GVC - Coral and Galacasino showing the wrong RTP to players, possible breach of license

[colinsunderland]

I know some saw the posts I made in the other thread, but this is to just follow up on that, naming the group involved and to show the evidence.

Back in December I noticed Coral had reduced the RTP on their PlaynGo games. This was shown correctly in the PnG help file, that showed the 94% RTP setting. I posted about the reduction here

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At the time I asked live chat what games they had reduced the RTP on, to save me going through each one individually. This was their answer

Me (9:22:19 PM): ok, thank you. Can I get a list of which games (slots) you have recently reduced the RTP on please, or if on all slots by certain providers, which providers. The last agent said every game, but unless you are using pirate NetEnt and Novomatic games to name two, that isn't possible as they don't offer different RTP versions.

Beckey (9:23:02 PM):We have not had any game that have been reduced on the RTP Colin.

(Little edit here to say that was a lie, the RTP was set at 96%, so they had reduced them. If they hadn't as the CS rep says, then they have been showing the wrong RTP since September at least).
and to show the RTP was on the 94% setting, I asked what the RTP was on Book of Dead.

Jordan (9:43:31 PM):The RTP is currently at 94.25% on that game

At that point, all was (almost) fine, as the PlaynGo help files were still being served and showing the correct RTP. Coral (and Gala) also have files known as knowledgebase files that have the game information, along with the RTP, these were incorrect at that point as they were still showing the 96% RTP levels, but as the correct RTP was shown on the PnG help files it wasn't too much of a problem, although should have been corrected. Below is an image of a PlaynGo help file if anyone doesn't know what they are



Fast forward to mid January, Coral migrated over to the GVC platform for their games. At this time, and this is where the problem starts, they decided to remove the PnG help files from within the game and replace them with the knowledgebase files. This would be fine, if they had updated the RTP in those files, but they didn't, so since the platform migration, all PlaynGo games have been showing the incorrect RTP. That is a breach of their technical standards section of their LCCP.

At this point I was sure they were displaying the incorrect RTP, as every other GVC casino I checked (barring Partycasino) was using the 94% versions of the games, and it made no sense that Coral would be the only one using the higher level, but as usual live chat denied this and I had no evidence, so although I made reference to it on here a couple of times, I couldn't accuse them of anything directly.

Last weekend, in the other RTP thread, someone kindly posted how to do the network analysis and what file to look for, to show what RTP version of the game was running. Frustratingly, I had already tried this, but was doing it after the game finished loading, and had missed the files that were pulled from PnG before then. The video below shows the process

View attachment RoD RTP 2020-02-11 10-20-39-040.mp4















Doing this confirmed Coral were and are serving the lower 94% versions, when the information on site clearly states they are running the 96% versions. The evidence is below, taken from a few different games.









I have tried, on numerous occasions previously, and more so this week, to communicate this to Coral, but met a brick wall each time, via live chat, telephone support, email, the Gala rep on here (@AdamGala who hasn't replied from January 20th) and the Twitter team. Live chat have no clue about anything and wouldn't pass me any higher. I asked for a manager at one point during a 3 hour chat session, and got this gem as a reply

Please be advised that high you stake the more chance to win. Also gambling have two side its either you win or lose

So they told me, if I stake higher I have more chances to win. Wtg with their responsible gaming there.

Now, people are probably thinking this is a mistake and they possibly just forgot to update the help files, however, over at Galacasino they added Coywolf Cash by PnG at the end of January. At this point they had been using the 94% RTP versions for around a month. As you can see, the knowledgebase file clearly shows 96.31% RTP, whereas the true RTP is 94%, and was created on the 27th January 2020 (shown below). There is no excuse I can think of for the person writing the text to put it down as 96.31% when, at the time of writing, the correct RTP was the 94% version.





The same applies to Red Tiger games, although the in game help screen shows the correct RTP, the help file is incorrect, so not as bad as the PnG ones, but still incorrect. An example of that is shown below.




The second license breach, which I'm sure no one will care about , is the fact they have removed the mandatory loss limit settings on some PlaynGo games. That is also a breach of the technical standards part of their LCCP, and knowing the UKGC, more likely to be the part they take more seriously. I mean, never mind customers are getting lied to about game payouts and chances to win, god forbid you can play 100 spins without setting a loss limit! You can see from the video below, the loss limit setting is missing completely.

