And another one:

The Player
shall I give you a link to the casinomeister post?
7/14/11 8:41:03 PM
Sergey
Yes, please.
7/14/11 8:42:17 PM
The Player
1 second, Im posting it now
7/14/11 8:46:48 PM
I am just going to post this now, so just to confirm you are happy for me to post this on the casinomeister forum, yes?
7/14/11 8:48:13 PM
Sergey
We asked you to wait for our manager till tomorrow, but if you want to - he will reply to you on CM.
7/14/11 8:49:19 PM
The Player
ok I will wait till tomorrow before posting it, I hope it wont be necessary as I am sure you do not want to break the law
7/14/11 8:49:42 PM
Sergey
Thank you! We will contact you tomorrow.

But now we see the thread here.

You may consider it as our official statement: in no way BigCasino was intended to steal players’ money or make the wagering more difficult for players who has already had a bonus in our casino. As I said, it was technically impossible to change the contribution for new players only, so we are trying to deal with EVERY player involved and find the best solution for both sides. All players will be paid in full if they wish to withdraw their remaining balance including cleared bonuses. If it will require account verification – we will ask for documents, verify them and process players’ withdrawals.

From me personally: the OP will be paid tomorrow early in the morning (deposit + player’s winnings). It’s the first thing I will do when I come to work tomorrow.

If you have any questions – let me know.

I hope I informed you well.

Best regards,
Viktar.
 
Thank you Viktar. Unfortunately you have posted only selections of the chat and omited the sections that show me stating that I would post but not name the casino and the section were I provided your staff with the link.
 
hi ,seems straight forward & thanks to victar ( slot monster )for letting us know its part of his casino , although the op does have a solid point in regards to changing terms on a whim & do hope that you inform all players asap concerning bonuses played at your casino so you dont run into these problems again )
 
Thank you Viktar. Unfortunately you have posted only selections of the chat and omited the sections that show me stating that I would post but not name the casino and the section were I provided your staff with the link.

I can post the full chat transcript if you wish. You should also have the full version, as we send the copy to the player after every chat session.
 
hi ,seems straight forward & thanks to victar ( slot monster )for letting us know its part of his casino , although the op does have a solid point in regards to changing terms on a whim & do hope that you inform all players asap concerning bonuses played at your casino so you dont run into these problems again )

As I said in the end of the post: in no way BigCasino was intended to steal players’ money or make the wagering more difficult for players who has already had a bonus in our casino. As I said, it was technically impossible to change the contribution for new players only, so we are trying to deal with EVERY player involved and find the best solution for both sides. All players will be paid in full if they wish to withdraw their remaining balance including cleared bonuses. If it will require account verification – we will ask for documents, verify them and process players’ withdrawals.

We will also update our SW to be able to change contribution for new players only, and will develop the strategy on how to deal with such situations in the future if it ever happens (but I doubt it ever will).
 
I have spoken with your live chat previously and never received a transcript. As such I do not have 1 to post.

You just didn't enter your email before starting the chat, so we were unable to send it to you.
 
I accept you have a complaints policy and prefer that complaints be kept to that system but I'm not at that stage yet. Is it not ok to post here without raising a complaint?

I don't think you've read my original post with enough care to understand what I said.

My key points were:
  • you should have tried to settle this with the casino rep BEFORE posting on the forums.
  • you will probably kill your chances of letting us help you through the Pitch-A-Bitch process by posting here. In other words it's not a matter of you being ready "yet" to go there, it's a matter of that rapidly being removed as an option if you proceed here as you have been.
  • that pressuring the casino, as it certainly appears you have done this deliberately, via the forums is a violation of our Forum Rules.

In other words we're asking you nicely to comply with the procedures that every other member here is expected to follow. I understand that you may have something else in mind but it's not cool to flaunt and disregard our established procedures in order to pursue your personal goals. That too is covered in the Forum Rules and could get you booted off the site.

Note that we're trying to help you understand our site and how to get things done here. Please take this as the good-spirited advice that it is and proceed accordingly.
 
