Rant on islandcasino

[buckeye]

intheknow, I did. W/U told me that the sender had to initiate any trace and they wouldn't give me any details on the receipt.

mls, I still think the onus is on island to follow up on this and do MUCH more than they are to rectify it. W/U said that it is the sender who has to initiate any follow-up and trace in a dispute like this. I keep being told they will call me, or have more info, and they do nothing but blow me off. If anyone has forged my name and stolen the money, it had to be an island employee, or w/u, since they are the only people who knew about it. So I want island to get to the bottom of it and they SHOULD! If I wasn't absolutely positive that it wasn't me, I wouldn't make such an issue of this.

[The Phantom]

I must disagree with your last comment. If island wants to investigate this for you i should be their call and it should be base on how well and how far they are willing to go for their customers but they are not obligated to do it. It's like if somebody buys an item in my store with your credit card. Now I can't imagine an island employee taking a plane to your city to collect your money or even worse I can't see an employee from a respected company as W/U stealing money like that, I am sure they have strict security measures to avoid things like that. Now I am not saying you collected, if you say you didn't I have no reason not to beleive you but then someone else did and I don't think it will be someone from W/U or island. Have you talked to a manager in island? I bet if you called saying you want to speak with one and don;t hung up till you do or why not try to get bettorsworld to try and help out, they have done so in the past. I back you up totally in the sense that you must find out what happen to your money and hopefully collect it if possible but I just fail to see why island is responsible for a w/u forgery.

Best of luck
The Phantom

[buckeye]

phantom, I did ask to speak with a manager and Lilly hung up on me when I did. I have sent 2 emails to Jeff, but I told him I would give them until this afternoon to straighten it out. I have sat on hold numerous times for 10-15 minutes with them and I can't sit on the phone all day to get them to answer.

I can't do anymore, with W/U, so I am at the mercy of island following up. When they say they will, I expect them to. I am still hoping that island will be provided a receipt and it will be crystal clear that I didn't sign ( like some number transposition or some innocent error ). If it is a case of fraud/forgery, then I expect island to follow up to reasonably eliminate their employees as suspects. I don't expect them to launch some big investigation but there would be some signs like where it was cashed. W/U would not tell me where or when ( besides 11/26 ) the receipt was signed for. Since I haven't left OH since early Oct., this would be something for them to check on!

A friend of mine had his CC number stolen by a ticket broker he ordered from by phone, he made sure the broker knew so they could fire the theif as well as informing the CC company who it was ( they called him so they knew ). While I hope this ends up not being a theft/fraud, if it is I think this is a similar situation.

I do appreciate your suggestions and I understand island's position. I do, however, believe they should do what they say they will and that is not too much to ask! They have failed to call me back as promised and failed to follow up on this problem when they say they will. I consider their stall tactics and hang ups as unprofessional and that is my major beef with them!! If they had just given me an update today, instead of the run-around, I wouldn't be posting my rants.

[Boomer]

I hate to put my two cents in here, but something not right here. On the few occasions I've gone in to Western Union to receive funds, they make you put up more identification than anyone I know when you are receiving funds.

A thief would have to have had a double picture ID forged with your name and either have a false signature adhered to two false picture ID's (one of which must be a passport of valid driver's license), along with your social security number.

As a gambling man, I put the odds at something like that happening at over one thousand to one.

A more likely scenario would be a number transposition, combined with the fact that Western Union won't give out any info over the phone. There is, in my experience, no way anyone got to Western Union and cashed Buckeye's money. I see Island's bookkeeping staff, however, or Western Union making a human error, but someone cashing Buckeye's money:

1) How did they know it was coming?
2) How did they get past the double picture ID?

If you suppose they had a crooked employee, do you really think they would have the wherewithall to come up with something to get past Western Union's security? Also, why was Buckeye the only victim. Something with the ability to pull this off would do this more than once.

Something doesn't smell right here.

[reno]

One thing I don't like about Island Casino and Sportbet.com is the lack of division between phone clerks who takes bets and customer service. For security purposes there should be a clear division. For example, I called Sportbet.com to request a pay-out today. And the number I called to request the pay-out is the same one that I call to place bets. When I requested customer service for a pay-out, the phone clerk, who answered said he could help me. And then he processed the information for my pay-out.

