Online casino disputes keep mediator busy in 2014

Max Drayman, the dispute resolutions manager for the Casinomeister online gambling information site, has published his 2014 report, noting that whilst there was a 20 percent reduction in player complaints, the amount of money involved was higher…and that the incidence of casino operators using the ethereal “not in the spirit of the bonus” excuse for unfairly failing to meet their obligations has grown.

Thanks to the free service that Casinomeister provides, players retrieved $600,000 in previously disallowed payments in cases resolved with Drayman’s assistance as a mediator.

February and March 2014 generated the most complaints at 24 and 21 respectively in a year that saw a total of 209 disputes, with 20 other issues carried over from 2013, making a total of 229 cases handled.

The cases involved casinos using games from almost all the major software suppliers, and Drayman has included a list showing the number of complaints against each in his report, which can be viewed in full here:

http://www.casinomeister.com/pitchabitch/full-year_summary_2014.php

Drayman finished the year with 23 cases still in progress, and commented:

“There was a significant up-tick in the number of “irregular betting”/”spirit of the bonus” cases. This is becoming a serious problem. Overall I think it boils down to a strong push by casinos to actively hunt ‘advantage players’.

“The number of cases was down about 20 percent but the typical value of claims was noticeably higher, possibly indicating that smaller-value cases aren’t getting reported as much?

“The “self-exclusion” scams reported last year continued through the first part of 2014, tapering off significantly toward the end of the year.”

Drayman drew particular attention to a disturbing trend in which integrity-challenged operators shrug off attempts to mediate on behalf of aggrieved players, instead referring complaints to in most cases uncommunicative and disinterested licensing jurisdictions.

Where reputable jurisdictions are involved there was no problem in establishing a dialogue, but in many cases this was not so, and the complaint simply disappeared into a “black hole” to the players’ disadvantage.

“If your casino is telling you this you’d be well advised to look into who that regulator actually is. There are rather few that are worthy of the emphasis being placed on them,” Drayman comments.

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