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GoWild - Very unjustified terms about restricted slots with a bonus
Ruling
Found for the Player - Once again the GoWild group have in our opinion entrapped a player by designing their site in a manner that leads to inadvertent breach of terms.
Read our GoWild Casino Review.
Player's Complaint
Thank you for this awesome service. I played at gowild.com with 25€ as first deposit and their 200% welcome bonus. A bonus that could not be cashed out, which is fine.
I got exceptionally lucky and made over 1000€ out of the 25€ and cashed out 1000€ in the end.
I have played in quite a few casinos and know the regular terms and things that you should not do. Since I did not change my bet size drastically, gambled in any suspicious pattern and stayed away from progressive slots as well as high RTP slots like blackjack and so on.
So I was confident in getting actually cashed out, since this casino has a valid MGA license.
I can deal with rules that prevent me from cheating the system in any way, but this is extremely restricting and unwarranted in my eyes. Especially since you can't cash out the bonus.
Not counting those games towards wagering would be absolutely fine, or warning me or even preventing me from playing those slots but this is just unfair.
But my cashout was rejected for the following reason:
"Please be reminded that: We reserve the right to void any winnings generated should you play on any 0% contribution games before fulfilling the Playthrough Requirements (wagering requirements). All versions of Craps, Video Poker, Rummy and Keno, All Live Casino games, All Progressive games and all slots in the Arcade category.
Upon checking, on the 13th of June, you have claimed a deposit bonus and during your gaming session you have played a game with 0% contribution before the playthrough requirement was fulfilled.
The following 0% contribution game was played, which led to the breach of the Bonus Terms & Conditions:
PirateGold
Lara Croft: Temples and Tombs"
Those two games are non-progressive and no high RTP games so I really could not foresee any issues when playing them.
I do understand that certain games should not be made available to the player with a bonus or not count towards the wagering.
But this rule about the Arcade category is very unfair to regular players for many reasons:
1. the arcade category contains roughly 210 slots, among them many very popular ones like Immortal Romance, Reactoonz, Book of Dead, Koi Princess, Jack and the Beanstalk etc... Those are not limited to one provider but from main providers like Netent, PlaynGo and Microgaming.
2. The slots that are in the arcade category show up in the other sections like popular games, new games and so on, without any sign or symbol that you are forbidden from playing them with a bonus.
3. There is no warning or any sign of hint that would tell the player that he is not allowed to play one of these slots when having a bonus. Nothing.
4.The player is refused a cashout when playing the popular slots that are the first slots he sees when opening up the casino section on the website. So the risk of playing one of these games that are in the arcade section as well is very high.
5. To me it is a ridiculous assumption that the player is supposed to check the whole list of 210 slots in the arcade section and see if the slot that he wants to play is in that list, before he starts the slot.
Because I don't see this as a valid reason to not pay me out and as very harmful rules to regular players under an MGA license I asked the provider to revert their actions and pay me out.
First I contacted the chat. Here I was just told to send a mail to [email protected] So I did just that and replied to their initial mail. That was more than two days ago. So far no reply was sent to me.
Here is the email exchange so far:
Hello [EDIT],
We have received your withdrawal request, however it has been denied by our Audit Team.
Please be advised that during the verification of your withdrawal they have noticed that our Bonus Terms and Conditions were breached.
Please be reminded that: We reserve the right to void any winnings generated should you play on any 0% contribution games before fulfilling the Playthrough Requirements (wagering requirements). All versions of Craps, Video Poker, Rummy and Keno, All Live Casino games, All Progressive games and all slots in the Arcade category.
Upon checking, on the 13th of June, you have claimed a deposit bonus and during your gaming session you have played a game with 0% contribution before the playthrough requirement was fulfilled.
The following 0% contribution game was played, which led to the breach of the Bonus Terms & Conditions:
PirateGold
Lara Croft: Temples and Tombs
According to our Terms and Conditions your winnings have been voided and your last deposit of 25 EUR has been returned to your balance.
Please find time to also visit our Bonus and General Terms & Conditions to avoid any inconvenience in the future.
[EDIT]
16.06.2019, 15:02 (vor 2 Tagen)
an GoWild
Hello Go Wild Payment department,
I am deeply disappointed with this behaviour and the wording of your terms and conditions. The MGA license is one regulation that I trusted to protect me against fraud and always held high against the likes of Curacao etc...
That's why I also think that I do have a valid claim to still receive the money that I won, in my mind anyway, in a completely transparent and legal way.
There can be no claim that I tried to cheat the system or in some way tried to better my odds. I literally just played the slots that you offer to me, in a consistent, non-cheating way. As far as I remember I did not even change my bet sizes all that much (between 50c and 2€) and I did not violate any valid and common terms of gambling here.
I gamble quite regularly and have come across many terms, but never did I feel treated unfair from an MGA licensed Casino before. Unlike this case here.
For that reason, I assumed there would be at least some kind of player protection against confiscating money that was won by regular means. I just played regular slots, in a regular way that are clearly promoted on the front page of your Casino site. I was in no way warned of any possible breach when or before playing those two games and it does not make any sense to me that those two slots are excluded from playing when having a bonus.
