Dear Sir / Madam,

I am writing to you to raise an issue about: Casino

The issue that I have experienced was: The Casino unfairly closed my account when I requested to make a Withdrawal of winnings, with the excuse of linking my account o another account in another casino, Coral Casino and linking my account to a GAMSTOP Account. They decided then close the account and block all the winnings and only refunding deposit.

It is evident that if I have never won I could have spent thousands and Gala Casino would have never made any checks in the account. The account has at least 6 months and until I requested a withdrawal it was ok to keep feeding them with money. It shows how committed this company is with filling their pockets with money and only doing checks to accounts when convenient, even that the UK law is clear that for any deposit checks must be done to an account to verify a user. Not in this casino. I had my account closed in other big-name casinos and they all paid my winnings, as fair as taking money is paying when a gambler wins.

According to the UK Government Guidance and Advice for online gambling operators about using fair terms and practices states that casinos will be breaking the Consumer Rights if they "Deny customers access to their own money or place maximum limits on the amounts they can withdraw -including their deposits and winnings earned from their deposits"

They voided ￡734,70 from my account. The account had been previously verified and I was allowed to deposit and play since March 2020. Meaning they were allowing me to deposit and were taking my money until and if I ever would win. I would like to get my winnings It is only fair. How is the law or Gamstop helping or protecting anyone if they allow casinos to take the money and only verify users when it is convenient to them?

The consumer laws and Gamstop should be there to protect the gambler and not to be one more tool for Casinos to rip off costumers.

It occurred on: 16/09/2020

This meant that They have Kept ￡734,70 from my winnings.

And this not only affects me but the thousands they allow to make deposits and might never find out that if they try to withdraw their money they will get blocked and their winnings confiscated.

The consumer laws and Gamstop should be there to protect the gambler and not to be one more tool for Casinos to rip off costumers.

On the 21/09/1980 I contacted the Costumer Service to verify the status of my funds deposit to the account of ￡60,00 that is what they are willing to pay me, to request that since they are keeping my winnings I would like a full refund of my other Gala Group accounts, that because I have had bigger spendings they don't seem to have connected to my GAMSTOP registration conveniently and requested the total refund of ￡930,00 that I have spent gambling on the group while registered at GAMSTOP and have had no reply. Since they are not willing to be fair on paying my winnings I am demanding the refund of my funds since it is not fair that they would keep taking money from me until having to pay winnings. The accounts have the same details registered and it is not fair that they keep abusing me like this.

Dear Fabrizio,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I'm really sorry to hear about your issue. Before we would try to contact the casino regarding your case, I would like to ask you a few question. Were your personal details registered in case same as you registered at gamstop? It's an important detail as it may be the reason the casino allowed you to register. When did you verify your account in the casino?

Also please note that there is a very small chance that you will get back your full winnings. Yes, it's the casino's fault that their let you play there if you were registered at gamstop but their responsibility is to send you back your deposit. Looking forward your answer.

Best regards,

Nick

Dear Nick,

Thank you so much for you reply and help to sort out this issue.

I have registered on Gala Casinos, from reference from their other websites, Gala Bingo and Gala Spins. They allowed me to register and play on their casinos since December last year and it wasn't an issue until I won money and tried to withdrawal, they then told me that they had verified my account and linked it to an account in Coral Casino, that is from the same network, and that account was linked to my GAMSTOP registration, they then voided my winnings and paid me back the 60￡ deposit I had done to their website since registering. It is funny how they only linked this after my winnings and did not linked to my accounts in Gala Spins (where I deposited 140￡) and Gala Bingo (Where I deposited 736￡).

Therefore I believe that they need to act fairly not impose restriction only when and if I win.

The accounts where verified with the same documents registered on GAMSTOP in December last year. I have included in my documents the verification of the account at the time.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you need further clarification on the matter.

Kind Regards,

Fabrizio

Thank you very much Fabrizion for providing all the necessary information. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Matej who will be at your assistance. I wish you best of luck and hope to see your problem being resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.

Hello Fabrizio.

Could you please tell me when you self-excluded with GAMSTOP and for how long?

