Galactic Wins Casino - Player’s winnings have been confiscated.

I had made a small deposit with the casino which had a bonus attached to it but won instantly and began building my real-money account. Upon trying to withdraw $1200 of my winnings (not everything), the casino took forever to respond and then almost a week later sent a withdraw cancellation stating I played games against the bonus funds T&C. I had to actually cancel and forfeit the bonus funds to request my real funds withdraw and confirmed with support that my funds were real funds. The casino has since refused to respond and has wiped my entire real funds balance down to $5.

Dear patrjohnson19,

Thank you very much for submitting this complaint. I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience with Galactic Wins Casino. Please allow me to ask you a few questions to make sure I understand your situation completely.

Could you please specify the bonus you took? Please send me the link or the screenshot of the bonus.

Could you kindly forward me the email from the casino stating that your winnings have been voided because you played games excluded from bonus wagering? My email address is veronika.l@casino.guru.

Have you passed the full KYC verification?

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

Hi Veronika,

Here's the bonus that I had used for the deposit but never actually used any of the bonus funds that I had won (and actually forfeited all of them for the deposit) as well as the email they send to confiscate my funds.

I had submitted the KYC documents (as usual for withdrawals) but never received confirmation that they 'verified me' before the email removing my funds.

Thanks,

Pat

Thank you for providing the screenshots. Before we proceed with your case, kindly send me your complete gaming history starting from the moment you deposited money into your account, activated the bonus, and played the games that resulted in the confiscation of your winnings. Please request this information in Excel format from the casino, and then send it to my email address: veronika.l@casino.guru. Thank you.

Hi Veronika, I would love to get you that information but the casino has not responded to any request from me since the email you have already received from me stating they took my funds.

Thank you very much, patrjohnson19, for providing all the necessary information. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Peter (peter.c@casino.guru) who will be at your assistance. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see your problem being resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.

Hello there,

Thank you patrjohnson19 for providing us with all the information. I hope we'll be able to resolve this issue together.

I would now like to ask Galactic Wins Casino for their help in resolving this complaint. We would like to know why were the player's funds confiscated and what can be done to resolve this issue.

Thank you!

Hello All,

Thank you for your patience while we gathered the details regarding this request.

On 2024-01-22 a deposit of 5 CAD was made which claimed an exclusive promotion that offered 100 free spins on 3 Pots Riches

https://www.galacticwins.com/en/promotions/spj-fra-w-3-m-dep-5-get-100-fs-juqw

The Terms and Conditions of the Promotion state the below:

Free Spins Terms & Conditions

You will be notified of the available spins once you open the game.

The total value of each spin is €0.20 (or equivalent).

Winnings from the spins will be added to your account after each spin.

Winnings from the spins are added to your account as bonus funds ("free spins winnings bonus"). These bonus funds are given for wagering purposes only and will be removed from your account balance when you request a withdrawal.

You must complete the free spins winnings bonus wagering requirements before being able to request a withdrawal. The wagering requirement of deposit free spins winnings bonus is 25 times the free spins winnings bonus amount (Please see "Non-Allowed Games" for list of non-allowed games).

We reserve the right to expire this bonus 7 days after being awarded. If the required wagering is not completed by the expiry time, the bonus together with any winnings and any bets placed will be deducted from your account balance.

You may request for the bonus to be reinstated by contacting Customer Support.

The maximum cash-out for free spins winnings bonus is €100.00.

The following wagering activities are not allowed until the wagering requirements of this bonus have been completed:

1. The use of bonus funds purely to progress through the bonus stages of games.

2. Equal, zero or low margin betting

3. Betting on a non-slots game, such as a table or card game

4. Betting more than €4.00 per spin or 10% of the received bonus amount (the smaller of the two)

5. Betting on non-allowed games (Please see "Non-Allowed Games" for list of non-allowed games).

6. Using a ‘feature buy’ or Buy Pass function within a game.

If, on review of your wagering activities, it is found that you have performed one of the above, your winnings will be removed.

The General Terms and Conditions apply.

Therefore, if bets are placed on any games from the Non-Allowed list while the wager is in play, the winnings made from this promotion will be removed.

We have attached the List of non-allowed games below for your information.

https://www.galacticwins.com/en/tnc/non-allowed-games

Non-Allowed Games

Last updated 28/07/2023

The following games are not allowed while you have wagering on your account:

Game / Game Category

All Jackpot slots

All table games

All roulette games

All poker games

All blackjack games

All Baccarat games

All live casino games

On 2024-01-24 a withdrawal request was submitted for CAD 1200.00.

This request was declined on 2024-01-28

Upon review of the game history, it was found that bets were placed on games from the Non-Allowed List while the wager was in play.

Bets were placed on Jackpot

The winnings were removed and the deposit of 5 CAD were returned to the casino account.

The relevant Game History can be provided upon request.

This can also be seen on the player’s account under Transaction History.

An email was sent to the player on 2024-01-28  informing him regarding this, as shown above.

