Skyvegas Verification .. Unnecessarily difficult?

[chiya]

Not sure if the customer support is deliberately making this more difficult than it needs to be but long story short .. Even though SkyVegas accepts customers from Finland, most of us clearly won't be able to play there because of their stupid verification process. You MUST have either a Passport or a Drivers license. An ID card is not accepted as a valid proof of identity. How the heck does this make any sense? I tried to ask this '' Adam '' from customer support multiple times that WHY an ID card is not accepted but drivers license is, but all he could ever give me is basically '' That's just how it is '', not actually explaining why.

I'm sure it varies by country but in Finland a drivers license is in fact, not, a valid proof of identity. Also not many in Finland actually will have a passport, because a Finnish ID card acts as a passport when traveling within the Europe.. The information that one can obtain from an ID card surely exceeds what information they could get from a drivers license yet, drivers license is accepted but ID card isn't. WTF?!

Public transportation is great in Finland so I don't have a car and never will. I don't see myself traveling outside of Europe so I don't have a passport. So I can't play at SkyVegas because ID card isn't a valid proof of identity.

Needless to say I'm pretty weirded out and straight out frustrated/angry right now. I really wanted to play there as well; Good selection of games etc. Is it normal for UK casinos to be this adamant and difficult about the verification process?

PS. I searched the forum for SkyVegas, and saw something that said they are accredited. Yet, when I clicked on their rep's name, I got a 404 page saying something went wrong. So .. Are they still credited? If so, what happened to their rep?

Edit: I'd like to note that SkyVegas is located in the UK, and the ID card in question is an official proof of identity that is accepted in any country that belongs to the European Union. As such, SkyVegas should be obliged to accept it yet they refuse to do so. What am I supposed to do?

 

[vinylweatherman]

It would be worth making a complaint. If they are accredited, PAB.

National ID card is what they SHOULD be accepting. Driving license is a second rate "bodge" for countries like the UK that don't have a national ID card. Given that it even counts as a passport within the EU, then technically it's a passport as well as a national ID card.

It could be seen as an insult to the government in Finland that they can't operate a secure national ID card system to the standard of a driving license. So long as it's "government issued ID" it should conform to the definitions in the KYC terms.

It could, of course, be an issue of language, them not having a translator to verify the information on the ID card, so they are saying they need something they DO understand, which for a UK based company would be driving license and passport since we don't have ID cards.

Oddly enough, UK players often find that they have problems because we don't have ID cards, yet here you are having the same problems because you DO have ID cards in Finland, hence have no need to fudge your way through life with proxy documentation as we Brits often have to.

Next, they will be saying that they can't accept passports because they are biometric, and having a chip means there is less information written in plain text on the page.

 

[chiya]

I don't know if they're accredited though, I just searched for it within the forum and found it's Accredited section, but since it's rep seems nonexistent maybe they're not accredited anymore?

Note that this isn't even about them not being able to read my card or anything, because I've not sent them anything. Before you can even PLAY at SkyVegas you must verify yourself, and the verification submit feature in the site only accepts passports being submitted, but I cannot fill the form because while ID card has a number in the similar formatting as they're requesting it, it's not identical so I can't insert it there. So then I went to talk with the live chat and rest you know.

Also it's worth noting that they would also accept birth certificate, but I didn't even feel like arguing about it with the rep who was clueless; There's no such thing as birth certificate in Finland, you literally can NOT obtain one. You can request an official document that displays your date of birth, among other information (you choose what to display), but it's not a birth certificate.

I don't really know how to proceed so that's why I'm writing here. If they truly are accredited - then yes, I can make a PAB, but if not I can't since one free shot rule .. If that fails not sure where to approach .. It's literally absurd to assume that everyone has a passport with them .. And truly, how can drivers license be acceptable but ID card not -.-

 

[vinylweatherman]

I don't know if they're accredited though, I just searched for it within the forum and found it's Accredited section, but since it's rep seems nonexistent maybe they're not accredited anymore?

Note that this isn't even about them not being able to read my card or anything, because I've not sent them anything. Before you can even PLAY at SkyVegas you must verify yourself, and the verification submit feature in the site only accepts passports being submitted, but I cannot fill the form because while ID card has a number in the similar formatting as they're requesting it, it's not identical so I can't insert it there. So then I went to talk with the live chat and rest you know.

Also it's worth noting that they would also accept birth certificate, but I didn't even feel like arguing about it with the rep who was clueless; There's no such thing as birth certificate in Finland, you literally can NOT obtain one. You can request an official document that displays your date of birth, among other information (you choose what to display), but it's not a birth certificate.

