Disputing Casino Charges – Is It Possible & How To Do It?

Complaints and disputes: Are there any differences?

Sure, they might seem quite similar, but a complaint is not the same as a dispute. Let’s clear things out! A complaint happens when a player expresses their disagreement or disappointment regarding one or more of an online casino’s services. It is usually communicated formally via a complaint form or email, to present the situation to someone in a higher position and receive an appropriate solution.

On the other hand, disputes are a bit more complex and necessitate the intervention of a third-party. In this case, an alternative dispute resolution party. This commonly happens when the player and the casino cannot agree on an optimal solution to the problem. Therefore, another organisation must come forward and act as a mediator between the two.

3.6 How to submit a PAB: DO’s and DON’Ts

DO these things to improve your chances of a successful resolution to your PAB:

• DO: Be calm, present your case clearly and concisely.
• DO: Be honest: if you misrepresent your case it will be discarded and you will be permanently banned from Casinomeister.See also Members who make false complaints.
• DO: Present all the requested information in a clean, easy to read format (paragraphs, some white-space, etc).
  • One big, fat block of unformatted text is hard to read and a PITA.No one likes slogging through ugly blocks of unreadable text, including us.
  • Excessive whitespace — such as sometimes occurs in cut-and-pasted emails — is almost as bad.Take a minute and format emails, if it’s necessary to include them at all, so that your PAB form isn’t bloated with whitespace and scrolls on for 15 pages.
  • The bottom line is this: decent formatting will significantly improve the chances of your submission text being read, re-read and respected.
• DO: Pay particular attention to the “What do you want done?” section of the PAB form:
  • Be clear and specific about what you want from the PAB process, that is, what you feel would be a successful resolution.
  • If you are saying that the casino owes you money, clearly specify how much is owed. (what amount?)Again, if you don’t we’ll have to go back to you and ask “How much?” before we can proceed.Do yourself a favour: specify the amount you expect from them up front and be done with it!

DON’T do these things, they’ll damage or cripple your chances of a successful resolution:

• DON’T: Rant about, abuse or insult the casino people. You’re asking for their help too, be polite.
• DON’T: Tell lies: nobody likes to be conned. If we catch you, we’ll ban you for life.
• DON’T: Hide information in the hopes that it won’t get noticed. Again, this will seriously increase the chances that we’ll discard your PAB and ban you from the site.
• DON’T: Be lazy and submit a PAB form that says “go look at this forum thread for info on my complaint”.If you can’t be bothered to fill out the form why should we trouble ourselves to fill it out for you?Fill out the PAB form in full as requested.
• DON’T: Make unreasonable demands: asking for the moon will only annoy everyone involved and may get your PAB tossed for being unresolveable.
• DON’T: Demand compensation for having been inconvenienced, it will only prompt the casino to disregard your complaint.
• DON’T: Increase your demands as the PAB process progresses: doing so can scuttle an otherwise successful PAB negotiation.
• DON’T: Continue to play your balance when your PAB is about that balance, you will almost certainly invalidate your PAB and it will have to be discarded.

NOTE: using email addresses from Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail is not a good idea since these services routinely discard casino-related email as spam. If you use one of these services as your ‘contact email address’ on your PAB form your PAB will not be accepted until you correct this error. There are multiple warnings posted about this so there is no excuse for doing it.

To repeat: do not give us a Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail email address as your ‘contact email’ address. If you do your PAB is incomplete and cannot proceed. Get a more reliable email service: for example GMail (aka googlemail) is free and seems to work nicely.

I Don’t Understand the Terms and Conditions

You certainly wouldn’t be the first or the last. Until fairly recently, a lot of operators made use of convoluted or ambiguous wording often to conceal spiteful little caveats. But as already discussed, this prompted the Gambling Commission to unveil stricter regulations. As per the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), gambling operators are now obliged to use clear, transparent and simple language in their T&Cs that sets out key restrictions/limitations with regards to bonuses, player accounts and site usage. If you find yourself in dispute with an operator regarding contractual wording, you’ll be afforded some protection by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. You also have the right to refer your dispute to an ADR provider.

Put Your Complaint in Writing

It’s a good idea to put your grievance in writing, either by email or letter although email is probably the best way to go given the faster response times. Be sure to include your account username, full name and contact details. A clear, detailed account of your issue will need to be provided together with dates, times and supporting evidence. During the above process, keep a record of all communications between you and the operator – this could prove invaluable should your complaint be escalated to an ADR provider.

* The Gambling Commission recommends a resolution service called Resolver. As well as providing useful information about your rights relating to numerous areas of dispute, this free service includes a tool that can help you prepare and then submit a complaint.

OnlineCasinos.co.uk promotes safe online gambling 

Our priority as an informational, advisory, and affiliate online gambling site is the promotion of safe online gambling.

There are a number of organisations that promote safe online gambling and online casinos display the icons of said organisations to confirm their commitment to protecting online gamblers.

What the PAB (Player Arbitration) is:

• It’s free.
• It’s a way for players and affiliates to have their problems seen by the right person(s).
• It’s private and discreet.
• It’s effective and respected.

How does the UK Gambling Commission protect players?

Any casino licensed by the UKGC must meet licencing standards for dealing with complaints and they have a very comprehensive rule book on the matter. They stipulate that casinos must:

• Have fair, open and transparent policies for handling complaints.
• Provide clear information regarding this procedure to the customer.
• Use an Alternative Dispute Resolution service for unsolved complaints and instruct the player how to start the ADR procedure if they are unhappy with a casino decision.

The complaints procedure is set out within the licensing conditions and codes of practice for all UK licensed casinos and it is the licensing body who protects players by giving and taking away licences or sanctioning casinos. In the case of the UKGC, you can even complain directly to them about a casino. This is why you must always play at licensed casinos.

