Have I been deceived? (Golden Riviera)

[dreckridnow]

Hello all.

Alright, I am quite new to the world of casinos. Especially, online casinos. The only one I have account at is Golden Riviera. Follows my story, please let me know if I have any right here or is it just my ignorance that I should blame.

OK, so I registered with Golden Riviera. I am completely new to this bonus thing, so I knew nothing about wagering, etc. I go to their website, and a neat popup window comes up and says "get free $150 for your first purchase of $100", and I am like "yeah baby!".

So I deposit $130. I don't redeem my bonus yet cos I am too eager to play. I play on the roulette and win a total of $280. I am quite excited and cash-in everything.

Then, I call their support number, and ask "how do I get my money?". she's like "you need to talk to the account team and they're open 8am to 5pm GMT+2. So, since I live in Vermont I can only talk to them 1am-10am, so I say to myself "alright I'll do that later".

Then, I ask the support lady "what's with this bonuses, can I get my $150?". And she's like "yeah, sure, totally" and she immediately credits it to my account. I am like "thanks, great" and go play and lose it all. "big deal, it wasn't my money anyway, I still got the $280 that I won".

Then, today I get this from the account team at Golden Riviera:

----------------------
Your cash-in has been returned to your gaming account, as you have not met the wagering requirements. You need to wager $3750 in order to qualify for the cash-in.

Wagers on BlackJack, Video Poker and SicBo will not meet wagering obligation with regards to your initial download bonus.

All bonus and free money cannot be wagered on Roulette, Craps and Baccarat.

We apologize for the inconvenience that this may cause, and wish you luck at our tables.

Thank you for choosing Golden Riviera Casino.

Kind Regards
Accounts Department
Golden Riviera Casino "For Sophisticated Online Gambling"
----------------------

So I am like "what the fxck???". Then I go to their website and I see that somewhere on their freaking page they have their so called promotions "Terms and Conditions" really well hidden of course with their wager requirements. The support lady never asked whether I've read those, and in reality, I didn't know of their existence - I just assumed I get $150 free as I've never dealt with bonuses not to mention online casinos before.

So, do I have any claim on my money? I am very pissed right now, and will be making an angry call tonight. Even if I should have read those Terms and Conidtions, which by the way would have been nice if something/somebody pointed me to their existence, doesn't the fact that I cashed-in before I got the bonus entitle me to my winnings?


thanks a lot!!!


dreckridnow

 

[jpm]

Ok, if this went down like you described, that is, you deposited, played and cashed in BEFORE that bonus money ever hit your account, then by all means you are entitled to that cashin.

You will need to explain the chain of events to them in a very explicit but POLITE way. Cool down a bit before you do this, being pissed will get you nowhere with any casino support.

Then, go to this thread and scroll down to post #6 where I give advice to another newbie:

https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/bonus-advice-please.3691/?t=3691

Oh, and welcome aboard!

 

[dreckridnow]

Thank you jpm. I hope you are right, and of course I will be professional when I call them. I just kind of freaked out when I got that email. By the way, it seems that Golden Riviera are based in South Africa. Let's see how it goes, I'll keep you posted. Thanks again!

dreckridnow

 

[jpm]

If you call them, be sure to ask for the casino manager. Don't just deal with the first person to answer the phone, you probably won't get anywhere with them.

 

[Cool Cat]

Hello I think if you just cashed in after you won the 280 and didn't ask for the bonus than they would of paid you. Asking for the bonus was bad. Because once you receive the bonus than you got to meet their wagering requirements. And now that you have lost the bonus and just cashed out without finishing the wagering their going to want their bonus money back. Plus at most online casino's roulette is not allowed for wagering purposes. Now your screwed. And your right about the terms and condotions being hard to find. Their are several casino websites were you have to hunt for them. It's a pain sometimes.

Well Good luck with finishing the wagering. And i have played at this casino several times and they have always paid.


Later Cool Cat

Hello all.

Alright, I am quite new to the world of casinos. Especially, online casinos. The only one I have account at is Golden Riviera. Follows my story, please let me know if I have any right here or is it just my ignorance that I should blame.

OK, so I registered with Golden Riviera. I am completely new to this bonus thing, so I knew nothing about wagering, etc. I go to their website, and a neat popup window comes up and says "get free $150 for your first purchase of $100", and I am like "yeah baby!".

So I deposit $130. I don't redeem my bonus yet cos I am too eager to play. I play on the roulette and win a total of $280. I am quite excited and cash-in everything.

Then, I call their support number, and ask "how do I get my money?". she's like "you need to talk to the account team and they're open 8am to 5pm GMT+2. So, since I live in Vermont I can only talk to them 1am-10am, so I say to myself "alright I'll do that later".

Then, I ask the support lady "what's with this bonuses, can I get my $150?". And she's like "yeah, sure, totally" and she immediately credits it to my account. I am like "thanks, great" and go play and lose it all. "big deal, it wasn't my money anyway, I still got the $280 that I won".

