West Casino Dark Side/MGA/ECOGRA/Solicitors - A Case Study (Live Updates)

Hello all,

I feel this needs its own thread due to the sheer lunacy, illegal behaviour (clearly in breach of EU consumer law) and ineffective/unwillingness of the MGA to ever perform their roles as regulator.

The full history of my complaint against West Casino can be seen here - https://casino.guru/westcasino-player-s-withdrawal-delayed-due-to-verification

To summarise, 8 passport pictures sent in (all taken on iphone 13) a video of me taking the pictures and uploading them and screenshot from the iphone showing no metadata was changed. Casinoguru and their team all agreed the pictures were perfectly clear. 'Eduard' from West (whom we can assume is a made up person) disagreed, would not specify which sections were not clear and refused a live verification call. The casino also refused to engage on two other well known mediation sites.

When everything was forwarded to MGA they initially acted like they were interested, then buried their heads in the sand and refused, stating they cannot get involved in any KYC disputes. ECOGRA attempted the same position, it took me instructing SOLICITORS to bring in some law reference in EU consumer law that compelled ECOGRA to act and MGA to engage, luckily I have family in law so it's at no expense, but what about all the poor players who are not in this position?

My solicitor also found evidence of West Casino being linked to another company they use to run GOLDWIN with some very very suspicious company returns, which is being used in my claim.

Basically in order to get my €330 I am being forced to go through the courts and pull up not only WEST, but ECOGRA and MGA too.

It's like the wild west for players. No support (even though Casinoguru have tried their best to help here).

Hi, I think I've commented on this a few times and I basically went through the whole process with you because I wanted to know how it was going.

So I don't have much to add to that because I have said everything I thought I needed to say. 

I can see that you have got nowhere with authority, which is quite unfortunate, and so I do not know what more you should do. You have also referred this to a lawyer and so if you have a result I would be glad to hear from you and let you know how it went.  

I will keep my fingers crossed for you. 🤞

I will keep everyone updated and post responses from ECOGRA and MGA. The MGAs responses have been shocking and disgusting. It just proves unless you involve courts they do not want to help you.

Keep us posted, of course. Just as Jaro suggested, not much else to add, I'm afraid.

Thanks,

Ive emailed Tomas as I need him reopen the complaint due to this ridiculous response from ECOGRA. I’ve explained West Casino are not responding to me on email and will not supply me with a ‘deadlock letter’ and I sent all their responses on my complaint thread.

If the complaint is reopened I can show ECOGRA me asking for a deadlock letter/statement and they will handle my complaint. It’s absurd.

Okey, I bet Tommas will consider the situation accurately. Perhaps you can help me understand the meaning of this "deadlock letter", I can't figure it out on my own. 🤔

I think ECOGRA want West to state this is ‘our final position and we will not change our minds’. I need Tomas to reopen the complaint so I can ask this on the thread and screengrab their answer and send to ECOGRA, as ECOGRA are refusing to help otherwise and WEST do not talk to me on email. Which again is criminal.

Oh, I see.

You can share the screenshot in this thread at any time. Regarding the reopening of the complaint, have you spoken with Tomas yet? Perhaps it's not that obvious, but he's the one who can only reopen the complaint.

In addition, since we are not attorneys specializing in gambling, please do not expect us to provide a solution because the law states that you are correct. When it comes to the final decision, the licensing authority is typically the law.

I have emailed Tomas and explained everything 3 days ago. He hasn’t emailed back or reopened the complaint.

This was ECOGRAS response -

ECOGRA have been contacted by my solicitor and called out for negligence.

MGA have behaved awfully. They requested me send everything, acted like they would help and then said they would net get involved in KYC matters. They have always been contacted by my solicitors.

West Casino and their sister site Goldwin didn’t respond to the seven day deadline given by my solicitors. I paid for the EU court claim and Carribjustice claim where both Wests companies have been named directly.

If Tomas could get back and open the complaint it would help with getting the ‘deadlock’ letter and adding to the disclosure of evidence for the court claim.

I talked to Tomas and he told me that your complaint is reopened. So you can take what you need from here and write Tomas a statement from ECOGRA. 

I'm very curious myself to see what you come up with and where the case goes. Be sure to let me know. 😉

Thanks. Have just seen this and requested the statement from West.

They completely ignored my solicitor so I as two pay for two separate court claims two days ago. Which now means I’ve paid €100 on top of the €350 owed.

Well, that's not exactly the best news. I saw that your complaint has moved on to Michal, so we'll see what happens next. 

I hope better times will come. 😉

Sorry to hear, this is just the truth nowadays with these unlicensed casinos.

MGA, Estonia and Curacao and any other non national license is just a scam and fraud unfortunately.

They are all in highly corrupt countries. How people even can believe that these are licensed markets it's unbelievable.

Well this was what Michal said -

But, not a shock, this is what the scammers said -

Again, I'm wrong, Casinoguru are wrong, ECOGRA are wrong but the scammers are right...

The casino is also ignoring my solicitors and the pre action protocol.

My solicitors have explained the law and how they are breaching EU consumer law and they are simply ignoring it.

I see myself having to post all the court action here. Hopefully it helps players in future.

It's sad that it can't be resolved, but as you have seen, it seems to us that the documents are in order. I don't know what more the casino would want, so I would try the MGA licensing authority if you haven't tried. I understand that casinos have their own procedures and processes, but this seems a bit ridiculous to me. Especially when call option has been suggested but the casino still stands its ground. 

Anyway, whatever your actions, be sure to come back with an update when you have one. I would like to see everything resolved, but as we have the opportunity to see if it really will be, I don't know.

The MGA told me they would not help.

This is the problem. No avenue is interested in helping, which is why the operator things it can act this way.

They have ignored my solicitors, which is why we have had to pay for court claims. They have said you are wrong, I am wrong and everything is unclear - When we know it isn't.

They are basically rogue. Treat players poorly. 5 to 10 days for withdrawals.

Keep on with the solicitor and post it here for me to see.

I see that it looks like you have nowhere else to turn and I really don't understand what you should do differently. I guess we're all of the same opinion except for the casino. I don't know whether to laugh or cry, and I wonder if this case will be resolved at all. I would like to find the right words, but I don't think there are any. 

If by any chance you manage to resolve something, please let me know. 😕

West are scammers. They are actively breaking EU consumer law.

It will be resolved via the courts as two claims have been submitted.

All they keep doing is sending the attached. Ignoring every picture I send in and ignoring your staff, ecogra and reality.

It's attempted theft.

I can see that you probably won't get anywhere with a conversation with them because they keep saying the same thing. 

So the only action we can take is to wait for the clamis you are talking about and see if something is resolved. 

I would be happy if they did. 😥