A Big Candy Casino - Player's withdrawal denied despite providing identification.

I began the withdrawal process on 29 November and provided all the required banking information for a wire transfer. Additionally which I’ve never experienced before, it also asked my birth country and town.

I then received an email saying that they’d noticed my birth country was different than my registered address and if I could provide proof of legal residency.

It was annoying and tedious, but this was a first. However, I did manage to forward the necessary information, directly from the Australian dept of home affairs website (VEVO), regarding my permanent resident visa. It verified that I currently hold permanent resident status indefinitely. In Australia you don’t need a visa or passport unless you’re travelling.

The information I forwarded to them was exactly what you’d provide to an employer or govt agency if they were after the same kind of evidence.

After some back and forth, because they’d asked for my passport (I haven’t had one in years, and my most previous one was stolen), I explained this to them and offered to provide a police incident report number regarding the theft.

I thought that it was resolved because the last email I received was a request for the screenshot of my credit card used for deposit, front and back. I provided this, and they haven’t replied since even though I’ve tried to email them for confirmation of receipt.

So just about an hour ago, I went back on my online account with ABigCandy to see if their live chat could enlighten me or give me an update on my status. I was really disappointed though when I realised that my withdrawal wasn’t even being processed, the entire amount was still there (initially when I’d started the withdrawal it displayed a balance of $2.64, because I’d put in a withdrawal request for $640.00) and the withdrawal was being processed/verified. Now, it was back to $642.64, as if I’d never even attempted to initiate the withdrawal in the first place. I was able to talk to live chat and explained my situation to her, and she asked whether I’d provided my proof of legal residency and I told her I had, and that I had most recently received the email requesting my bank card screenshot (front & back), but had not heard anything back since. She asked if I’d provided my legal residency proof prior to my withdrawal being denied!!??

It was literally the first time I’d heard that my withdrawal was denied, and I was obviously really stressed out and disappointed, considering I’ve had to really go above and beyond to gather all the necessary information to give them & that I’d exchanged about 20+ emails with both their customer service and payment department. I was advised by the live chat agent to attempt my withdrawal again, but also that their payment department wasn’t available over the weekend. I had a feeling that this might be the case (that’s why I’ve been doing everything in my power to get this withdrawal processed since Wednesday).

Anyway, I have provided all the necessary information and documentation for verification purposes and now I just want what’s rightfully mine. Instead I’ve been mislead and basically ignored. The fact that I have a bank account and a govt issued proof of age card should’ve been more than enough proof regarding my legal residence status (these are all things you can’t obtain if you’re not a legal citizen/permanent resident here), but I did what was asked and managed to provide the visa proof they requested. I honestly don’t know what else I can do to redeem my winnings. Also, I’m sure it’ll be no surprise to you, that they didn’t give me any kind of issues the many times I deposited money. If they don’t want to pay my winnings out to me, can I somehow redeem my deposits? Obviously if I’m not eligible to withdraw the funds, it stands to read that I shouldn’t have been eligible to deposit them either (after all it was from the same account). Anyone else up for a class action suit, lol?

Dear sopia16,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your problem. 

Please understand that KYC is a very important and essential process, during which the casino makes sure that the money is sent to the rightful owner. As they don't have the luxury of being able to physically see all of the players and check their identification and documents, this is the only way gambling establishments are able to complete the verification procedures. None of the casinos take KYC lightly and it might take a few working days to complete this thorough process. 

• Have you been informed what specifically seems to be a problem in verifying your account?

I hope we will be able to help you to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your reply.

