Online Casinos

[colincaster]

Funny that you should mention these guys.

I got a promotional e-mail just 6/10 (entitled "An Offer You Can't Refuse"), asking for a $150 deposit now, with a $200 bonus to be credited 6/16. So I did it, lost $125, and decided to wait until Monday for the bonus.

In the meantime I get a Father's Day promotional e-mail. I e-mail CS and ask if I'm eligible for both that one on top of the "Offer You Can't Refuse" bonus. Sort of unusual to have two promotions running at the same time. No response. Sent the e-mail Friday, didn't hear a thing.

Monday rolls around, and I never receive my "Offer You Can't Refuse" bonus. I e-mail them, and then finally (Tuesday) I get this:

"Our administration system has declined your bonus request. This maybe due to various reasons, possibly because of previous activity in
the gaming industry. This may also be due to some gaming practices that have been found to be abusive."

My three deposits at this place total $2150; my single withdrawals was for $2000. I've played nothing but 4-line video poker.

I respect their right to withhold bonus offers from me, but after they sucker me in to lose my money?? Sounds like their game is this: 1) make outstanding promotional offers (that their players "can't refuse"); 2) collect the deposits and winnings; 3) refuse to honor the bonuses after the fact. No wonder they can afford such great bonuses.

Great customer service? NO
In it for the long haul? NO
Should pay me my bonus? YES

I will update the board on any progress with the carnies.

Sorry -- this thread should have stayed on the Complaints page.

CC

 

[jpm]

Yeah, that's not right at all CC. They either need to give you that bonus or refund your lost money trying to claim the bonus. I'm actually rather surprised at that behavior.

Usually with them they simply won't send you the bonus if you are not eligible. Could it perhaps have come from an affiliate? I got one of those this weekend from an affiliate spammer scumbag and forwarded it to the casino to have them removed from the affiliate program.

 

[hip_hop]

I think that the licensing jurisdictions and the software providers have an opportunity to deal with this issue. These places usually will tax a small percentage of gross and pocket the money. If an additional 1% or so was collected and held in trust for the casino then these funds would be available should the casino go under. The total amount held would be a fraction of total liabilities (owing deposits). If a casino decides to close and does pay off all outstanding accounts then they are entitled to their money back. This could solve a major percentage of these problems. If I knew of a jurisdiction that I could really trust I would go there and I think that most people would gravitate there. Casino On Net, and a few others, have the right idea when it comes to honesty and they are going to continue to dominate.

Hip Hop

 

[glodge]

CC,

jpm could be onto the right track here. Without actually seeing the full headers of this promo e-mail you received, it sound like an unscrupulous affiliate, has sent this one, not the casino.

Unfortunately as in most Industries there are those who will publish or send anything to anyone if there is a chance of making a buck!

If you still have that promo e-mail, get the full headers & paste this into the original promo you got & forward this to the casino.

I'm sure the'll sort this mess out.

 

[jpm]

I like that idea hip hop, the providers could make it a condition of their licensees that they contribute to an anti-fraud fund a portion of their gross proceeds each week or month and place it in an interest bearing account. Then say after a year, if they are still in business and haven't stiffed anyone, they can refund to them with interest their first 6 months worth of deposits. Then every 6 months after that, the same thing happens. That way, they do get back some of their money, but there's always a minimum of a 6 month buffer (and up to 11 months) of money in the bank account should they decide to pull an Atlantic Interbet type disappearing act and leave their players high & dry and still waiting for their money.

See how that plays out Bryan.

 

[glodge]

jpm,

Call me stupid whats the go with Atlantic interbet? I know they did a midnight flit, but there site is still operational and there game software is still able to be downloaded?

 

[colincaster]

No, I don't think that's it. The e-mail came from:

"Promotion (Carnival Casino)" bounce@mail2.carnivalcasino.com

and the casino definitely does not cite this as the reason they won't honor the bonus. I'd be happy to forward the promotional e-mail to anyone who is more expert than I in determining the provenance of e-mails.

Incidentally, I replied to them this morning and told them that I respected their right not to offer me bonuses, but that I expected them to honor the one that enticed me to deposit and lose money. Their response:

"We apologize but at this point we are unable to assist you further."

It doesn't sound like they're at all inclined to sort this mess out.

jpm, to clarify: the T&C of the bonus specified 25X playthrough of deposit + bonus. I had not *completed* all of this when they told me they were reneging on the bonus, but I had lost almost all of my deposit while on my *way* towards meeting this requirement.