We encourage all players to use the Live Chat option as it offers immediate assistance to players’ requests.

Our Live Chat is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If anything further is needed, please do not hesitate to ask.

Best regards,

Galactic Wins Representative

Just to clarify a couple of points here. I was not betting with bonus funds even though I had some from the deposit. I was entirely using real funds as can be seen in this screenshot that I took a little before making my withdrawal request and forfeiting the bonus funds.

If I had been betting with bonus funds and accidentally played 'jackpot slots', there is apparently nothing that warns you that you are about to make an illegal bet like most other sites have as I never received any message and the term 'jackpot' is REALLY vague and not explained well at all on the site.

Thank you both parties for the clarification.

According to our Fair Gambling Codex, we believe that casinos should give a player warning when they're going to play a game that is restricted or the game should not count towards the wagering requirements of the bonus. We consider any confiscation of funds to be predatory and against the spirit of fair gambling. We strongly advise the casino to reconsider their stance and I hope a compromise can be achieved in this situation.

Thank you!

Dear All,

Thank you for your reply.

The maximum cash out for the promotion claimed is 100 CAD

This can be seen in the Bonus Terms and Conditions below:

https://www.galacticwins.com/en/promotions/spj-fra-w-3-m-dep-5-get-100-fs-juqw

Free Spins Terms & Conditions:

The maximum cash-out for free spins winnings bonus is $100.00.

Kindly confirm for us to proceed and make the necessary changes to the account.

Best regards,

Galactic Wins Representative

I would like to understand why we are discussing this as if the casino confiscated bonus funds from me and the bonus limits were part of this. As my screenshot shows, even though I had a bonus on the account, I was gambling and winning with real funds. I have no doubt the casino is happy to credit me now with $100 to have this case closed and not get further strikes on their account while they have confiscated over $1400 in real funds.

Thank you for the update. Dear Galactic Wins Casino, if the player was using the bonus funds shouldn't only the bonus winnings be removed from the account? The player clearly showed that the funds were separated into real and bonus funds so I still do not understand why real funds were confiscated in this case. I have reviewed your terms and conditions and there is no mention that real funds are used for bonus funds wagering therefore there is no reason they should be confiscated. Thank you in advance!

Dear All

Thank you for your reply

Kindly note that players have the option to play with either a promotion or their funds.

If players opt to play with their funds, there are no wagering Terms and Conditions associated with their gameplay.

However, if players choose to play using a promotion, they are required to comply with our Terms and Conditions while a wager is active.

The Bonus Terms and Conditions state the below:

You must complete the bonus wagering requirements before being able to request a withdrawal. The wagering requirement of this bonus is XX times the deposit and bonus amount

Therefore, as the deposit is tied to the bonus and wager, all funds utilized during the active wager are considered in the wagering requirement and hence subject to Bonus Terms and Conditions.

Players are required to review and accept the terms and conditions of each bonus before claiming it.

Failure to comply with the wagering requirements and betting limits specified in the bonus terms may result in the removal of winnings.

By claiming a bonus, players agree to the maximum withdrawal clause and other terms outlined in the bonus terms and conditions.

Best Regards,

Boo Casino Representative

Dear Galactic Wins Casino representative, I would like to ask if you could provide a game history of the player for review to my email (peter.c@casino.guru)

Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Dear All,

Game History has been sent to Peter as requested.

If anything further is needed, please do not hesitate to ask.

Best regards,

Galactic Wins Representative

Thank you for providing the information Galactic Wins Casino representative.

Dear patrjohnson19, I was in contact with the casino representative and requested additional information like your transaction history. After reviewing this it came to light that your starting balance before taking this bonus was 84.43 CAD. After which you used the bonus to get free spins and from these spins you have acquired the winnings. Unfortunately, these winnings fall under the max bonus win rules and they would be subsequently reduced after the wagering requirements were met and withdrawal requested. Therefore I recommend taking the proposed $100.00. Let us know what you have decided.

I still do not agree with how this is being viewed since the funds were all won with the $5 initial deposit and I never touched the bonus, which was shown very clearly in my screenshot.

Obviously though with the abysmal rating and ridiculous # of open complaints against this casino, getting even $100 actually withdrawn should be looked at as a victory. I will wait any see if the casino actually sends me the $100 they have committed to but I have very little faith even that will happen.

Dear all,

Apologies for the delayed reply.

This is to let you know that we have initiated the payment of CAD 100.00 to the player earlier today.

Should anything further be required from our side, please let us know.

Kind regards,

GalacticWins Casino

Thank you very much for the update.

Dear patrjohnson19, we will keep this complaint open until you confirm your withdrawal has been successful. Please keep me informed about any further developments.

Dear patrjohnson19,

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.

The $100 transfer was successful.

Dear patrjohnson19,

I'm glad to hear that you received your winnings. I will now mark the complaint as 'resolved' in our system. 

Thank you for your cooperation, and please do not hesitate to contact our Complaint Resolution Center if you run into any issues with this or any other casino in the future. We are here to help.

Best regards,

Peter