Freshbet Casino - Player struggles to get a refund of deposits due to self-exclusion.

Hi,

I have requested a refund of deposits from FreshBet casino. I included all details of the refund request in an email to the casino’s support address. They replied once stating that they blocked my account and that they were not going to reimburse me.

The complaint is regarding a permanent excluded with Mystakes and its affiliated casino’s such as Freshbet which are all operated by the group Onyxion.

Having problem gambling and having all the blocks in place within the UK such as gamstop and moses blocks.

These Non-Gamstop casino’s deeply impacted someone such as myself when these blocks don’t cover these overseas casinos. In addition to this, Fresh bet has allowed me to play on the casino, verify ID documents and still refuse and reject my first withdrawal with no reply whatsoever!

It was then when i spiralled out of control and deposited multiple times on the site knowing that even with a win, the casino would not let me withdraw due to having a block and permanent exclusion with the sister casino mystakes and the main operator Onyxion who had both previous rejected any and all refund requests - which was fair as i was not previously blocked with them. However, FreshBet knowing that i have a block in place have still allowed me to deposit, cancel my withdrawal and now refusing to refund the deposits.

Despite this, the casino now has stopped replying to my emails. I request a refund of deposits of £1456.

I previously opened complaint on casino guru with a player in the exact same situation as me was able to successfully be refunded. Although the casino Mystakes dragged the complaint on for over 2 years and finally refunded the deposits in the players favour. He similarly had a block with Rolletto also operated by Onyxion.

the link is as follows:

https://casino.guru/mystake-casino-player-s-requesting-a-full-deposit

Hopefully this can save a lot of time or miscommunication and Have my refund processed in a timely manner.

I have not disputed this directly with my bank like the other player as I believe that led to further delays in his case. I kindly ask for casinoguru’s help and assistance.

Dear kazolarzo22,

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

• Before we contact the casino and ask for their standpoint, could you please forward emails or screenshots showing that you have sent a request for a self-exclusion from this casino? My email address is petronela.k@casino.guru.
• Did you specify in that request for how long you wish your account to be suspended and the reason why?

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

Dear kazolarzo22,

I appreciate your email. It's important to note that if you haven't initiated the self-exclusion process directly with Freshbet Casino, we may not be able to assist you. Both casinos mentioned are licensed under Curaçao, and self-exclusion must be carried out separately for each.

When applying for the self-exclusion, state clearly the reason why you want your account to be deactivated and specify the time period. Also, email "Subject" should be clearly marked and easily recognizable as casino support receives many requests per day hence, if it’s visibly marked you stand a better chance to have your request granted as soon as possible. 

Example:

Email subject: Self-exclusion

Player’s info:

First name:

Last name:

DOB:

Casino login:

Email address:

"Greetings Freshbet Casino,

I’m writing to inform you that I wish to exclude immediately from this casino and from receiving any gambling-related marketing material for a minimum period of xxx months/years (lifetime).

The reason that preceded my decision is xxx

I acknowledge that I will not be allowed to rescind my self-exclusion during this period and self-exclusion cannot be lifted before the end of the agreed period."

Please send another email to support@fresh-bet.com (you can CC me at petronela.k@casino.guru in the copy) and keep me informed about any further developments. If there is any option for an alternative contact such as live chat or WhatsApp, please try that too and save screenshots of the relevant communication.

Thank you in advance.

Hi Petronela,

Apologies firstly for referring to you as Mr Petronela in the email. I was in a rush so didn’t quite see that till proof reading the screenshot afterwards.

but yes that email has been sent and i have CC’s you in to the email. Freshbet’s compliance manager emailed me this morning which i have also forwarded to you about not approving the refund due to it’s terms about geographical location and gambling laws etc, which don’t relate to my complaint.

I kindly ask for your assistance in proceeding from here. Thanks!

Hi kazolarzo22,

I've observed that you submitted your self-exclusion request to Freshbet Casino on December 5th, and on that same day, your account was successfully blocked. It's important to note that your previous self-exclusion from MyStake Casino does not extend to this particular gambling establishment. These two casinos operate independently and do not share player databases. Consequently, self-excluding from one casino does not automatically extend protection to any other casino.

Please let me know if there is any additional information that I have overlooked, but I’m afraid I will be forced to reject your complaint as unjustified. I wish I could be of more help. Thank you in advance for your reply and understanding.

hi Petronella,

Thanks for your email. Firstly, as you dealt with the previous case which i have linked in my first message, I do not see how my case is indifferent to that players. This group of casino’s by Onyxion operate on the same platform, have exactly the same payment processors, are all subsidiary’s of Onyxion, same layout of casino UI, In addition to this as you can see from the attachment from trustpilot, share the same support email as mystakes, so i find it extremely hard to believe that my block wasn’t upheld with freshbet from mystakes due to it being a different database.

in effect that are all the same, just a rebranded casino that operates under the same umbrella company Onyxion.

I understand your point of being blocked with one provider with a curacao license does not mean that ill be blocked with all other casino establishments who are under that same license. However this is not what im arguing, the exact point and request for my refund being that when excluded with mystakes, it extends out to all affiliates under the Onyxion brand. Freshbet being one as you can see from the attachment. In addition to this, when i first attempted a withdrawal of aprox £1500, ID verified, this was rejected without an explanation. On the casino, there is no option for players to cancel a withdrawal once submitted, showing that freshbet knew i was excluded, upon id verification and knowly, cancelled my withdrawal but continued to let me deposit and play through without 1. Informing me why withdrawal was cancelled and 2. Without blocking me immediately due to the exclusion.

finally this is the exact same scenario the other player complained on casinoguru was about. But with his being from rolletto exclusion not being transferred to mystakes and in my case from mystakes to freshbet.

so i do find it very upsetting that you think my claim isn’t justified here. Not only was exclusion not upheld, but at the end of the day fairplay to the player itself wasn’t upheld as i could only deposit and play through and when requesting withdrawal, this would be cancelled and put back into the account.

I understand your point of view and yet, I have to disagree. Please check the self-exclusion sections of both casinos:

Mystake Casino:

Freshbet Casino:

Self-Exclusion

To assist our players in playing responsibly, we provide a selection of options:

Time out periods

Self-exclusion periods

24/7 Customer Support

Time Out Period

If you need a break from gambling, please contact our Customer Support team and ask them to temporarily close your account. The Account can be reopened prematurely in case of written request of the Player at Casino’s sole discretion. 

Self-Exclusion

In case the situation is more serious, the Player may request the self-exclusion for an extended period. You shall contact our customer support team via email and request the self-exclusion for a period of between 6 months and 5 years. In case the User does not specify the period for the self-exclusion, the Account will be closed for 6 months.

Although I acknowledge the resemblance in the layouts of both websites, it doesn't necessarily imply that the two casinos share their databases. If there was an indication that the self-exclusion would encompass all sister casinos, or if you received confirmation from the initial casino regarding the extension of self-exclusion to sister websites, that would be a different scenario. Unfortunately, there is no basis for this in either the terms and conditions or through the Licensing Authority.

Dear kazolarzo22,

We are extending the timer by 7 days. Please, be aware that in case you fail to respond in the given time frame or don’t require any further assistance, we will reject the complaint.

I wish I could be of more help. I’m sorry we couldn’t help you to resolve this case, but please do not hesitate to contact us if you run into any issues with any other casino in the future. For the abovementioned reasons, I will now reject this complaint. Thank you for your understanding.