Velobet Casino - Player's account remains open despite self-exclusion request.

Dear sirs,

I Stupidly opened an account with velobet especially as I used to have mental health issues with a gambling addiction. However, I thought if i set deposit limits, time outs then this could be controlled. Unfortunately the casino doesn’t have these implements but I continued anyway. I got off to a win about a week ago of approx £500 up and I had communication with support, supplied my identity to them which was really quick and the withdrawal was processed, no issue. The next evening I lost approximately £700 and thought to myself it’s time to stop before things start getting out of hand. I then responded to support to say the following-

Dear sirs,

Can you please close my account and exclude me from all sites owned by SANTEDA as I have a serious gambling problem. 

Kind regards,

Thinking that the account was closed, I felt much better however, no response to my exclusion. I then logged on to the account and started depositing further approximately £1400. Luckily I manage to win £1900 so withdrew it and it was surprisingly successful. Then last night the addiction kicked in approximately £5700 with of deposits from 8pm-6am with no sleep and followed up with several emails for account closure and exclusion with nothing back from them and begging them to close the account. Nothing back from them.

I then got out out a bank loan and deposited a further £2200 quiet literally putting silly bets on things just to fulfill the addiction.

it’s been 3 days now and I still haven’t heard back from them whereas I had an accounts with sister sites of theirs Golden bet and Mystake who were quick to respond and closed the accounts some months back. The account remains open so please can you contact them firstly to close it before my addiction continues. Unfortunately, I don’t know who else to ask.

I will provide the emails and screenshots of the deposits and emails including my request to have the account closed and excluded.

Total deposits of £7755.36 after the 30th January when I asked to be exclude minus the £1900 withdrawal, I am seeking a refund of £5855.36 but more importantly, I need the account closed before this figure starts rising.

please can you help?

Dear Roger7778,

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

I observe that the prior request was directed to kyc@velobet.com, the designated email address for the KYC verification process.

When applying for the self-exclusion, 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. 

Example:

Email subject: Self-exclusion

Player’s info:

First name:

Last name:

DOB:

Casino login:

Email address:

"Greetings Velobet Casino,

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

Please send another email to support@velobet.com (you can CC me at petronela.k@casino.guru in the copy) and keep me informed about any further developments. If there is any option for an alternative contact such as live chat or WhatsApp, please try that too and save screenshots of the relevant communication.

Thank you in advance.

Best regards,

Petronela

Dear sirs,

I was expecting and hoping you would say this as the terms do not mention anything at all about self exclusion on the mobile site which is where I opened the account and played. I do not own a pc. You can check this from your mobile to confirm this. As for the email to kyc, two things- 1. It’s the only email contact I have ever received from them when confirming my identity and they said to contact them again if there were any questions or concerns.

2- I have an account with Goldenbet which is owned and resided in the same place as velobet and self exclusion was done through kyc successfully. In fact, support did not get involved. I will share the screenshots to confirm this.

this morning I was going to call the authorities as the account was still opened however, I managed to borrow a pc from a friend and there was a live chat section. I will also send through the chat to you. They said that they received the email for exclusion yesterday and blocked the account. I sent it on the 30th of January and I successfully logged into the account this morning when using live chat so this was a lie.

thank god the account is now blocked. It’s been really stressful with no contact from them whatsoever.

As the mobile terms that I signed up for completely differ and are diluted compared to the terms on pc website that you qoute, I am still seeking a refund of deposits from when I sent the exclusion email.

i have several screenshots of the mobile terms which don’t say anything about the self exclusion process nor who to contact about doing this. These are the terms I agreed to when opening the account. Do let me know if you want me to send through the full mobile terms. All transactions and games have been done through mobile.

same owned company accepting exclusion via kyc and support directed my there

Hi Roger7778,

This screenshot from my phone shows the Responsible Gaming section, where the previously mentioned email address is provided. Additionally, live chat is accessible via phone as well.

• Could you confirm whether you reached out to live chat after your initial request went unanswered?

Please be aware that even if the self-exclusion request is directed to the correct address, we allow 3 working days for the casino to process it. In your situation, you submitted the request on January 30th (Tuesday), and your account was blocked on Saturday. Given that the request was sent to the wrong address, this timeframe is still acceptable. Far from ideal but acceptable.

It was not sent to the wrong address. Kyc asked if I had any questions or concerns to which I did when I emailed them. When I had an account with golden bet, kyc dealt with the whole exclusion and closure to which they responded to my email request in a matter of hours.

as for the screenshot on your phone, I didn’t see this area and only went by the terms which is diluted compared to the website.

the account remained opened on Saturday and I borrowed a friends laptop to go on to chat. I logged in successfully and the response from chat was"what seems to be the problem, we received your email yesterday and your account is blocked" obviously I wouldn’t have been able to log in if this was the case.

kyc should have at least forward my request of advised me on what to do when the email was very serious. This all happened on working days and not the weekend so again adriana from kyc should be responsible for not doing this when she clearly asked me to get in touch if I had any questions or concerns. This was said after the verification was completed

I still haven’t received to date one single email response from support@velobet.com despite numerous emails to them

If an email of this serious nature comes through to the company, then surely it would be forwarded to the relevant department. I emailed multiple times asking for the account to be closed and was even considering calling the authorities and yet no response. 3 days and for me to speak via live chat to get it closed.

The screenshots that you provide only work via mobile with google chrome or a google phone which I don’t have. Also, the contact email when you press the button is the incorrect email address which is support@velobet.email which the company does not accept.

Hi Roger7778,

I'm sorry for the late reply. Respectfully, your request was directed to an incorrect email address. Can you kindly inform me about the most recent instance when you were able to access your casino account and make a deposit?

Thank you.

after reading reviews on casino guru site, I don’t want to continue conversations with you. You clearly protect the casinos here and I will also review my experience on trust pilot.

this is now with the ceg.

I acknowledge your decision not to pursue this case any further, Roger7778. However, I want to stress that we can only assist players who adhere to instructions when applying for self-exclusion. I believe I thoroughly explained the process for future reference and the reasons why we couldn't assist you this time.

I wish I could offer more assistance. I regret that we couldn't resolve this case for you, but please feel free to reach out if you encounter any issues with another casino in the future. Given the reasons mentioned above, I must now reject this complaint. Thank you for your understanding.