Lucky Bar Casino - Player’s account has been reopened.

Hello again,

I was waiting to receive payment from this site before proceeding with my overarching complaint, which is about them reopening my account after I requested permanent self-exclusion due to gambling problems.

I have sent them several polite emails to their "Complaints" email address since early September, and even offered a compromise solution since I am trying to take some of the responsibility but have only received auto replies saying they will get back to me in 5 days every time.

Here's the situation:

I requested permanent and definitive self-exclusion from lucky bar casino on 26 January this year, by email, citing gambling problems. They replied to tell me that I was now "permanently self-excluded".

However, on 24 August they reopened my account unsolicited (i.e. after no contact whatsoever from me), put a £30 "bonus" in my account to tempt me back, and emailed me about it. Unfortunately as a compulsive gambler who is receiving treatment from the UK's National Problem Gambling Service, but still on the road to recovery, I did return to the site - as their bonus was designed to make me do - and I went on to lose many hundreds of pounds in deposits. (The delayed withdrawal that CasinoGuru has just helped me to get out of them was the small remainder which I managed to request when I "woke up" from the gambling lapse.)

They have an online tool you can use to self exclude but it only has a maximum of 30 days. I used it again as my only option at the end of the gambling lapse and then sent the complaint in. Part of my complaint to them (that they haven't replied to) said this:

"Obviously I want my account closure, currently set to the maximum user setting of 30 days, to be made permanent, but please make sure this time that it really IS permanent as a gambling lapse is something that is extraordinarily damaging and painful to my life. I need to use these tools to protect myself from slipping back into online gambling but it is absolutely essential that the tools can be trusted to work."

But when I checked the site after 30 days to see if I can log in, my account is open again!!

In addition to requesting once again that my account be permanently self-excluded, I want to make a formal complaint in the strongest terms about their reopening my account, and putting cash into it so that I would return, after I had clearly requested permanent self-exclusion on the grounds of gambling problems and they had confirmed that I was now "permanently" self-excluded.

With this in mind, I respectfully requested the return of the net amount of my deposits since the reopening was done. I later wrote to them to request a compromise in which I accept some of the losses, because it is better for my recovery if I accept some responsibility, but they are still not responding. And they won't even close my account, and this week sent me another promotional email.

I would be grateful for any help.

Dear hfmonths,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your negative experience. Could you please forward me the initial self-exclusion requests which you sent to the casino in January? My email address is kristina.s@casino.guru. Please, forward me any relevant communication between you and the casino as well.

Also, could you please advise how did you calculate the disputed amount? Is this the sum of all the deposits made after you applied for self-exclusion?

Lastly, do I understand correctly that your account has finally been closed?

I believe 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

Thank you very much hfmonths for your emails. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Martin who will be at your assistance. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see your problem being resolved to your satisfaction soon.

Hello hfmonths!

I will take care of your complaint from now on. I would like to invite representatives of Lucky Bar Casino into this complaint in order to help us resolve the issue.

I'd like to add a note to say that the site emailed me once again a few days ago, adding another unprompted bonus to my still-open account.

We would like to ask Lucky Bar 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 will have negative impact on the casino's rating.

This response is factually wrong and does not even begin to address the situation.

I invite Lucky Bar Casino to read my complaint which is about my written request for permanent self-exclusion in January and the fact they reopened it unasked in August.

Dear Lucky Bar Casino representatives,

Please note, that from the communication with Lucky Bar staff, which the player has provided us with, the issue of the maximum 30 day self-exclusion was being questioned by the player. Also, the player clearly stated the reason of self-exclusion, which was gambling problem. The casino staff responded that the account is permanently self-excluded, however after 6 months it was reopened and even 'welcome back' bonus was offered.

We consider these actions as very unfair and in contradiction with responsible gambling. Therefore it is advised to return the player's deposits and make sure her account remain closed without option to re-open in the future.

The player won with the deposit so we are happy to return players deposits if the player returns us the winnings

This sounds like a fair offer by my calculations.

The total of my deposits after the account was wrongfully reopened was £2810 and I received "winnings" (a withdrawal) of £350. Therefore I am happy to effectively return the £350 as requested which will mean I need to receive net deposits refunded, a total of £2460.

Please let me know when this transfer has been made.

No this is not true,

anyway the account is closed permanently now and we never pay back any deposit what has been

lost in our casino. Players always have the option to close accounts after 30 days reopen time as well

This case is closed from our side. We will not respond any

more posts here

These responses are variously untrue (I have provided proof and would be happy to stand in court showing that proof) and literally make no sense.

The casino is well aware of the truth but is now making panicked and made-up statements as it wants to carry on acting illegally, unethically and unprofessionally.

They have certainly showed their true colours with their behaviour towards me and in this thread.

Hello hfmonths,

The casino has made a clear statement within this complaint's thread about this case. Moreover, we were involved with further discussion with Lucky Bar outside of this complaint and in addition to the fact that there was a significant difference on views of self-exclusion in general between us, they made it clear, that they will not change their decision on this case.

With all that being said, I am very sorry to tell you, that we were not able to help you more with your issue with Lucky Bar Casino and have no other option, than close this complaint as 'unresolved' in our system, which will have a negative impact on their rating.