Winstler Casino - Player’s account was closed and his refund is delayed.

I have tried to withdraw 6200 euros. Completed all off the identity checks kyc. To be told I shouldn't have been able to deposit and play in the first place, as I live in the uk!they have closed my account and have said all they can do is refund me the 1100 euros I had deposited. It's now been 14 days the refund should be in by now. They are asking me to send bank statements? Is this correct? Thanks steve

Dear Pasty123,

Thank you very much for submitting this complaint. I'm sorry to hear about your problem. Please allow me to ask you a few questions to make sure I understand your situation completely.

When you registered at this casino, did you provide all your accurate personal information, including your country of residence?

Have you used any VPN or IP-masking software to conceal your true location and access the casino website?

Do I understand correctly that your account was blocked only after you submitted your documents for KYC verification, when you wanted to withdraw your winnings?

Did the casino request your bank statements to confirm that you have not received the refund yet?

I would like to emphasize a very important fact from our Fair Gambling Codex: 

"The right thing to do is to check for restricted countries during the account creation process and to not allow players from restricted countries to register and play. If the casino knows about restricted countries and also knows the player's country of residence, it's not a big issue to enforce this rule. If the casino allows a player from a restricted country to play because it hasn't implemented this check, it should accept that it was the casino's mistake and pay out all winnings to the player despite the fact that they shouldn't have been allowed to play in the first place, provided that the player hasn't done anything else that's against the rules."

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

Hi, I didn't use a vpn blocker when i registered, and I entered everything correctly when asked about my information details. Yes they blocked my account once i had passed the kyc to withdraw my winnings. And yes they have requested bank statements to show I haven't recieved any refund. I do believe I deserve my winnings as they let me play in the first place. And i have never tried to mislead them in any way. Thanks for your help

Thank you very much, Pasty123, for providing all the necessary information. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Michal (michal.k@casino.guru) who will be at your assistance. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see your problem being resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.

Hello Pasty123,

I'm Michal and I have taken over your complaint. I have reviewed your case and although our company position in situations like this has been highlighted by my colleague Veronika, I have checked the casino T&Cs and found this:

When I tried to sign up from a UK IP I have received this message:

I can't say the IP block feature was in place when you created your account, but at the moment it does seem like you shouldn't be able to create your account from a UK IP, and even if you did, the return of your initial deposit seems to be the only obligation the casino is required to fulfill as you were not entitled to the winnings.

I will contact the casino to shed more light on this.

We would like to invite Winstler Casino to join the conversation.

Dear Winstler Casino,

Can you please provide information how the player was able to register and deposit from a restricted country? As it looks like the player's deposit was refunded by you, can you please provide me the proof of the payment at michal.k@casino.guru

Hi. I have just been ble to register again using a different email and phone number as well as claiming to reside in the uk. I haven't had any message saying that I cant play. And it will let me deposit. Obviously I wont be doing. ? 

Thanks alot for you help

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.

Dear Pasty123,

I have tried to contact the casino repeatedly but had no success. I’m afraid there is not much that can be achieved without cooperation from its side. I will mark the complaint as "unresolved" in our system. I understand this isn't a satisfactory solution to your issue. However, the decrease in the rating caused by unresolved complaints might help to change the casino team's approach. If the casino team decides to react, we will reopen the complaint, and you will be notified by email. In the meantime, I recommend you contact the Anjouan Gaming Authority by filling out the contact form (Contact Us - Anjouan Gaming. Licensor of iGaming in Africa) where you can describe your issue. This seems to be the only option how to take your complaint further. The Gaming Authority might have more options and tools to help players. Please let me know if you need help with submitting the complaint or how they responded if you can do it on your own (michal.k@casino.guru). I am sorry I could not be of more help on this occasion. I can only recommend checking the reviews of each casino before you sign up and only playing in licensed and good-rated casinos to avoid disappointments like this in the future.

Best regards,

Michal

Casino Guru