Cashmio - Confiscation of Winnings
Ruling
Found for the Casino - Rather than one complaint this player has found a significant number of reasons that they feel that despite breaching the max bet term for the bonus they accepted, that the max bet term should not be considered legitimate in this case. Having reviewed these claims we don't see majority in the vast majority of them. The one that may have bearing to the case relates to the position of the terms and conditions link in relation to the banner advertising the promotion. This is a technicality that falls under the remit of the Advertising Standards Agency in the UK. As such we've directed the player to the ASA to review this particular aspect of their complaint.
Read our Cashmio Casino Review.
Player's Complaint
I write to request you look into a dispute between myself and Cashmio (www.cashmio.com) where they have confiscated £2652.51 of winnings due to "bets being made in excess of £5.00".
The main points in my argument against the confiscation of funds are:
1. The only Terms and Conditions I were presented with and accepted were the ones at sign up, their "Terms and Conditions" and at no point was I presented with any "Bonus Terms and Conditions" which is what they have based the confiscation of funds on.
2. Term 8.6 within the Terms and Conditions states that a players "deposited funds" are always used before bonus funds. Since my balance never dropped into the bonus funds then all associated winnings were won with my deposited funds.
Cashmio have stated that in signing up to their "Terms and Conditions" I signed up to clause 1.1.4 (see page 23 of email chain) which states that I also signed up to "any terms and conditions of promotions, bonuses and special offers which may be found on the website from time to time" and this is why they have confiscated funds. Stating that by accepting the "Terms and Conditions" at sign up I have automatically accepted the "Bonus Terms and Conditions" (again a completely separate set of terms and conditions which you are not made aware of at sign up or deposit).
My argument is that under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (attached) these "Bonus Terms and Conditions" would be considered hidden terms and conditions (see below) making clause 1.1.4 unfair and therefore making confiscation of funds based on these terms unfair. Stating that there may be additional terms and conditions "on the website from time to time" is not enough.
(10) A term which has the object or effect of irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which the consumer has had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract
3. Notwithstanding the above, throughout the Bonus Terms and Conditions, any bonus funds are mentioned with regards to "wagering requirements". Only clause 15 which they have based the confiscation of funds on refer to "play through requirements". This term is mentioned nowhere else in either the Terms and Conditions or Bonus Terms and Conditions. Nor is their a definitions list to identify what "play through requirements means".
4. By their own admission, in the email of 23/01/17 at 12.20, their own staff struggle to understand the terms and have to have management explain them.
5. They have failed to provide me with email copies of their Terms and Conditions and Bonus Terms and Conditions.
6. They have failed to provide me with full company details so I can take the matter further should I need to do so.
In my attachment (complaint text) I will now go on to explain the position fully and outline evidence supporting my case.
Should you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact me.
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Hi annwoz82 - welcome back!
As a UK citizen and as we are the officially appointed Alternative Dispute Resolution service for Cashmio Casino there is certain information we have to provide you now.
You can find all the relevant information about this service here – http://thepogg.com/terms-of-use/
To summarise.
– Use of this service does not preclude your seeking redress through court proceedings .
– This service is free to use for both the complainant and operator.
– At any point during the procedure the submitting party retains the right to withdraw their complaint. This does not preclude our right to continue the discussion with the involved operator of general issues related to the complaint (i.e. insufficiently clear terms and conditions).
– You are not obliged to obtain independent or legal advice or representation, though you may choose to do so.
The above is somewhat clunky but a necessary part of the process for any complaint that comes in under ADR procedures.
If you have any questions about the above, let me know.
Moving on to your complaint specifically - unfortunately there is not going to be anything we can do to help you.
I have read through your complaint and the attached documentation you sent through with your initial email and unfortunately I cannot agree with the claims you are making.
I will go through these numerically for the sake of clarity.