Then, today I get this from the account team at Golden Riviera:

----------------------
Your cash-in has been returned to your gaming account, as you have not met the wagering requirements. You need to wager $3750 in order to qualify for the cash-in.

Wagers on BlackJack, Video Poker and SicBo will not meet wagering obligation with regards to your initial download bonus.

All bonus and free money cannot be wagered on Roulette, Craps and Baccarat.

We apologize for the inconvenience that this may cause, and wish you luck at our tables.

Thank you for choosing Golden Riviera Casino.

Kind Regards
Accounts Department
Golden Riviera Casino "For Sophisticated Online Gambling"
----------------------

So I am like "what the fxck???". Then I go to their website and I see that somewhere on their freaking page they have their so called promotions "Terms and Conditions" really well hidden of course with their wager requirements. The support lady never asked whether I've read those, and in reality, I didn't know of their existence - I just assumed I get $150 free as I've never dealt with bonuses not to mention online casinos before.

So, do I have any claim on my money? I am very pissed right now, and will be making an angry call tonight. Even if I should have read those Terms and Conidtions, which by the way would have been nice if something/somebody pointed me to their existence, doesn't the fact that I cashed-in before I got the bonus entitle me to my winnings?


thanks a lot!!!


dreckridnow

 

[Clayman]

Hello I think if you just cashed in after you won the 280 and didn't ask for the bonus than they would of paid you. Asking for the bonus was bad. Because once you receive the bonus than you got to meet their wagering requirements.

Hopefully the casino might realize they made a mistake in awarding the bonus because he had deposited his own money and cashed out and probably had forfeited his right at that point to ever use the initial bonus offer. At least that's what I would argue if I were the poster.

Unfortunately, as you say, the fact he played with the bonus certainly muddies the waters and probably means an implied acceptance of the bonus terms which, of course, required a deposit. Being a newbie, he wouldn't know any of this though.

Let us know how this works out for you.

 

[jpm]

Good point Clayman, they probably shouldn't have even given the bonus since he cashed out. I think though that regardless of that (it would be their mistake for doing that), he cashed out before he got the bonus and therefore should only be liable for wagering the bonus money according to the w/r since the original deposit and winnings were out of the equation when he got the bonus money and he apparently never reversed the cashin to co-mingle the two funds.

 

[Clayman]

Good point Clayman, they probably shouldn't have even given the bonus since he cashed out. I think though that regardless of that (it would be their mistake for doing that), he cashed out before he got the bonus and therefore should only be liable for wagering the bonus money according to the w/r since the original deposit and winnings were out of the equation when he got the bonus money and he apparently never reversed the cashin to co-mingle the two funds.

I hope the casino cuts him a break and thereby gain a happy customer for the same $150 profit he made on his $130 deposit that they were willing to give as a bonus anyway to get a new customer.

But that might be too close to a win-win situation for the casino to handle.

 

[Golden Riviera]

Golden Riviera - Improved Cashin Procedure

Dear Valued Golden Riviera Players.

We understand that encountering these problems would cause great Frustration.
Please rest assured that we are currently implementing a new cashin procedure that has already started taking effect and will be completed within the next couple of weeks.
We are confident that this will minimize, if not eradicate the cashin problems completely.
We are aware of the complaints, and are addressing each one of them individually as all our clients are valuable to us.

We thank you for the input in this thread, it has assisted us greatly in improving our system.
Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience caused, going forward, we endeavor to make your online gambling experience as enjoyable as possible.

Sincerely,
Vivien
Golden Riviera Group Casinos

 

[GemG7]

Why are you bumping up all these old threads with what looks like a canned reply. Are you addressing the issues these players had or just trying to pimp your casino pretending that things are better now? Why didn't you start a new thread instead replying the same way to all those old threads?

 

[Tdoggy]

you will not be paid

I don't think you will paid. You got the bonus and then blew it and then cashed in the money you had won already. You basically played with free money that they gave you and think that they will be like ok forget the bonus we gave you and pay you. I think not. I will be shocked if you get paid. The Customer rep did a great job of taking advantage of you by asking you if you wanted the bonus. You then agreed and took on the wagering that comes with it! You then blew it and decided you would cashout the winnings you had already won! No way! Good luck in getting paid but again I would be shocked!

 

[KasinoKing]

I would like to hear what the outcome to this case was.
Presumably the funds were put back in dreckridnow's account and he then went on to lose the lot?

People doing what he did, weather deliberately or though carelessness, only need a tiny bit of discipline. Always wait until your withdrawal is fully processed before claiming/playing with bonus funds!

Patience is indeed, a virtue!

 

[jetset]

QUOTE: Always wait until your withdrawal is fully processed before claiming/playing with bonus funds!UNQUOTE

A good tip, KK - definitely one for the "Newbie's Guide to Bonuses"