[CLOSED] Misleading Bellerock terms, DO NOT play there.

I complained to eCogra who literally couldn't be bothered to do anymore than copy/paste the 5.6 term from the general terms and conditions completely at 100% ignoring the fact that they appear nowhere on the promotional page, and break ecogras rules regarding clearly posting their promotional terms.

These kinds of tactics are the lowest of the low. I have PAB'd with MaxD but haven't heard anything back from them or Max aside from a pm from him that he forwarded it to the rep and hasn't heard anything. No affiliate should be promoting this group of sites, especially since promoting the group together will just cause their players to have all their money stolen.

I'm absolutely irate, and I'm certainly complaining to Gibraltar since eCogra couldn't be bothered to give me a remotely satisfactory answer.

It sure would be nice to see an eCOGRA Rep here at Casinomeister to comment on the bolded text above...I know I would like to hear what their thoughts on that one are...
 
Alright, I was intrigued enough by this, so here is what I did:

I went to www.jackpotcity.com which redirected to this URL:

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


I clicked the download button. I got a pop-up with the casino software download, there was nothing confirming or requiring me to agree to the terms and conditions anywhere so far.

I opened the casino software and got this page:

END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT

1. Licence

1.1. You are licensed to download and use this Microgaming front-end software (the software) to play Microgaming games at sites that are licensed to use Microgaming software. You may also copy the software for this purpose. This licence is granted subject to all of the terms and conditions in this End User Licence. Please read them carefully.

2. Restrictions

2.1. All rights in the software are reserved, and you may use the software only as licensed to you. Save as is expressly authorised in this licence, you may not copy, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise attempt to access the source code of the software, or modify, adapt, or translate the software, or otherwise do anything to or with the software that is not strictly required for normal licensed use. The architecture and code of the software is a valuable trade secret of Microgaming, and you undertake not to disclose any information relating to the architecture or code that you may obtain from downloading or use of the software.

3. PERMISSION FOR COOKIES

3.1. YOU AGREE THAT MICROGAMING CAN FROM TIME TO TIME USE A COOKIE ON YOUR DISK TO SAVE INFORMATION (SUCH AS USER NAME, PASSWORD, OTHER PERSONAL DETAILS, EMAIL ADDRESS) SO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO RE-ENTER THIS INFORMATION EACH TIME YOU VISIT THE SITE. THIS COOKIE CANNOT BE USED TO RUN PROGRAMS OR DELIVER VIRUSES TO YOUR COMPUTER, AND IS UNIQUELY ASSIGNED TO YOU. IT CAN ONLY BE READ BY A WEB SERVER IN THE DOMAIN THAT ISSUED THE COOKIE TO YOU. THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE COOKIE IS TO ENABLE YOU TO SAVE TIME, AND FACILITATE FUTURE ACCESS TO THE SITE.

4. Transfer

4.1. You have no transferable rights in the software or this licence, and you may not sub-licence or rent out the software or assign or otherwise dispose of this software for value, nor attempt to do so.

5. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

5.1. IN NO EVENT WILL MICROGAMING OR ITS LICENSEES BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, PURE ECONOMIC OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, OR ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST SAVINGS, EVEN IF A MICROGAMING REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS, DAMAGES, CLAIMS OR COSTS OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY THIRD PARTY. MICROGAMINGS AGGREGATE LIABILITY AND THAT OF ITS SUPPLIERS UNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE, IF ANY. NOTHING CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT LIMITS MICROGAMINGS LIABILITY TO YOU IN THE EVENT OF DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY ARISING FROM MICROGAMINGS NEGLIGENCE.

6. General

6.1. If any part of this licence is found to be invalid, void, or unenforceable, then the remainder of the licence shall remain in force. Nothing in this agreement shall affect any overriding statutory rights that you may have under the law of any competent jurisdiction.

7. Law

7.1. This licence shall be governed by English Law excluding any English conflict of law rules, and the courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes arising from the use of the software or arising from this licence.


