How to Submit a Complaint Against an Online Gaming Website?

When using any web-based service, it is always a comfort to know that you can get in touch with the provider to raise an issue if your experience falls below expectations for some reason. This is especially true of online casinos, which generate billions in revenues from players each year and so need to be held accountable when something goes wrong.

Of course actually getting in touch to voice your concerns can be complex, so here is a look at how to submit casino complaints if the need arises.

Check the terms and conditions

Before you embark on a potentially lengthy complaints submission process, it is worth checking to see whether the issue you want to address is actually valid, or whether it is something that is already covered in the terms and conditions that you agreed to when registering with an online casino.

Trawling through all of the Ts & Cs is no one’s idea of fun, so checking out the frequently asked questions section of your preferred operator’s site is a good starting point. If you do not find what you are looking for here, you will need to move onto the next step.

Go direct

As you might expect, the first option available to you is to make direct contact with the casino itself and explain your complaint to a customer support agent. All reputable sites will have an email address or an online form to fill out so that you can get in touch via the web and searching for this information is straightforward.

Some sites will even operate customer service hotlines, which may be a more immediate way to seek a resolution to your complaint. However, calling to complain comes with its own caveats and so it may be better to keep all of your correspondence in writing, especially if the issue at hand is significant.

Online casinos are legally obliged to do their utmost to field customer complaints effectively and resolve them in a reasonable manner. However, it is worth noting that such rules only apply to those sites that are officially licensed; any site which is not covered by a license does not have to abide by the same standards and stipulations.

Ask the authorities

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the online casino itself, you may choose to escalate things by engaging the assistance of the industry regulator. The Gambling Commission is the organisation that provides information to members of the public and can offer aid to those who have questions or concerns about both land-based and online casinos.

Part of the commission’s remit is to make sure that the gambling services which are offered to people in the UK are operated in a fair, transparent way. However, one thing it does not do is actually resolve any complaints that consumers might have, even if it can check up on providers to see whether they have adhered to the obligations laid out in the licensing agreement.

Because of this conundrum, it may be worth getting advice from the regulator but you need to make sure that you are prepared to pursue a resolution of your complaint via other channels as well.

One option available to you is to contact the Advertising Standards Authority, especially if the complaint relates to any kind of marketing from the online casino that you believe to be misleading. Another is to use the Independent Betting Adjudication Service, which has the backing of the Gambling Commission and can be called upon if you have failed to get a satisfactory resolution to your complaint via the site’s in-house systems.

Use a third party service

If you are going up against a high profile online casino, you might feel like it is difficult to get your complaint heard. It will be especially galling if you have made repeated attempts to get a response, yet received no reply or found that the solutions offered are not adequate.

In this case it may be worth taking advantage of a third party to remedy the issue at hand. There are some community sites, including AskGamblers, which allow you to submit complaints against casinos for a range of issues, covering everything from delayed or declined payments right up to software glitches and unexpected account closures.

Ideally your complaint will be resolved in-house and only a tiny minority of customers ever need to make complaints against online casinos, but hopefully you now know what to do if you fall into this group.