Fair Go Casino - Player's winnings were confiscated due to bonus misuse.

Payout request for $2500 + $50 withdrawal fee declined recently. In November last year I won over $11000, after I put in my first time withdrawal of $2550 they sent me an email advising me that they will honor my withdrawal as good will gesture and the remaining balance of over $8000 forfeited because I breach their so called rules unintentional ofcourse and it was my responsibility to read all of the rules in their T&Cs. I'm not a frequent online player so often I just jump on whenever I feel like it claim a deposit bonus and play. Any free bonuses I claim without any warnings that I couldn't claim a $100 bonus even though I had already wagered the deposit bonus with over $11000 in winnings. Why would I risk thousands of dollars if I knew I couldn't claim a personal bonus they emailed me to claim for my bday. I wrote to them numerous times but their response was always the same end result. The forfeiture stands, it's alot of money so naturally I felt cheated and disappointed.

Over the past 2wks I started playing again, thinking ok, I now know the rules with the bonus just don't activate any other bonuses and just to be 100% sure I msgd their chat to see if I had any active bonuses before I made a bonus deposit.

After a couple of days playing with no luck, I struck it lucky again betting $6.25, which took me over $7,000. I increased my bet to $12.50, and walked away from that slot with over $15,000. I put in a withdrawal as I had met the wagering requirements. Their maximum was $2500, and they don't allow you to put in multiple withdrawals, enticing you to keep playing with the balance. I kept playing other slots until I lost the whole balance, and 2days later, I receive their email that my withdrawal was denied due to breaching max bet $10 rule. In my mind, this is unbelievable, and that they refunded my deposit back into my fairgo account without bonus to try my luck. I felt cheated and conned once again. As they were never going to give me my winnings, I asked if they could refund all my deposits back to my bank account. No response to that. I then requested to delete my account which they responded and confirmed they've done. I still have copies of my emails if there is anyway you can help me please.

Dear SlotLover,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your negative experience. I checked the website and I found this: https://www.fairgocasino.com/terms-conditions

In the interests of fair gaming, there are limits on the maximum bet sizes you can place during the playthrough of any bonus including cashback offers. $10 is the maximum bet unless specifically stated otherwise. Betting above $10 during a bonus playthrough will result in any promotion winnings voided.

Our position is closely explained in Fair Gambling Codex https://casino.guru/fair-gambling-codex-for-casinos#max-bets:

The max bet rule is, in fact, an industry standard, just as the fact that a casino has the right to seize the player's winnings from bonus play after breaking this rule. We prefer not to go against industry standards by penalizing casinos that use the maximum bet rule against players from time to time.

Could you please share your communication with the casino? Send emails or chat transcripts to my email at tomas@casino.guru, or post screenshots here

Thank you in advance for your reply.

Best regards,

Tomas

Hi Tomas, I will forward them to you. I understand that rule now. I didn't realise it at the time. I'll forward you my communications on both experiences from last November and recently.

Thanks

Thanks for your patience.

I read through your correspondence with the casino representative.

• Do I understand correctly that despite initially informing you the casino would process your withdrawal of A$ 2550, the casino changed its mind only days later after you raised a few concerns?

It's indeed very problematic for the casino to deal with a situation where multiple bonuses are activated on the player's account, usually, casinos void winnings in this situation.

The casino wrote to you:

"I have reviewed your account, and I see that after you made your deposit of $100, it was matched with the coupon C-MEL.

After playing with this bonus, you then redeemed HAPPYBDAY20 when your balance was $4025.

You then redeemed FDEE7D6 when your balance was $7150.64."

• When accepting these bonuses was the wagering requirement of previous bonuses completed?
• Could you please specify what the disputed amount of A$ 10500 represents in this situation?

Yes, that is correct, all wagering had been met, and the disputed amount was approx $10500 including the $2550 withdrawal they had honored in their words - out of good faith.

Thank you very much, SlotLover, for providing the necessary information. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Michal (michal.k@casino.guru) who will be at your service. I wish you the best of luck and hope the problem will be resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.