If you just skipped by there, there is not a shred of information in there pertaining to bonuses, limitations per group or any of the general terms that are buried on their web page.

On the signup page where I entered my information there is NO link to any terms or conditions, no URL anywhere for the terms, and nothing that discusses any promotional or general terms and conditions.

In other words, ANY customer is perfectly capable of signing up for a Bellerock casino without agreeing to ANY terms and conditions because at no point does the software prompt you to agree to ANY terms aside from the above listed terms.

Furthermore, I checked the terms of the Gaming Club signup bonus, which assuming they are the same now as when scrabbled signed up read as follows:

100% Match Bonus up to 100 offer at The Gaming Club Online Casino
This promotion (this "Promotion") is brought to you by The Gaming Club Online Casino (the "Casino") and is open to first time Players ("Player/s") at the Casino who open their first Real Money Account during the Promotion.

* As a Player you may choose the currency in which you wish to open your New Real Money Account. The available currencies are Pounds Sterling, US Dollars, Canadian Dollars and Euros. Under the terms of this Promotion if you choose to operate your new Real Money Account in Pounds Sterling and make a first single deposit of at least 10 (10 Pounds Sterling) you will receive a Sign-Up Bonus of 10 (10 Pounds Sterling) ("Sign-Up Bonus"). If you choose to operate your new Real Money Account in US Dollars and make a first single deposit of at least $50 (fifty US Dollars) you will receive a Sign-Up Bonus of $50 (fifty US Dollars) ("Sign-Up Bonus"), if you choose to operate your new Real Money Account in Canadian Dollars and make a first single deposit of at least C$50 (fifty Canadian Dollars) you will receive a Sign-Up Bonus of C$50 (fifty Canadian Dollars) ("Sign-Up Bonus") and if you choose to operate your new Real Money Account in Euros and make a first single deposit of at least 10 (fifty Euros) you will receive a Sign-Up Bonus of 10 (fifty Euros) ("Sign-Up Bonus").
* The Sign-Up Bonus must be played through 30 times (30x) by you before it can be transferred from your Bonus Balance to your Cash Balance ("Play Through Requirement").
* Wagering on all games except Roulette, Sic Bo, Craps, Baccarat, Table Poker, Casino War & Red Dog will count towards meeting the Play Through Requirement; however the percentage of the Sign-Up Bonus which may be wagered on certain games will vary as follows*:

Game


Percentage

Slots, Keno & Scratch Card games


100%

Video Poker, all Blackjacks


10%

All Roulette, Sic Bo, Craps, Baccarat, Table Poker, Casino War, Red dog


0%


* Progressive games will contribute to the Play Through Requirement as per the game type. For example, Progressive Slots will contribute 100% to the Play Through Requirement.
**Please note that games played using the gamble feature will not count towards the Play Through Requirement.

* After fulfilling the total wager requirements on your first bonus you can withdraw from your cash balance at any time.
* If you are resident in Netherlands, China, Israel, Denmark and The Russian Federation you are not eligible for this Promotion.
* Sign-Up Bonuses must be claimed within 72 hours of opening a Real Account.
* A Sign-Up Bonus must be claimed online and will be paid into the Bonus Balance of your Casino account as Casino credits within 24 hours of such a claim being made.
* If you open multiple accounts you will not be eligible for the Sign-Up Bonuses on each account. The Sign-Up-Bonuses are only available once per Player and/or per environment where computers are shared and/or per e-mail address.
* If the Sign-Up Bonus remains unused in your Bonus Balance for two (2) months or longer from the date the claim was made, the Sign-Up Bonus will be forfeited to the Casino.
* The Casino Terms and Conditions apply to this Promotion. In the event of a conflict between these Promotion-specific Terms and Conditions and the Casino Terms and Conditions, the Promotion-specific Terms and Conditions shall prevail but only to the extent that the Terms and Conditions conflict with one another.
* In the event of any dispute, the decision of the Casino management will be considered full and final. No correspondence will be entered into in this regard.
* The Casino management reserves the right to end or amend this Promotion at any time.
* Any terms not defined in this Promotion's Terms and Condition or the Casinos Standard Terms and Conditions shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Microgaming Bonus System Tutorial

