Fair Go Casino - Player’s winnings have been voided.

Dear Bono,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your problem. Please allow me to ask you a few questions, so I can understand the whole situation completely. You have deposited funds in to your account without activating any bonus offer, is that right? After a while, playing with your real money, you’ve won a jackpot which was converted into bonus and the bonus funds had to be wagered. After completing wagering requirements, you’ve requested a withdrawal which has been confirmed. I would like to emphasize that only the request has been confirmed, not the withdrawal itself (based on provided screenshots). Lastly, your withdrawal has been cancelled, winnings voided, and deposit returned. Did I understand it correctly?

Did you receive any explanation from the casino which rule has been breached? If there’s any relevant communication, please forward it to petronela.k@casino.guru. 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

Hi Petronela,

That is correct, what they have mentioned to me on the chat conversation that the fund in my account is from the bonus that I have won. I send the Casino 3 emails asking for any feedback, no response at all. I guess no email - no evidence can be use against them.

And then I said after the wagering requirement has been completed whatever amount in my account balance is my money (doesn't matter where it came from) which means I won that money 100%.

Please note: The winning is originally $4,300 and because they keep trying to delay every process eg. ID verification the winning keep on going down and it end up to $2,550.

Why is the Fair Go Casino treat us player like this. We player just trying to win something which we used our own money. And they like it when people are keep depositing money but when people win they will try to make people's life miserable.

Honestly speaking I will need this fund, as I lost my job during this pandemic shut down.

And I am trying and keep fighting for this money (I believed that I won this money and no doubt. And I deserved it.

Thank you for your assistance, much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Bono14

Thank you very much Bono 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 Bono.

On one of your screenshots I can see that the amount 4654.35 is in bonus money column, and also some wagering amount left. You wrote before that you didn't take any bonus. Are you sure about that?

Do you have your game log? (history?)

Hi Matej,

Like I said before, the $4654.35 jackpot is need to wager still. And I have completed the wagering requirement so all the amount left in my account is all mine (real money).

I tried to look at my game log history and there is no option to check in my account, but the casino would have that history I guess. All I have is the screenshots.

Kind regards,

Bono14

I want to ask the casino representatives to step into this complaint and help me to clarify what happened with Bono14's winnings.

Hi there,

Unfortunately the payout was delayed because the player used the wrong email address to send documents, which our CS team didn't pick up on quickly.

The reason the payout was denied, is because the customer redeemed a free bonus on top of an existing balance which caused the winnings to be voided. An email was sent, informing him but, there's a chance it ended up in the junk folder.

Matej, I have also sent an email with supporting evidence.

Kind regards,

Team Fair GO Casino

Hi Matej,

The existing balance was my real money in the account. With the bonus that they were talking about was the 25 free spin they keep offering to me while I am playing, and they keep sending email for the free spin.

When I wasn't getting any luck on getting free spin so I tried the chance with the free spin they keep offering on my screen.

In saying that the free spin only won less than a dollar. Only 97 cents and why they going to void my winnings of $2,500. That wasn't really fair for the player. I lose more than $2,500 since I started playing here.

And I told them I don't even know the rules they throwing to me just to avoid or trying to get away from paying my winnings.

And this will be my first winnings in online casino. Hoping for your kind consideration.

Regards,

Bono14

Bono14 and casino representatives:

Today we had a meeting where we discuss the situation from this case, and here is our conclusion:

Bono14 breached the terms and condition of the casino, but this was caused because his withdrawal was delayed (yes it was his mistake, but making a typo in one letter ...) If he didn't make this mistake, it is highly probable that his winnings would be processed and withdrawn successfully. He didn't try to scam or cheat the casino. He played in good faith and finished the wagering of his first bonus and fulfil all the conditions.

Before live chat agent gave him another bonus, cannot he/she check that the player had an active bonus?

We believe that the Bono14 deserves the winnings from the first bonus. The original amount what he had before he took the second bonus. 

Hi Matej,

Just want to say I appreciate what you just said on your response. What you mentioned does make sense. And it is very fair.

Why they allow me to take the free spin while I have money on my account which can affect my winnings if I take it.

But when the account balance is nil, and try to get a free spin we are not allowed to take it or get any.

Some of the casino tricks. I guess for us not to win by making mistakes that we are not aware.

Hope to get my winnings as I can't get over this and it does bothers me and my everyday life.

Kind regards,

Bono14

Hi there,

We understand customer did not break the rule on purpose and mistakes with incorrect email address may happen, but I would like to clarify that we never delay withdrawals on purpose.

We cannot reimburse a part of the winnings but we are willing to offer this player a $500 free bonus, as one time exception and as a way to show that we appreciate loyal players.

The maximum cashout for this bonus would be exactly the amount he was denied. We think it is fair as no mistake took place on our end, we followed our standard procedures when rules are being broken, and this is our good will gesture. Let us know if we should credit the bonus money onto your customer account.

Kind regards,

FairGO Casino

If you are satisfied with this solution Bono14, let us know and after the casino credits you a bonus, we will close the complaint.

Hi Matej,

Would they be able to make it a $1000 at least?

And this money they offering hopefully is mine and no requirement to playthrough?

