Stake Casino - Player is requesting a full deposit refund.

I am writing to raise a formal complaint regarding a self-exclusion issue that I experienced at Stake casino. Two months ago, I requested self-exclusion from Stake casino due to my gambling addiction. However, I was allowed to play again and subsequently lost all my money.

I am extremely concerned that the casino failed to uphold my self-exclusion request and allowed me to continue playing. Despite my self-exclusion request, I was able to open an account using my name and verify my account with my ID card just a few days ago. This has caused me significant financial distress and has exacerbated my gambling addiction.

I have documentation that proves that I requested self-exclusion, including all of the necessary personal information.

I would like to resolve this matter as quickly and amicably as possible, but the casino doesn’t want to cooperate with me, I’ve tried to talk to them through chat, but they even didn’t care and also said "Unfortunately, we are not able to see if you are using something to bypass our system and in case our system detects something, actions will be taken.", and also I send them an email to "complaints@stake.com" but I didn’t receive any answer yet.

I am requested that the casino fully investigate this matter and provide a response to me as soon as possible. I am willing to provide any additional information or documentation that may be required to resolve this matter.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Dear Toretto999,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your problem. Please allow me to ask you a few questions, so I can understand the whole situation completely.

Do I understand correctly that you have sent an email back in December 2022 requesting not to allow any possible registration in the casino in the future?

Have you had an account in this casino at that time?

It seems as if you only registered in February 2023, is that right?

Please understand that casinos usually do not keep record of self-exclusion requests if a player doesn't have an active account.

Thank you in advance for your reply.

Best regards,

Petronela

Dear Petronela,

I understand that your point of view seems to be in favor of the casino, and it appears that as a customer, I have no rights even with unlimited evidence. Let me clarify this for you - I did have an account with the casino in question, as you can see in the attached picture.

I also recently created another account using the same ID and information, even though I had previously requested self-exclusion, as shown in the email. I understand that you may find reasons to justify the casino's actions, but I would like to point out that when I requested self-exclusion from Stake casino, I made the same request to over 100 other casinos.

If I were to attempt to create an account with any of them and verify my documents, I would be instantly banned.

It seems that Stake casino is paying people like you to support them, even when they violate laws and take advantage of customers.

Hey,

there are only 3 days left until the conversation closes, I leave this reply to remind you of me in case you have forgotten me. 

Thank you!

I can ensure you that we try to reply to each player in a timely manner. Everyone has seven (7) days to reply and the complaint doesn't simply close after those seven days. We take time to investigate each case and sometimes we are able to reply in a few hours and sometimes it takes a few working days. Each customer's patience is highly appreciated in this matter.

Now back to your case, the screenshot that you posted in your second reply wasn't available to me earlier. Now, when I know it, it changes the whole point of view. Could you please confirm that your account was created using the same email address from which you sent the request for the self-exclusion?

I appreciate your prompt response after my review on Trust and I would like to clarify that my account was not created using the same email address from which I sent the request for self-exclusion.

However, I provided my real name and ID card information for verification purposes both for the old account from which I requested the ban of my name and also mentioning that I have serious problems with gambling , and for the new account that was created after the self-exclude request,  which I believe should have been sufficient to verify my identity.

I have made similar requests for self-exclusion with other casinos(as I said before), and they have always honored my request, regardless of the email address used to create a new account.

I saw your review on Trustpilot and can assure you that my reply has nothing to do with it. As I explained earlier, each side has seven days to reply. You can check the timer in the right upper corner.

I'd like to ask you if you wish to have your complaint closed now when you posted a 1* review and obviously lied about our services and now expect us to help you.

Be careful, they won’t solve your problem, they are such a scammers, you just lost waste your time explaining your problem because in the end, if you have too many proofs they won’t reply to you back, such a scammers.

Dear Petronela,

I appreciate your response regarding my review on TrustPilot. I understand your concerns about the 1-star review, however, I would like to request your assistance in resolving the issue at hand.

By resolving the complaint, we can work towards a positive outcome and I would be happy to consider updating my review on TrustPilot accordingly.

I would like to emphasize that my review was based on my personal experience with your company and I did not make any false statements.

I believe that we still can improve my opinion and that of other customers. TrustPilot still allows me to update my review to a 5-star rating, and I would appreciate your assistance in making that possible.

Thank you, Toretto999, for providing all the necessary information. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Jozef (jozef.k@casino.guru) who will be at your assistance. I wish you best of luck and hope to see your problem being resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.  

Thank you for your assistance, Petronela. Your support has been appreciated. On the occasion of International Women's Day, I would also like to extend my heartfelt best wishes to you!

I am awaiting of your colleague Jozef and look forward to further to collaborate with him.

Once again, thank you, and I wish you all the best.

Dear Toretto999,

I absolutely appreciate that you shared your experiences with the Casino Guru team. We will now try to get in touch with the casino.

Dear Casino Guru,

The player has already filled a complaint to Stake to which we have responded and provided an adequate explanation on why the player allegation should not proceed.

On the 30th December 2022, the player sent an e-mail to Stake.us, requesting to not allow him to allow him to register an account due to his gambling addiction and the adequate steps were taken in order to comply with the player request.

It happens that on the 16th of February 2023, the player decided to register an account at Stake.com, which is a different business from Stake.us and that is operated through a different company and licence. Accordingly, Stake.com did not have information about the player’s self-exclusion request made to Stake.us.

Stake.com and Stake.us are different businesses, operated by two different entities with different/separate management. Accordingly, these companies cannot exchange players information under the applicable GDPR regulation.

Further to the above, it is relevant to address the player misconduct during this procedure. Knowing that he had gambling issues, he still tried to register an account at Stake.com in breach of Clause 5 of the Terms of Services.

As such, we understand that Stake complied with its obligations, and that the player is not entitled to any reimbursement.

Best,

Dear Toretto999,

I am very sorry about the situation, but I can only confirm the casino statement. Based on the evidence provided, you did really send your email request to support@stake.us, and Stake US is indeed a separate brand from stake.com. Unfortunately, I believe you are not entitled to receive a refund. Is there anything else I can assist you with?

We are extending the timer by 7 days. Please, be aware that in case you fail to update the status of your complaint in the given time frame, we will reject it. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your help. I appreciate your efforts.

There is nothing further that I require assistance with.

Dear Toretto999,

Unfortunately, after gathering all the necessary information, we are rejecting this complaint. Sorry we were not able to help you with this one, but please, do not hesitate to contact us in the future, if you run into any issues with this or any other casino, and we will try our best to help.

Best regards, Jozef