A recent investigation held by The Guardian has shown that the online gambling operator MansionBet accepted redundancy payout from a player as proof that they could afford to spend thousands of pounds to bet with the company. According to reports, the gambling company then rewarded the player by offering them VIP enhancements for doing so.
The evidence reviewed by The Guardian has revealed that a 44-year-old male player has been literally bombarded with free bets and football tickets by the online gambling company even at times when his gambling was clearly getting out of control.
As the investigation showed, in 26 calls the player asked his VIP customer manager, who was specially appointed by MansionBet, to provide him with free bets and also cancelled money withdrawals from his account. According to the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), there were clear signs of gambling addiction in his behaviour.
As it became clear during the investigation, at one point, the player sent the online gambling company a copy of a redundancy settlement between him and his former employer and pledged to make large deposits in his account with MansionBet funded by the payout in return to free bets. Also, the player was encouraged to make more deposits in return to more free bets, with the VIP manager admitting at a later stage they tend to offer larger rewards when the player loses more money.
Lately, so-called VIP schemes have been linked to a number of cases in which online gambling operators failed to protect vulnerable customers from gambling-related harm. This is exactly why the UKGC is considering whether to suspend such incentives. The watchdog has commissioned a review of VIP schemes led by one of the largest gambling operators in the UK – GVC Holdings.
The Player Received VIP Scheme Encouragements to Make More Bets
The guidelines of the major gambling regulatory body of the UK say that online gambling operators should be careful when it comes to accepting funds from players who have recently received a “windfall”.
A UKGC spokesperson explained that the Commission is unable to make comment on individual cases but as a watchdog, it remains committed to making everything possible to reduce gambling-related harm. The regulatory body’s spokesperson also shared that it expects companies operating in the sector to make sure they prevent harm to be inflicted on customers when a player’s behaviour clearly indicates they are at risk. The UK Gambling Commission further noted that there have been some failures associated with VIP practices in the sector and confirmed it is to start consultations on possible extra requirements for gambling operators.
The investigation held by The Guardian showed that the VIP manager called the player at the time when the latter made an £8,000 deposit to ask him for assurance that he could actually afford to make such bets, highlighting the fact that the sum represented a considerable piece of the player’s annual salary. They, however, appeared to find the verbal assurance given by the player enough to provide him with more free bets. Apart from that, the player was asked by the VIP manager to write a review of MansionBet on a website where customers can publish and read reviews of various brands, called Trustpilot. Another reward for the player followed after he confirmed that he had left a review on the website.
The online gambling operator revealed that it had refused a request from the player to refund money that he had previously deposited in his sports betting account. MansionBet also explained that the case had been thoroughly reviewed by senior management because of the extensive nature of the contacts by the customers and further noted that it did not agree with the characterisation of the incidents in question.
- Author
Olivia Cole