I did enter my email.

After reading your post again it seems strange to me that you had a massive change which you were anxious to inform your players about and, according to your post waited for the ones you couldnt contact to contact you yet your staff weren't briefed or able to reassure me that this would be resolved without issue? I also have no missed calls from you.

If we are being honest your staff only suggested I speak to you when I mentioned that your actions were in my view illegal and at that I had to contact you not the other way around.

I also dont know why you describe the bonuses you released as free money with no wr seeing as they had already been cleared or almost cleared?

Anyway, thank you for your response and resolution. I will gladly accept it and look forward to my withdrawal.

I would be interested if any other people at big casino could state whether they were contacted today?
 
Hi Max,

I'm sorry we've got off on the wrong foot and I concede that I should have contacted Viktar before posting and I apologise for not doing so.

I dont think I have broken the forum rules by telling them I would post here without naming them and that I would post asking for help. I don't think this is threatening a bad review or with rogueing and is much more honest and less threatening than stating Im a casinomeister member you know.

I would be grateful if you could explain what is wrong with what I did so that I can ensure that I do not make the mistake again.

Thanks
M
 
I did enter my email.

I will check that tomorrow. Thanks.


After reading your post again it seems strange to me that you had a massive change which you were anxious to inform your players about and, according to your post waited for the ones you couldnt contact to contact you yet your staff weren't briefed or able to reassure me that this would be resolved without issue? I have no missed calls from you.

We only contacted player which were involved, i.e. our changes affected them and their bonuses in the mean time.
We didn't call you, because you are on the line, and were contacting our player one by one, as I said above.

If we are being honest your staff only suggested I speak to you when I mentioned that your actions were in my view illegal and at that I had to contact you not the other way around.

Our staff suggested it not only when you mentioned that, but also when they saw they can't resolve the issue on their "level" as it requires management to step in.

I also dont know why you describe the bonuses you released as free money with no wr seeing as they had already been cleared or almost cleared?

Please, read my post(s) more carefully. I said that if player wagered more than they were required, we release the bonus AND add a gift (which is Free Money with no WR).

Anyway, thank you for your response and resolution. I will gladly accept it and look forward to my withdrawal.

I would be interested if any other people at big casino could state whether they were contacted today?

You are welcome. I hope other players will post here, if they don't mind.
 
@SlotMonster-I don't play at your casino, but thank you for coming to this thread and posting an explination. I do think it was really nice of the casino to contact the players personally, and not just send an e-mail, to me that does show alot of respect for your players. That goes a long way in my book!!!

@furburt- Patience, my fellow CM member, YOU NEED PATIENCE!!! While I am sure it is frustrating, the CSR asked you to wait until the next day for the manager to reply. I don't think that was to much to ask. CSR's my not know the answer to every question, and I think asking you to wait until the manager comes in was the best response they could have given you at the time. Instead of giving you some hogwash, they wanted to make sure you were going to get the correct response and not the hogwash you were given before. Can't blame the CSR for that.

SlotMonster did state that you will be paid, so the outcome should be to your liking. I think SlotMonster is a man of his word, and give him time to do his job, and be PATIENT!!! I know it is alot easier said than done, but atleast try.

The one good thing about the way this casino handled everything, is they are contacting players, (most people can remember when a casino (I forgot which one) had a promotion that they totally screwed up with they we confiscating winnings and even going back into players bank accounts to get their money back. Thankfully this is not the case here.) And contacting each player this promotion pertains to is going to take some time.

Hang in there, I can see the casino is trying to do the right thing.

Just my 2 cents.
LH
 
I'm sorry, you didn't call me because I was on the line? What does that mean? On another call? I have call waiting and again have no missed calls.

I don't accept at all your explanation concerning your live chat agent, he was clear on what I was talking about and even check my account so knew this wasn't a new bonus request.

I misread your post concerning the gift and apologise. If its true it's exceptional service and I applaud it.