I do understand the regular exclusion of progressive slots or games with high player odds like blackjack etc...
But none of those common rules apply to those two games. They are from valid and popular providers and don't have any progressive part in them.
To me it is totally fine if you don't count those slots (which the two mentioned by you are not even part of) towards the wagering requirements, but confiscating all the winnings without any warning while promoting these games for the players on the front page and no reasoning behind why they would be illegal at all is unacceptable to me .
I do hope that you see this issue like me and proceed to pay me out.
If not, I will use my rights and advocate this issue on the known player mediation sites and/or your license provider MGA.
As you are MGA licensed, I would consider you as a gambling provider that does not promote fraudulent terms and therefore appeal to you to rethink your stance on this and add some player protection or change your terms as well.
One could make the easy connection that the winnings were confiscated due to me being exceptionally lucky when making 1000€ out of 25€. But that is the nature of gambling and should definitely not be punished. As you are well aware, gamblers lose most of the time and therefore should not be punished for winning.
Criminalizing honest and regular players should not be in the interest of any serious gambling provider.
Have a good day,
Regards,
[EDIT]
--------------
Thanks a lot for the help.
Kind Regards,
[EDIT]
6 Responses
Thanks a lot for trying to help here and understanding the situation. Your analysis of the situation in the other case hits the spot and these rules should not be tolerated. I was provided by MGA with the following information: "The approved ADR provider for Go Wild Malta Limited (gowild.com) is IBAS." ibas-uk.com/ I will forward this case and the details to them as well. Might I suggest, since you agree with me and the other victim, to mark this operator as untrustworthy (you and other gambling networks as well) until this specific term enforcement has changed. Thanks, [EDIT]
I contacted support via chat again. Hesitantly I was told that they received my mail and are working on it: [EDIT] Customer Support Representative [EDIT] Hi there12:10:20 PM [EDIT] Hello 12:10:32 PM [EDIT] How may i help you? 12:10:50 PM [EDIT] Hi [EDIT]12:10:52 PM [EDIT] Hi [EDIT]. How can i help you? 12:11:22 PM [EDIT] I need some clarification regarding a complaint that I brought to your attention12:11:38 PM [EDIT] not you specifically but support12:11:45 PM [EDIT] :)12:11:48 PM [EDIT] My withdrawal was declined for unjustified reasons and your responses so far were poor12:12:37 PM [EDIT] I just need to know if you plan to reply to my queries or if I can proceed to forward this to your ADR provider IBAS12:14:20 PM [EDIT] Ok, i understand 12:14:22 PM [EDIT] my mediation provider thepogg suggested that I have a very valid claim and that previous complaints that they handled have not been successful with GoWild Malta LTD12:15:30 PM [EDIT] Since I have been advised to try my best efforts in getting this issue resolved with your company I am getting in touch with you again12:16:11 PM [EDIT] The only department that can help you with this matter is the payment department. i don't have access to this kind of information. 12:16:18 PM [EDIT] Sorry that I have to bring this to you12:16:23 PM [EDIT] I get that12:16:30 PM [EDIT] An email sent to the payment department will be helpful 12:16:42 PM [EDIT] No worries i am doing what i can to help you 12:17:01 PM [EDIT] I sent my query 5 days ago to [email protected]:17:05 PM [EDIT] no response12:17:11 PM [EDIT] take your time12:17:59 PM [EDIT] The correct email is [email protected] 12:18:45 PM [EDIT] I just need to know if this is being worked on and/or an estimate when I will get a response or confirmation that GoWild is reluctant on trying to solve this issue12:19:20 PM [EDIT] Maybe that is why they did not reply 12:19:26 PM Nicholas Please send the email to the address i gave you. I am sure they will reply 12:19:58 PM [EDIT] my bad: Von: [EDIT] An: GoWild Payments Datum: 16.06.2019, 15:02 Betreff: Re: Regarding your GoWild withdrawal Gesendet von: gmail.com12:20:00 PM [EDIT] they didn't12:20:19 PM [EDIT] some german mixed in but I think you get the idea12:20:35 PM [EDIT] there must be some way to contact them and confirm this for me12:20:51 PM [EDIT] From my end there is not something else that i can do as mush as i would like that 12:21:03 PM Nicholas Try to send another email, maybe the first one didn't get thru. Errors might occur 12:22:06 PM [EDIT] if mails are not received you get an error in return12:23:02 PM [EDIT] I doubt that12:23:09 PM [EDIT] before I contact IBAS I need to ask for a supervisor or your most senior support personal12:23:38 PM [EDIT] is that possible?12:23:53 PM [EDIT] I am afraid that on Support side we do not have access to more information about this matter, 12:27:50 PM [EDIT] I get that12:27:59 PM [EDIT] I would advise you to send an email to my colleagues from [email protected] and surely they will provide more answers. 