How do I complain about a gambling operator?
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If you wish to complain about the way a gambling business is
being run, which may indicate a threat to the
licensing objectives, you should follow the complaints process
below.
However, if you wish to dispute a gambling transaction, that is,
disagree with an operator about whether you won, or how much you
have been paid, you should follow the disputes process detailed in
How do I complain about a gambling transaction
(disputes)?
You should follow the process below when you raise a complaint:
- 1. Complaints can be made orally or in writing and may occur in person, over
the telephone, by letter, by email, or via online support.
- 2. Complain to the licence holder concerned providing as
much detail as possible. Ideally, you should keep a full record of
the complaint.
- 3. The licence holder should investigate the complaint,
escalating as necessary, following their internal complaints
procedure and informing you of the outcome.
So that your complaint is handled as quickly as possible, you
should always follow the licence holder’s complaints procedure in
the first instance.
What happens if the licence holder has not dealt with my
complaint properly?
If you feel that a licence holder does not have a proper
complaints procedure, they have ignored your complaint, or they
have not followed their published complaints procedure, you can
complain to us about their failure to operate a proper
complaints process.
If we think your complaint is reasonable then we may take this
up with the licence holder concerned. We will not investigate the
facts of the complaint, but we will check that there is a
complaints procedure in place and challenge the licence holder to
follow that procedure fully. This process may take some time, but
you can expect an acknowledgement of your complaint about the
licence holder, from us within three working days.
Can we help to get your money back?
Generally the answer to this question is no. We do not assist in
obtaining a refund of stakes placed, or put into a gaming
machine.
If you have lost a significant sum of money this may be an
indication that you have a problem with gambling. In such
circumstances you can ask a licence holder to exclude you from the
premises or website and seek help from one of the
problem gambling organisations.
How to contact Gambling Commission licence holders
If you want to make a complaint about a licence holder but do
not have their contact details, you can make use of our register
of operating licence holders (including our register of
remote operating licence
holders).
Page last reviewed: June 2012