hfm-timely

Just a quick update - received my refund today to my bank.

Hi all Wanted to share my experience in case it helps anyone. Basically I had the same emails as everyone else here. One in June, to which I replied asking them to let me know which site it related to before I would talk to them about it (it just looked so spammy) - no reply from them. Decided I'd had a lucky escape from a phishing attempt, though I must admit I was a bit worried that I had replied at all. Then I got the second one last month asking for bank details. After a little research - including on this forum, so thanks to everyone else who's written here - I decided this looked legit, and sent the details they asked for. I got an immediate auto-response so at that point was much happier I hadn't just been phished! Anyway, a few days later they wrote saying they were refunding me a two-figure sum. I was pleased to hear it as, after years of problem gambling (I have now had professional treatment BTW) I am broke and any unexpected money is very welcome. However after a couple of days I started to question it in my mind. It's BECAUSE my gambling got so bad that I knew I would never have deposited such small sums. So I wrote back to ask politely for a breakdown and the site that this referred to. No reply. I found some time to check old bank statements and email, and found enough solid evidence (matching dates, matching email exchange, evidence of what site it was etc) to send back to them to support my request that they rethink the amount. I quoted the original "case number" that they'd given me but got no response for a week. After a week I wrote again pointing out that I'd had no acknowledgement and mentioning eCOGRA and the UK Gambling Commission. Now it's quite hard to do this without sounding threatening or like, "I'll tell on you", but it can be done. I said I would share the same evidence with these bodies that I had sent to them, "should it become necessary". I also reminded Cassava of the UKGC's ruling (look up their statement about 888 from August 2017 if you want to see this), the one that prompted all this in the first place. I didn't get any response to this either... ... until yesterday! Which was about 3 days after that last email. I can't say for sure whether my "polite pressure" was what prompted it - but I received another email saying they had reviewed my case and decided I was owed another amount on top of what they already said, this time three figures, which is closer to what I believed I was owed (slightly more, in fact). They say "we have refunded" but I expect it will be a week or two before I actually see it as it sounds like these refunds are taking some time to come through. I will report back when I actually see the cash, but in the meantime, do check all your statements and records as far as you can and keep politely requesting the full amount! It has ended well for me but it looks as if they are refunding only a fraction of what some players are owed unless you stand up and challenge it. Good luck to all.

The answer is: because the UKGC specifically says it is not an ombudsman or dispute resolution service and it cannot help with individual cases. The correct body to contact is Ecogra, but the UKGC itself has said that these services (ADRs) do not work well for consumers and is reviewing them. So at the moment UK players feel they are on their own. Except for excellent services like the AskGamblers complaints service of course. In any case the thing to do in the first instance is to try and resolve the problem with the business itself (888/Cassava). Not sure what you're implying by "very very very strange"?