** Please refer to the "Withdrawal Menu" in the Casino Bank for further details of how this affects your play


Again, no mention of limitation regarding claiming multiple bonuses in the group, no confiscation details etc. There is no legitimate reason to think that a player would have been forced to read the general terms (which what Bellerock is trying to enforce here) because IT IS NOT REQUIRED TO DO SO TO SIGNUP AND PLAY. Not a single acceptance of the general terms to enroll is required anywhere, and neither the promotional page, nor the terms that they link to when claiming the bonus list a single sentence about restricting the bonuses to one per group.

So no, Bellerock, your terms are not clearly posted, they are not easily accessible, and yes people DO need to "ferret it out" as you have written. I think you need to man up, admit you are wrong and pay the people affected by this.

This is an exceptionally bad business procedure in my eyes.
 
Screenshots

To illustrate, I went from start to finish from jackpotcity.com creating an account to see where players are supposedly forced to accept the terms:

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


Signup page.


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



First half of the signup screen.

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



Second half of the signup screen (notice, they have no tick box that you agree/accept their terms prior to hitting Submit).


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



And finally, registration successful, no terms anywhere in then signup process. as the rep is claiming.

On a sidenote, sorry I couldn't post the imgs in here directly, I'm apparently terrible at UBB code and it doesn't accept HTML.
 
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No affiliate should be promoting this group of sites, especially since promoting the group together will just cause their players to have all their money stolen.

I suggest to BelleRock that they address these issues
quickly as their banners are coming down quickly on my sites..
I was unaware of these issues and as an affiliate do not tolerate shady
behavior from any casinos.. (Edit: I was aware of the one bonus per group term,
but not of the placement of the terms)

If or if not the terms are there, just having them in the user aggreement is not
sufficient and is not the sign of a casino that wants happy players. This info should be clear and prominent.
 
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Personally, I will only take bonuses at a couple of places. The WR at most places ensure that you cannot come out ahead by using them. I find that playing for straight cash and getting paid straight cash is my best policy!
 
I dont think I could safely accept a bonus. I have played on many sites for the sake of it. The free 1hour of play etc. I have never collected even if I have won but there are times when I lost. I dont take a note of the sites I have played on. It has been spread over many years.

I am not into bonus hunting & not intentionally abusing the system with multiple accounts.

Would I be considered a bonus abuser if I made my first deposit and collected a bonus I have used but not taken advantage of?

Would I be considered to have multiple accounts if only my latest one was used to deposit?

I remember the poker sites I have played at but all the casino sites are just a blur, of the same.

I am now in the position that I am weary to accept any casino bonus although I have not cashed any
 
This is the age old issue of casinos trying to defend themselves against fraudulent players and innocents getting caught up in the profile.

My solution would be simple and clear:

Disallow multiple bonuses across the group as a firm rule.

Install the "one signup for all casinos" software.

Hand out surprise gifts to players as retention effort instead of the multiple signup bonuses.

Personally, I hate getting bogged down with wagering requirements, it ruins all the fun, you are just clicking away hoping you'll make it instead of enjoying the game.

But I do love a gift in my account... especially one I didn't expect.

That would be my solution....
 
This is the age old issue of casinos trying to defend themselves against fraudulent players and innocents getting caught up in the profile.

My solution would be simple and clear:

Disallow multiple bonuses across the group as a firm rule.

Install the "one signup for all casinos" software.

Hand out surprise gifts to players as retention effort instead of the multiple signup bonuses.

Personally, I hate getting bogged down with wagering requirements, it ruins all the fun, you are just clicking away hoping you'll make it instead of enjoying the game.

But I do love a gift in my account... especially one I didn't expect.

That would be my solution....


