Purple Lounge: theft through the implementation of unfair terms

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Purple Lounge: theft through the implementation of unfair terms

Purple Lounge recently confiscated a £3000 cashout through the implementation of an unacceptable term. The general principle was discussed at Casinomeister in the all winnings removed if withdrawal before WR met thread, and the player's case was specifically spelled out towards the end:

15th June 2010, 10:29 AM

I played for the first time in Purple-Lounge casino at May 2010 and won around 3000 GBP. I played 25 a spin at a game name Loaded a 20 line slots. The casino had a built in feature to show bonus balance and cash balance at any time. I played until bonus balance reached zero and cashed out.

The casino return only the deposit back to me saying although technically I was able to withdraw the casino had a special term for extra wagering to Greece and that they are confiscating my whole winnings at that case.

I told them I do accept the terms and that is the first time I play at their casino and the software feature was showing bonus balance zeroed allowing me to cashout, kindly return the credit for me to conitnue playing and give you the extra play but they insist on total winnings confisctaion.

The term the casino used to justify confiscating the full £3000 balance is found in the first deposit bonus terms:

4. Players claiming a bonus using a deposit via either Moneybookers or Neteller must wager at least 50 times the bonus amount. Residents of Greece and Canada must wager 110 times the bonus amount regardless of the payment method used.

It is the sole responsibility of the player to ensure he or she has met the wagering requirements before cashing out. Players who withdraw before meeting the requirement will have the bonus and all winnings removed.

The first thing to note here is that the casino software itself informed the player that he was entitled to cash out his winnings. If Purple Lounge has a utility built into its games that does not fully work, that is not the player's fault - the casino needs to sort out its software.

However, far more important to note is that, irrespective of the presence of an inbuilt wager tracking device, there is no possible justification for punishing the player in such draconian manner for simply hitting the cashout button too early. Clearly it was a mistake - no player would wittingly cashout in such a way as to guarantee the cashout would never be received. It would be ridiculous to think any malice were involved on the part of a player who did this.

As such, the casino should simply put the money back in the account and tell the player to finish the wagering. He made a slip up. Don't mete out absurd punishments for trifling mistakes.

Purple Lounge didn't see it this way. According to Bryan "Casinomeister" Bailey:

The responses we received from Purple Lounge indicated to us that they were not interested in debating the issue.

Bailey summarily removed them from his recommended casinos list on the basis of this behaviour.

Well, fine & dandy for the casino to have such a high-handed attitude. He who has the money controls the purse strings. However, they may not ultimately be able to blow the matter off as glibly as they would hope.

Purple Lounge was bought last year by Media Corp, an internet media company "...focused on website publishing and online advertising", listed on the UK stock exchange and answerable to its shareholders.

It is also regulated, and I use that word very loosely, by the Malta LGA - see the licensed operators: class 1 on 4 page. However, the Malta LGA is ineffectual and worthless as far as player protection goes, so I discount it as an avenue of assistance.

Also to note, and with possibly more relevance, is that the same day they were sent off down the highroad to nowhere from Casinomeister, they were accepted into the GPWA as a sponsor programme - I discovered this remarkable coincidence on reading the forum announcement by a member of the board hierarchy.

It remains to be seen whether or not any of these avenues will help this player to be reunited with his money.

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