MyStake Casino - Player's self-exclusion request has been ignored.

Hello,

On 03-11-2022 I asked for a self-exclusion from MyStake for 6 months and I specifically asked the live-chat to not reopen my account for any reason for the mentioned timeline as you will see in the screenshots attatched. MyStake reopened my account some days later violating the responsible gambling guidelines they have. I have attatched all the relevant confirmations below. MyStake had this information saved about the situation as you can see since they provided it to me now again (months later, that it was a self-exclusion, and that I on top of that requested my account to not be reopened for any reason for this time, 6 months), so they had this information too when they reopened the account.

Dear Joseph123,

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

Correct me if I am wrong, but since you asked to be self-excluded for six months on 3rd November 2022, the period of your self-exclusion expired on 3rd May 2023. Were you able to access your account prior to that date?

Could you please confirm if you requested the casino to prolong the period of your self-exclusion?

Have you specified the reason why you wished to be self-excluded?

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

Hello,

Yes, I had access before the end for the self-exclusion.

They re-opened the account one or two days later, I can't remeber the exact date but it should be 4th of November 2022 or 5th of November 2022, where around 2,500 were lost.

I did not specify it because everything above 6 months self-exclusion is categorised as problem gambling based on their terms, but I did specify that I want to not have the possibility to reopen the account at all for 6 months, that's why I requested (and they agreed) that they won't reopen the account for 6 months for any reason. They did not abide by their responsible gambling policies, and they reopened the account, 1 or 2 days later. Asking for 6 months self-exclusion should be enough to keep the account shut, but I wanted to make sure that the account would not be reopened for any reason these 6 months and that's why I emphasised and communicated that I do not want to be any possibility of the account to be reopened.

Could you please forward the email communication between you and the casino regarding your self-exclusion to veronika.l@casino.guru?

Hello,

I cannot see the email you provided me, it appears as  _XXXXXX_0@email.xxxxx .

This is the communication I would send in the email where they verify what I'm sharing with you:

I apologize but this communication is from 28/6/2023. From this screenshot, I can not see if you were able to access your account from 3rd November onwards.

Could you send me your gaming history from the time when your account was supposed to be blocked, please? My email is veronika.l@casino.guru - I hope this time you'll be able to see it properly 🙂.

sent

Usually, when a player requests to be self-excluded, we give the casino 3-4 days to process the request.

Could you please send me the original conversation between you and the casino from November 2022, when you asked to be self-excluded?

Hello,

I do not have the original self-exclusion request since I did not know how things would end, but I can verify you that the account was closed with immediate effect from the day I asked for the self-exclusion, and was reopened a day later, MyStake will be able to confirm this. I asked them again via their live chat, but they are now suddenly refusing to tell me anything more, or provide me with the live - chat conversations. I managed to find a screenshot from the 25th of November 2022 where the live chat support agent confirms me that the account was closed at 3rd of November with a mutual agreement to not be reopened for 6 months.

Do you have access to your gaming history from last November, please?

Hello,

I do not have access to my account now only the screenshots I have already saved and the information provided by the live chat (they stopped providing me information) but MyStake will be able to verify everything I say.

Thank you very much, Joseph123, for providing all the necessary information.

Now I’d like to invite a representative of MyStake Casino to join the conversation and participate in the investigation of the case. Could you please confirm if the player's account was reopened for a few days shortly after he requested to be self-excluded back in November 2022? Thank you.

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.

Hello,

The player's account has been reopened at the request of the user. Therefore, this action was prompted by the player's request, and we act accordingly. 

Kind regards,

Mystake

Thank you for the answer. Do I understand correctly that you reopened the player's account in November last year, just a few days after he requested to be self-excluded from the casino for the next 6 months?

Hello,

That exactly is the situation as MyStake mentioned, they reopened my account after I asked them for a 6 month self-exclusion with no possibility of the account to be reopened (this was mentioned so they would not reopen my account for any reason, because I was afraid that this might happen). I have already uploaded the screenshots where I asked them my account to not be reopened for 6 months, and they verified this. I think they reopened it the next day.

Have you specified that you wish to be self-excluded due to gambling addiction?

No I did not, because on their self-exclusion terms page (https://mystake3.com/en/static/terms/selfexclusion) they claim that when a situation is more serious you can ask for a 6 month self-exclusion and the account won't be reopened. Only on the 'Time Out Period' which has to be less than 6 months they claim that they can prematurely reopened the account. They claim that:

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

Time out periods

Self-exclusion periods

24/7 Customer Support

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. 

I did not ask my account to be temporarily closed, I asked my account to be self-excluded for 6 months without the possibility of the account being reopened for any reason.

This applies to the self-exclusion terms.

Also, they claim that it is 'at Casino’s sole discretion'. If their discretion is that they reopen an account of a player that asked of a 6 month exclusion while underlying that he wants the account to remain shut and not be reopened, this means they take advantage of situations and do not care if someone asks them to keep an account shut and not reopen it. How much more times should I have written that I want my account to not be reopened when requesting for a 6 month self-exclusion? They agreed to honor this.

When applying for the self-exclusion, always 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. I would also strongly recommend that you always save your self-exclusion request so that you have valid proof of such action.

Example:

Email subject: Self-exclusion due to xxx

Player’s info:

First name:

Last name:

DOB:

Casino login:

Email address:

"Greetings xxx xxx,

I’m writing to inform you that I wish to exclude immediately from this casino and from receiving any gambling-related marketing materials 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."

If you did not specify in any of your conversations that you wanted to close your account due to gambling addiction, I'm sorry but in our view, you are not eligible for refunds of your deposits. I apologize but we will not be able to assist you any further.

So, it doesn't matter at all if I asked to be self-excluded? Self-exclusion literally means what you are describing. It doesn't make a difference when a player asks to be self - exlcuded and the account to not be reopened? They themselves claim that the self exclusion is for serious problems.

Also, this has also been submitted to CEG and they ruled the situation in my favor and asked MyStake to issue a refund, but MyStake never honored this.

Could you please forward the decision of the CEG to veronika.l@casino.guru?

sent to veronika.l@casino.guru

Thank you for your email. I apologize, but we cannot offer you assistance in this matter. Our support in the complaints regarding a failed self-exclusion is limited to cases where the player explicitly states they wish to close their account due to gambling addiction.

Additionally, it's important to note that the CEG holds a higher level of authority than our forum. As you have chosen not to cooperate with them and have not provided the requested bank statement, we regret to inform you that there is nothing further we can do to aid you in this situation.

Due to the aforementioned reasons, this complaint will now be rejected. Thank you for your understanding, I am sorry we could not be of more help on this occasion. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you run into any issues with this or any other casino in the future.