From casino responsible policy:

How does it work?

Personal details are logged and held by GAMSTOP, and each time there is an attempted login or registration using these details, the GAMSTOP database is checked. If there is a match the login/registration activity is blocked.

If someone were logged into their existing account when the GAMSTOP registration completed, then they would be timed out within 24 hours. From that point onwards they would not be able to log in.

So each time you log in to your account in this casino, there should be a check if you are not registered with GAMSTOP.

That logically leads to another quetion. Did you use the same personal information as in your GAMSTOP registration?

I just want to be sure.

Helo Matej,

Thank you very much for your help on my case.

I was registered on 17/04/2019, by an ex partner that had access to the information and my documents and registered it on my name. I never wished to register and after even sending proof to GAMSTOP that it wasn't me registering they wouldn't void the registration. It is a 5 years registration.

The documents verified by the casino are exactly as the one registered at Gamstop, but where only verified when I won.

Please let me know should you need further details,

Kind Regards

Fabrizio

Well the GAMSTOP shouldn't allow you to register. I believe that in your case you have no right for the winnings but for refund.

Please contact GAMSTOP here: [email protected] and report your case.

Meanwhile, we will ask casino why they didn't prevent you from playing.

I want to ask the casino representatives to explain to us what's happened in this case.

Dear Matej,

Thank you for your reply, I have contacted GAMSTOP on the 18th of September regarding the case and the transcript is as follow.

I would like to bring up the fact that they only made the connexion of the account to Gamstop after the winnings and refund me the 60￡ I have deposit on that casino since registering. But they did not connected, convinentely, the other accounts I had on the other networks casinos where deposits totals add to 930￡. So they need to be fair if they are not gonna consider the winnings they should refund the total deposit in all casinos not only on the one where it is convenient to them.

CHAT WITH GAMSTOP on 18/09/2020:

Live chat

Consumer Support

Chat started

Hi, can you help me to find out if a casino is allowed to keep my winnings when closing my account becauser i am registered on gamstop

Customer Service

We apologise for keeping you waiting. Our operators are busy at the moment, please leave us a message with your email address and we'll get back to you shortly.

Megan joined the chat

Megan

Hi, thank you for contacting GAMSTOP. My name is Megan, How can I help you?

Hi, can you help me to find out if a casino is allowed to keep my winnings when closing my account becauser i am registered on gamstop

Megan

You will need to contact the company directly and request that they withdraw your winnings

I did and they are refusing to pay

is that legal?

they kept my account open and were taking deposits until I won and then they decided to close my account and keep winnings

is that how this service that you offer protects gamblers?

Megan

No they should not have allowed you to register and deposit. You will need to go back to them and start a complaints process with them and request your deposits back.

I want to know about the winnings, are they allowed to keep it?

I want to know my rights and whats the law on this?

Megan

I cannot advise on this, as that is not something to do with GAMSTOP. You will need to contact the Gambling Commission regarding that.

so what is gamstop for?

shouldnt u be monitoring the casinos?

whats the use of this if not to protect gamblerrs?

who gives you funding?

the casinos?

Megan

The Gambling Commission monitor the casinos. We enter your details into a database and it is the casinos responsibility to be checking the database to see if you are registered. This is not GAMSTOPs fault. You will either need to start a complaints process with the casino or you can make a complaint against them with the gambling commission

what about if they are only checking when it is convenient?

Megan

Then that is the casinos fault. And you will need to make a complaint about them to the Gambling Commission.

so u do nothing? just keeping apart from keeping a list?

is this funded by the government?

Megan

You understand that self-exclusion using GAMSTOP is intended to be an aid to help you manage your use of online gambling websites. It is not intended to function as a replacement for willpower.

If you have issues with this company you will need to make a complaint to them or the Gambling Commission.

 so you are telling me that you are useless

Megan

Thank you for chatting with me today,

If you need any further support please don't hesitate to contact us: https://www.gamstop.co.uk/contact-us

You can visit our website on https://www.gamstop.co.uk/

If you need any additional support, please visit https://www.gamcare.org.uk/ - 0808 8020 133.

