Next Casino and the misleading email

[Azzurri]

This is my latest installment in my personal crusade to have all casinos be very clear and transparent in their dealings with we the customers.

Now I'm by no means labeling Next a rogue or untrustworthy outfit, and until this incident, I had an active account with Next and Casino Luck, and happily played there intermittently when I felt like a change from my regular sites. For me, this incident has me questioning their integrity, and I'm disappointed that a casino like them should be making, what is by their own admission, a mistake. Seeing as this 'mistake' nearly led to me making a deposit unwittingly, I can't help but think that if I didn't stop and think about it, would I have just played perfectly into their plans to begin with?

I'll let you decide.

So I received an email from their support, and I quote:

"Hi Azzurri,


Introducing our brand new game, Lights!

We're always delighted to present a new game to our players and we're particularly excited about Lights. This new Netent releae features 5 reels, 9 pay-lines and floating wilds, not to mention the stunning graphics and sound effects. You'll be especially impressed by the fireflies that appear when the sun goes down.

Log in today and try it out for yourself!

We wish you a pleasant time at our site

Warm regards,

NextCasino.com"

This was directly followed below it with:

*General free spins and bonus terms apply. Please note: Winnings from these free spins will only be visible and can only be wagered in games from the software provider "Netent" until the standard free spins wagering requirement has been met. After this, the funds will be released to your casino base account (and can be used in any game).

Now, I read this and my first thought was yuck! Not another free spin offer on that terrible game! However, I was already planning to play again tonight, so I thought while am at it, I might as well accept the offer for a laugh, then make a deposit and play for real.

So I go to the effort of logging into Next, open the slot Lights, and there are no free spins present. I contacted support, explained the email, and was then told I had no free spins on offer and if I could send a copy of the email. I did this, and was then informed that it was a newsletter, and did not mention any free spins being awarded.

Now I have been called many things, but a blunt tool in the shed I am not. The CS agent can tell me how confused I must be all they want, but if they can't see how that email could be misinterpreted and blatantly misleading, then this only cements my suspicions of dirty marketing, with misleading information given with the sole purpose of getting customers to the site and depositing under false pretenses.

Now those of you who have played that terrible game Lights, will know I mean it when I say this is not about 5 or 10 free spins on that shitty slot. It's the principle of unnecessarily misleading customers by using poor wording that can only be interpreted as a free spin offer. If I am wrong, why the hell is that last paragraph even included, as it is clearly a disclaimer and instructions which refers to "these free spins".

Next can come here now and offer whatever excuse they please, but the evidence is there in black and white. The last $100 of my $1,000 budget this week probably would have come to you if that email was simply an advertisement for that new game. However, the misleading pretense of free spins cost you that deposit, and my account is now closed, costing you further deposits.

The message is clear to all casinos. Keep it simple and cut the bullshit. Casinos like Next should know better, and IMO, a professional outfit shouldn't be making 'mistakes' such as this.

To then have your CS agent talk to me like I'm blind and stupid is outrageous!

And I quote:

"That is a newsletter with information about the new game, it does not mention any awarded freespins to you.

Best regards,
XXXX"


Really?!! Oh, ah der I'm sowee. I mus be reedin dem dar udder wurds.

Have a good re-read of that last paragraph XXXX and the Next crew, then tell me again it makes no mention of any free spins being awarded.

Rant over and patiently awaiting an apology for being spoken to like a blind and stupid fool.

See Related Threads:

• Is Cashalot.bet Misleading Players?
• West Casino Misleading Bonus Information
• Casino Rewards - Misleading Info
• Very Misleading iPoker Promotion
• Misleading Promotion? You Decide!

 

[Tirilej]

I also got a mail from them, but I did get the free spins...and a 50% bonus too.

What have happened is probably just that they forgot to remove the rules for the free spins. They did two different emails and made a clear mistake. That can happen.

I think you're overreacting a little. When I get free spins I know I have them.
For me it's worse when they fool me by saying free spins in the headline and then it takes a deposit to get them.

