Many players believe that casinos can just do whatever they want without ever being pursued, but this is not actually true. Many people also believe that they are less likely to get help online than in traditional land-based casinos, but again this certainly is not the case. Every casino is held responsible for their actions and players are definitely not alone as there are numerous places where a player can seek help from, should they get into trouble at a casino. Legitimate online casinos will have numerous support options for their players, and the type of support options will vary for each individual casino. Players are certainly not alone and there is plenty of help offered by the casino themselves. When it comes to getting help for the games online casinos offer, each casino will usually have comprehensive guides which are readily available for players to read that are fully detailed on how to play each and every game. Those kinds of guides can usually be found in the help sections of the casinos.
On top of this, online casinos offer help for all kinds of queries and problems. Most online casinos will have a Frequently Asked Questions section on their websites, which will involve some of the most popular questions players ask on a daily basis. The type of questions and answers that can usually be found in these sections are on subjects like registration, banking options, security, bonuses, and privacy. It is important for players to check these Frequently Asked Questions before considering other methods of support, as it may eliminate the need for further help if your question and answer has already been featured on the site. If, however, your question is not featured on the FAQ list, then do not worry because there are plenty of other routes you can do down to get your queries answered.
Probably the most popular, and definitely the most efficient form of online help in a casino, is the facility of a live chat service. While this service is offered in most online casinos, you will also come across legitimate and popular casinos that do not offer the live chat option. When this service is not offered, there will be other forms of contact in place. Using this service will usually get an instant answer to your query and the great thing about live chat is that it can be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some casinos will provide this, whereas some casinos will have certain opening times. Each individual casino will clearly state on their website what times they are open for chat. Support agents will usually be able to answer questions based on anything to do with your casino account. Security and finance questions may need to be dealt with via email support.
Email support is another method of contact players can use. This form of support is easy to use, but not always as efficient, as it obviously does not give you an instant answer for your question. Again, each individual casino will have their own opening times for email support, whilst other casinos will offer email support 24/7. The casino will also specify a timeframe in which you should get a reply. Some casinos can be excellent and offer a reply in just a few minutes, others may say 24 hours, while it may be a bit longer for some. Email support also includes an online email form where the player can send a message to the casino via their website, as opposed to an external email address. Replies can either be sent to an internal message system within your casino account or to your own personal email.
The less popular forms of support include telephone contact and fax. Most casinos will provide both of these details on their websites for players to get help, but more often than not telephone numbers will be international numbers which may incur telephone call charges. This is why this support method is not quite as popular as the ones listed above. Finally, casinos may offer support through Skype.
If after consulting a problem with a casino, players do not get a satisfactory outcome, then they can refer their problems to third-party watchdog organisations, like eCOGRA. eCOGRA stands for eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance and they are a London-based internationally accredited testing agency and player protection and standards organisation. eCOGRA was established in the year 2003 in the United Kingdom and they went ahead to introduce the very first formal self-regulation program to the online gambling industry in 2003. The company’s compliance activities are focused on many policy objectives which include:
- the protection of vulnerable customers,
- combating fraudulent and criminal behaviour,
- prompt and accurate customer payments,
- commitment to customer satisfaction and support
- and secure, safe and reliable operating environments.
eCOGRA has what is called an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Service, which is an impartial adjudication service for disputes. eCOGRA offers assistance to players that have a grievance with an eCOGRA-approved site. There are certain measures that need to be followed before a player can file a dispute against an online casino to eCOGRA. The very first measure and possibly the most important one is that the online casino in question has to be listed as an approved seal holder on the eCOGRA website. If the casino is not listed, then a player will not be able to open a dispute with eCOGRA. Players must firstly try to seek help and resolve the issue with the online casino and can only deal with eCOGRA once at least two weeks have passed since the problem first began. All reasonable attempts have to be made by the player to resolve the problem before contacting eCOGRA and players must try to negotiate a solution. Players cannot deal with eCOGRA if they have opened multiple accounts with the casino in question or if they have participated in other nefarious behaviours. eCOGRA kindly asks players who have opened a dispute with them to not post their issues on forums, nor seek further assistance from third parties. Either of these actions from a player will result in dismissal of the players’ claim. Players wanting to file a claim with eCOGRA must submit a concise, clear and to-the-point summary of the problem. Once a player has submitted their claim, eCOGRA will make every attempt to contact the player within two working days and will try to make contact with the player every other week whilst the complaint is in progress. A process of mediation is involved in efforts to resolve the problem, but eCOGRA does not have the authority to direct any outcome of the mediation. Players residing in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world can visit the eCOGRA website and file a complaint as and when needed.
Players can even seek help from licensing jurisdictions and even affiliate sites like AskGamblers, ThePogg, Casinomeister and Gambling Grumbles. These affiliate sites will have specific complaint procedures in place where a player can submit a complaint against a casino and the affiliates will liaise with the casino managers on behalf of the players to try and obtain a satisfactory outcome. With these services being placed, this is evidence that players can certainly seek help while gambling online.
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MYTH #7 – ONLINE GAMBLING AND TAXES
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