Fortune Lounge problems again

[mikej28]

In early July I was offered 35% plus $25 free at Royal Vegas, 7 Sultans and Vegas Palms. I also took up a 20% Neteller bonus offer. Having fulfilled the wager requirements as I understood them I requested cashins at all three casinos. A couple of days later I got a message from Royal Vegas saying they had removed the Neteller bonus ($20) from my cashin request because I hadn't fulfilled the wager requirements for that portion of the bonus. They added that I needed to wager a further $324 in order to cash in this portion. I also got a message from Vegas Palms to similar effect. I played through the requirements at Royal Vegas and requested a cashin ($10). At Vegas Palms I lost the $20 bonus. Having heard nothing from Royal Vegas about the $10 I went back to my account a couple of days later and found $11 there. My thoughts at the time were that they had returned the cashin to my account because it was lower than the minimum check amount and also I thought I had asked for $10 to be cashed in. Thinking I must have been mistaken about the amount I cashed in again and also changed my payment preference to Neteller from check as I had forgotten to do this. I then sent an email to Royal Vegas asking whether they would credit my Neteller account with the cashin. I got a standard reply from them which led me to believe it was ok. I day or so later I tried to access my 7 Sultans account only to find it locked. I phoned customer services to be told all three Fortune Lounge accounts had been locked due to 'fraudulent related activities'. He was no more forthcoming than that. I then emailed Wim O the VP of Operations to see if he would elaborate. Later that day I got an email from Shantell at the Player Security Dept. saying:
'Your accounts have been permanently locked at our casino, due to fraudulent related activities, which we will not disclose.
Our records show that you purchased a total of $525 on all your casino accounts, and the total cashins paid to you amounts to $1256. Based on the purchase to cashin ratio, your total purchases of $525 will not be refunded.' Now these figures are wrong. In July I purchased $100 at each of the casinos and requested cash ins of $694. My total purchases at all three (I have played twice at each) are $635 and my total cashins are $1439. Either way their figures are just plain wrong.
A further message from James, Customer Care Consultant informed me that the accounts had been locked due to 'sharing identifiers'. It then occurred to me that I had a different email address for my Neteller account so I phoned customer services and spoke to James who told me they were not concerned about this but he would not discuss it further.
Needless to say I was issued with checks for the cashins and later informed that these had been cancelled 'due to fraudulent activities linked to multiple accounts'.
Let me say that I do not have multiple accounts. I have one account at each of Royal Vegas, Vegas Palms and 7 Sultans. I am mystified at this and I'm appalled at the way I've been treated by Fortune Lounge. Needless to say I've pitched this bitch to Bryan.

 

[fortunelounge]

I am busy investigating this issue and will get back to you.

VP Operations
Fortune Lounge

 

[johnnydemp]

"it has now prompted me to implement a process where I will personally evaluate every account that is locked in order to ensure that we do not have a situation such as this again."
VP Operations
Fortune Lounge

Here we go again!!! I feel for you Mikej28, I just went through the same BS with them 2 weeks ago. But weve changed -FL hahahaha

 

[jpm]

Remember, this incident happened in early July and Wim just made that statement about personally evaluating locked acounts a couple of days ago.

 

[gambler]

It is odd IMO.
I have played at Fortune Lounge Casinos multiple times and never had a problem at any of them.
It's odd how certain people seem to get singled out.

 

[jpm]

Yes indeed. I never had any problem cashing out in 4 out of 5 of their casinos, then a couple of months ago the 5th one wanted me to show proof of funding on my neteller account before they'd process my cashin. I complained about it here on casinomeister and Wim responded immediately and fixed that problem within a couple of days. Never had a problem since, and all my w/d's go thru in about 2 - 3 days to neteller.

