Beschwerde #111
Royal Panda Casino
Stalling verification, hiding behind KYC/AML regulation
vor 8 Jahren
I have enjoyed playing at Royal Panda (I will refer to them as RP going forward) for many months now, and found them to have a very fair bonus system which I like to use, and a quick and easy withdrawal system.
On 31st January my issue began although at the time it seemed normal. I had made a withdrawal request and the support team had got in touch asking me to confirm my phone number was correct and to send the usual ID and verification documents. I sent them off and RP responded saying I had covered too many digits on my card. This wasn't actually true, it's just I'd covered more picture of the reverse of the card, but as the front was visible correctly this should not be an issue.
I sorted this issue for them and sent in a new picture which they verified. At this point they raised the issue of my address, as I've moved house since joining the casino and they weren't top of my list for making sure my details were updated when I moved (banks, and government agencies, yes, casinos, not so much). This is when I found that RP do not have the facility for a customer to change their address details on the site.
It says to contact support, which I did via live chat, only to be told they can't change it either. What a ridiculous system. So I had to email them to ask to have my address changed to that which I'd already provided proof of with a bank statement. They accepted this and confirmed that was now verified but they then requested a picture of me holding my passport. I don't have a problem with proving my identity, but this just seemed to be one new request after another. I should point out that during this whole process I had been perfectly able to deposit to the site, and play, and now had multiple withdrawal requests queued up, or combined into one. If RP were unsure of my identity (KYC) or felt that there was a chance of money laundering, then why did they continue to allow me to deposit and play? In my opinion it was because they know there is absolutely no issue, they are simply abusing the KYC and AML regulations, and hiding behind them to avoid a timely payout.
Regardless I sent the picture of me holding my passport, which of course they rejected saying they were unable to verify. Absolute nonsense, unless the verification team tries to do so after a few vodkas. My patience was tried now, and particularly when they sent tips for having a picture accepted including "place the document flat on a scanner". Considering they were asking for a picture of my face I'm really not sure what this would have achieved. It was clearly just a standard reply that they fire out as they make customers jump through a number of hoops. This confirms my suspicion that they just start a process of requests when they don't fancy paying out, and it has nothing to do with actual KYC or AML, as they have more than enough documentation to clear that, and as I've said the continue to accept deposits.
At this stage I decided to use the dispute procedure. On their site they state that for disputes you can contact either ecogra or the EU-ODR. I went for EU-ODR as it my understanding that ecogra would cover gaming disputes, not a verification issue. My dispute was quickly answered from Royal Panda and their suggested action was to use ecogra!! Why bother having EU-ODR on there? A complete waste of everyone's time, and further confirmation that RP are abusing the system.
I calmed myself down, took a set of 3 further pictures of me holding my passport to allow the verification team and emailed them to RP along with an offer to visit their security team in person with all of my documents to ensure they can safely verify me. It has got to that stage I'm afraid.
Since sending those pics I have had no contact from RP at all. I tried live chat and they said that the team dealing with it wasn't in that day. Somehow I doubt it.
So i ask that RP really try their hardest to verify me from the pictures taken with a very high quality phone camera multiple times, and checked with other people to see if they could clearly make out the required information. If they still can't I want to meet the security team in person to be verified, and I expect them to quickly process the outstanding withdrawal for all monies owed which now amounts to £3,704.50
On 31st January my issue began although at the time it seemed normal. I had made a withdrawal request and the support team had got in touch asking me to confirm my phone number was correct and to send the usual ID and verification documents. I sent them off and RP responded saying I had covered too many digits on my card. This wasn't actually true, it's just I'd covered more picture of the reverse of the card, but as the front was visible correctly this should not be an issue.
I sorted this issue for them and sent in a new picture which they verified. At this point they raised the issue of my address, as I've moved house since joining the casino and they weren't top of my list for making sure my details were updated when I moved (banks, and government agencies, yes, casinos, not so much). This is when I found that RP do not have the facility for a customer to change their address details on the site.
It says to contact support, which I did via live chat, only to be told they can't change it either. What a ridiculous system. So I had to email them to ask to have my address changed to that which I'd already provided proof of with a bank statement. They accepted this and confirmed that was now verified but they then requested a picture of me holding my passport. I don't have a problem with proving my identity, but this just seemed to be one new request after another. I should point out that during this whole process I had been perfectly able to deposit to the site, and play, and now had multiple withdrawal requests queued up, or combined into one. If RP were unsure of my identity (KYC) or felt that there was a chance of money laundering, then why did they continue to allow me to deposit and play? In my opinion it was because they know there is absolutely no issue, they are simply abusing the KYC and AML regulations, and hiding behind them to avoid a timely payout.
Regardless I sent the picture of me holding my passport, which of course they rejected saying they were unable to verify. Absolute nonsense, unless the verification team tries to do so after a few vodkas. My patience was tried now, and particularly when they sent tips for having a picture accepted including "place the document flat on a scanner". Considering they were asking for a picture of my face I'm really not sure what this would have achieved. It was clearly just a standard reply that they fire out as they make customers jump through a number of hoops. This confirms my suspicion that they just start a process of requests when they don't fancy paying out, and it has nothing to do with actual KYC or AML, as they have more than enough documentation to clear that, and as I've said the continue to accept deposits.
At this stage I decided to use the dispute procedure. On their site they state that for disputes you can contact either ecogra or the EU-ODR. I went for EU-ODR as it my understanding that ecogra would cover gaming disputes, not a verification issue. My dispute was quickly answered from Royal Panda and their suggested action was to use ecogra!! Why bother having EU-ODR on there? A complete waste of everyone's time, and further confirmation that RP are abusing the system.
I calmed myself down, took a set of 3 further pictures of me holding my passport to allow the verification team and emailed them to RP along with an offer to visit their security team in person with all of my documents to ensure they can safely verify me. It has got to that stage I'm afraid.
Since sending those pics I have had no contact from RP at all. I tried live chat and they said that the team dealing with it wasn't in that day. Somehow I doubt it.
So i ask that RP really try their hardest to verify me from the pictures taken with a very high quality phone camera multiple times, and checked with other people to see if they could clearly make out the required information. If they still can't I want to meet the security team in person to be verified, and I expect them to quickly process the outstanding withdrawal for all monies owed which now amounts to £3,704.50
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