Final Countdown CO Casino - Player's account balance is confiscated.

I have a fully verified account with this casino, I had a run of good luck & had a balance of £2200 & a pending withdrawl of £500, I logged back in to my account with account balance at zero so I checked my statement & it said that £2200 was "taken to system" and £500 was still pending. I’ve had no email to tell me what this means, I’m still able to bet so account not suspended. Emails don’t seem to be getting answered

Dear Lawallace,

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. 

• Have you made any successful withdrawals before? 
• Did you accumulate your winnings with or without an active bonus?

Do I understand correctly that you've tried to contact the casino regarding this issue, but received no reply? If there is any relevant communication between you and the casino, please forward it to kristina.s@casino.guru. Alternatively, you can post it here. 

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

Best regards,

Kristina

No never withdraw before, and no active bonus. I recieved an email back that said this …

Dear Lauren,

Thank you for contacting us.

We would like to inform you that the amount of £2200 has been deducted from your account due to violation of our rule 9.11 on which the company reserves the right to remove all winnings in case of placing total bets equal to or greater than 30% of the value of the smallest deposit currently in play. 

As for your withdrawal request of £500, it has been received by our payments team and it will be checked soon.

Kind Regards,

surely that can’t be right? They can’t take £2200! The withdrawal is also still pending

another email …

Thank you for contacting us.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Finally, we would like to let you know, that based to our Terms & Conditions your amount has been deducted from our relevant department .

Please see the following term :

9.11 Company reserves the right to withhold any withdrawal request, which includes to remove all bonuses or winnings in the case of Irregular Play in case of the followings:

Placing total bets equal to or greater than 30% of the value of the smallest deposit currently in play. Including purchasing in-game features including but not limited to free spins with a total bet amount of 30% or greater than the value of the deposit.

Placing wagers that are 30% or more than the value of the bonus (the smallest one among them) currently in play within the bonus wagering requirements are fulfilled. (....)

Your game play was against to our Terms& Conditions and we cannot refund your amount.

For further assistance do not hesitate to contact us again via e-mail.

Thank you for your reply, Lawallace. Could you please advise how much you deposited?

£120

I would like to emphasize that the max bet rule is, in fact, an industry-standard, however, the max bet rule should not be applied in a real money play without a bonus. We believe the players should be able to place bets in the amount they desire and the only somehow acceptable limitation should be enforced by the casino system or a game automatically so that the player does not unintentionally break it.

Thank you very much, Lawallace, for your cooperation. 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.  

Dear Lawallace,

I'm Michal, and I have taken over your complaint. I have reviewed your case and just so you know, the max bet rule is, in fact, an industry-standard, however, the max bet rule should not be applied in a real money play without a bonus. As my colleague Kristina mentioned, we believe the players should be able to place bets in the amount they desire and the only somehow acceptable limitation should be enforced by the casino system or a game automatically so that the player does not unintentionally break it.

I will contact the casino to see if I can help.

We would like to invite Final Countdown Casino to join the conversation.

Dear Final Countdown Casino,

While we acknowledge that the maximum bet rule is an industry-standard and recognize a casino's prerogative to withhold winnings in the event of a breach, we propose that this rule be implemented at the software level. This entails configuring the casino's software or website to prevent players from exceeding the specified betting limit. Moreover, we advocate for allowing players to freely determine their bet amounts without the imposition of the max bet rule during real-money play without a bonus. We find the current practice of confiscating winnings, especially when not acquired through a bonus or in violation of other rules, to be inequitable. Can you please provide a further explanation of your actions?

What happens if they don’t reply? They won’t

Dear Lawallace,

I have reached out to the casino team but have not received a reply yet. Although we maintain a strong reputation in the industry and collaborate with numerous online casinos, there are still many establishments that either cannot or will not cooperate with us in resolving player complaints. This seems to be the case with Final Countdown Casino.

Sadly you have opted to engage with a casino that has a very low safety rating in our assessment. Such establishments quite frequently implement rules that may not align with our standards of fairness.

Strictly technically speaking, the rule referenced in their email is indeed part of their terms and conditions, which you accepted upon creating your account. However, many reputable casinos do not impose such rules, or any limitations are enforced automatically to prevent player violations.

I will persist in my efforts to convey our position to the casino team, but at this point, a favorable resolution to your complaint appears uncertain.

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 Lawallace,

I have tried to contact the casino repeatedly but had no success. I'm afraid there is not much that can be achieved without cooperation from its side. Since the casino operates without a valid license and doesn't refer to any ADR service, there is no gaming authority to turn to. 

I will mark the complaint as "unresolved" in our system. I understand this isn't a satisfactory solution to your issue. However, the decrease in the rating caused by unresolved complaints could help to change the casino's approach. If the casino decides to react, we will reopen the complaint and you will be notified by email. 

I can only recommend you choose casinos by their reviews and ratings in the future to avoid situations like this. I am sorry we could not be of more help on this occasion.

Best regards,

Michal

Casino Guru