View attachment autoplay LOD 2020-02-11 13-33-17-160.mp4















TLDR: Coral and Galacasino deliberately replaced the PnG help files showing the correct RTP on games, with their own, in house written, helpfiles showing a higher RTP than they were actually giving customers.
Coral, despite being informed of this, have done nothing, at time of writing
Coral have removed the mandatory loss limit settings required under their LCCP.

Mistake or not, the PnG help files did not magically replace themselves. This has had to have had manual intervention. Any responsible company would, at that point, double check the information included in those files was correct. That clearly hasn't happened. However, they are adding new games, and knowing the RTP is set at 94%, are still writing the help files to show them running at 96%. At best what they are doing is misleading customers, and it is most certainly a breach of the LCCP.

I have tried to alert Coral and Gala of this numerous times this week as mentioned above, but they really don't care. At time of writing it is well over 72 hours since I sent my first detailed email to them including evidence, and despite the auto response stating 'We aim to respond to all queries within 24 hours and will be in contact with you as soon as possible.' I have had no response at all from them. The Twitter team said it would be within 72 hours after they passed my concerns to compliance, its been well over 72 hours, no response. I have also sent a detailed complaint to the UKGC, but their auto response states 28 days and that they won't tell me the outcome of any investigation, so as a result of the constant stonewalling, decided to post this without waiting any longer, nor the benefit of a response from GVC to put their side, which is unfortunate, but is what it is. Any decent casino would have immediately either corrected the files, put the PlaynGo files back, even if temporarily, or removed the games temporarily until the LCCP breaches were solved. GVC's response has been to completely ignore the situation, and keep misleading customers.

If anyone has played PnG games at any of the two affected properties, I would suggest you complain strongly about this, but expect to get stonewalled by live chat, but after that you could try to email complaints@coral.co.uk. Feel free to complain to the UKGC about this too, as GVC should not be allowed to get away with it. Personally I think the games should have been removed immediately, and all customers should be refunded any losses automatically for the time they have played while the RTP displayed was wrong. I have not mentioned losses or asked for a refund, as that is not my intention, and did not want to be seen as a losing customer moaning to get a refund.

I have only really looked at Galacasino and Coral, so cannot comment on other GVC properties, but know as of yesterday, PartyCasino were still using the 96% versions of the games.

Sorry for the extremely long post, but I wanted to be sure to detail everything correctly, so I cannot be accused by anyone (including GVC) of only posting part of the story.

@ChopleyIOM will be along to post his video regarding this shortly .


Bryan reviews Coral Casino HERE.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Accompanying video, we've put quite a lot of time into this one, and thanks to all CM members who checked the PNG RTPs as well.

 

[Oscar Arnhem]

Any idee how long this is going on?

 

[dunover]

If anyone is in any doubt as to how dangerous this is to the player and how they could be shafted then here are the numbers:

The left column is your balance after playing through your returns since your original £100 deposit and then recycling until you bust, the right column is what's left after each recycle!

£100 deposited, £1 spins assuming 96p is returned every spin i.e. zero volatility.

100 100
96 92
92 88
88 84
84 80
80 77
77 74
74 71
71 68
68 65
65 63
63 60
60 57
57 55
55 53
53 51
51 49
49 47
47 45
45 43
43 42
42 40
40 38
38 37
37 35
35 34
34 32
32 31
31 30
30 29
29 28
28 26
26 25
25 24
24 23
23 22
22 21
21 20
20 20
20 19
19 18
18 18
18 17
17 16
16 15
15 15
15 14
14 14
14 13
13 12
12 12
12 11
11 11
11 10
10 9

I've truncated the excessively long list, it's over 2200 spins!



£100 in and playing @ 84% RTP assuming flat zero volatility and returning 84p every spin:

100 84
84 70
70 59
59 50
50 42
42 35
35 30
30 25
25 21
21 18
18 15
15 13
13 11
11 9
9 7
7 6
6 5
5 4
4 4
4 3
3 3
3 2
2 2
2 2
2 1

You would get 521 spins approx.