I don't really know how to proceed so that's why I'm writing here. If they truly are accredited - then yes, I can make a PAB, but if not I can't since one free shot rule .. If that fails not sure where to approach .. It's literally absurd to assume that everyone has a passport with them .. And truly, how can drivers license be acceptable but ID card not -.-

This at least means no player gets caught out when they have money sitting in their account.

This is even more bizarre that they will accept a Birth certificate, yet not a national ID card issued by government. They are acting as though the UK system is the one used throughout the world, which is similar to the issue UK players have faced when casinos insist that the system that is in place where they are licensed is how the whole world is run.

Naturally, since the UK doesn't have ID cards, they act as though no other country has, and like the UK, they will only accept a driving license, passport, and rather oddly, a birth certificate. What you describe is more or less what we would call a "birth certificate" here in the UK. It shows date and place of birth, and a "full" one will show the names of the parents that begat you.

I suppose they also think the UK electronic databases can verify players throughout the rest of the EU too

It seems that they accept players from Finland, but few players there will be able to get past their rigid UK system based verification procedure. Many other EU citizens will also have seen the need for a passport diminished due to the freedom of movement that only needs the ID card, but it rather looks like this system is beginning to fall apart, so maybe getting a passport might be wise.

We have always needed our passports because the UK never signed up for this freedom of movement system.

 

[chiya]

The problem is that the document in question isn't free, and having looked it at right now it doesn't seem like I'd be able to order one anyway. It'll cost me yes, but they demand to know the purpose of what the document is for, and from the given choices there's nothing that is even remotely close to the actual purpose. Not sure if whatever I choose there is relevant, but on top of the fact that SkyVegas might not even accept this document, it seems like a dumb idea to test my luck with so many uncertainties.

I checked the Accredited section, and I couldn't find SkyVegas there. Yet, when I search within the forum for SkyVegas I get to this page, which claims it's accredited. Upon closed inspection I found several threads that dealt with SkyVegas complaints as well as a thread that stated they don't deal with external player complaints (PAB's) so even if I had a free shot it wouldn't have helped here.

So, what now? Sure I could just forget the casino and move on, but I really do want to play there though .. I did send a complaint through the Alderney Gambling Control Commission but honestly I'm not expecting much. I wish I could contact SkyVegas directly .. Their manager or something, instead of dealing with the idiotic live chat support, but they have zero emails on their site. The only way to contact them by email is to fill out a form but that definitely does not go to the manager ..

 

[vinylweatherman]

The problem is that the document in question isn't free, and having looked it at right now it doesn't seem like I'd be able to order one anyway. It'll cost me yes, but they demand to know the purpose of what the document is for, and from the given choices there's nothing that is even remotely close to the actual purpose. Not sure if whatever I choose there is relevant, but on top of the fact that SkyVegas might not even accept this document, it seems like a dumb idea to test my luck with so many uncertainties.

I checked the Accredited section, and I couldn't find SkyVegas there. Yet, when I search within the forum for SkyVegas I get to this page, which claims it's accredited. Upon closed inspection I found several threads that dealt with SkyVegas complaints as well as a thread that stated they don't deal with external player complaints (PAB's) so even if I had a free shot it wouldn't have helped here.

So, what now? Sure I could just forget the casino and move on, but I really do want to play there though .. I did send a complaint through the Alderney Gambling Control Commission but honestly I'm not expecting much. I wish I could contact SkyVegas directly .. Their manager or something, instead of dealing with the idiotic live chat support, but they have zero emails on their site. The only way to contact them by email is to fill out a form but that definitely does not go to the manager ..

They seem highly geared towards the UK market, and a birth certificate on it's own (including the equivalent Finnish document) may still not be enough if you get it and they will come back and ask for something else with a photo, and you would then be back where you started.

If they refuse to deal with external complaints (PAB), their accreditation may have lapsed, even if it doesn't mean they are any worse than before.

The accredited section is also about to get a revamp.

Despite that page, they no longer appear on the full accredited list, so at some stage they must have been removed. You must have found an orphaned page.

 

[Harry_BKK]

No longer accredited, and a PAB won't help either, i'm afraid:

SkyVegas etc won't discuss player issues

With KYC you really only have 2 choices:

- follow the requests from the casino and send what they want
- don't play there and register somewhere else where your current docs are sufficient for the KYC process.

