Resolved Maria Casino And The Case Of The Mysterious Disappearing Bonus

[Shocked]

British Magician, Paul Daniels, had a catchphrase for after he'd make something disappear - "...and that's magic!"

Well I believe that Maria Casino are missing this part of the act - they've got the disappearing act right down to a tee, but getting them to say anything (no matter the famous catchphrase) is bordering on impossible.

Anyway I saw that they had a good sign-up bonus and decided to sign-up on Sunday evening. Played a load of their games (surprisingly good as well) and lost track of time. Ended up far to late and waay over the wagering requirements with 90 euro of my original deposit and 100 euro bonus. So, I decided to convert it back to s and leave it for the night.

Then the magic happens!

When I converted from euro to pounds the bonus just disappeared..and my balance went from 190 euro to 70something. I reconverted it back to see if it would reappear and I ended up on 90 euro,

So I send them an email from my regular email account:

Hiya

I signed up to your casino today and received the deposit bonus. I've played for several hours and was going to call it a night - ending up with 190 euros - I converted back to GBP and the bonus 100 euros has disappeared! I tried reconverting it back and it now says that I'm on 90 euros - is it possible to investigate what has happened?

Many Thanks

and they replied:


So, I'm getting concerned now..and I send an email through their own on site email thingy and quickly got this reply:


Nearly 48 hours later..and nothing. I don't know whether just to try and withdraw the deposit I have left (thankfully less than a tenner down) or keep on persisting. They have no way of contacting them aside from by email. They are owned by another company and I'm tempted to call them and try and get a phone number. No point in going down the licence route as they are registered in Costa Lotsa (though the company is Swedish)

Any advice?

 

[SlotMonster]

And what they replied? I cannot see any reply, just "Quote"....

 

[Shocked]

Sorry Slotmonster, that was just to say that haven't replied at all

 

[Shocked]

Well...got this reply, but it's confused the issue somewhat:

Hi Shocked, thank you for your e-mail and sorry for the delayed reply. The reason for this is that when you make a deposit to Mariacasino it is connected to the same payment system as mariabingo and at the first deposit at mariabingo you get 100% first depositbonus and the bonus you get you can only use by playing one of the games we offer at Mariabingo, so you will loose your "bingobonuse" while converting to ECC, and vice versa. The "real" deposit to Mariacasino is when you convert your funds into ECC. When you do this you get a depositbonus from Mariacasino which is 100% as well, besides that bonus we have personalized Loyaltybonuses. Regarding your wagering requirement issue; I can see that you have fulfilled the requirements so you should be able to withdraw the money. And also, when you're making a withdrawal you'll loose your bonus, and that is to prevent people from abusing our bonussystem. Don't hesitate to contact us again if you need some further information. Kind regards,

..so does that mean that I get a 100% deposit for the mariacasino, but as soon as I reconvert it back to GBP, I lose the deposit amount...so it's like, useless?

Hmm

 

[Unibet Casino]

Hi Shocked,

I'm the Head of Casino at Unibet (who bought Maria in December 2007) and I agree it sounds a bit confusing. The Casino Manager for Maria is currently traveling so she won't be able to look into your query this instant.

Would you mind sending me your user name of Maria Casino in a PM? I will have a look at the account and help resolve the issue for you.

Best Regards,
Joachim

 

[chuchu59]

Joachim,

When you do reply can we have it in rather simple terms. It is an understatement to say that the reply from the casino seems confusing. Thanks.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Simplified

In short, the 100% bonus at the casino is a "phantom bonus". Such bonuses are only for play, and are removed whenever a withdrawal is made. Transferring from the casino into the purse would count as a withdrawal for the casino, however, had the player known this, they might have played on hoping to get their withdrawable balance higher while still having the bonus available. This should all be in the terms and conditions, and the player may well have missed this.

The more complex reply above seems to indicate that a 100% "phantom" bonus is still available in the bingo games, and they could deposit their remaining 90 and have 180 to play with there.

Phantom bonuses are common, but should come with far lower wagering requirements than regular cashable bonuses. Phantom bonuses CAN be "abused", it is just that the method is different. Unless the terms prohibit certain strategies, then it is considered "advantage play" rather than "abuse", and casinos are expected to pay out, and THEN bonus ban the player (or suffer the wrath of this forum ).

 

[Shocked]

Hi Shocked,

I'm the Head of Casino at Unibet (who bought Maria in December 2007) and I agree it sounds a bit confusing. The Casino Manager for Maria is currently traveling so she won't be able to look into your query this instant.

Would you mind sending me your user name of Maria Casino in a PM? I will have a look at the account and help resolve the issue for you.

Best Regards,
Joachim

Will do! Thanks!

To update I got a reply from another CS person who stated that, as I'd cleared the wagering requirements by quite a bit, I should have been able to have converted it without losing the (cleared) bonus amount.

Thanks for the explanation VWM - not come across this type of bonus before..it seems a little strange to say the least..umm assuming it is a phantom bonus, though hopefully I'll find out soon!

 

[Shocked]

Just to say that Joachim has kindly put the account balance back where it was plus a tenner and had a look at the account..and it looks like the system registered me as having not completed the wagering requirements. Still a little confused about the stated '-300' as the bonus wagering requirement in 'my account' but I'll presume that my head had got befuddled from the amount I played that night!

Again, thanks..and if one of the moderator peeps could put this as resolved then that would be much appreciated. =)

 

[Unibet Casino]

Joachim,

When you do reply can we have it in rather simple terms. It is an understatement to say that the reply from the casino seems confusing. Thanks.

Hi,

I appreciate the feedback and you're absolutely right. The casino manager for Maria is currently traveling to meet with customer support, so I've send her an email to clarify the situation. I will most likely be able to fully explain the situation by this weekend (unfortunately I will be caught up in meetings for the next two days and the casino manager of Maria will only arrive in the office tomorrow).

Apologies for this delay, I spoke to Matt and resolved his issue, but obviously going forward there needs to be some clearer communication on the site to avoid any confusions. We're working very hard to address the issues and we welcome any feedback!

Best Regards,
Joachim