12:28:08 PM [EDIT] but there must be some phone number or mail to ask them12:28:21 PM [EDIT] from your side12:28:37 PM [EDIT] I already tried this 12:28:49 PM [EDIT] The same email as i just told you. We are not allowed to have any information about payments 12:29:31 PM [EDIT] I'm not asking you to solve this issue I'm asking you to confirm if the payments team received my mail and is working on my case or not12:29:49 PM [EDIT] Oe, You can send an e-mail to the e-amil address I've mentioned, once they are able to they will assist on this matter 12:29:51 PM [EDIT] you don't need to know any payment details12:30:04 PM [EDIT] I will double check this for you right now. Give me a few more momennts please 12:31:27 PM [EDIT] thank you12:31:34 PM [EDIT] No worries, glad i could help 12:36:15 PM [EDIT] If there is anything else that you need help with, feel free to contact us on chat at any time. 12:36:27 PM [EDIT] uhm12:36:34 PM [EDIT] so you sent a mail to them as well?12:36:43 PM [EDIT] How will I be updated?12:36:54 PM [EDIT] you said you would double check, so what is the outcome?12:37:35 PM [EDIT] [EDIT], i checked this for you. 12:38:18 PM [EDIT] and?12:38:24 PM [EDIT] did they receive my mail and are working on it or not?12:38:54 PM [EDIT] They received your email and as soon as they can they will provide you with an answer 12:39:10 PM [EDIT] alright12:39:23 PM [EDIT] My advice to you is to be patient and allow them some time to check this matter 12:39:41 PM [EDIT] thanks that's all I wanted to hear. Just some statement12:40:10 PM [EDIT] It's quite rude to let a customer wait without any respnse for that long 12:40:46 PM [EDIT] Thanks for helping [EDIT] Please forward to them that I will wait until Tuesday before I file a complaint at IBAS12:41:17 PM [EDIT] I was just checking fot what you ascked 12:41:30 PM [EDIT] Have a pleasant day 12:41:50 PM [EDIT] you too
I received the mail below from [email protected] and decided to open up a complaint at IBAS immediately. I hope this will change their mind. I find it odd that the **don't use the search ** part was not included in the initial mail I was sent but I can't recall if it was in the terms before, can you? the mail: Hello [EDIT], Thank you for your email. Please note that we took the time to review your account once again. For every promotion that our customers claim, there would always be a link to our Terms & Conditions to avoid situations like this. As previously stated, it is clearly stated in our bonus policy that: 9. Wagering on certain games will provide a different percentage contribution to the Playthrough Requirements (wagering requirements) as follows: GAMES CONTRIBUTION Slot games (except the slot games in the categories listed below). 100% All slots in the Fruit Machines category. 50% All table games. 10% All versions of Craps, Video Poker, Rummy and Keno, All Live Casino games, All Progressive games and all slots in the Arcade category. 0% **Please note that in order to see the 0% contribution games, it is recommended that you go directly to the Arcade category of our website. Utilizing the search facility will not display the playthrough contribution nor the game category** 10. We reserve the right to void any winnings generated should you play on any 0% contribution games before fulfilling the Playthrough Requirements (wagering requirements). Unfortunately, you played games under the Arcade category while your bonus was active therefore it was a clear breach of our terms. We hope this clarifies the situation. Best regards, GoWild Payments Team
Hi Fishbeet,
I could not tell you when that section of the terms was added specifically - some time between the first complaint we raise with them and your own - but neither do I think that this inclusion bears scrutiny.
The operator are choosing to impose a site structure/terms that led to this issue. It would be a trivial matter to either list the Arcade games that are restricted in the terms or to design their site in such a way as to either exclude the games from appearing in other ways (via search or other sections) or prevent the user from accessing Arcade sections with a bonus. Instead they're choosing to put in place a system that can now be demonstrated via multiple users to have caused problems. This to my mind is predatory behaviour and unlikely to meet the standards that IBAS will look for.
Thanks,
ThePOGG
Hi Fishbeet,
Our extended conversation with GoWild has concluded. Unfortunately the operate has decided that they are going to hold to the same position as the other case.
All we can suggest you do is direct your complaint to IBAS. If it helps any feel free to direct IBAS to us.
Sorry we couldn't be of more help.
ThePOGG
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Agreement
Fishbeet consented for ThePOGG to act on their behalf and share the personal information that they provide to ThePOGG with the following agencies for the purposes of resolving their complaint:
- Go Wild
- Malta Gaming Authority
- United Kingdom Gambling Commission
- GoWild Malta Ltd
June 19, 2019
Hi fishbeet - welcome to ThePOGG.com!
Unfortunately it is unlikely we will be able to do anything to help you in this instance. While we agree with you 100% regarding the manner in which Go Wild Casino are enforcing their Arcade game restriction - there is no reasonable manner in which players would be expected to know that many of these games are restricted - we have just finished managing an identical case against Go Wild's sister property Wild Jackpots where the operator have refused to change position and have withheld payment from a player - https://thepogg.com/complaint/wild-jackpots-casino-voided-my-withdrawal/. The chances of the outcome of this case being any different are very low.
I'll contact the operator and see what they have to say.
Thanks,
ThePOGG