Not much else you can do, every casino can ask for certain docs to suffice their KYC standards and can refuse any player who fails to supply those. It is in their T&C's.

 

[vinylweatherman]

No longer accredited, and a PAB won't help either, i'm afraid:

SkyVegas etc won't discuss player issues

With KYC you really only have 2 choices:

- follow the requests from the casino and send what they want
- don't play there and register somewhere else where your current docs are sufficient for the KYC process.

Not much else you can do, every casino can ask for certain docs to suffice their KYC standards and can refuse any player who fails to supply those. It is in their T&C's.

However, SkyVegas is very useful for Brits who don't drive nor travel, as they are one of the few to accept a birth certificate. I did see a post once about a casino saying they didn't accept PASSPORTS, only driving licence, which is just as strange.

It looks like few Finns are going to be able to pass Sky verification unless they are so keen that they go out of their way to get these other documents. Maybe when applying for the Finnish equivalent of the birth certificate, put as the reason "EU based payment processor refuses to accept Finnish ID card for KYC purposes, but will accept this document". No mention of "gambling" or "casino" needed

 

[chiya]

It looks like few Finns are going to be able to pass Sky verification unless they are so keen that they go out of their way to get these other documents. Maybe when applying for the Finnish equivalent of the birth certificate, put as the reason "EU based payment processor refuses to accept Finnish ID card for KYC purposes, but will accept this document". No mention of "gambling" or "casino" needed

Problem is, there's no custom field for when mentioning a reason, there's like ten different pre-set reasons and you'll choose from those and none are even remotely close. I'd try my luck with the document if I knew for sure SkyVegas would accept but since there's no guarantee .. Passport is not an option because it's far more expensive and I'm not paying 80€+ just to play at Sky .. the said document is 8€ I believe, 5€ for postage but I think I can go and pick it up myself.

Tbh this is starting to seem like too much trouble just to play at one casino. The biggest reason why I want to play there is that 1) They have bonuses and 2) They have a lot of IGT games. I haven't seen any other site with such vast selection of IGT games. I don't really play at Videoslots but I'd imagine they also have a lot of IGT games, but Videoslots never has any bonuses and I almost always play exclusively with them.

Anyway as said I did file a complaint at the Alderney thing with which they have a license at and I hope they'll reply something .. It's still just mind-boggling when I think about the fact that they'd accept a drivers license but not an official proof of identity that is valid within the EU and whether they like it or not, UK is part of EU.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Problem is, there's no custom field for when mentioning a reason, there's like ten different pre-set reasons and you'll choose from those and none are even remotely close. I'd try my luck with the document if I knew for sure SkyVegas would accept but since there's no guarantee .. Passport is not an option because it's far more expensive and I'm not paying 80€+ just to play at Sky .. the said document is 8€ I believe, 5€ for postage but I think I can go and pick it up myself.

Tbh this is starting to seem like too much trouble just to play at one casino. The biggest reason why I want to play there is that 1) They have bonuses and 2) They have a lot of IGT games. I haven't seen any other site with such vast selection of IGT games. I don't really play at Videoslots but I'd imagine they also have a lot of IGT games, but Videoslots never has any bonuses and I almost always play exclusively with them.

Anyway as said I did file a complaint at the Alderney thing with which they have a license at and I hope they'll reply something .. It's still just mind-boggling when I think about the fact that they'd accept a drivers license but not an official proof of identity that is valid within the EU and whether they like it or not, UK is part of EU.

Well, for the next couple of months at least

A document costing a mere €8 sounds similar to the UK Birth certificate, and it's not too hard to get one for someone else, which is why it isn't seen as very reliable for KYC purposes.

If they have 10 pre set reasons, does this mean that there are strict laws surrounding the use of this document, or just that they thought of 10 that they believed would cover all possible reasons people might have. One way around it would be to select the most plausible reason, something that you might want the document for in the future, and one that fits with your circumstances, even though it's not the FIRST reason you have found it necessary to get the document.

Funnily enough, UK players have a similar problem when we are told "just get a passport" because we have no ID card. When applying for a passport, you are also asked what you want it for, and the right answer is foreign travel outside of the EU, not that you need to scan it and email it to Curacao in order to get your money out of a casino based there, which would sound alarm bells in the passport office since we are told NOT to let anyone other than an authorised authority to "take a copy" of our passport, although we can "show" it to pretty much anybody if they have any doubts as to who we are.

Fortunately, in 2006 I won a trip to Berlin to see the world cup final, so I was able to truthfully say that I needed the passport to travel abroad (the UK not being part of the "borderless" zone of the EU). I also needed it later that year for a weekend in Vegas (another freebie from a casino).