 

[Azzurri]

It's not about the spins dude. With that game I would have been lucky to win 3 cents. It's the fact that the email was clearly misleading, and then instead of apologizing and owning the error, the CS preferred to deny what was clearly in writing and try to make me feel like the idiot for raising the query.

I logged into Next and would have deposited due to that particular email that was sent insinuating I had free spins waiting. If the free spins then aren't there, and I have just been directed to the site to deposit, that is then trying to gain customers money under false pretenses.

I can accept mistakes happen, but it's a pretty big mistake to make, and at the very least own it. Don't try turning it on the customer and convince me I'm not seeing what I'm clearly seeing. Only Jedi's can get away with using the Jedi Mind Trick, and I highly doubt the CS agent moonlights as a Jedi.

 

[Tirilej]

It's kind of fun how different we see things

A big mistake? I would say a tiny one.
Clearly in writing? Not at all.

Remember that they didn't reply like that to your mail to make you feel like an idiot.
If you choose to feel like that then it's your choise.
You could choose to just shake it off and move forward.

I hope you don't get upset at me for writing this now.
I don't think you're an idiot

 

[homerbert]

no any problem here, i did not know what you want? where you read that they credit you freespins?
I get same email, and i see from this email that no freespins for me. Like 99.9% other players. You make mistake, and blame casino here, with what point?

 

[me_and_ed]

I received the same email as well, it was not like the emails I get from Next that clearly state free spins, sorry but I don't see it either.

 

[CasinoLuck_Eric]

No one is trying to mislead you, Azurri.

It is just as Trilej says, a small fine print footer text at the bottom of the newsletter template that our tech guy forgot to remove from a previous newsletter. A standard footer text stating that various terms apply. That is it. I don't see how this could fool someone into believing that their account has been credited with free spins. Regardless of that, please accept our apologies for the mistake of merely having it there.

If you have been a member of ours and received newsletters before you can track back and see that when we offer a customer free spins, we clearly state this inside the newsletter with something like "your account has been credited with X free spins in game Y" and we also usually state this in the subject line of the newsletter. None of this was the case here. This was a purely informative newsletter about a new game release. The newsletter did not mention anything anywhere about your account having been credited with any free spins in any game.

p.s. there is a newsletter with free spins in this game going out to you and many others in the near future. It will actually state that your account has been credited with free spins.

p.s.2. None of our CS agents are Jedi as far as I know. It would be cool if someone was though. Jedi are pretty badass.

It's not about the spins dude. With that game I would have been lucky to win 3 cents. It's the fact that the email was clearly misleading, and then instead of apologizing and owning the error, the CS preferred to deny what was clearly in writing and try to make me feel like the idiot for raising the query.

I logged into Next and would have deposited due to that particular email that was sent insinuating I had free spins waiting. If the free spins then aren't there, and I have just been directed to the site to deposit, that is then trying to gain customers money under false pretenses.

I can accept mistakes happen, but it's a pretty big mistake to make, and at the very least own it. Don't try turning it on the customer and convince me I'm not seeing what I'm clearly seeing. Only Jedi's can get away with using the Jedi Mind Trick, and I highly doubt the CS agent moonlights as a Jedi.

 

[dunover]

The e-mail simply says 'try the game' and if it was awarding freespins it would have mentioned a number and expiry date as all Netent freespins e-mails do.
I think you misunderstood the e-mail - my first reaction upon reading your OP was 'what's he on about?' as there are no freespins mentioned in it.
It simply has the standard footer they use on freespins awards attached to the bottom, probably lazy preparation of the marketing e-mail.

Nothing to complain about IMO.

 

[syntynyt]

waste of words, space and time. the same happen on iMBD forums when some people just cant enjoy a good movie because they are looking constant for smallish mistakes like tiny plot hole or few seconds of bad editing, a good reason for them to vote with 1 like the worst scum ever recorded.