1. This issue relates to the terms you agreed to at the point of sign-up. These are the general terms that relate to your use of the operator's service. As with any service contract you enter into in any consumer field, if you subsequently choose to take additional services there will be further contractual obligations not detailed in the original contract. While the general terms and conditions do not layout the terms for bonuses, at the point of registration you have not taken a bonus and as such are not subject to bonus terms. You are simply agreeing to agree to the terms of any bonus you accept.
Further to this the general terms and conditions do make clear via term 1.1.4 that if you do take a bonus there are further terms and conditions associated with any bonus you accept.
In summary, the bonus terms and conditions did not need to be presented to you at the point of your registration.
At the point where you familiarised yourself with the general terms and conditions, you familiarised yourself with the fact that there were additional terms associated with accepting bonuses. This had been explicitly referenced in term 1.1.4.
2. You then went on to make a deposit and at that point received a bonus. Being familiar with the general terms and conditions you would be aware that a bonus will come with its own terms and conditions. At this point it is your responsibility to ensure you are familiar with the terms of that bonus before you accept it (start to play with it).
As you correctly point out, the bonus terms and conditions are available within the footer of the site. However I can't agree that this is in any way inaccessible. This link is in full size text and is available on every page:
The location of the bonus terms does not fall under any reasonable definition of denying the consumer "real opportunity of becoming acquainted" with them. They are freely available on every page, in a font and colour that can be reasonably considered apparent, you are informed of additional terms within the general terms you agree to at point of registration and there are 2 different support facilities if you were unsure of the location or any aspect of the bonus contract.
Carrying on point 2 - whether or not deposited or bonus funds generated the win the bonus contract is still in force from the point where you accept a bonus until the point where the wagering requirement has been completed. You are right that deposited funds are wagered first, however there is no exclusion made to apply the restrictions only to bets made with bonus funds. The restrictions are applicable from the point you receive the bonus to the point where you have met the bonus requirements.
3. The distinction between "wagering requirement" and "play through requirement" - both of these terms are self-evident within the context of the service being provided by simple examination of the meaning of the words.
The word wager is defined as "more formal term for bet". Bet means "an act of betting a sum of money". Therefore "wagering requirement" would logically mean the wagers you are required to place.
Similarly for "play through requirement" - within the context of a casino to "play" is to place a bet. The definition of "through" is "continuing in time towards completion of (a process or period)". Therefore the term "play through requirement" logically means bet towards completion of the requirement.
The above are not terms that require explicit definition within the terms of a contract as they are all commonly used words within the English vernacular being used in a manner that is consistent with their common usage. The combination of the words has a self-evident meaning.
However, if a consumer were to find themselves unsure of the meaning of such a term they could contact support to either decline the bonus or receive clarification.
4. That each individual member of support staff is not familiar with the intricacies of your communication and refers to a coordinating member of management who has reviewed your communications in detail does not in itself indicate that the terms are unreasonably difficult to understand. Your conversations with the operator have been extensive and having each point of contact complete the same review of the information would be inefficient both in terms of cost and speed of resolution.
5. You already have the terms and conditions, both general and bonus terms. If you're still unsure regarding where to find them you can refer to the image included above where you'll find both the general and bonus terms and conditions as they are provided to all consumers on the Cashmio website. You have made reference to both documents at various junctures through your communications with the operator and complaint submission so it is not unreasonable that the operator has assumed that you already have access to this information, making your request a redundancy.
6. You can find full company details for any UKGC licensed operator by simply clicking on the Gambling Commission logo or link. The url for this page can be found here - https://secure.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PublicRegister/Search/Detail/39575.
The summary of your complaint would be that where you accept a bonus at any online gambling operator you are going to be subject to bonus terms and conditions and need to ensure you familiarise yourself with those terms before you commence play. I would emphasise that "accept" is a passive term - by starting to play while a bonus is part of your balance you have "accepted" the bonus.
As stated at the top of this response, this ruling does not impact your right to pursue your claim via the legal system so you are free to pursue that course of action at this juncture if you still feel you have a claim.
Sorry we could not be of more help,
ThePOGG