Casinonic - Player’s request for a self-exclusion has been overlooked.

I self excluded for 1 year due to being a problem gambler.

I have proof in my chat transcripts. They have then allowed me to cancel and let me deposit again, also open up accounts at there sister site gunsbet25.com and kingbillycasino12.com

Additional comments from the player:

"I placed a deposit limit on my account due to depositing way too much money over a few days.

I ended up talking to live support and got the deposit limit removed.

After a few days I spoke to live support and asked them for self-exclusion for 1 year. After a couple of weeks they let me open my account again.

I deposited thousands more. They should not of allowed me to reopen my account as I had already told them I was a problem gambler.

I should be eligible to receive all my deposits made since they removed my self-exclusion."

Dear Ashthompson,

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

Could you please forward all the emails or screenshots showing that you have sent requests for the self-exclusion or for deposit limits? My email address is petronela.k@casino.guru. Did you specify in those requests for how long you wish your account to be closed and clearly stated the reason why?

I have checked the Responsible Gaming section on the website, and this is what I found https://www.casinonic.com/responsible-gaming:

„Self-Exclusion Limit. You can set a Self-Exclusion Limit for 6 months, 9 months, or 1 year. Upon doing so your Player Account will immediately be disabled and you will be excluded from all promotional offers for the set period. You will not be able to deposit or withdraw funds when the limit is active. Upon its expiring your account will automatically be re-activated. Please note that if you are self excluded from the casino for indefinite period of time, the funds remaining on balance will be paid according to the casino limits. If you are self excluded for a definite period of time, the funds remaining on balance will be paid according to the casino limits only when a period of self exclusion expires."

„SELF-EXCLUSION BY REQUEST

You may also contact our support team at support@casinoniс.com and inform us about your decision to stop gambling at the Website for a certain period of time or forever. We will take all measures to block your access to your account and make sure that you receive no promotional materials."

Is the email address mentioned above, that one, you have sent your emails to?

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

I have sent an email with the chat transcripts I do have.

Thank you very much, Ashthompson, for forwarding the relevant communication. Could you please confirm the following?

-         December 16th, 2020: live chat: you’ve enquired about self-exclusion for a year

-         Subsequently, (unknown date) you cancelled the self-exclusion

-         March 7th, 2021: live chat: your account has been blocked permanently

Could you please advise if you have tried contacting the casino in between those two dates? Have you saved your cashier history? Looking forward to hearing from you. 

Hi Petronela,

I do not have my cashier history but can get my credit card deposits from my bank statements.

I also did deposit with prepaid neosurf vouchers but have no way to follow those up.

Please see attached regarding deposit limit set date and removal date.

After that conversation I believe I self-excluded for 1 year.

Then after a few weeks, spoke to live chat and asked them to unblock my account.

I have sent an email on the 7th of march and another email today requesting cashier history, self exclusion dates and chat transcripts.

Thank you for all your help.

You can forward your bank statement with relevant deposits to petronela.k@casino.guru. Thank you in advance.

I have sent bank statements through to your email.

Thank you, Ashthompson, for forwarding the bank statement. I’ve sent you a message on the 9th of March and I will update it and ask again to confirm the following events:

• December 16th, 2020: live chat: you’ve enquired about self-exclusion for a year
• All the deposits from the first part of your bank statement have been placed before the live chat conversation
• Subsequently, (unknown date) you cancelled the self-exclusion
• All deposits from the second part of your bank statement were placed between Feb 20th – Mar 5th, so again before the live chat conversation
• March 7th, 2021: live chat: your account has been blocked permanently

I’m truly sorry, but if this is the correct timeline, I’m afraid you’re not entitled to a refund. 

Hi Petronela,

I thought by self-excluding they would not allow me to re-open my account?

Where was there reasonable steps to not allow me to re-open my account.

I had also asked for my account to be permanently closed.

I'm glad houseofjack.com, wildcardcity.com and kingjohnnie.com have permanently closed my accounts. Even when I have requested them to be re-opened.

I guess I will have to contact the licensing authority for casinonic.com

Please allow me to explain the difference between closing an account and a self-exclusion:

Some casinos use lots of tools for responsible gambling and I would not mention them here. What a player can do if they’re unhappy in the casino: Close the account or self-exclude themselves, that's the two basic choices.

Closing an account is simple and has almost none impact - player can reopen account anytime, and casino has no obligation to the player.