It seems casinos want it both ways though, they benefit from having a number of separate casinos in their group either to widen the net for attracting players, or getting their loyal players playing at all their properties. Casinos have often aggressively cross marketed their properties to existing players, and their new acquisition Trident group STILL have very persistent cross marketing of BOTH SUB offers every time you try to exit the websites, even if it was just to check the T & C!!!! Some are worse, they mess with your browser and make exit VERY difficult indeed with a cascade of nested exit pop-ups for the SUB at each property - I have, on occasions, had to resort to the Microsoft "three fingered salute" to free myself from this:mad:

Because of this past behaviour in the industry, it is NOT ACCEPTABLE to bury a one bonus per group term in some obscure general T & C consisting mainly of legalese, it needs to be CLEAR, even to an "idiot", that they cannot have more than one SUB. This needs to be done with a big, bold, warning when they try to download and/or make a first deposit, and AGAIN on the claim form for the SUB, such as like this:-

(Terms Window)

1) IF you have EVER claimed a new player bonus, or free play offer, at ANY of the following BelleRock properties (list them here in full), then you are NOT allowed to claim this bonus. IF you do, your account will be locked and your deposit returned.

2)..... etc.. the other terms....
 
The fact they don't even have like, a check box or something to agree to the terms before downloading or signing up an account, is just otherworldly to me.

I mean, I'm sure this is some sort of oversight, but once a player points that out, I would assume they should automatically be paying all the players they have confiscated funds using that obscure clause with no linkage goodness.
 
I believe someone else already said this, but if the player wasn't eligible for the bonus then the casino should not have given it to them in the first place.

If I recall correctly, there is a delay of several hours, sometimes days, between when the deposit is made and when the bonus is granted. This implies that the bottleneck is human intervention, otherwise it would be automated. So why wasn't the person who manually issued the bonus able to see that the player wasn't allowed to have it?

The casino is the one that screwed up here, so pay the player.
 
The fact they don't even have like, a check box or something to agree to the terms before downloading or signing up an account, is just otherworldly to me.

Not to defend any of the group's actions, but the first line of their T&C reads:

These Terms and Conditions apply to, and are binding upon you if you participate at the Casino.
 
I would settle for them using my passport number to determine whether or not I am elligable. Its down to the site to check something as simple as this. If they close an inelligable account because a winning account is being checked, they have left it too late. You wont see them queuing to refund lost deposits. I would feel hard done by if they locked one of my accounts due to them not using a simple formula to detect innocent errors, I would feel hard done by.

In general, players do not have a degree in the casino industry. I know my poker sites because I have played on many, I stick to the sites I like and never go back to the ones I dont. The bonus factor is not a big consideration for me. I am unlikely to get an account locked for the above reasons.

Casino sites are an entirely different issue, as is bingo sites. Bonus hunters might know where they have and havnt been to. My only way to check is when my email address have been used but sometimes I changed addresses due to the amount of casino spam i end up receiving after signing up for sites, so in effect, it is the casinos fault I am not being picked up for having a multiple account. If they used a drivers licence no. or passpost no., it would be clear cut. The point is, as it is against the house, they appear only to check when it comes to paying out. That is an abuse of their terms & would come under an unfair contract. They have fallen short of their own security checks & only appear to implement them when they have something to gain.

P.S. I have never had a casino account blocked, and as things stand now, I will not risk it until they start playing the game. I'll play casino games at paddypower and victor chandler because I know where I stand. IMO, the casinos are in the wrong
 
If they only want you to have one SUB within the group then dont give it to the player when he tries to get it after the first time. Simple as that. The fact that they give it again and again means its a trap IMO.
 
IThe fact that they give it again and again means its a trap IMO.

I quite agree. A trap which to a casino is foreseeable. They can stop this unfortunate occurance of blocking account to innocent players by simply using a static check such as a passport ID. They chose not to. It is their fault, not the player who has read, even unwittingly broke the TOS.