Best regards,

Petronela

At first, after I’d supplied my visa information/evidence (with an email directly from VEVO, the home affairs visa website for employment/government enquiries regarding visa eligibility), I was asked to provide my passport as further verification, which I replied I haven’t had in several years because it was stolen, but if necessary I could provide a police incident report number from the theft. However, it seemed to me as though they were finally satisfied with what I’d provided as verification for my ID (proof of age card & selfie), bank account details, and visa details (verifying my current legal permanent residence status). After I’d explained my passport situation, I received an email asking me for the screenshots of my bank card that I’d used for the deposit, which I emailed them. I didn’t hear back in the next hour or so, as I’d been used to in our correspondence, so I sent another email asking if they could confirm that they’d received my card details as requested and still "nothing". I then headed onto my online account at A Big Candy in an attempt to find out the status of my withdrawal, and noticed that the balance was back to the previous ( before withdrawal attempt) amount of $642.24, it was supposed to be at 2.24, because I’d attempted to withdraw $640.00. I just felt my stomach sink as I realised how short-lived my relief (at having finally been vindicated for all the intrusive and tedious tasks I had completed in my efforts to fulfill the verification requirements) was. Literally only hours before I saw this, I thought I’d finally done everything I needed to, and that I just had to wait for payment to be processed into my account. I’ve never experienced such a tedious and unnecessarily intrusive verification process ever before. When I explained that my passport had been stolen and I received a reply that I just needed to provide my bank card details, I honestly thought I’d fulfilled all my obligations and requirements (actually beyond the normal standards). However, I did start getting concerned when after I sent the card information I was basically ignored. But I tried to remain positive and that’s when I contacted live chat (you can’t imagine the level of disappointment/disbelief after everything I’d done up until that point). Only for it to look as though I’d literally done nothing, I was afraid, especially after seeing the balance back at its original amount of $642.24, it should’ve reflected the withdrawal that was supposedly being processed so should’ve only been about $2.24. Besides the lack of response to my most previous emails, in which I provided them with the requested information (bank card), this confirmed any doubts I might’ve had that they were finally going to do the right thing. It was especially frustrating and depressing to see that after all I’d done, it looked as though my initial withdrawal had never even been processed in the first place. I then spoke to Megan on live chat and asked her what the status of my withdrawal was. And she asked AGAIN about whether I’d provided proof of my legal residency, and I said I had. Then she asked whether this had been before my withdrawal request had been denied?!!!!????!! Seriously, NOOOOO (I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I cried). I was utterly devastated, confused and disgusted. This was literally the first time I’d ever heard anything whatsoever about my withdrawal being denied. It seemed to me, that until I was informed about this, that I was actually going to be able to successfully withdraw my winnings. I had come to terms with the overly intrusive and tedious process I’d gone through, and even the obviously deterring efforts on the casinos behalf to get me to give up trying to get my winnings, because I thought I’d finally get what was rightfully mine. Anyway, the most recent advice I received in my live chat with Megan was to contact payments@abigcandy.com and enquire about the status of my withdrawal, and to submit my withdrawal again. However, I was warned that the payments department would not be available over the weekend (which didn’t make sense to me, because I’m technically a day ahead if I’m not mistaken so if it was Saturday morning where I was, it was definitely Friday where they’re located which I’m pretty sure is in the United States).

So as it currently stands I’ve put my withdrawal request in AGAIN, and I am just waiting to see what happens next.

I really need to ask you this though. If I’m legally not entitled to receive my winnings, shouldn’t I technically be entitled to a refund of ALL my deposits that I’ve made since joining up to all your associated online casinos, (there’s about 5 I can think of right now, if not more). I’m not a lawyer obviously, but I can’t imagine that it’d be legal to accept a deposit for something that can’t be withdrawn, especially if that’s the entire premise of the transaction, which it is for online casinos. I really hope I’m wrong & that I’ll successfully get my winnings.

Thank you very much, sopia16, for providing all the necessary information. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Tomas (tomas.k@casino.guru) who will be at your assistance. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see your problem being resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.  

Hi sopia16,

I've just reviewed your case and am very sorry that you came across such an issue. In order to help you resolve the problem, I will contact the casino.

I'd like to invite A Big Candy Casino to join this conversation and participate in the investigation.

Can you please provide us with any reasons for the delay in the KYC procedure which caused the problem with the withdrawal request for the player?

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Tomas

Casino.Guru

We would like to ask the 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’ which may negatively affect its rating.

Tomorrow will be the 19th December. Their verification process is supposed to be 7-10 business days which tomorrow will have been. That’s counting from my most recent withdrawal attempt on 5th December.

My first (of 3) attempts was on 29th November. That was declined with no explanation and no email to even advise me of the reason for declining me.

I have been trying to get in touch with ABigCandy payments via email several times now, to ask about the status of my verification/withdrawal. They haven’t responded to any of my emails unfortunately. What is the next step for me to take in case they don’t respond by tomorrow, or if they again decline me without a valid reason?

Thank you,

Ulrike C***

Hello sopia16,

I've been informed by the casino representative that you should receive the payment within 48 hours. Could you please let us know once the payment arrives so that we can consider the case resolved? Thank you.

Dear all,

Unfortunately, even though we believe that the issue has been resolved successfully, without the player’s confirmation we’re not able to proceed with the investigation and are left with no option but to reject this complaint.

The player can reopen this complaint anytime.

Kind regards,

Tomas

Casino.Guru

We’ve reopened this complaint at the request of sopia16. We would like to allow this case one more chance to be resolved and help both parties involved to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

Dear all,

We have received a response from the player confirming receipt of the payment.

Here's a direct quote:

"Hi Tomas,

Good News. My ABigCandy payment finally arrived in my account. I have to admit though, I’m still in shock & disbelief, because I honestly didn’t think I’d ever receive my funds."

As the complaint has now been successfully resolved, we will close it as ‘resolved’ in our system. 

Kind regards,

Tomas

Casino.Guru