MrGreen Casino - warning

LemonTree_3

Hi folks,

I was trying to take advantage of £10.00 Cashback on http://www.greasypalm.co.uk to push my total cashback over £25.00 to be paid out - that's the minimum amount before this Cashback site makes any payment.
So I came across this "interesting" offer from MrGreen Casino - which now I think it's a trap and would like to warn people not do the same mistake:



https://www.mrgreen.com/

Hence, I made a first deposit of £10.00 via my Visa electron card which caused the first irritation because I had to 2.5% fee for using a debit or credit card. But since I received a £10.00 bonus I thought that would be okay. My starting credit was therefore £20.00.
After several games of BlackJack my credit shrank down to about £11.00. Then I thought be a good idea to quit and get my credit to be paid out.
My request of a withdrawal to my bank (BIC and IBAN already entered) was declined by the website by saying that the minimum amount of withdrawal is £30.00
Okay, I thought: I should deposit another £19.00 (plus 2.5% fee) and then withdraw my credit which then would be £30.00. And so I did.
Again, after depositing £19.00, the website claimed that I only have £25.00 credit. Well, I thought that is possibly due to the fact that the website wouldn't pay out the bonus which is fair enough and would count my first remaining £11.00 only with 50%.
You know the story - so I deposited another £10.00 to get at least my £19.00 back. My next withdrawal request was again declined. This time I've phone customer service. The telephone agent said there was a mistake in the system and I should try again. And so I did. The website then put my withdrawal request as "pending" and my money should be in my account within the next 7-10 days.

BUT then I receive the following email:

Dear LemonTree

Thank you for playing at Mr Green!
You have recently requested a withdrawal from your account with Mr Green. This withdrawal has unfortunately been declined as you have yet to meet the wagering requirement on the bonus that was credited to your account. The wagering requirement is thirty five (35) times the total bonus amount and can be wagered in any game except Table Games (including Roulette and Black Jack games) and Video Poker.
More information regarding bonuses can be gained from your player account under the "Bonus" tab and from our Terms & Conditions.
The wagering requirement for bonus amount that was credited your account is 10*35 =£ 350 . Currently you have wagered £0 in games that count towards the wagering requirement.
When you have met the wagering requirements you are welcome to request a new withdrawal. If wish to find out how much you have wagered, do not hesitate to contact customer services and we'll find out for you!
With kind regards,
Customer Services
Mr Green - A casino playground
For additional info:
https://www.mrgreen.com
https://www.mrgreen.com/en-us/terms-and-conditions.aspx

What this email is saying is practically: since we gave you a £10 starting bonus you are not allowed to make any withdrawal before wagering for at least £350?!

Is this legal?!?!

So people please be warned!

What do you think? Can I take MrGreen Casino to small claims court to get my credit paid out?

Thank you!

Saetana

If the wagering requirements were in their Terms and Conditions then, unfortunately, you don't have a leg to stand on legally. Check out their T&C and see, I always do this anyway (although I use bingo sites rather than casinos) as the wagering requirements can be ridiculous. Saying which, 350 times is a LOT higher than anything else I have ever seen, it might be worth contacting the Office of Fair Trading (or whatever they are called currently) as its possible that the wagering requirement could be considered unreasonable, I get annoyed when some bingo sites make it 5-10 times (never seen any higher than that) and I wont sign up with them.

Bear in mind they are only talking about drawing out the bonus £10, the wagering requirements DO NOT apply to the cash you have credited into your account, but you will need a total of £40 in your account to cover the £30 cash you wish to withdraw and leave the £10 bonus money. Its up to you whether you credit enough to withdraw the £20 real cash you have in there already (works out at another £10 needing to be credited from the figures you gave, if you have £30 in there currently then £10 of it is the bonus money as they will have used your cash up first) or just chalk it up to experience and make people aware in as many places online as you can that this company is a real bad bet (pardon the pun).

I've never heard of this casino, which is surprising as I get loads of invitations for this sort of stuff, you might want to do a search or two and check them out for customer complaints and general reputation as well.

LemonTree_3

Saetana wrote: »

If the wagering requirements were in their Terms and Conditions then, unfortunately, you don't have a leg to stand on legally. Check out their T&C and see, I always do this anyway (although I use bingo sites rather than casinos) as the wagering requirements can be ridiculous. Saying which, 350 times is a LOT higher than anything else I have ever seen, it might be worth contacting the Office of Fair Trading (or whatever they are called currently) as its possible that the wagering requirement could be considered unreasonable, I get annoyed when some bingo sites make it 5-10 times (never seen any higher than that) and I wont sign up with them.

Thank you for your quick reply. Honestly, I didn't know what a wagering requirement was until I tried to get my credit paid out.

The T&C say

If you are eligible for a bonus, that is for example a login bonus of SEK 25, NOK 25 or EUR 3 or a deposit bonus of 100% up to a certain amount, then you are asked to wager the bonus amount before making any cash-outs of the bonus or winnings. If you would like to request a withdrawal before the wagering requirements are fulfilled, Mr Green will deduct the whole bonus amount as well as any winnings before approving any withdrawal. Wagering at Video Poker, roulette (any roulette), Black Jack (any Black Jack) or any other Table Game does not count in the wagering requirements. Bonuses are only available to players from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Great Britain and Germany. Local wagering requirements may be applied. Bonuses/Freespins at Mr Green can only be received once per household. Risk-free bets on any games do not qualify for Mr Green’s wagering requirements.

It is not specifying how many times the UK wagering requirement in fact is.

Saetana wrote: »

Bear in mind they are only talking about drawing out the bonus £10, the wagering requirements DO NOT apply to the cash you have credited into your account, but you will need a total of £40 in your account to cover the £30 cash you wish to withdraw and leave the £10 bonus money. Its up to you whether you credit enough to withdraw the £20 real cash you have in there already (works out at another £10 needing to be credited from the figures you gave, if you have £30 in there currently then £10 of it is the bonus money as they will have used your cash up first) or just chalk it up to experience and make people aware in as many places online as you can that this company is a real bad bet (pardon the pun).

Thank you for the explanation. By now, I have (stupidly) credited £39 (plus 2.5% fee). So if I credit another £11 then I would be eligible to get £20 back by telling this online casino that I would like to forgo the £10 bonus, right?
So the equation goes: crediting £50 + 2.5% fee = £51.25, then minus the bonus £10 gives £41.25 and minus the loss in playing BlackJack £10 = £31.25 payout.
Hopefully getting a cashback from greasypalm.co.uk making a loss of £10 just by signing up and losing by playing BlackJack! It looks like the Casino always wins!

Saetana

That bit about taking back the winnings as well as the bonus sounds really dubious to me as its not clear whether this applies to all winnings or just winnings obtained from using the bonus money, never seen that before. However, as you didn't win anything then that shouldn't apply to you.