On the other hand, self-exclusion does. If the player successfully makes a self-exclusion the casino agrees not to open this account or if yes only under particular circumstances. (after cooling off period and this cannot be done for players who’s are addicted/with gambling problem)

In the case of self-exclusion, if casino failed in this, the player may ask for a refund.

I'm truly sorry, but we can't help you with this case. For the reasons I have mentioned and explained earlier, we will be forced to reject your complaint. If you don’t agree with my decision, I could suggest contacting the Curaçao Licensing Authority here: certria@gaminglicences.com. You will find the relevant link if you click on the Validator on the casino’s website. Please let me know how you’d like to proceed. Thank you in advance for your reply. 

Hi Petronela,

I had asked to close my account and self-exclude from all casinos affiliated with them. I wish I had the original chat transcript where Ben and I had a long chat, and he went into detail about what self-exclusion actually is.

It's just funny how it was always Ben, that I always spoke to in regards to deposit limits, removing my limit, self-excluding and removing my self exclusion.

I have also been in touch with another company. They said casinonic doesn't have a strong license and the chances of getting my money back will be slim.

But they will have a chat to them.

I think on only 3 occasions I had got my balance to the point where I would of been able to withdraw it.

I had actually tried once to withdraw but it was only $250 and had to be $300 or something like that.

I also felt I lost self control, due to being stuck at home in lockdown.

But life in Australia is almost back to normal. Finally able to return back to work and other activities.

Hope everything is starting to get better wherever you are and thanks for your advice.

Hi Petronela,

After that conversation I exited live chat.

I then re-engaged another lobe chat and had a conversation with Ben.

I told him to self-exclude me permanently. As I never wanted to be able to deposit again.

I really wish the chat transcripts were sent to you automatically so i could hold a record of it.

You may be able to receive chat transcripts from them, as they just ignore my emails and live support say they will get a manager to email them but never do.

Thank you very much, Ashthompson, for providing all the necessary information. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Andrej 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.

Dear Ashthompson,

I’m sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience. I’ll contact the casino representative and see if I can help.

I would like to invite Casinonic to this conversation.

Dear Casinonic,

Could you please comment on Ashthompson’s statements and clarify the situation? In addition, please forward any relevant evidence proving your claims to my e-mail address andrej.p@casino.guru.

Dear Ashthompson,

Your account was registered by you on November 08 and since then the total amount of deposits made was AUD 6451. In addition, you received AUD 1312.19 in bonuses.

The deposit limit was set by you on November 21. Then on December 2 the removal of this deposit limit was requested.

Prior to December 16 you never informed the casino about your gambling addiction. On December 16 you said that you previously set a deposit limit, due to being a "problem gambler". However, when you requested to remove the deposit limit on December 2 the gambling addiction was never mentioned.

After the conversation on December 16 you set a self-exclusion period for 1 year on your account.

As the self exclusion was performed by the user on her end the support agent didn't manage to tag the account "gambling addiction". 

After that you did not enter the chat again on December 16 and never told the support agent to self-exclude you permanently.

On January 29 you returned and requested to unblock your account. Unfortunately due to the absence of "gambling addiction" tag the support agent was able to reopen your account just as was requested.

We deeply apologize for this situation and are ready to refund all the deposits made since January 29 in the total amount of AUD 2990.

Please provide all your bank account details to the email support@casinonic.com and the refund will be processed to you.

Kind regards,

Jessie,

Casinonic Support Team

Hi Jessie,

I have sent an email with my bank details. I will also be downloading betblocker.

Thank you regarding this situation.

After reading other complaints I now realise that. A lot of people all over the world have access to different amount of money. What might seem not much to one person will be a lot of money to everyone else.

Andrej, would also like to thank you and your team for your help in resolving this situation.

I will let you know once refund has been received.

Thank you, Casinonic, for your reply and for your consideration in this matter.

Dear Ashthompson,

I’m setting the timer for 10 days. I’d like to kindly ask you to let us know once you have received the refund or if there are any new developments regarding your complaint.

Dear Ashthompson,

Our financial department has already initiated a refund. You should receive the funds in the nearest future.

Kind regards,

Jessie,

Casinonic Support Team

Hi Andrej,

Refund has been received.

You can close the case.

Thank you jessie.

Take care

Thank you, Ashthompson, for confirming and for using the Casino Guru complaint resolution center. We’re glad that your deposits have been returned to you. We will now mark your complaint as 'resolved' in our system. Please do not hesitate to contact us in the future if you run into any issues with this or any other casino. We are here to help.

Best regards,

Andrej, Casino.guru