My issue remains unresolved, what next?

If you don’t feel satisfied with the resolution, it’s time to file a formal dispute with the site. On Golden Nugget Casino, this entails sending an email to support at [email protected] with the subject line “Complaint.”

In the body of the email, it is recommended that you explain the issue, and list the steps taken thus far to resolve the conflict.

You may want to include screenshots of your chat or email logs to help expedite the process.

Outcome of the ADR procedure

The outcome is binding and non-binding.

IBAS

Credit: IBAS

IBAS (Independent Betting Adjudication Service) is an organisation that helps to resolve disputes between gambling operators and gamblers.

You can get hold of IBAS in the following ways:

Phone: 020 7347 5883

Email: adjudication@ibas-uk.co.uk

Rule #4:

If you do find yourself in the middle of an online casino dispute, make sure that you communicate your problem effectively. There’s no need to be rude or aggressive. Generally speaking, the more reasonable you are in your approach towards them, the more likely the casino is to deal with your issue promptly and efficiently.

Avoid technological glitches

Errors in bet processing may be caused by technological glitches. A stable internet connection is essential for online betting activities – potentially, the loss of a connection can result in the loss of a bet. Similarly, you should ensure that your computer is connected to a stable power source or that its battery is adequately charged before attempting to place bets.

Step 3 – Go to Court

Before you decide to go to court, you should be aware of your own consumer rights. Whenever you make a transaction at an online casino, you are initiating a contract with the business – and, as a result, your rights are protected by law.

If you are a UK player this falls under the Consumer Rights Act of 2015, which covers numerous areas. Crucially, though, you are protected against any phrasing in the online casino’s contract that might give them an unfair advantage.

All contractual wording at UK licensed casinos is, by law, required to be two things. First and foremost, it has to be fair, so it is not unjustly weighted against you or not presented in a clear way. Secondly, contractual wording also has to be transparent enough so you can make choices knowing exactly what you’re involved with.

Going to court, though, will carry costs, some of which may be extremely high. Before you take this step, you need to consider whether these potential expenses are worthwhile. We recommend before going to court to seek help from Citizens Advice.

Potential Reasons

• Incomplete ID Verification Process
• Failure to Satisfy Age Requirements
• Fraudulent Behaviour
• Bonus Abuse: Creation of Multiple Accounts
• Deposit Chargeback Attempts
• Customer Deemed Vulnerable
• You’re a Regular Big-Money Winner

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"IBAS" redirects here. For the bishop, see Ibas of Edessa.

Type	Adjudicator
Industry	Gambling Dispute Resolution
Founded	1998
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Key people	Andrew Fraser, Chairman; Richard Hayler, Managing Director
Website	ibas-uk.com

The Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS), founded in 1998, is a third party organisation that settles disputes between gambling establishments registered with IBAS and their customers in the United Kingdom.[1] The organisation, which was originally part of the Sporting Life's Green Seal service, was formerly known as the Independent Betting Arbitration Service.[2] The Service dropped Arbitration from its name in 2007, opting instead to use Adjudication to better reflect its role after the enactment of the 2005 Gambling Act.[3]

IBAS deals with several sectors in the realm of gambling. The sectors include:

• Betting Exchanges
• Betting Intermediaries
• Betting Shops
• Bingo Clubs
• Greyhounds
• Greyhound Stadia Pool Betting
• Lotteries
• Online Gambling (UK and Offshore)
• Gaming Machines
• Mobile Gambling
• Totalisator Betting

Languages

The languages which can be used to submit a complaint are:

• English
• French
• German
• Greek
• Gujarati
• Hindi.

3.11 Q: What am I agreeing to when I say “YES” at the bottom of the PAB form?

Once you’ve submitted your PAB we look upon it as though we have entered into an informal contract: you’ve asked for our help and we are working to help you provided you cooperate with our well-established PAB process.

Your part of “the contract” is three-fold:

1. be available to assist in the processing and pursuit of your case:
   • you must be reachable — and remain in contact — via the ‘contact email’ address you provided in your PAB.Note: Yahoo, Hotmail, ATT.net and AOL email addresses are not reliable for Casinomeister emails, please find some other email service.
   • you must respond (via email) in a timely fashion:
     • responding in a day or two is ok.
     • several days is pushing it.
     • a week is too long.
     • longer than that and we’ll have no choice but to take action: your PAB may be cancelled and you may be black-listed from the PAB service.
     • if you’re going to be away from your email address for a few days, or whatever, while the PAB is in progress let us know. If we can’t reach you it is a problem for us so please do us the courtesy of informing us in advance if you’re going to be unreachable.
2. don’t sabotage your PAB:
   • if your PAB is about the balance in your account, or some portion thereof, then stop playing with that account while the PAB is in progress. If you continue to play your balance then you will almost certainly invalidate your PAB and it will have to be discarded.
   • don’t post about your issue on the forums: wait until the PAB process has ended before you discuss it on the forums.(see item 2.6 for details)
3. inform us if you’ve decided to drop your PAB or the casino has resolved your issue for you.

When you actually submit your PAB you are asked whether you accept and agree to the PAB requirements. If you proceed and submit the PAB you are entering into an agreement that binds you to the responsibilities listed above.

You must treat this process with respect since it costs us time and money to pursue the issue on your behalf. Failing to properly fulfill your PAB responsibilities will, at our discretion, be taken as sufficient grounds to deny PAB service to you in the future.

Failure to fulfill your PAB responsibilities includes negligence such as ignoring your PAB once you’ve filed it or repeatedly failing to respond to emails sent to you regarding your PAB.