Regards,

Bono14

I am afraid that the bonus means that the amount is with wagering requirements. The casino is offering you a second chance to win the same amount as you have before. You, of course, can negotiate. As we wrote earlier, we believe that you deserve the winnings. We also understand the position of the casino, but for example, when you are buying a plane ticket and make one letter mistake, they fix it for free. In this case, all your problems were caused by one letter in the email address. Yes, it was your mistake; that's why we are giving a chance to find a compromise solution.

Hi Matej,

Thanks for your assistance.

And yes tell them to give me the bonus of $500 . What can I do?

Casino always win and want to win.

Hopefully what comes around goes around

And I need the bonus now then. And hopefully not after 5 days.

Regards,

Bono14

If you wish you can complain to casino regulator (Curacao) - this negotiation should lead to the deal, which both sides would be considered as good. So you should not take it just because you think there is no other option. 

Hi Matej,

Ok I will take it further and put the complaint to Casino regulators (Curucao) and hoping to consider my complaint.

And hoping this Fair Go casino can treat me and my winnings "fairly".

Regards,

Bono14

Please note that the Curacao Gaming Authority may decide that the casino has right. In cases like this, it is best if both sides find an agreement which would be a compromise. We wrote that we believe that the Bono14 deserves the winnings. This is our opinion and regulator may see the case differently. (they mostly evaluate the legal perspective of the case) 

What I am trying to say is that this case is not straight forwarding and we don't know the outcome from the regulator.

Bono14, I will set the timer on this complaint on 21 days - please write to us here when you will get an answer from the regulator.

Hi Matej,

I am confused of what you said on your previous response.

Is the casino regulator will email me about the outcome of their decision or do I still have to submit a complaint to the regulator or they already know about my complain?

Please advice asap.

Regards,

Bono14

I will send you instructions on what to do. Just give us a moment. I contacted my colleague from another department and we will start a private dialogue with the casino about this complaint.

I am sorry Bono14 for the delay. We are still discussing your case internally with the casino.

Hi Matej,

That's ok I guess it will be a better resolution regarding my well deserved winnings.

Your assistance is much appreciated.

Regards,

Bono14

Hi Matej,

I have seen that the hours glass or timer were finished.

Is there any feedback about the decisions that the casino will go for?

Kind regards,

Ronnie

Hello Ronnie.

I wrote you email. Please check it and let me know what would you like to do.

Hi all,

Just want to inform everyone that I am accepting the bonus offered by the fairgo casino which is $500.

Regards,

Bono14

I received a message from the casino that your bonus was installed to your account. Please confirm that you have it, and please don't forget that the maximum cashout from this bonus is the amount of your voided withdrawal.

Hi Matej,

Yes the bonus on my account is $500. And the wagering amount is so unbelievable which is $30,000.

It just mean to me that the bonus will be gone in no time. I can not imagine that I can beat the $30,000 wager.

The casino don't even want to loose the $2,500 real money that I have won.

The Fair Go Casino's name should've been called "Unfair"Go Casino instead.

Regards,

Bono14

There are many things that separate best casinos from rest of the competition. One of these factors is the overall user experience, including whether the casino is safe. In our view, a good user experience means that players don’t need to read the full T&Cs (in fact nobody does that, maybe with the exception of some bonus hunters) and can rely on the fact that they’ll be treated fairly. In our view, safety means that it’s not easy to accidentally do something that will cancel your winnings.

We understand that there must be rules that apply to bonuses. Otherwise, it would be really easy to abuse them. But we believe these rules should be enforced by software, so that players can’t break them accidentally. Only because this isn’t that easy for casinos to do and almost no casino does this at the moment (we hope this will change in the future), we don’t penalize casinos for not having this feature. However, on the other hand, we expect the best casinos to individually look at every case where this rule may have been broken by an honest mistake.

In this particular case, the problem is that the player took another bonus before he withdrew winnings from the previous one. By doing this, he broke the rule that forbids having two bonuses active at the same time and also the rule that forbids taking a no deposit bonus while having a non-zero remaining balance.

We would like to emphasize three points in this case:

1. Wagering was already completed.

2. Player couldn’t get any advantage over the casino by his actions. There is nothing he could gain by applying for another bonus before withdrawing all of the remaining balance.

3. The fact that bonus ends when the player cashes out and not when wagering is completed is counter intuitive. It might make sense for sticky bonuses (where the initial bonus amount is deducted at the end). But here it’s easy to understand that the player may think the old bonus is no longer active.

The conclusion is that it’s clear that player made an honest mistake. And he didn’t get any advantage over casino because of it. So, even if there is chance that the casino is right from a purely legal perspective, we consider voiding the winnings co be clearly unfair.

If the casino refuses to take specific circumstances of this case into consideration, it may raise the question whether they really apply this rule to protect themselves, or whether it’s just an excuse to not pay out the winnings. Even if there are no bad intensions, we still consider any casino that acts like this to be unsafe for players and we’ll have to decrease its rating. Therefore, we would like to ask Fair Go casino representatives once more to reconsider their position.

We decided to close this complaint as unresolved with classification: "Against Fair Gambling Codex."

We believe that gambling can be fair, and we think that what happened, in this case, could be handled better from the casino side.

We spent hours on this case, and our leading ideas about how to solve situations like this are published above.