Online Casino Cautions
Published: Friday, December 16, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
ONLINE CASINO CAUTIONS
Bellerock blunder - but kudos for setting it right
The week saw another case of a clumsy online casino promotion to players that
could have been avoided had it been checked by experienced eyes. In trying to
promote a specific online payment company the group virtually presented players
with a fait accompli, advising that accounts would be opened for them when a withdrawal
was requested.
Experienced management would have immediately thought of two major faults with
this: Players are extremely sensitive about online privacy and their personal
details being given to anyone without their permission, and the international
financial implications of opening accounts on behalf of players and without their
consent. However, this group's major advantage is a preparedness to listen to
the players, and senior managers soon withdrew the communication in favour of
a more player sensitive approach.
There were very serious privacy, financial and personal implications here, and
all casino owners would do well to remember that privacy of personal information
is of absolutely paramount importance to players on the Internet.
Stealth charges
In another incident, the Casino Action group had to make adjustments to
their notification process of stiff charges unilaterally levied on check withdrawals
- up to GBP 5.50 (around US$ 9) The first many players knew of this fee was what
appeared to be a short payment on their checks, and claims that notification emails
had been sent at the time of the withdrawal but blocked by spam filters appeared
questionable. Several players pointed out that, the commercial wisdom of charging
on withdrawals aside, fees like this should be clear and upfront - preferably
in the T&Cs and banking pages where they can be seen before deposits are made.
Again, the casino group had the good sense to listen and make the necessary adjustments,
but they will have made few friends in the player community with this charge,
and that may ultimately have a cost attached to it.
Goodbye to Gamrock....again !
The gambling site Gamrock closed abruptly (and not for the first time)
last month, but did not apparently bother to email its players in advance to
tell them what was happening and arrange prompt attention to pending payouts
or accounts clearance. The site has a notice confirming the closure and providing
interested parties with a Support address and nothing more.
If the response is anything like that experienced when Online-Casinos.com &
InfoPowa contacted them (still no reply after 72 hours despite two chasers)
then players might expect some frustration.
Software provider Net Entertainment's Johan Ohman confirmed that Gamrock
had terminated the agreement for their casino and that the operation was suspended
on their request on November 28. "We have been re-assured that they will
refund all players on request and information how to contact Gamrock is available
at www.gamrock.com," said Ohman.
Wild On Online Casino didn't do too well either...
Another online casino that seems to have closed in an unprofessional way was
Wild On, some time ago. Players are still reporting that they were not
notified and are still owed despite assurances by software provider RTG that
in closures, Montana Overseas has a notification and account clearing
process.
One player's experience typified the complaints: "I had a bit of cash in
my account but could not log in. No one answered their phone or responded to
live chat. After checking their main site online, I saw a notice that they had
server issues that were more extensive than originally thought. This went on
for several months, then (without ANY notice) the casino closed. Never have
received any communication from them or anyone else about anything."
As we went to press, RTG's response to the allegations was awaited.