 

[mikej28]

That's all very well Gambler and JPM but clearly in some cases things are going seriously wrong and blameless players are being wrongly accused and are not given the opportunity to prove their innocence because FL refuses to enter into any kind of discussion. It's a case of we've decided you're guilty and as judge, jury and executioner we've decided this is your punishment. Not only are we not going to pay you your winnings but we're taking your deposits as well. This is a very rough form of justice.
Whilst I understand FL wants to protect its casinos from fraudsters it seems to have problems distinguishing the guilty from the innocent. If it wasn't for this forum those of us who have been wrongly accused would have to suffer in silence.

 

[gambler]

Mikej,
I completely understand what you are saying.
My post was really to point out that it is odd how some players get this sort of trouble.
In my limited experience of Online Gambling and FL, I think they are more likely to sort things out for you than most.
I wish you luck, please keep us informed as to the outcome, because FL are my favourite group to play at the moment.

 

[fortunelounge]

As there seem to be several accounts linked to this account, the investigation is taking longer than anticipated and I will respond as soon as possible.

VP Operations
Fortune Lounge

 

[skidmark]

A likely story indeed FL. From all the thread reading I've done recently I dont know what to think of FL, man its really tough to see their side of these matters being that they occur with such frequency. I used to be a huge supporter of FL till up to about 3 weeks ago when I requested a large cashout to be paid via neteller and they sent me a check. Man that really pisses me off. I take the check to the bank and they put a 30 day hold on it, not complaining about the bank cause who would cash such a large check, well into 4 figures from a freakin online casino. Now I have all that money locked up when they could have sent the payment to neteller then I could have sent it from neteller to my bank account direct. All could have been avoided if FL would have simply done what I requested. Why do they even have a preferred payment page? Then the topper, they tell me it happened because you have to have an account for 3 months before they will process cashouts to neteller. This I knew was just BS cause I opened an account at another one of their casinos a month earlier and was paid to neteller. Why cant they just admit they f'd up instead of lying? Either way, that ordeal combined with reading so much crap about them on these forums has made me back away from FL.

 

[jpm]

skidmark, I believe there is a limit of $2000 on payments to neteller. This may explain why you ended up with a check, it sounds like you won more than that.

 

[glodge]

IMO it's best to always request a wire transfer if the win is $2K or over. Least it hits your bank account, and there is not the hassle of a clearance hold that may get placed on a cheque ( check ).

 

[cipher]

You're absolutely right JPM there is a two grand limit on Neteller transactions. Have a good one.
Cipher

 

[skidmark]

I cashed in just over 1800$, sorry if I made it seem larger then it was. But either way they lied about why they sent a cheque. If they lie about such a simple issue then it cuts holes in their credibility for larger matters.

 

[jpm]

Are we making a mountain out of a molehill over whether payment was by check or neteller. You still got paid in full, which is really the important part!

Granted you have to wait for the check to clear, but that is largely the bank's policy and not the fault of the casino. Those checks are drawn on US banks (I know, I get them sometimes too) and should be processed in no more than 7 days. 3 days if its in the same state as your bank.

I just don't see this as some type of major issue or insidious plot by the casino to screw you over. It costs them more money to cut a check and send it to you than it does to send it via neteller. And you got the whole thing. To me, this is nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

 

[jamesdean]

These guys paid me by check too after I ask via their cashin method request forum and sent an email asking for neteller. They told me as well I had to have my account open for 3 months after I questioned them on the mix up. I thought this was an unusual thing to do. Thats why I have decided to play at other casinos that can pay me the way I want.

 

[jpm]

Wim said last week that they have since rescinded that rule.

 

[mikej28]

Fortune Lounge is your investigation still ongoing? I am anxious to know how it was possible for someone to link 'several accounts' to my accounts. Clearly, this has important implications for other people who play at FL casinos. I'm sure they wouldn't want to find themselves in my position.

 

[crushgrove]

FL, I am waiting to see if all has been fixed. As I just went through this I would hope that the changes you guys say you are making are being implemented. Could we please get an update on this FL?

 

[mikej28]

It's now a week since we last heard from Fortune Lounge. What's going on?