I haven't needed it since, and it's due for renewal, so I had better get on and do it in case I win another trip. At least with renewal, I shouldn't have to answer "why do you need a passport". I drive, so I use the photo licence for KYC rather than the passport, but I keep it as backup just in case I encounter a casino just as anal about KYC as SkyVegas.

As for that page you found, the Webcast from last Christmas has them on the "naughty list", having screwed over their affiliate partners with a retrospective change to terms, so this would probably explain why that page is now orphaned, and they don't show on the current accredited list.

Bonuses are slowly dying out anyway, and many casinos now offer lower percentages, so it will be hard to find an alternative that offers high bonuses and the wide selection of games. You will also find that casinos offering high bonuses will have longer lists of excluded games, including slots, and this presents a trap for the unwary who feels that sticking to slots is enough to steer clear of breaking the bonus terms.

 

[chiya]

I know this thread is ancient, but I recently came to think about SkyVegas and past verification issues with them since they send me occasional promotional emails .. Funny that, when I can't even play there. So I wrote to their support to see if anything's changed since then, sent some documents and bam .. verified. Now I'm just inclined to believe the live chat I talked to had no idea what they're talking about - Which shouldn't be that surprising to be honest, as that is the case with most LC's in any casinos out there. The support I talked to in the emails was very nice and helpful, and they even added my old already-expired welcome no-deposit and deposit bonuses back to my account. Hell, I even managed to WD 250€ with their 10€ ND-bonus, and it took just a day to arrive into my bank account.

It is unfortunate that the live chat was as unhelpful and rude as it was back then, and it's unfortunate it never occured to me that maybe I should just contact them directly instead of dealing with the live chat. I would've been definitely a regular depositor here for the past year.. But hey better late than never? Must say I'm quite pleased how past few days went in regards to verification and the bonus etc.

This thread can now be marked as solved or what have you.

 

[DreamRJ]

I know this thread is ancient, but I recently came to think about SkyVegas and past verification issues with them since they send me occasional promotional emails .. Funny that, when I can't even play there. So I wrote to their support to see if anything's changed since then, sent some documents and bam .. verified. Now I'm just inclined to believe the live chat I talked to had no idea what they're talking about - Which shouldn't be that surprising to be honest, as that is the case with most LC's in any casinos out there. The support I talked to in the emails was very nice and helpful, and they even added my old already-expired welcome no-deposit and deposit bonuses back to my account. Hell, I even managed to WD 250€ with their 10€ ND-bonus, and it took just a day to arrive into my bank account.

It is unfortunate that the live chat was as unhelpful and rude as it was back then, and it's unfortunate it never occured to me that maybe I should just contact them directly instead of dealing with the live chat. I would've been definitely a regular depositor here for the past year.. But hey better late than never? Must say I'm quite pleased how past few days went in regards to verification and the bonus etc.

This thread can now be marked as solved or what have you.

My 2 cents on skyvegas are good ones. SkyVegas used to be my goto casino. It was my main casino i played at. And being in the UK, i never had to do ID with them, I deposited thousands and thousands and even withdrew thousands and thousands from them over the years i played with them. I stopped and self excluded a few years ago. Not explaining why, but 1 reason was the live chat and bonuses or lack of should i say. But i agree with you that the live chat is really poor, and it should be better for such a big brand name casino.

I always rang them up because the phone support was 100 times better than the live chat was. Even though it was the same people that answer both lol.

But yeah withdraws was super duper fast to ewallets and bank accounts too. Very similar to videoslots how fast they are there too.

So if you ever wanna speak to support, i would recommend u ring them up. Not sure if they have a phone number for finish customers though. But just a tip

 

[Casinomeister]

Yeah, I wish you had brought this to my attention last May. This seems to be a big problem with these massively big casinos (Skybet, BetFred, Bet365, etc.) that are so large that their casino management has just gone down the tubes. They lost their accreditation when they became aloof and decided that they didn't want to bother with forum complaints anymore. It's easier to fob you off with their own support.

 

[Casinomeister]

Just to add - this may have got lost in the shuffle but Sky Vegas was in the rogue pit on the old site being a part of Affiliate Hub.

Affiliate Hub is a rogue affiliate program - they enforced predatory terms retroactively on their marketing partners in October 2015.

I'll be putting up an updated review on this here new site to keep everyone in formed since most affiliates have not a clue that they are being screwed over.