I'm not happy that you have painted me as someone who threatened your casino with these forums as I clearly told your staff that I would not name the casino and that I would give you the opportunity to resolve this.

£2000 is no small amount of money and I was worried that you were up to no good.
 
I would be grateful if you could explain what is wrong with what I did so that I can ensure that I do not make the mistake again.

Sure, two problems as I see it, aside from the "contact" the rep stuff:
  1. from what I see in the chat excerpts the casino was clearly offering to help and you basically said "no, I'm going to post on the forums". That is not asking them for help to solve your problem, that is escalating the issue (presumably) in order to force them into action on your behalf.
  2. in spite of your "Could I get some opinions please?" opening statement in your original post the bulk of your post is not asking for opinions it is laying out the issue details on the forum, presumably to continue to apply pressure to the casino. As I've said several times now, using the forums to further your own agenda against the casino is against the Rules.

Please note that you keep saying things like "I told your staff that I would not name the casino and that I would give you the opportunity to resolve this". That's exactly the problem: you are pressuring the casino via your forum posts. That is not what the forums are intended for and puts you in violation of the Forum Rules. I presume you don't see it that way. Understood, but it's still a misuse of the forums, whether you read it that way or not.

Am I reading this all wrong and seeing what you've done in an unnecessarily dim light? Perhaps, but I assure you if you had followed our procedures BEFORE you posted and had taken our Forum Rules to heart you might have thought twice about proceeding as you did. At that point a quick PM to Bryan or one of us moderators would have clarified things for you in no time. Perhaps that's the way forward then, a plan for next time something like this comes up.
 
LH,

I think it's a shame they did not contact customers by email. This whole mess would have been avoided if I had an email in my inbox. I certainly wouldn't have posted here as I would have been reassured.

It's also not my fault that the cs agent told me flatly they could do what they wanted and only told me that I should speak to the manager when I said their actions were illegal.

Remember this is the casino that is supposedly contacting everyone personally and I'm not even getting an internal escalation but have to contact the manager myself to chase my money! Not good enough. They dont even have a contact number on the website.
 
I think it's a shame they did not contact customers by email.

I can agree with this statement. I think we could have sent a email asking players to stop making bets if they were doing this, and then start calling them.

Sorry for my English, I meant "in line", we haven't called you yet but were going to do this tomorrow.

It's also not my fault that the cs agent told me flatly they could do what they wanted and only told me that I should speak to the manager when I said their actions were illegal.

There are no lawyers in our CS, so if customer demands about something being illegal - it's straight way to get Manager involved. And you were asked to wait until I step in next day.

Remember this is the casino that is supposedly contacting everyone personally and I'm not even getting an internal escalation but have to contact the manager myself to chase my money! Not good enough. They dont even have a contact number on the website.

I disagree with "chasing money" term you are using. You didn't submit a payout request, we didn't delay it and didn't give you fake excuses for not paying. So you are not "chasing your money". Correct me if I'm wrong.

We don't have a land line number because our CS isn't well trained to speak with customers, but you always can request the Manager to call YOU.
 
I thought chasing money was more reasonable than fraudulent behaviour which is what your cs agent told me you had the right to perpetrate. But we can use that term if you wish although I find it inflammatory.

I was asked to contact you the next day day, big difference between you stepping in and me chasing you regarding fraudulent behaviour.

This is a serious issue, so serious that you said you wanted to contact individuals concerned personally. This doesnt tally with your cs response I'm afraid.

I was not informed that you would call me or that it was even an option. If I had been perhaps I could have been reassured that you viewed it as seriously as me.

I do think you are genuine but I think you have been let down by your casino and your cs staff.
 
I have a strong feeling that "fraudulent behavior" includes non-payments in order to steal players' money. But I don't insist. So far we paid all players' winnings, and going to do this in the future.

Anyway, I think you were given an explanation of the whole situation. And you were told several times, that you will be paid in full, like other players.

We will continue training our staff to avoid such situations in the future.
 

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