Instaspin Casino - Player seeks refund for regulatory violations.

Dear Instaspin.com Team,

I am writing to you regarding a significant issue I encountered while gambling on your site as a UK player. After realizing that I am registered with GamStop, I reviewed your terms and conditions and noted that you do not accept players from the UK. This is deeply concerning as it indicates a breach of compliance with UK gambling regulations.

Violation of UK Gambling Regulations

As a regulated online gambling platform, adherence to national regulations is paramount. It appears that Instaspin.com has failed to enforce its own terms and conditions by allowing a UK player, like myself, to gamble on your site. This oversight not only jeopardizes the integrity of your platform but also undermines the protective measures established by UK regulatory bodies to safeguard players.

Misuse of Payment Processing

Additionally, I have identified that you are violating terms of regulation regarding VISA and Mastercard. Specifically, your site is using different merchants to bypass individual banks' gambling blocks. These merchants include MyDates, ENYGMA SAS, and Alottoplay.com. Such practices are not only deceptive but also violate the trust of your users and the regulatory standards set forth by payment providers.

Request for Refund

In light of these serious issues, I request that you investigate this matter promptly and refund my deposited funds. Continuing to operate in this manner exposes both your platform and your users to significant risks.

Conclusion

I urge you to rectify these violations immediately to comply with the terms set by VISA and Mastercard and your gambling license. Your swift action in refunding my money and preventing similar issues in the future will demonstrate your commitment to ethical and legal standards.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to your response and the resolution of my concerns.

Dear Loohis,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your negative experience with Instaspin Casino.

Please allow me to ask you a few questions, so I can better understand the situation. 

• Could you please advise how long have you been a player of this casino?
• Have you completed account verification?
• Is your casino account blocked?
• Have you informed the casino about any gambling issues /addiction in the past, and if yes, when?

Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

Best regards,

Tomas

Hey Tomas!

thank you for assisting me.

Could you please advise how long have you been a player of this casino?

1/2 weeks.

Have you completed account verification?

I didn’t. But I did select I was a UK player when signing up and my IP Address would have shown this.

Is your casino account blocked?

They have now fully blocked my account and ignoring my emails. I can not access live chat either.

Have you informed the casino about any gambling issues /addiction in the past, and if yes, when?

I did when opening my complaint. Although, usually regulations they know this upon signing up.

thanks so much,

Louis

Thanks for your reply and explanation of the situation. I apologize for not replying sooner.

According to our review, the casino is accepting players from the UK, despite not operating under UKGC license.

Casinos not operating under UKGC won't be part of the GAMSTOP scheme.

If the casino accepted you as a player we believe they should pay your legitimate winnings, and therefore we won't pursue the case based on your first two points mentioned in your first post.

We believe online casinos should offer a mechanism of permanent self-exclusion due to gambling problems. If you don't inform the casino about such problems you won't be protected.

Unfortunately, summing up the complaint, if you registered in a casino not licensed under UKGC, and only informed the casino of your gambling problems after depositing and playing down your balance, we won't be able to offer any recourse.

Please let me know if there are any circumstances I haven't considered, otherwise your complaint will be closed.

Thank you for your reply and explanation. I appreciate your attention to my concerns and the detailed review of my situation.

I understand that Instaspin.com accepts players from the UK despite not operating under a UKGC license, and I recognize that casinos not under the UKGC are not part of the GAMSTOP scheme.

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) operates as the UK's gambling regulator, and is an independent regulatory body established under the UK Gambling Act of 2005. To operate legally in the UK, all gambling platforms are required to hold a license issued by the UKGC.

However, there are several critical points I would like to address:

Adherence to Terms and Conditions

Acceptance of UK Players:

According to your terms and conditions, Instaspin.com explicitly states that it does not accept UK players. By allowing me to register and play, the casino violated its own policy. This oversight places the responsibility on the casino to rectify the situation, including the refund of my deposits.

Self-Exclusion Mechanism:

While I did not inform the casino of my gambling problems prior to depositing, the availability of a self-exclusion mechanism is a standard expectation for any responsible gambling operator, regardless of their licensing jurisdiction. The absence of such mechanisms or the failure to enforce them adequately is a serious concern.

Misuse of Payment Processing

Regulatory Violations:

As mentioned earlier, the use of various merchants like MyDates, ENYGMA SAS, and Alottoplay.com to bypass gambling blocks imposed by banks is a clear violation of VISA and Mastercard regulations. This practice not only breaches payment provider rules but also misleads players and regulators.

Request for Fair Resolution

Given these points, I request that Instaspin.com honors its own terms and conditions and refunds my deposits. Allowing UK players in violation of stated policies and misusing payment processors cannot be overlooked.

Conclusion

I hope you reconsider my complaint with these additional considerations. Your commitment to responsible gambling and regulatory compliance is crucial for maintaining trust and integrity within the industry.

Dear Loohis,

The casino offers a self-exclusion mechanism in which you need to inform the casino about any gambling problems.

"6.9 Please remember that betting is purely for entertainment and pleasure and you should stop as soon as it stops being fun. Absolutely do not bet anything you can’t afford to lose. If you feel that you may have lost control of your gambling, we offer a self-exclusion option. Just send a message to our Customer Support Department using your Registered Email Address that you wish to SELF-EXCLUDE and this request will take effect within 24 hours from the moment of its receipt. In this case your account will be disabled until your further notice, and you won’t be able to login to it."

Sadly player protections you might have been familiar with in UKGC-licensed casinos might not apply in casinos licensed elsewhere. If you are interested in our point of view on the matter feel free to read our article https://casino.guru/current-state-of-self-exclusion and don't hesitate to take advantage of our self-exclusion tool https://casino.guru/global-self-exclusion-initiative/assistance-tool if you have any other open accounts in online casinos or any other resources found on our website.

I checked the terms and conditions and the only list of restricted countries I found was:

3.1.3 You are a resident in a jurisdiction that allows gambling. You are not a resident of any country in which access to online gambling to its residents or to any person within such country is prohibited. It is your sole responsibility to ensure that your use of the service is legal. List of restricted countries includes, but are not limited to; Afghanistan, American Samoa, Barbados, Botswana, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republia, Cuba, Ethiopia, North Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Guam, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Russia, Samoa, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Venezuela, Yemen, Zimbabwe, Contested territories that are not internationally recognized: Eastern Ukraine, Transdniestria, The Crimea Region, Abkhazia, South Ossetia etc.

I fail to see any restriction the casino is specifying regarding the players from the United Kingdom, which is also reflected in our review of the casino.

I can't competently comment on your other points regarding Payment Processing, unfortunately, as it's not something we can't influence or compel casinos to change the practice.

If your aim is to seek a refund of lost deposits on the grounds that the casino lacks a particular license, we are unable to assist you. In each review, we provide users with license information, and it ultimately falls on each player to make an informed decision regarding their choice of casino.

Considering no new circumstances were presented we'll be forced to reject your complaint. I sincerely apologize that we couldn't offer more assistance in this matter. Despite the disappointing result of this complaint, don't hesitate to contact us if you face issues with any online casinos in the future.