WestCasino - Player’s self-exclusion was ignored.

In 2020, I completely excluded myself from all casinos including WestCasino, even reaching out to WestCasino via email requesting a gambling restriction due to a gambling problem. Back then, WestCasino operated under the jurisdiction of Evry Martix Limited. I was blocked from all their platforms. I routinely send emails to these casinos asking to remain blocked. On November 20, 2023, despite my repeated email to WestCasino, they did not block me from playing.

According to MGA rules, once a player has self-excluded from a casino, the casino must remain blocked unless the player themselves request the account to be reopened.

WestCasino has not answered my emails for over a month; they're just ignoring me and it's certainly deliberate. I need your help making contact with them.

My account was closed on April 8, 2023, right after I lodged a complaint that I couldn't log in. I have lost approximately 600€ after my self-exclusion request but because I cannot log into the account I can't confirm the exact amount.

I am ready to demonstrate that I have had a locked account with Evry Martix Ltd since 2020. WestCasino now has a new owner. In 2020, they were owned by Evry Martix Ltd.

Dear Lolna123,

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

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

• Do I understand correctly you had an account in this casino open on or before 23.11.2023?
• Could you please share a timeline of when your account has been registered, self-excluded, and reopened?
• At which time have you made deposits and played?
• Have you registered one or multiple accounts in this particular casino?
• Have you requested a refund of your deposits already? How did the casino respond to your request?
• Send emails or chat transcripts of your communication with the casino regarding the issue to my email at tomas@casino.guru, or post screenshots here

I hope 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,

Tomas

Hi Tomas,

yes, the account has been open since 23 November 2023.

unfortunately it's hard for me to tell you the timeline of when the account was closed and when it was opened because I can't log in anymore.

the account was closed on 8/4/2024 when I sent them a complaint regarding this topic.

I have not registered multiple accounts.

Yes, I have asked them to stop responding to my emails.

I sent you a message thread.

Hello Lolna123 & Tomas,

Greetings from WestCasino!

I have checked and can see that the player has indeed filed a similar complaint directly with the casino on 08/04/2024. 

This claim was investigated and the player's refund request was denied as we couldn't find any evidence backing up the player's claims.

On 08/04/2024 09:17:55 (GMT Time) the player registered an account with our service, fully accepting the casino's terms and conditions.

The player made two deposits, which were used to place bets and lost.

On 08/04/2024 11:36 (GMT Time) the player contacted our Live Chat support asking to be blocked. Our Live Chat support blocked the player's account, as per our internal procedure, and asked the player what type of block she would like. The player left the chat without responding.

On 08/04/2024 11:36 (GMT Time) the player also sent her claim by email.

We have reviewed all the information:

- we weren't able to locate any other account owned or previously registered by the player, other than the account registered on 08/04/2024;

- our casino offers a variety of player protection tools which are directly accessible from the player's account and can be set at any time without contacting our support team. This includes setting limits and even self-excluding the account. The player didn't use any of these tools available to her;

- the player wasn't able to provide any evidence of previously owning another account or a confirmation that she was excluded previously from our service.

Following the player's e-mail the account was set on a permanent self-exclusion.

Due to the facts mentioned above no refund is due to the player.

Given that I can see the player has had multiple similar claims towards other casinos for the same matter, I would highly recommend the player to make use of a gambling blocking software that will prevent the player from registering accounts with other services - https://www.primarycaregamblingservice.co.uk/blocking-software.

All the best,

Eduard

Thanks to both parties for your reply.

Dear Lolna123,

We internally discussed the case and unfortunately concluded we cannot assist you in requesting a refund from the casino.

Since your efforts to self-exclude predated your registration in the casino, we cannot conclude the casino was able to self-exclude you preventively.

The emails come from significantly different periods, 2020 and 2023, and were part of a mass email to multiple recipients, which means they can be easily overlooked by the intended recipients. Taking into consideration that you haven't registered an account previously, if you haven't received any reply to your request, in such a situation, we would expect you to contact the casino again asking about the status of your request, via email or live chat to confirm whether self-exclusion was applied, or your request acknowledged.

We would consider your actions as insufficient for us to request a refund on your behalf.

Please let me know if there are any circumstances I overlooked or haven't considered, otherwise your complaint will be rejected.

Dear Lolna123,

We are extending the timer by 7 days. Please, be aware that in case you fail to respond in the given time frame or don’t require any further assistance, we will reject the complaint.

Dear Lolna123,

Due to the aforementioned reasons, this complaint will now be closed. 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 issues with any online casino in the future.