I'll keep the board posted on any developments regarding this deceptive business practice.

CC

 

[jpm]

glodge, they closed up shop without warning back in october or november of last year. It was shortly after one of the players hit their progressive game 'The Vault' which is like the intercasino break the bank game. Pick the right combination (6 out of 8 choices as I recall) and it opens the vault and you get the $$. It was about $25k when he opened it and last time I talked to him, he'd only received a couple of thousand from them and that was before they closed. Nothing since then. I think they never expected anyone to hit that one, and when it happened it was the last financial straw.

A bunch of other people I know are still owed money from them as well. They first told everyone that all cashins were processed and their account balances returned as of November 30th, that was the first tall tale. They were ignoring all emails to support and calls to their toll free support line voicemail. Then they told everyone that their processor had processed all remaining payouts in december or january. That was until one of the people waiting for payment called the processor and learned that they'd cut off relations with AIB months earlier. A couple of months ago they said that if the players who were still waiting for money would send them their bank details, and a bunch of other personal information, that they would then wire the money to them (despite saying the money had already been sent last year) but they wouldn't send checks, it had to be by wire. A few did send their info and a few got payed most of what they were owed, but many more are still waiting.

Yes, the website is still up, and the s/w still downloads, but that's no indication of the casino being up. That could have been a prepayed web farm site with ftp server that just hasn't run out of payment yet. If you try to connect with the s/w it won't connect. Supposedly they moved to Costa Rica and were having a grand reopening back in February (https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/return-of-atlantic-interbet.40/?t=40), but that hasn't happened. The really sad part is that the owners & management were invisible to the customers, and nowhere to be found. The only one really trying to get the players their money back was one of their pits (who also got stiffed on some pay that was due her) and was doing so out of the goodness of her heart (which fits her pit name quite well ).

 

[jpm]

Thanks for the clarification CC. I know that for those big bonuses (with the big wagering requirements) you get the bonus whether you've started wagering or not (I usually wait till I get it to start). Obviously something else has happened to sour them on you, but it doesn't sound like you've done anything out of the ordinary in the past.

In the email you received, hover your mouse over any/all of the links included in it and see if any of them are directing you to a site other than theirs, or if they contain something at the end of the URL that is along the lines of /aff=2830982 or /affid=94802384 (those are just random numbers I put in) or something similar. The aff indicates an affiliate reference. It its from the casino itself, the URLs in the links should be relatively clean, just pointing you to their website followed by /promo.html or something similar.

 

[glodge]

Thanks for the in depth & dedicated reply jpm, much appreciated

 

[colincaster]

Thanks for the affiliate-sniffing tip, jpm. The e-mail is clean. Everything links directly to their site with no extraneous characters that would credit an affiliate.

I have won about 2K at clubdice, their sister casino, which I suspect is the source of carnival's problems with me. That's fine. If they're scared I might win, or if they think I take too much advantage of promos, or even if they don't like my name, I respect their right to withhold offers from me or even to do business with me.

But it's deceptive for them to entice deposits and action, and *then* not come through with the carrot. I strongly advice people to steer clear until it's clear that they will play fair.

CC

 

[jpm]

No prob. BTW, what the heck is VB??

 

[glodge]

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

It's an Aussie Icon, my friend!

 

[alpy]

Very long waits seem to be the norm :-( I played at both GB and BW 2 months ago, won a few hundred at BW and hit the MegaJacks Royal at GB. I am a customer since the RTG days at both places.

On April 13 I requested a cashout of 300 at BW and 1800 at GB. BW paid on May 28, GB support told me in an email yesterday there was not yet a fixed date for my redemption but "as soon as possible"

I am confident they will pay, but the long wait disturbs me nevertheless - especially since the big payout of a MegaJacks Royal Flush should come out of a separate account somewhere at Playtech's, I feel like they took MY jackpot to pay other winners.

(Just for comparison: Casino Tropez paid 150 requested on May 6 on May 12)

 

[jpm]

I agree alpy, and WTG! on that megajacks win! I think they are shifting around monies to pay old debts. I too have been there since the old RTG days (lets just say my account # has many leading 0's in it), and I'm frankly worried about them. The cashin I'm waiting for is not much more than yours was (at BW) and yours took 45 days!! That is simply ridiculous. And as with you, they are providing me with no firm information as to when I'll get it.

I wouldn't be as confident as you are though. If I were in your shoes, I'd tell GB to pay me in installments if waiting for the entire bankroll is going to be a problem. At least that way you'll get some of it if the worst happens before they can pay the whole thing.