 

[spintee]

Im the same as you, Getting abit hacked of with these emails from a number of site, I think its just another way to exploit a few more emails to us,
I did however get the message of slot boss/ slotto ect and all had free £5 and redeemed ok, Rarely get any junk of that group,

Its all the (should be decent casinos) that are stating free spins ect untill open up email and there not FREE, even if you do get any its like 5 free on the rubbish games going,

 

[spoton]

If there is any group I really like the emails from it must be Casinoluck and Nextcasino. They dont spam you with those free spins" that you actually have to pay to get like with 90% of the other casinos. And as others has mentioned this was a one-time error from them.

 

[spintee]

If there is any group I really like the emails from it must be Casinoluck and Nextcasino. They dont spam you with those free spins" that you actually have to pay to get like with 90% of the other casinos. And as others has mentioned this was a one-time error from them.

Do not get me wrong, There is a good few casinos you do wish to get a few more emails of, Im getting more and more junk every day from reputable casinos, I do not even bother to open 90% of them now

 

[kidgloves]

p.s.2. None of our CS agents are Jedi as far as I know. It would be cool if someone was though. Jedi are pretty badass.

Whilst CS at any casino can be woefully short of the bench mark sometimes, this has to be the coolest reply I've read from a rep in ages :notworthy

 

[chuchu59]

Both Next Casino and Casino Luck gifts players with 5 free spins regularly on 15,20 and 25-liners or 10 free spins on 9-liners. For this particular game LIGHTS they never mentioned there were free spins and only told me to try them out. I was expecting free spins when I read the caption but since the mail did not mention free spins I didn't even bother to log in.

 

[Azzurri]

Account at Next and Luck now closed.

Thanks for your time.

 

[mrmark21]

Yeah I'm usually the first to point out misleading promos/emails but IMO there is nothing misleading about that e-mail. I detest those emails with the subject "You have free spins" then I open the email and it reads "with you're next purchase"

I just don't see this email as intentionally misleading because if they were trying to mislead I'm sure they could have done a better job than that

 

[incrediblestuff]

Account at Next and Luck now closed.

Thanks for your time.

I also think you totally took it the wrong way, both the email and the remark from the chat-agent.
Nowhere do i see an insult, and also the email is clearly recognisable as a promotion of the new game, with indeed a little error because they used some pre-fixed email with a set of T&C's added...

I saw that more often in several Casinos, at it's worst it's a bit sloppy, nowhere is it misleading i.m.o.
On a funny note i think someone posted a similar mail where there was a B-day wish from the team but no match up or bonus added, but they also had the T&C attached, so it looked like this person had to wager his birthdaywish

Anyway, if you are closing accounts on technicalities like this, i can predict that a a certain point in the future, it is likely you will have no more active accounts left to play, as these things happen in almost every Casino, i would even go as far as to say, they will happen in every casino over due time...

 

[vinylweatherman]

No one is trying to mislead you, Azurri.

It is just as Trilej says, a small fine print footer text at the bottom of the newsletter template that our tech guy forgot to remove from a previous newsletter. A standard footer text stating that various terms apply. That is it. I don't see how this could fool someone into believing that their account has been credited with free spins. Regardless of that, please accept our apologies for the mistake of merely having it there.

If you have been a member of ours and received newsletters before you can track back and see that when we offer a customer free spins, we clearly state this inside the newsletter with something like "your account has been credited with X free spins in game Y" and we also usually state this in the subject line of the newsletter. None of this was the case here. This was a purely informative newsletter about a new game release. The newsletter did not mention anything anywhere about your account having been credited with any free spins in any game.

p.s. there is a newsletter with free spins in this game going out to you and many others in the near future. It will actually state that your account has been credited with free spins.

p.s.2. None of our CS agents are Jedi as far as I know. It would be cool if someone was though. Jedi are pretty badass.

So why not apologise to the OP, rather than send a condescending reply that makes him feel like he is being treated like an idiot?

Such clumsy service is NOT "just a small issue". Customer service is what sets the casinos apart in an industry where the products on offer are pretty similar. This kind of error can also look like a deliberate "bait and switch", the terms at the bottom being deliberately put there to entice the player to log in under a false expectation of receiving "a go on the game", but being vague enough for deniability if the player complains.

