Casinos and complaints
Unfortunately, as long as there are online casinos, complaints will come hand in hand. It is just the nature of the business. Not every player will be able to gamble their winnings and come out of it a happy customer, so there will always have to be some kind of complaint procedure in place in this regulated industry. Problems are unforeseen and, as with any business, things cannot be perfect 100% of the time. Mistakes will happen - it is only natural. The great thing is that there are many different complaints procedures in place, including an excellent one right here on AskGamblers, but more on that later.
In the unfortunate event that you run into problems at the casino you are playing in, you need to know exactly who you can turn to. Making a complaint is never easy and, unfortunately, it is usually a longer a process than you would like. Still, knowing how to make a complaint and where to make a complaint should make the process a little less stressful for you. And for the purpose of this guide we help you through that process.
First of all, you can try to work out your issues with the casino, as every online casino will have their own complaints process in place. There are many different reasons players may wish to make a complaint. It could be that you want to dispute a gambling transaction, you may disagree about how much you’ve won or have been paid or even not paid or in the way in which payments were managed. It could be regarding a deposit or a game or even a bonus issue - absolutely any problem you may have that is related to your gambling experience could result in you making a complaint.
First find out what the casino’s complaint process is. You can usually make a complaint by contacting the casino's customer support. When making a complaint you should include as much information about the problem as possible and give evidence where applicable. This will help speed up the complaint process for you. It is always advisable to submit your complaint as it happens and while it is still fresh in your memory. Some online casinos complaint process may require you to submit a complaint within a certain timeframe. For example, you may be required to submit a complaint within twelve weeks of the occurrence of the event to which the complaint relates. Any complaints that pre-date the time period specified may not be taken into consideration. Once you submit your complaint, the casino will review this and should endeavour to get back to you within a certain timeframe. Hopefully the response you will get will be to your satisfactory and the complaint will be closed. However, as we all know, things do not always turn out like this and this is when your complaint may take a different turn. Do not think that is the end, because there are still people and places you can further take your complaint to.
So, if you have exhausted the operator’s internal complaint procedures, but you are still unsatisfied, you have the right to turn to independent authorities. Most online casinos will have an appointed independent third party that you can turn to with your complaint, which is also known as the Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR entity. There are several organisations which handle disputes related to gambling operators which include, but are not limited to:
- Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS)
- e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA)
- Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC)
- Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC)
- Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner
There third parties have sufficient knowledge in order to investigate disputes and they are also sufficiently independent of the license holders.
You can also turn to other gambling websites and forums that offer players a complaint resolution service for their members. And that is exactly where we, AskGamblers, come to the rescue for you. If you are not happy with a casino, regardless of the problem, AskGamblers can step up and we can take the matter into our hands for you. AskGamblers is the top gambling portal that deals with disputes between players and online casinos. The AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service has been devised to help you resolve your issues, as we believe that you deserve to get a fair game each time you play at an online casino. We help players against the battle of rogue casino practises and our complaint procedure allows us to mediate the dispute between you, the player, and the online casino in question as an independent third party.
Even though this guide is all centred on casino complaints, it is important to note that most players do not actually experience any problems at all when gambling online. However, as we touched on earlier in this guide, there will always be times when unfortunately things will go wrong. In any case where something does happen that is not right, we strongly advise you to fill out a complaint form on AskGamblers.
As we mentioned above, once you submit a complaint at AskGamblers, we then act as a mediator between you and the casino in order to give you a unique chance to resolve your issues quickly and in a fair manner. In order to encourage both the player and the casino to stay focused on reaching a resolution, there is a time that is implemented on each and every complaint. Therefore, each party involved has 96 hours to respond; failure to do so within the given timeframe will unfortunately result in the closure of the complaint.
We also have a complete archive of online casino complaints as we fully believe in transparency. This means you can read the archived complaints for each casino we represent in order to help you choose where to play. This is a great feature because, if an online casino has many complaints and they are not doing anything to resolve them, our members can now be aware of that and avoid these casinos.
Submitting a complaint on AskGamblers is very easy. All you have to do is visit our complaint page and find the casino in question that you are making the complaint against. We then urge you to be as detailed as possible when explaining the problem and you can attach any proof that you may have which will also help the complaint. The more we know about it, the better the chances we have to help you. Your complaint will not be published if it is submitted using foul language or aggressive behaviour. Make your complaint easy to understand and detail exactly what the problem is and in clear English. The only other criteria we have is that the casino in question is listed on AskGamblers. Unfortunately, if it is not, we are unable to mediate your complaint. Still, we currently have over 800 online casinos in our list and this is growing every day.
We will endeavour to do all we can to resolve your issue as quickly as possible, but with that being said, we sincerely wish you an enjoyable and exciting gaming experience. You can also look out for AskGamblers Certified Casinos that need to meet certain criteria in order to be verified by AskGamblers. With these casinos you 100% know that if you were to run into a problem they definitely have a complaint procedure in place that we can help you with. As well as that, AskGamblers Certified Casinos also have to have:
- CasinoRank Score above 7.5
- 80% of all complaints resolved
- Over 6 months presence on AskGamblers
Our Certificate of Trust singles out the best quality and most secure online casinos for you within the industry. And what’s important to remember here is that it proves that these carefully chosen online casinos are transparent, customer-oriented and willing to solve any issues as quickly as possible. You can play at these casinos with confidence and trustworthiness. You can view the full list of certified casinos right here on AskGamblers.