 

[hhcfreebie]

My second post here. This is such an interesting topic and I just can't resist the urge to post my own opinion.
If the software company just sell the product to the casino "as is" and no connection between each other whatsoever, then software company as a "vendor" should not be blamed when the players got screwed.
This is not the case in online gambling.
As far as I know, most casinos have to pay a percentage of their income to the software company which make the software company a "partner" of the casino. When the casinos steal player's money, they share their dirty money with their software partner. How can the software company claims to be innocent while getting millions of ill-earned money?
We don't need a rocket scientist to figure out this for us. RTG (oops) is guilty as charged.

 

[colincaster]

Update:

I fussed at them a little bit and they finally honored the promotion. They didn't notify me (more evidence of their subpar customer service, in my view), so I don't know what changed their minds. I hope they simply decided they were being unfair, and have resolved to "sin no more." Or maybe they only tend to the squeaky wheels. I assume I'm still barred from their promotions. Anyway, I found the bonus in my account on their own, played it, lost it, and am moving on.

FWIW, although I'm definitely influenced to make casino deposits by good promotions, I'm no chiseler. I always put my deposits at risk when I play. So while I believe casinocarnival (and by extension clubdice, which I assume feels the same way about me) is quick on the trigger, and may have taken a shot at me, I no longer have any grounds for complaint. And that's *much* better than the alternative.

Good luck to everyone,

CC



FWIW, this is the first

 

[jpm]

Glad to hear they came thru CC. I was kinda surprised that they were trying to stiff you. Didn't seem like that was their way of doing business from my experiences there. Don't be surprised though if you do get promos from club dice still even if you are not welcome for promos at carnival. I haven't seen the playtechs do that yet (at least not to me!).

 

[alpy]

GB paid out my 1800$ a few hours ago ! I am happy that the waiting is over - I expected to be paid but it's better to be sure than confident.

Now I hope for everyone that their wait will be over soon too.

 

[jpm]

That's great! Glad to hear it. WTG on that win too!

 

[jpm]

Bryan, did you get any info out of them about my way too long pending withdrawl? Thanks

 

[dave_r]

Jetset and Spearmaster --

Thanks a lot for all your help. My experiences with Winward casino, in the past, have been less than stellar. Twice they kept me waiting two weeks too long for my cashin, and once told me I didn't meet wagering requirements of a promo. I thought I had been stiffed out of $506, but after escalating my complaint to management, they did pay, and gave me an apology. Perhaps they were having cash flow problems at the time. (I think they were running Unified Gaming software).

Anyways, I will give them a try for small amounts of money as soon as they go live (from my friends PDA) and I will report back as to my experiences with the new Phantom Fiber software.

If all goes well, my intention is to do the MAJORITY of my gaming from my PDA. As I said I take a train or bus to work, which takes at least an hour each way. In my opinion there's no better time to gamble, and as soon as more casinos come online, I'm sure there will be plenty of bonus offers.

Spearmaster -- What is GPRS?

I was about to buy the Toshiba Pocket PC phone, when I found out it had no connection for an external keyboard. This is ridiculous. I have to use the stylus to click every single letter on the screen. The whole process is a pain in my ass. I went on to the Casinomeister message boards from a working model at the Sprint store, and it took me nearly 25 minutes. Sheeeeesh.

I will be emailing Winward for the PDA technical specs, and will post them here soon.

 

[dave_r]

Babysister said:

I even wrote to Bryan informing him of the mistake and he removed it. [endquote]

If this is true, then I apologize for doubting you. Accidents do happen -- I have double posted a number of times at WOL without knowing it.

The bottom line is that I was not making an accusations against you, but was simply skeptical.
Now that you have cleared this up with me, I am once again assuming you are a legitimate player.

I hope, in the future, you'll state your winnings at casinos other than Starluck, and at casinos that use software from someone other than iGlobalMedia.

 

[jpm]

Hey Bryan,

Whoever you slapped around for me did the trick. I just got my cashin from May 25th a few minutes ago. Thanks for giving them a goose for me!

John

 

[jetset]

Another brief Montreal report relevant to this discussion.

Attended the eCOGRA briefings last evening which were very interesting. There are some impressive player protection systems being incorporated within the EGAPs (Generally Accepted Procedures and Principles which seem likely to make those casinos carrying this seal after passing stringent evaluations a safer bet than the norm.

More when I have a chance to write up my notes (Ive got a long flight home first!)