So you would get 25%, a QUARTER of your expected play time at the low setting.

At 92% it's slightly less than half than it is at 96%

No player could fail to notice this had they been used to the factory 96% versions. No foil hatting, no cognitive bias, its simply SHITE!

 

[colinsunderland]

Any idee how long this is going on?

Since they migrated to the GVC platform, around a month ago, although they have been running the 94% version since around Christmas

 

[bamberfishcake]

Credit to you both for all the hard work and thanks.

Credit also for approaching the casino's in question and giving them more than enough chances. They only have to listen.

Be interesting to know how much this means in real money or look at Coral online financials to get an idea of their monthly revenue.

Dubious now to play any PlaynGo, Red Tiger, No Limit etc etc. Any clue on how to check for the other providers?

Had a quick look but could'nt see.

Amazing how huge name like Corals and Gala are doing this.

 

[dealer wins]

Nothing suprises me anymore about this industry. The RTP needs to be displayed prominently when entering a slot game, not hidden in some help file.

But as for showing a falsely high RTP, they need to refund every customer who played the slots in question from the day the incorrect RTP was shown, and refund in FULL.

 

[sufferinsilence]

Thanks for the research!

Some of the pictures aren't showing up

 

[colinsunderland]

Thanks for the research!

Some of the pictures aren't showing up

Which ones, they are all showing for me?

Edit: have just replaced them - can you see if they are ok now please? Are the videos ok?

 

[sufferinsilence]

Which ones, they are all showing for me?

Edit: have just replaced them - can you see if they are ok now please?

Now they all show up Cheers

 

[mack341]

Yes it's funny shortly after switching to the low 94 rtp versions they then decide to get rid of the ingame help file, and replace it with their own one that they can presumably write themselves and 'accidentally' get the rtp wrong, it's almost like they hired someone from curacao to oversee this work.

It just goes to show the live chat are useless, they're unable to grasp basic facts regarding slots, and pass on any complaints/concerns higher up the line in the quick time frame required, at least for a fast moving business.

 

[EkJR]

Great work. Take it the UKGC have been made aware now?

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Great work. Take it the UKGC have been made aware now?

Yes, this has already been submitted to the UKGC as a formal complaint.

They don't seem to be in much of a hurry though......

 

[Playford7]

Yes, this has already been submitted to the UKGC as a formal complaint.

They don't seem to be in much of a hurry though......

Probably more concerned with limiting auto play to a max of 20 spins a time with a 8 minute wait between each spin. Clowns

 

[EkJR]

Yes, this has already been submitted to the UKGC as a formal complaint.

They don't seem to be in much of a hurry though......

Yeah they tend to do that. Its extra work for them and not a quick win but absolutely if they are true to the LCCP then they need to investigate. Personally hope Coral get a heavy fine, the worst customer service team in the history of the world...I include BT and O2 customer services in that assessment

 

[colinsunderland]

It just goes to show the live chat are useless, they're unable to grasp basic facts regarding slots, and pass on any complaints/concerns higher up the line in the quick time frame required, at least for a fast moving business.

Just to say, the live chat based in Manila are fucking terrible. However, the Twitter team are usually ok, and do actually know what they are talking about. They told me it was passed to compliance on Tuesday morning, and as they knew the nature of the complaint, I believe they did that.

I initially believed this to be a mistake, but taking into account people high up have been fully aware of the situation since Tuesday, and nothing has been done, well people can make their own minds up.

 

[mack341]

Yeah they tend to do that. Its extra work for them and not a quick win but absolutely if they are true to the LCCP then they need to investigate. Personally hope Coral get a heavy fine, the worst customer service team in the history of the world...I include BT and O2 customer services in that assessment

I didn't think it possible anyone could have worse customer service than O2

 

[colinsunderland]

I didn't think it possible anyone could have worse customer service than O2

Vodafone and Scottish Power have always been pretty terrible

 

[EkJR]

I didn't think it possible anyone could have worse customer service than O2

I remember a Jackpot King feature crashing when I reached the "wheel king" bit. Chased every week for a resolution and had to provide the same details time and again, full rundowns. Would only respond to one email then never again. Took 4 months to resolve and they said I won an amount that wasnt even possible on the wheel(less than the minimum). Raised complaints, took a further 3 months for a response giving me a "free £20 cash" which actually turned out to be a 40X wagering bonus. Contacted Blueprint who eventually said they passed info to Coral. Coral, after 9 months of constant complaints paid me £300 which was the actual win from the game record. Scamming incompetent bastards! Their Trustpilot scores and comments are a good laugh, particularly with their sports betting bonuses and lack of cashouts.

