It has been found by Vernons that many players also appreciate being called after initially registering. It gives some the chance to ask any immediate questions and hopefully we can be of help should it be needed with immediate queries or questions. It is not just a sales call.
I don't think players should be called at all by a casino once they've registered for the somewhat spurious reasons given above.
Since providing a phone number is mandatory, and since you have to use a real number should the need for 'genuine' contact between the casino and the player ever be necessary in the future, I think it's a bit of a cheap stunt for them to then use that information to then make an unsolicited phone call.
When it comes to verifying the account, the casino could just as easily send a letter via snail mail with a unique 'authenticate' code on it, which you then type back into the casino on the account page. (Bet365 do this and TBH I think it's a pretty good system.)
On a wider note I feel ALL casinos should offer a crystal clear 'unsolicited phone calls' opt out policy when signing up.
FWIW (mostly as a suggestion to any reps reading this) I consider gaming to be an inherently private, adult activity and will not frequent casinos that make so much as one phone call without warning, whether it's for "verification" or sales.
Sometimes, lets face it, you don't need your kids or wife or mother-in-law or boss or whomever overhearing certain things. Maybe I'm in the minority, I don't know.
I also feel that it's a bogus verification step as well. If someone's signing up with my card, what is there to be verified by a phone call to whatever number was listed as the contact phone? Is someone really going to list my right phone number while committing fraud? Doubt it, besides, w/so many people using cell phones and giving up their land lines, a phone number doesn't verify anything at all. So what are they really verifying? The only thing that can truly be verified would be if the person gaming is a male or female, and even that's iffy.
It has been shown here that many players do NOT appreciate being called initially after registering, or indeed at any time thereafter.
The survey may well be biased because of the way views are sampled, perhaps from those players who have just been called, and who might say what they think you want to hear, rather than what they think.
Another way to gauge views might be to run a poll here, asking whether players in general appreciate an initial phonecall after registering, are neutral on the matter, or who really do NOT want to be phoned for any reason.
As well as the marketing aspect, there is also the privacy one. Unless the player lives alone, there is the risk that another member of the household will answer, and even if the casino doesn't say who they are, or why they have called, it can still cause problems.
Imagine getting back from work, only to find the wife (or husband) in a surly mood, and who ambushes you with the question "who was that woman/man that called you and then promptly hung up when I answered?". For a start, you could only guess, and would not want to say "don't worry dear, probably only one of those casinos I play secretly behind your back".
It is therefore important that where it matters, players can be 100% certain that they won't be called by a casino. The ONLY way to be this certain is to not give them your number, but if the form insists the field has a value, this can only be achieved by giving a number that is either fake, or not the one for a home or work phone.
Phone verification works on the assumption that only the player will know what they last deposited, played, or withdrew. It therefore assumes that the initial registration is genuine, so does not protect against a stolen ID having been used from the outset. It is used by some operators as an additional step, and they cannot know whether the phone number connects to the address registered, or the the home of a fraudster using that identity. All it allows them to do is speak to the person and verify that they are the one who played.