As far as bonus abusers go, Its up to them, they know the concequences, they do not have a leg to stand on and deserve to be hit by the TOS. Innocent players are put in this situation due to the sites negligence. The site is in the wrong in these cases, regardless of their printed terms.
 
You don't have to agree to their T&C to download, install or register at their casino.

Really? Read it more carefully.

These Terms and Conditions apply to, and are binding upon you if you participate at the Casino.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I take "Participate at the casino" to mean if you download and register for an account at the casino. Also, it's not like they're trying to hide this - it's the first line in their T&C.

IMO, this clause forgoes any checkbox asking a player if they agree to the T&C. They're agreeing to the T&C by registering an account at the casino.

As it goes with any online casino, if you don't read the T&C before signing up, it's the player's fault, not the casino's. If a casino has horrible T&C's, then play elsewhere.

*Disclaimer: The above statements apply to any casino, not just the one being discussed in this thread.
 
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I take "Participate at the casino" to mean if you download and register for an account at the casino. Also, it's not like they're trying to hide this - it's the first line in their T&C.

IMO, this clause forgoes any checkbox asking a player if they agree to the T&C. They're agreeing to the T&C by registering an account at the casino.
It would be interesting to test it in a court of law whether a consumer can be bound by T&C whose existence he is not made aware of.
 
It would be interesting to test it in a court of law whether a consumer can be bound by T&C whose existence he is not made aware of.

It has already been investigated by the OFT, and it has been ruled that terms MUST be made clear to the consumer. It is not enough to have them hidden away, or use tricks to prevent them from reading them.

There have been cases with store cards, where the applicant has been told they have to sign up straight away, and have not been allowed to take a copy of the agreement home to read and understand first. Such agreements can be voided in the courts.
There is also the matter of distance selling regulations. If the customer is INVITED by Email, snail mail, or a phone call, and takes the offer and is then screwed over, they are entitled to redress. Unfortunately, as this regulation was about sale of goods, it only entitles the customer to their money back, BUT this would also apply to those who LOST at the casino if they subsequently found out that, had they won, they would not have been paid.
The rules would also cover signing up via an advertisement, the important thing being that the transactions take place remotely, and not at a physical shop. 14 days is allowed for the customer to demand their money back.

The current case about bank charges is not down to customers not seeing, understanding, and agreeing to the terms, but that the terms themselves are thought to be ILLEGAL in a consumer contract.

This is what particularly affects online casinos, where they are in a juristiction that is considered reputable. It does not matter whether the customer understood everything or not, it is down to whether the terms constitute an unreasonable balance in favour of the business. ALL casino terms actually fall into this category, but reputable casinos do not use their "FU Clauses" unless they KNOW they have a fraudster on their hands.

As well as the problem of 15% tax, this is another reason that can be putting casinos off from being regulated here in the UK. If they were regulated here, these terms and conditions could be challenged in the small claims courts very easily for UK players, and even EU based players would find it relatively easy to lodge an action.
Gibraltar based casinos are also much easier to target, however, this has to be under Gibraltean law, rather then UK or full EU law, as Gibraltar is only a member of the EEA, and not a full member of the EU itself.

It is more likely that debate on casino related forums is going to do more damage to a badly behaved casino than actions with regulators and the courts. This is because forums are becoming increasingly popular, often because a player gets burned, and THEN does the research - only to discover they should have done it the other way round. Said player is, at least, now aware of forums, and likely to add themselves to the 40% or so that already lurk, or participate in, one or more internet fora.

Anyone who has been following these BelleRock threads should now know TWO things:-

1) You are only allowed ONE bonus in the group.
2) Their CS is generally inept.

A little further digging will reveal that they have a "hidden" fifth casino in the group, not mentioned in ANY T & C, but could easily get a player screwed over on bonuses. (King Neptune).
 
IF Bellerock is reading this thread:

We have always had a decent relationship, but I have removed
your front page banners from my site. If you want happy players and affiliates, fix this problem.
Several perfect solutions have been posted in this thread by experienced gamers and affiliates.