 

[EkJR]

I didn't think it possible anyone could have worse customer service than O2

"Hi, there I would like to cancel my contract"

"Of course sir, I'll upgrade you to the top package costing 200 a month straight away"

 

[EkJR]

I think this guy might be interested in this post!!

 

[mack341]

Just to say, the live chat based in Manila are fucking terrible. However, the Twitter team are usually ok, and do actually know what they are talking about. They told me it was passed to compliance on Tuesday morning, and as they knew the nature of the complaint, I believe they did that.

I initially believed this to be a mistake, but taking into account people high up have been fully aware of the situation since Tuesday, and nothing has been done, well people can make their own minds up.

TBF joking aside I thought it was a mistake based on the fact coral never seemed to have much of a clue regarding slots so this kind of thing could occur in that environment.

However It was also odd that they get the PnG slots up and running on their site as a complete new, exciting offering to their customers and then within a month or two switch the games to their lower rtp incarnations, why not just start with the 94% ones, then if not popular bring in the 96% ones, they did it the opposite way

 

[mack341]

I remember a Jackpot King feature crashing when I reached the "wheel king" bit. Chased every week for a resolution and had to provide the same details time and again, full rundowns. Would only respond to one email then never again. Took 4 months to resolve and they said I won an amount that wasnt even possible on the wheel(less than the minimum). Raised complaints, took a further 3 months for a response giving me a "free £20 cash" which actually turned out to be a 40X wagering bonus. Contacted Blueprint who eventually said they passed info to Coral. Coral, after 9 months of constant complaints paid me £300 which was the actual win from the game record. Scamming incompetent bastards! Their Trustpilot scores and comments are a good laugh, particularly with their sports betting bonuses and lack of cashouts.

That's terrible, they knew what you were owed and yet try to stiff you with £20 [plus wagering conditions to add insult]

You tend to think it's incompetence at first with the live chat and email customer service team, but when you've explained it for the umpteenth time and they start replying with nonsensical answers as you begin to try to pin them down, you realise they're doing it deliberately to see if you'll give up

 

[EkJR]

That's terrible, they knew what you were owed and yet try to stiff you with £20 [plus wagering conditions to add insult]

You tend to think it's incompetence at first with the live chat and email customer service team, but when you've explained it for the umpteenth time and they start replying with nonsensical answers as you begin to try to pin them down, you realise they're doing it deliberately to see if you'll give up

Never seen anything like it, thankfully! There are some bad casinos out there and bad CS but this was genuinely the worst. Lies and fobbing people off. If you read Trustpilot it's full of the same kind of antics.

 

[Playford7]

Just to say, the live chat based in Manila are fucking terrible. However, the Twitter team are usually ok, and do actually know what they are talking about. They told me it was passed to compliance on Tuesday morning, and as they knew the nature of the complaint, I believe they did that.

I initially believed this to be a mistake, but taking into account people high up have been fully aware of the situation since Tuesday, and nothing has been done, well people can make their own minds up.

Regarding live chat..
they are utterly pointless at coral, same at William hill.
Also over the phone just as bad.
When your outsourcing customer service to some backwards place paying the workers very little to deal with people whom gamble it’s never going to end well.
Took me 3 weeks to get my William hill acc reopened due to there error, passed to every John, Steve and Dave... whom oddly enough could barely understand the queens English.
I genuinely believe they make it that difficult for the customer to actually get to speak to someone whom can address your concerns so you give up.
My coral account has been blocked for no reason at all for a month, spent over 10k there in the past, not a single response to any email.
When I’ve the mental energy I’ll attempt the phone call, but I’ll get a ‘David’ whom speaks about as much English as a common garden slug from Algeria.