In this case, a customer was lost due to both the initial error and how it was handled.

 

[Tirilej]

So why not apologise to the OP, rather than send a condescending reply that makes him feel like he is being treated like an idiot?

Such clumsy service is NOT "just a small issue". Customer service is what sets the casinos apart in an industry where the products on offer are pretty similar. This kind of error can also look like a deliberate "bait and switch", the terms at the bottom being deliberately put there to entice the player to log in under a false expectation of receiving "a go on the game", but being vague enough for deniability if the player complains.

In this case, a customer was lost due to both the initial error and how it was handled.

He choosed to feel like an idiot. Noone can force that feeling on anyone.

''term at the botton being deliberately put there''
Why do you always believe the worst about all casinos? He admitted it was a mistake that the footer was in both emails.
People do mistakes. Even you.

 

[vinylweatherman]

He choosed to feel like an idiot. Noone can force that feeling on anyone.

''term at the botton being deliberately put there''
Why do you always believe the worst about all casinos? He admitted it was a mistake that the footer was in both emails.
People do mistakes. Even you.

The rep admitted this, it was the CS agent that he raised the initial query with that chose to treat him like an idiot rather than apologise and explain the error.

Businesses have many tricks, and there are quite a few who DELIBERATELY incorporate tricks such as this, and then have a get out explanation for when they get caught out by a savvy customer.

This particular "bait & switch" style tactic was recently outlawed specifically under a redrafted consumer protection package as the previous laws were having coaches and horses regularly driven through them by clever business lawyers.

Even accepting this is an error reflects poorly on the casino as it shows that there is no quality control "proof reading" stage between compiling newsletters and sending them out. Too often we hear of players being told "that email was sent out in error" after the fact, and often after the player has made a qualifying deposit for what was offered in error. The casinos then have the attitude of "can't do that" if the player wants their deposit straight back because the offer was made in error.

If the UK ASA rule against that email and say "don't do it again", the casino would have to make damn sure the same error can't happen again as if it did, it would breach the ruling. Saying "sorry, it was an error" isn't going to impress the ASA, who are fully aware that many businesses "try it on", knowing there is no way of determining whether the errors are genuine, or just PR "spin" used to fool customers and regulators.

Some high profile household names have behaved FAR more badly than most of the online casinos, and many have been caught, busted, and suffered heavy fines, from the regulators, yet they STILL TRY IT ON, and many have been busted and fined numerous times because they just roll out new tricks to get around the rulings. The energy companies have just suffered an all out industry wide blanket ban on all forms of "cold selling" after trying one trick after another, and getting fined repeatedly. Despite this, they are STILL at it, the problem now is the use of fake companies and subsidiaries cold calling from offshore and trying to hard sell loft insulation, solar panels, boilers, heat pumps, etc.

In this case, given that many think the free spins are not worth the bother, why did the casino make such a song and dance over this rather than just put, say, 10 free spins on the slot for players that raised the issue with CS just to keep them happy, and remaining a customer.

 

[Azzurri]

Thanks weatherman.

Weatherman has hit the nail on the head, and is obviously the only other member here that has correctly interpreted my original post.

If the cs agent had simply apologised and agreed how the email could be misinterpreted, then it wouldn't have become an issue, and I'd be happy to mark it down as a rare error despite the inconvenience.

The fact the agent made it very clear to me on each occasion, that they couldn't possibly see how I could misinterpret it, led me to believe their was an underlining agenda involving baiting me to visit the site and deposit.

I find it interesting that many members are of the opinion that mistakes happen and it should be accepted. I'm of the opinion that this kind of flippant attitude towards any mistake, is nothing more than a green light for any casino to now try such under handed tactics, as they now know that if anyone catches on, the majority won't agree that it was intentional, thus they are free to continue trying.

If the collective goal is to rid this industry of any and all questionable behaviour, then regardless of a casinos reputation, any mistake whether major or minor, should be jumped upon and clearly communicated that it's not ok. This should be even more strictly expected of by the more reputable sites because they should know better, and not be making these mistakes.