Why in the world would you have these terms buried in
the USER aggreement if you did not want
someone to make a mistake and claim 2 bonuses? Maybe I am not
smart enough to figure that out. Why not make this important information clear?
 
Hi All,

I apologize, a recent upgrade of the Jackpot City brand and software resulted in our neglecting to include the terms and conditions check box on the new registration page. This is currently being corrected. As with all our sites this should have been on the registration page, hence my earlier post.

That said, we are required to make the terms and conditions available to all players. We have done this by placing a link on the home page and all other pages of the site, meaning that all players have every opportunity of reading the terms and conditions before starting to play. The very first line states that by registering and playing you are bound by the terms and conditions. Point 5.6 states that you cannot claim sign up bonuses at multiple brands in the group, or at a single brand because of multiple languages or currencies. We know that many people don't read the terms and conditions and as a result we have always included the check box and link on the registration page as a last effort to ensure they are read. We are however not required to make sure that people read the terms and conditions, we are required to make sure they are available to be read, which we do.

The player had every opportunity to read the terms and conditions but chose to ignore them (they are even mentioned in the promotion terms and conditions and I quote "The Casino Terms and Conditions apply to this Promotion. In the event of a conflict between these Promotion-specific Terms and Conditions and the Casino Terms and Conditions, the Promotion-specific Terms and Conditions shall prevail but only to the extent that the Terms and Conditions conflict with one another." surely making you think I had better go and read those!) and continue playing in breach of term 5.6 (which means the player would have to have registered an account at one or more other casinos in the group, giving them further opportunities to read the terms and conditions including on the registration pages) and as such we stand by the action we have taken.

We have taken your comments regarding the terms and conditions into consideration and we are reviewing all terms and conditions and thank you for your input.

Again I apologize for my incorrect post earlier, just as we advise everybody to read the terms and conditions before playing, I guess I should have checked the registration page before posting.

Best regards,

Belle Rock
 
I hope that one of the things you will be doing is training the staff who grants bonuses to check first whether or not the player is eligible for it, the same way that the staff who processes withdrawals does.

Anything short of that is entrapment.
 
Thanks for your input Bellrock rep. Also, could you put forward a suggestion to cross check whether or not someone is registered at other sites they may have overlooked? A standard Drivers licence/NI no./Passport no. (if available) should suffice & will go a long way to avoiding innocent error.
 
Thanks for your input Bellrock rep. Also, could you put forward a suggestion to cross check whether or not someone is registered at other sites they may have overlooked? A standard Drivers licence/NI no./Passport no. (if available) should suffice & will go a long way to avoiding innocent error.

You still have not addressed that the term is pretty much buried, that you have no link to your general terms from the promotional page, and that you shouldn't be assigning bonuses in the first place to players at a new Bellerock casino if you don't intend on honoring their winnings.

The practice of issuing a bonus then removing a players winnings if they manage to win some money is a 100% bait and switch practice, and given the fact that you cross-market your brands and your term is not at all clearly posted on the relevant promotional pages, as well as the fact that you did not require the player to agree to the terms prior to signing up means that this player should be paid. It is dishonest to do otherwise, imo.
 
I've escalated this issue to the assistant gambling supervisor in Gibraltar thanks to a very helpful message from a member here. Also eCogra responded to my last email and told me they would investigate the issue further since I emailed them that the terms were not present to sign up.
 
You still have not addressed that the term is pretty much buried, that you have no link to your general terms from the promotional page, and that you shouldn't be assigning bonuses in the first place to players at a new Bellerock casino if you don't intend on honoring their winnings.

The practice of issuing a bonus then removing a players winnings if they manage to win some money is a 100% bait and switch practice, and given the fact that you cross-market your brands and your term is not at all clearly posted on the relevant promotional pages, as well as the fact that you did not require the player to agree to the terms prior to signing up means that this player should be paid. It is dishonest to do otherwise, imo.

I am not disputing that point but I also feel they could & should flag certain issues before they arise
 

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