Velobet Casino - Player’s self-exclusion request has been ignored.

I sent an email to Velobet asking for self exclusion on 27th February 2024 , this email is provided on their site as one to contact them on as seen in attached screenshots. Contacted live chat asking for refund of deposits due to this not being acknowledged or upheld and was informed they had followed the rules and I had never sent them the email to which they terminated my account . I am looking for refund of all deposits made after this date as I called to their attention my want to self exclude and they failed to uphold their responsibility to act on this. Also informed them multiple of their games are not available in the UK which limits player experience. Live chat very unhelpful.

Dear anonymousspinner,

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

I checked the casino's self exclusion policy and found this: https://velobet.com/en/static/terms/selfexclusion

Self-Exclusion

In case the situation is more serious, the Player may request the self-exclusion for an extended period. You shall contact our customer support team via email and request the self-exclusion for a period of between 6 months and 5 years. In case the User does not specify the period for the self-exclusion, the Account will be closed for 6 months.

It can be difficult to determine whether a person’s gambling has become problematic though. If you have gambling related issues, please mention it while closing the account, so our staff will act responsibly.

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

• Have you informed the casino about the period for self-exclusion and about any gambling problems you are experiencing?
• Have you received any response from the casino regarding your request for self-exclusion or a subsequent refund?
• Could you please share your communication with the casino? Send emails or chat transcripts to my email at tomas@casino.guru, or post screenshots here

Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

Best regards,

Tomas

I didn’t inform of gambling addiction no and I know this is a large part of your criteria for these types of claims. I’ve started another live chat and they informed to submit a complaint via their email so I’m awaiting response from the casino. I mentioned the gambling issue this time and the account was closed however I am self excluded from two of their sister sites for this issue , I have also taken out credit to gamble on the site which the casino are aware of as I had to verify these credit cards and one was yet to arrive which I informed them of. This would be categorised as negligence under the CEG code of conduct responsible gaming 2022 article 3 subsection w. Negligence to attending in any matter that may cause damage to the reputation of license or sublicense. The terms and conditions of the site also state it is the site’s responsibility (velobet) to train their staff to recognise problem gambling but nobody recognised it , at times I’d played for close to 24 hours at a time and none of the staff flagged it as unusual. On top of this the sheer amount of money deposited in less than a month also should’ve been a sign. I did reach out for self exclusion and even if I had specified the email was never acknowledged by the operator. I have adhd which is exacerbated by the national shortage of ADHD medication and it affects my impulse control I know the site will have had no knowledge of this but I did reach out for support and was failed by the site.

I have sent the current evidence via email unfortunately I do not have the live chat transcripts but the casino denied receiving any emails from myself regarding this matter.

They also informed me I was eligible to withdraw an amount of £498 however when I tried the withdrawal was denied.

I’ve sent all the correspondence over

The site state that the site I’ve posted in the screenshot does not belong to them however when you click sign up it opens their site. I’ve informed them of this and they have stopped responding to emails.

I've looked further into licensing and discovered the casino is licensed by Anjoun licensing who state the license holder is not authorised to offer their services in the United Kingdom. The casino has now stopped responding to emails .



I've also looked into the KYC process further and have found that the casino has not followed this process properly either as when verifying the credit card that was yet to be in my possession I should've flagged as a medium to high risk customer. No checks taken for source of funds.

I understand your point of view.

Have you requested a self-exclusion in both associated websites (Rolletto and Golden bet) separately for each one?

Yes I’ve been excluded from those for around 10 months. The casino have responded again and state they aren’t willing to refund despite the evidence and points made above. I’ve contacted the CEG for support. They’ve clearly breached their own terms and conditions .

They’ve only been licensed with Anjouan since 22/03/24 I contacted them and they made me aware of this so it is the CEG who will have been their licensing body at the time

Dear anonymousspinner,

I went over your communication with the casino again, and as you pointed out earlier, informing the casino about a gambling problem is a crucial factor that dictates whether the casino should protect you from further gambling. Despite successful self-exclusions in sister brands, no other casino is obligated to self-exclude you if you don't inform them of this fact based on current and previous casino licensing obligations.

It seems the casino explained to you they permanently closed your account on March 24th after you informed them about a gambling problem.

Unfortunately, after considering the circumstances of the case, we can't conclude you informed the casino about your gambling problems beforehand and are therefore in our opinion not eligible for a refund.

I am sorry for the disappointing result of your complaint. I hope your other efforts will be more successful and I hope similar issues will avoid you in the future.

I would like to call your attention to our Self-Exclusion Assistance Tool https://casino.guru/global-self-exclusion-initiative/assistance-tool

This tool will make it easier for you to block your casino accounts across multiple gambling establishments simultaneously and is not affiliated with any specific casino. The Self-Exclusion Assistance Tool was designed to assist individuals who may be facing challenges with their gambling habits by helping them limit their access to gambling and reduce the potential for further harm.

The complaint will now be closed, thank you for your understanding. Please do not hesitate to contact our Complaint Resolution Center if you run into issues with any online casino in the future.