Regardless of what many of you may think, an email that states, try this new game, then states terms regarding 'these free spins', is not that hard for any customer to misinterpret. To then be brushed of with rudeness and humor, although perhaps entertaining to some, is unacceptable to me. I have voted with my dollar, and God help any of you that have any such issues with this group in the future, because I will be the first to jump on your case and tell you you're wrong, and the casino couldn't possibly be to blame because they're allowed to make mistakes. If mistakes ever surface that revolve around non payment, missing funds or confiscation, will the casino then be automatically in the right because mistakes happen?

 

[maphesto]

Thanks weatherman.

Weatherman has hit the nail on the head, and is obviously the only other member here that has correctly interpreted my original post.

You don't know that! You assume!

 

[Azzurri]

You don't know that! You assume!

My sincere apologise. I should have been clearer, and said members who have commented so far on this thread, which is what I meant. Sorry if my comments were misleading, or easily misinterpreted in anyway.

Wow, I would've thought that was much harder to do, but to my surprise it was extremely easy, and frankly, instinctive. Who would have thought owning and sincerely apologising for a minor mistake would be so easy. I'm amazed how effortlessly it just rolled off my tongue.

 

[maphesto]

I have received many bait and switch emails lately, none from Next or Luck. All freespins emails from them have resulted in free rounds in my account.

However, I read your opening post and the answer from that CS agent was not polite enough. I still see all those things as mistakes from Next. I remember when 32RED had a poker offer where they "forgot" to write that you had to have some raked hands to participate (I think it was that) and I don't think they are a bad outfit just because of that. They are still the best (one of the best at least) monday to thursday.

If you continue to play online you will see that many outfits will do some mistakes now and then and CS agents will answer you in a strange way sometimes. If you close your accounts at every place this happens you will have some troubles finding new reputable ones where you want to deposit.

I am btw on my way to close a casino account for the first time. Black Diamond have started with bait and switch tactics lately. No mistakes, pure bait and switch.

 

[Azzurri]

I definitely understand your point regarding mistakes, and I am happy to accept them and move on if they are handled appropriately. My main concern here is not the mistake that was made. It's the fact that the cs agent couldn't possibly see how I could misinterpret the email, thus making me feel like I must be some blind idiot. Whether the majority agree or not, does not deflect from the fact there is enough evidence there to suggest a customer could genuinely misinterpret the information. Even if I was the only person to do so, I cannot see any reason why a cs agent wouldn't see it's a genuine mistake by both parties and simply apologize.

A perfect example of how a top casino would handle this is, I recently misinterpreted an email promo from betat. I deposited and played, thinking I was doing what was required to get the cash back offer they advertised. When I contacted their cs to inquirie, they politely pointed out my error, and after checking the email again, I realized my mistake and apologised. I should add there was nothing in that email that could be regarded as misleading such as the one sent by next, I had simply not noted the requirements correctly.

Michael, the Betat agent, told me to hold whilst he could see what he could do. I told him he doesn't have to do anything, because it was my error, and I didn't deserve or earn the right to receive the bonus. Ultimately, Michael credited me with the cash back, even though I didn't deserve it, and did so because they felt responsible for my error in misinterpreting their email, and apologized for the inconvenience. Now their only mistake here was thinking they had any responsibility for the mistake I made. Even though I didn't feel comfortable taking the bonus, Michael wouldn't take no for an answer.

Now that is customer service of the highest level. Instead of making me feel like an idiot, Betat's agent not only took the time to explain things, but even though they did absolutely nothing wrong, they still apologized for the inconvenience and went above and beyond by crediting me a bonus I never deserved.

Considering next actually did make a mistake here, I don't think I was asking too much for some understanding and an apology for the inconvenience from the cs agent. Not all casinos will handle things as well as Betat, but it costs nothing to be understanding, emphatic and responsible when dealing with customers when those customers have done nothing but the same in return.

I can't foresee class acts like Betat or Guts making these kind of mistakes, but if they ever did, I can guarantee customer concerns won't be met with denial, rudeness or humor.