 

[skidmark]

I guess FL is taking the 5th on this one. I'm thinking not all the bugs are worked out of their system yet even after 4 months of supposed improvements :crazy:

 

[fortunelounge]

My apologies for only replying to mikej28's posting now but the investigation took longer than anticipated as I wanted to ensure we were correct in our decision.

It was found that his account was, without any doubt, linked to other accounts through multiple identifiers. The decision was not based on one set of linked details only.

As the value of the cash-ins he received far exceed his purchases, we will not be refunding any purchases in this case.

skidmark and jamesdean: The decision to waive the 3 month waiting period on Neteller refunds was only made recently. Your cash-ins obviously happened before that. Please check previous postings.

VP Operations
Fortune Lounge

 

[mikej28]

So Fortune Lounge you've made me wait a week only to repeat your original allegation. I don't doubt that you've found that my account, and here I'm assuming that you're referring to Royal Vegas because I don't know otherwise, was 'linked to other accounts through multiple identifiers'. What I'd like to know is how this was possible because I am in no way responsible.
What I do know for certain is that there is no way that you can have proved without doubt that I have committed a fraud because no such evidence can exist since I know I did not create these linked accounts.

You say that your records show that I purchased a total of $525 on all my casino accounts. Now assuming here, because once again you haven't explained yourself, that you're referring only to purchases made in July, there is the question of the $225 over and above the $300 in purchases I made across my three FL accounts. Where did this come from? Not from my Neteller account or credit card that's for sure. So how was it financed?
You say 'the total cashins paid to you amounts to $1256. What happened to the $562 over and above the $694 I originally cashed in (before Neteller bonus-related deductions?). How are you linking these transactions to me?
Your response looks like an attempt at a whitewash and tells me nothing. You've just repeated what I already know. I'm sure other people reading this won't feel reassured. What people who play at FL casinos want to know is how it was possible for someone to breech your security procedures and link accounts to my accounts. If it can happen to me it can happen to them.

 

[mikej28]

Well, it seems that answers to my questions will not be forthcoming. FL remains as evasive and unhelpful as ever. The sad fact of this whole sorry affair is that every word of my account is true. Unfortunately, it seems that I'm not being believed. I take it that Bryan's silence indicates that he thinks that I've been less than truthful too. That's his prerogative, but on this occasion his instincts are wrong. I'm not one of the 50% who pitches bogus bitches.

Something has gone very wrong here but it seems FL is relying on the fact that I cannot prove that I am not responsible for linking these accounts to my accounts. I can show I deposited $300 via Neteller, but as for the outstanding $225 where did that come from? I don't have the first idea how to link accounts and I don't even understand how the scam's supposed to work. Perhaps someone could enlighten me. If I did have the knowledge I'd probably be using my time more lucratively rather than trying to clear my name on this forum. I certainly wouldn't have spent time playing $324 and $424 hands' worth of BJ for the sake of $20.

FL has blackened my reputation without being able to prove beyond doubt that I am responsible.
It seems this is enough for them. As long as they maintain the appearance of doing the right thing then that's ok. I only hope for the sake of other players that FL has discovered how this happened and has closed the loophole. It's my view that FL would have emerged with more credit had it held its hand up. Instead it prefers to blame me rather than admit to any failings in its own systems. When casinos administer this kind of rough justice perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised when certain politicians seek to have them banned.

 

[The Dude]

<hr size=0>quote:<p>FL remains as evasive and unhelpful as ever. The sad fact of this whole sorry affair is that every word of my account is true. Unfortunately, it seems that I'm not being believed. I take it that Bryan's silence indicates that he thinks that I've been less than truthful too. That's his prerogative, but on this occasion his instincts are wrong. I'm not one of the 50% who pitches bogus bitches.<hr size=0>​

This has been a dialogue between you and the casino, thus my apparent "silence".

Should I pursue this any further? Or should we drop this. Please let me know.