Thanks Tomas, I've already lost confidence in getting any of the winnings back but if there is any help I can get from this platform. I appreciate it all. Note I've closed my account with them and went with Abigcandy before reading the reviews on here. And now I've got separate complaint on here as I've waited over 2wks with them to see my withdrawals being reviewed or paid.

Hello SlotLover,

I'm Michal, and I have taken over your complaint. I have reviewed this case, and as my colleague Tomas mentioned, there was a breach of the max bet while playing with a bonus, and multiple bonuses were activated one after another. As this is a breach of the terms and conditions, the casinos often confiscate winnings in this situation. Although we believe that the maximum bet and the possibility to claim bonuses should be automatically implemented by the software to prevent players from unintentionally breaching this rule, it is not yet an industry standard as every casino uses its own platform software. Given that you have previously played with a bonus, awareness of this rule is presumed. What appears to be a goodwill gesture to pay you $2550 is sadly solely on the casino's decision as to whether they will indeed pay it or not. There is no legal obligation for them to follow this, however, once the goodwill gesture is offered, it should be honored.

I will contact the casino to shed more light on this matter.

We would like to invite Fair Go Casino to join the conversation.

Dear Fair Go Casino,

Could you kindly send all pertinent evidence supporting your decision to my email at michal.k@casino.guru? Additionally, would it be feasible to review the previous proposal of paying the player $2550 as a goodwill gesture to try to settle the situation?

Yes, in the complaint relating to forfeiture of winnings totalling $10500 I fully understand now. I was fairly new to the casino and didn't fully understand the terms on bonuses. I was simply activating the personal bonuses which were specifically emailed to me. I feel this is how they set up alot of their players to breach unintentionally. Had I known, I would not risk losing thousands for a $100 bday bonus or any bonuses. Also, if you look at the activity report, these bonuses would not have made much of a difference to my increased winnings as the occurred well after th 100$ added to my balance. The casino should put system warnings in place to avoid these type of unintentionally breaches. I was unawares at the time that I couldn't activate them. Furthermore, my wagering was already completed at that point prior to claiming these additional bonuses.

I have provided all the communications I have had with their unsupportive staff members. If there is anything else aside from these, please let me know.

I am still kicking myself that I had not known about the 2nd complaint amount $2550 denied due to exceeding bet requirements. Again, their should be an error msg for those on wagering mode if they try to increase bet. Again it's a trap to have the t&Cs and not put system prompts in place to give players a fair go.

They would not give me an activity report to prove my argument on wagering complete.

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.

Hi Michal,

I have sent you an email

Dear Fair Go Casino,

Thank you for your email, I have responded back with some additional questions.

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.

Dear SlotLover,

Despite exchanging several emails with the Fair Go Casino team, I regret to inform you that I have not received a clear response regarding their previous goodwill gesture. As previously mentioned, the decision to honor it ultimately rests with the casino, and there is no legal obligation for them to do so. However, it is expected that once a goodwill gesture is offered, it should be upheld.

While I understand your viewpoint, and we also advocate for the automatic implementation of maximum bet limits and bonus eligibility within the software to prevent inadvertent rule breaches, this practice is not yet universally adopted across the industry, as each casino utilizes its own platform software.

I acknowledge that the user experience in this situation is less than ideal. Nevertheless, it's important to note that the casino team acted in accordance with their established rules, and we must respect their decision in this case, especially considering that breaches of their terms were indeed detected.

Unfortunately, after gathering all the necessary information we are forced to reject this complaint. I would advise you to carefully review the terms and conditions of bonuses before activating them and ensure compliance with all rules to avoid similar disappointments in the future as well as check the reviews of each casino before you sign up and only play in licensed and good-rated casinos that have maximum bet limits, bonus eligibility and other features unforced automatically by the system. Sorry we were not able to help you with this one, but please, do not hesitate to contact us in the future, if you run into any issues with this or any other casino and we will try our best to help.

Best regards,

Michal

Casino Guru