Megan left the chat

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Please submit your complaint also here https://www.ibas-uk.com/ (it's casino's official ADR)

At least it speed up the process in case that you will need to solve it with UKGC.

Meanwhile we will try to get some answers from the casino

We would like to ask the Gala Casino to reply to this complaint. We are extending the timer by 7 days. If the casino fails to respond in the set time frame, we will close the complaint as ‘unresolved’.

Fabrizio, please confirm that you submitted your complaint about Gala Casino to IBAS.

Thanks.

Dear Fabrizio.

Could you please confirm that you submitted your complaint about the casino to IBAS?

We will be waiting on IBAS decision.

Please Fabrizio, update the complaint when you receive message from them.

Thank you for an update. It's a long run, but at least you have now the casino attention and IBAS decision is binding for the casino. I am closing the complaint with the status "waiting for regulator decision."

When you receive the final answer from the casino/IBAS, please reopen the complaint, and we will close the complaint accordingly. (or we will contact you after two months if you will not update us about the situation)

Hello, IBAS has rulled in my favour and I have received the money from the casino.

It has taken one year but worth following it trough. Thank you guys from Casino Guru for your support too.

copy of their rulling:

Panel Analysis

6. Problem gambling is a serious concern for all those involved in the betting industry

– whether regulators, operators or an Alternative Dispute Resolution provider such

as IBAS. In the UK the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Code of

Practice (LCCP) sets out the requirements for operators. These include having

procedures to prevent those who have self-excluded from opening a new account.

7. UK-licensed operators now use GamStop as a means of combating problem

gambling but there will always be ways to bypass identity checks and one of the

requirements of GamStop is that those who use the service should not open new

accounts using different personal details.

8. The Panel have seen many cases which involve customers who have previously

self-excluded or registered with Gamstop but managed to open another account,

either by altering their own personal details or by opening an account in the name of

a third party.

9. Unfortunately it is the nature of problem gambling that those suffering from the

addiction will attempt to bypass the various controls they may have put in place and

seek to continue gambling. What no one can know is whether they are doing so

*************

because they believe they are now in control of their addiction – something which

most expert opinion would doubt is possible – or whether they are doing so in the

vain hope of being able to recoup losses.

10. The Panel have seen cases where customers are claiming winnings should

stand and, as in this case, others where they claim a refund of deposits on the

grounds that the operator should have detected links to a GamStop registration or

previous self-exclusion even though some of their personal details were changed or

the account was in someone else’s name.

11. Clearly, the Panel have to take a consistent view irrespective of which party will

benefit from an adjudication. It is therefore the Panel’s opinion that where an account

is opened or re-opened by someone who has self-excluded – whether with the

operator themselves or with GamStop – then all transactions on it are void.

12. In the Panel’s view it would undermine the point of self-exclusion if either party

could profit from an account being opened when a self-exclusion is in place. To do

so would encourage those with a problem to put themselves at risk and encourage

operators to have a laxer checking procedure as they would be able to keep losing

deposits.

13. As in all these cases the Panel make no judgment as to whether this was a

deliberate or accidental bypassing of a self-exclusion or indeed whether the

customer has a genuine gambling addiction or was trying to abuse the self-exclusion

system for monetary gain.

14. Ideally, of course, the link to the GamStop registration should have been spotted

before any deposits were made and any activity commenced. The Panel appreciate

that such detection is not always that easy but would also, express the view that the

purpose of the Gambling Commission’s licence requirements for the prevention of

gambling harm would be better served by having identification processes which cast

a wide net rather than those which seek to avoid ‘false positives.’ That may lead to a

small number of potential customers being inconvenienced but would do more to

prevent the vulnerable from bypassing self-exclusions.

15. The Panel would also note that when they raised this type of case with the

Commission, the Commission suggested that an operator who detects identity

issues only at withdrawal and not at account-opening could be failing the

Commission’s verification requirements.

Decision

16 The Panel adjudicate that the customer should be returned all the deposits he

made while being registered with GamStop

I am delighted Fabrizio that finally, we can close this complaint as solved after so long.

One more time, I am sorry that it took so long.