Funbet Casino - Player's account has not been closed as requested.

I am posting this complaint because I believe my experience with Funbet.com raises serious concerns about how vulnerable customers are treated.

I had previously made it clear that I had a serious gambling problem and was experiencing significant harm. Despite this, I believe Funbet failed to handle my account responsibly and allowed gambling-related contact and VIP treatment to continue.

My experience with my VIP manager, Leo, was particularly concerning. Instead of the situation being handled with appropriate safeguarding, I felt that my vulnerability was not properly recognised or respected. The behaviour and communication surrounding my account contributed to a situation that caused me extreme distress.

I consider this especially serious because gambling operators have a responsibility to act responsibly when clear signs of gambling harm or vulnerability are identified. In my view, Funbet did not take sufficient action to protect me.

I have raised a formal complaint and asked Funbet to properly investigate what happened, including the actions of the staff member responsible for managing my account. I am seeking a full explanation, access to the relevant account records and communications, and an appropriate resolution.

At the time of posting this complaint, I remain dissatisfied with how this matter has been handled.

I have also been pursuing the matter through the appropriate regulatory and complaint channels.

My request to Funbet is simple: properly investigate the handling of my account, provide the relevant records, and take responsibility if failures occurred.

I am happy to provide Casino Guru with supporting evidence, including screenshots and correspondence, if required.

Important notice:

Casino Guru will never ask for payments or access to your accounts to complete KYC. If someone claims to be from Casino Guru and does that, do not share any information.

We only contact players through this official complaint thread or via @casino.guru e-mail addresses. Always check the sender’s domain and verify your complaint resolver’s e-mail address by clicking on their avatar visible inside the official complaint thread.

If anything seems suspicious, contact us directly.

Stay safe.

Hello,

Thank you very much for submitting this complaint. I'm sorry to hear about the problem you're experiencing. Please allow me to ask you a few questions to clarify your situation.

• Did you mention the reason for your account closure request in any of the emails you sent to the casino? If so, kindly forward me the complete messages in their original format at veronika.f@casino.guru.
• Please note that if no reason was provided for the account closure, we generally cannot hold the casino accountable for failing to protect a vulnerable player or for a self-exclusion failure.
• Is your account still open, or has the casino already closed it? If it has been closed, please specify the date of closure.

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

Best regards

Veronika

Hello Veronika,

Thank you for your response. However, I feel it is important that you understand the full seriousness of this situation.

I did tell Funbet through live chat that I had a gambling problem and requested that my account be closed permanently. I cannot currently locate the original live-chat transcript, but I am absolutely clear about what happened: I disclosed my gambling problem, requested permanent closure, and was promised that my account had been permanently closed.

This was not an ordinary request to close an account. I specifically made Funbet aware of my gambling problem and asked for permanent protection.

The way my account was subsequently handled, particularly by the VIP manager, was in my view completely irresponsible. Despite being promised permanent closure, I was later targeted again with gambling promotions and drawn back into gambling.

This was not an isolated incident involving only one casino. Three different online casinos that had been told about my gambling problem and asked to close my accounts permanently later targeted me again with promotional communications. The combined consequences for me were devastating. I lost control of my gambling again and reached a point where I nearly took my own life.

I am extremely lucky to be alive. I genuinely believe that others may not be so lucky.

That is why I find it deeply concerning that Casino Guru’s response appears to suggest that a casino cannot be held accountable unless a player can personally produce the original message proving exactly what was said. These conversations took place through the casinos’ own systems. Funbet should still have records of my live-chat conversations, internal account notes, closure history and communications relating to my account.

I respectfully ask Casino Guru to seek those records from Funbet rather than simply treating the absence of a transcript in my possession as the end of the matter.

I also believe that websites and VIP managers must be held accountable when they handle vulnerable gamblers irresponsibly. A VIP manager should never exploit or target a person who has disclosed a gambling problem and requested permanent closure.

If websites such as Casino Guru do not challenge this type of conduct and instead allow casinos to avoid responsibility simply because a vulnerable player cannot locate an old live-chat transcript, what message does that send to the industry? That this is acceptable?

I survived what happened to me, but I may not have. Others might not survive. I therefore believe there is a responsibility on Casino Guru to properly investigate what happened and to hold Funbet and the people responsible for the handling of my account accountable where the evidence supports it.

I am asking you not to treat this as a routine dispute about an account closure. This concerns the way a vulnerable person, who had disclosed a gambling problem and requested permanent closure, was later handled and targeted.

Kind regards,

Jack

Dear Jacko138,

Thank you for your detailed response. I understand that this situation has had a very serious impact on you, and I'm genuinely sorry to hear about the distress you experienced. We do not take allegations concerning gambling harm or the treatment of vulnerable players lightly.

At the same time, we would like to clarify our position. We take every complaint seriously and assess each case objectively and based on the available evidence. In complaints involving self-exclusion or a failure to protect a vulnerable player, it is particularly important for us to establish that the casino was explicitly informed about the player's gambling problem and nevertheless failed to take appropriate action. Without evidence confirming this, we cannot conclude that the casino was aware of the player's vulnerability at the relevant time.

We understand your point that the communication took place through Funbet's own live-chat system and that the casino may therefore have records of it. However, we cannot simply assume that such records are still available. Casinos may have different data-retention policies, and they may legitimately inform us that historical live-chat records are no longer available. For this reason, players should retain important communications relating to account closure, particularly where the reason for the request is relevant to a potential future complaint.

We also checked the information Funbet provides in its Responsible Gambling section. According to the casino's stated procedure, self-exclusion requests must be submitted by email. This is relevant because live-chat agents may not have access to all account-management or responsible-gambling features and may therefore be unable to process a self-exclusion request in the same way as the relevant department. For this reason, when a player wants to self-exclude due to gambling problems, it is important to use the designated communication channel and clearly state the reason for the request.

We therefore have to conclude that there is insufficient evidence to establish a failure on Funbet's part in this particular case. For these reasons, we are rejecting your complaint.

We appreciate that this is not the outcome you were hoping for, and we are sorry that we cannot provide a different resolution based on the evidence currently available.

Best regards

Veronika

Casino.Guru

As part of our Global Self-Exclusion Initiative, we've partnered with BetBlocker, a UK-registered charity providing a free service to support people worldwide. You can find more information about our initiative here (https://casino.guru/global-self-exclusion-initiative) and about BetBlocker here (https://betblocker.org/).

BetBlocker, which supports seven languages, is quick and easy to install on multiple devices, taking just 2 minutes. Once installed, it blocks access to over 84,230 gambling websites and runs quietly in the background. The service can be used anonymously and helps individuals manage their access to gambling safely and appropriately, whether that means complete restriction or limiting access during vulnerable periods.

Additionally, BetBlocker includes a list of 824 gambling information sites. These sites primarily inform users about and advertise gambling services. You can choose to include these sites in your restriction by ticking a box. However, if you have an ongoing complaint against a gambling operator, do not check this box, as it will prevent you from accessing the Casino.Guru website as well.