Players who use online casinos and place bets in sports books are accustomed to being greeted with a welcome bonus or some other great offer from the company they are signing up to. However, you should be warned that the reality can sometimes be quite different from what is promised to you and even a high profile brand name and the fact that the company is listed on stock exchange won’t be of any help to you.
First things first, why are we raking over the problems people have reported with Unibet once again? It is quite simple — the name Unibet just keeps on popping up all over the Internet forums and discussion groups which deal with casinos and bookies who treat their customers carelessly. Since we deal with all kinds of casino-related news, we naturally keep a close eye on this type of information. We also have a duty of care to warn our customers about borderline shady operators and conversely to avoid promoting brands which have a track record of violating the trust of their customers.
It is not uncommon that a player makes a deposit at Unibet, but instead of the promised generous Unibet bonus, they get a notification saying something along the lines of ‘your account has been blocked for investigation’. Naturally your money won’t be returned immediately, oh no — it sits in Unibet’s bank account until their seemingly-inept security department kicks off their investigation. This process can take anywhere from 2 weeks to several months. Forget about solving your problems in a day or two by simply sending them a copy of the documents they are asking for.
Blocked right after creating an account
For some players the saga begins as soon as they create an account and try to redeem their Unibet welcome bonus, but for most the real problems start when you actually win a significant amount of cash and attempt to withdraw your winnings. You see, when you deposit money and lose it the ‘Sherlock Holmes’s and Miss Marples’of the Unibet investigation team aren’t too interested in who you are and where you’re from. But as soon as you submit a withdrawal request, they suddenly become highly concerned about your identity. This concern then seems to rapidly escalate into blocking your account and seizing your assets for an indefinite period.
Most of the people describing these problems in online forums seem to confirm that there is a pattern to Unibet’s activities with people who have made big winnings. First you get blocked and nobody really explains the reasons behind the block. You then have to deal with the rather unhelpful Unibet customer support (to be fair, maybe they really want to help you, but aren’t given sufficient info concerning the blocked account to do so). After you send an email asking what’s happening they will first ask you to hold on for a few days while they investigate your individual case. After yet more time passes you then have to send in a copy of a suitable ID document with a picture, or bank information, utility bills etc. This entire process takes at least 2 weeks and sometimes Unibet will even ask for the same things twice or more. This kind of thing will never happen to you if you stick to brands with a better reputation like Jackpot City Casino for example.
Winners are not welcome
Another common problem with Unibet sports book is the fact that once you start winning bigger sums of money your betting limits will be capped, so you can only make small bets subsequently. This kind of pre-commitment would be fine if it were aimed at gamblers who seem to bet excessively and might be hurting themselves financially. But sadly, as long as you are losing no one will mess with your limits, but once you go on a winning streak Unibet imposes their will on you. This just seems hypocritical and unacceptable for anyone who believes in treating their customers fairly.
In conclusion we’d like to point out that naturally these problems don’t concern 100% of Unibet customers. A lot of players experience no problems at all. The reason we are taking a heated stance on this matter however is due to the fact that even a rate of 10% disgruntled customers is way too much for our liking. Furthermore, we feel that instead of taking care of customer complaints in a timely manner and solving them in the course of a few days (how much time does it take to review 3 scanned documents?!) Unibet have seemingly instead decided to make stalling a deliberate corporate policy. Most of these complaints are only resolved, if at all, after the customer contacts eCOGRA or the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta, which regulate Unibet. But that requires further patience and many people either get intimidated or feel that the sum of money doesn’t warrant pursuing the complaint that far.
It is the golden rule of business that any company treat their customers with respect. Wasting the customer’s time with made-up excuses and making their life hard while they wait for their wins or even their initial deposit to be returned is not an ideal environment for a business to flourish in. We’re also less than impressed by Unibet clearly stating on their home page thatUnibet reserves the right, at its own discretion, at all times, to: Decline to open a Unibet Account and/or to close an existing Unibet Account, without any explanation whatsoever
. This kind of statement merely seems like a lasting testament to the hostile and indifferent treatment Unibet likes to impose on their punters!