My suggestion to Island Casino and Sportbet.com is to have a separate phone number for customer service, and have this department process pay-outs and deal with disputes. This will make your operations seem more professional and make pay-outs more secure.

[snarg]

I think some of you are missing the point here. I have to go with Buckeye 100% in this case. It is the responsibility of Island to deliver the money to Buckeye. If he has never received the money they still owe it to him.

If your employer sent you your paycheck in the mail and it never got to you it would not be your responibility to go to the post office and conduct an investigation. That would be up to the employer. They would still be responsible for paying you.

You are correct that if someone else picked up the money it is robbery, but the victim of the robbery should not be buckeye it is Island. The money was always Island's until buckeye takes possession of it.

Therefore, if Island does not pay buckeye I think that they should be listed with sportsbooks who do not pay. For what good is a sportsbooks that pays out money, but doesn't get it to you.

[pnanda]

I side with Buckeye on this, it's Island's responsibity to deliver the money. If there was fraud at WU, then Island should go after WU and resend Buckeye the cash. If I order a CD from Amazon and Fed Express screws up the delivery, it's not my problem. The fault lies between Amazon and Fed xpress. I believe the same situation applies here, unless it was proved that Buckeye did pick up the money, Island should pay. Island casino could claim anything they wanted to prevent paying. Their lack of response and customer service is alarming enough, but the failure to provide proof of payment is unfortunate. Until this is resolved, they should be removed from the list of reliable books.

[mls]

But Island Casino has already requested documentation from w/u. Again, I fail to see what else Island Casino can do - w/u will proceed at their own painfully slow speed (and there is nothing Island Casino can do to speed them up).

I am confident w/u will get to the bottom of this - but I am also positive that w/u will be SLOW about doing so.

If there is a rant due in this case it should be against Western Union.

[buckeye]

mls, you are missing the point that Lilly told me to call yesterday afternoon after she said she was getting a fax from W/U in the morning. When I call multiple times, between 13:30 and 18:00, she won't talk to me and won't respond. So I don't know whether they got any info or it is W/U stalling or what. If W/U is not following through with island, then they should be pursuing it more and at least updating me!

I have a new name to call, a manager I hope, but their phone is automatically hanging up when I try to call them today.

Boomer, I had never tried to get a payment from W/U, before 12/7/99, so I don't know all of their requirements or security measures. I provided a drivers license to the W/U clerk the three times I have tried to collect on this, but I am not sure how strictly they enforce that requirement at all sites. It does sound mighty fishy, and I should not speculate on what has happened ( fraud/theft wise ) until I find out more. I was just saying that ONLY island and W/U knew the control #, etc. before 12/7. So if there was fraud it would seem that it was within one of those two places.

snarg and pnada seem to understand my position, thanks guys! To be fair, I wouldn't classify this as a no pay quite yet, just VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. If they don't make it right in the end, by getting me my money, then my view would change.

[intheknow]

Only the sender can ask about a transfer? Someone is pulling your leg, How do you think a sportsbook checks to see if funds are available or already paid out, or canceled or whatever. I have never failed to get this info, ask to speak to someone in International Customer Relations.

[buckeye]

Island has now resolved the problem. It was a snafu on W/U's part, and I collected exactly what I was owed this evening. I also got a lengthy apology from Carl at island for the communications/service problems. I am satified with their apology and explanations and I wish to put the matter to rest at last.
Thanks to Jeff for hooking me up with Carl.

GL2UA

[Boomer]

Sorry, Buckeye, I know you're happy that you got paid and we are all glad with you as Jeff comes through yet again. But like a mystery novel, I am hooked...

Specifically what did Western Union do, tranpose numbers, or are you protecting Island because they apologized and maybe paid you a "fee" in the way of a bonus for the trouble for your silence.

Come on, my curiosity is killin' me! You got me so hooked on your story I just gotta know what really happened??? Smile Face (I don't know how to make one like the other guys).

[Jeff]

For what it's worth, as I told Buckeye and have stated many times here before, I'm actually surprised that this type of situation doesn't happen more often.

When you consider the great number of transactions that take place daily with these books, and the number of people involved, ie the player, the books, western union workers, etc.etc. you would think we'd here more.

At any rate, Boomer, phone home. Actually, shoot me an email.....