
eCOGRA
Releases 2007 Online Casino Disputes Report
by Devon Chapell, News Staff Writer
February 27, 2007
eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance, adoringly known as eCOGRA
to the online gambling community at large, has issued it's end of year report
citing disputes and complaints for 2007. Fair gambling and player advocate for
eCOGRA, Tex Rees, prepared the report, which looks promising in light of
eCOGRA's non-profit mission to protect players and ensure fair gaming standards
are met by its approved online casino operators.
For anyone unfamiliar with eCOGRA, it's important to understand just how
important the service they provide actually is. eCOGRA issues "Play it Safe"
Seals to online casino operators who meet strict standards of compliance in the
areas of fair gaming and customer service. Not only must operators meet initial
requirements at the time of applying for the seal, they are continuously
monitored for continued compliance. This entails submitting their software data
logs for monthly payout verification reports, as well working with eCOGRA
mediators if and when player disputes or complaints arise.
Considering that eCOGRA oversees some 120 online casinos (see our
eCOGRA
Casinos page for reviews of Online Casino Suite's top-rated eCOGRA approved
sites), not to mention the fact that all of these sites have thousands of active
online gamblers, it would be easy to conclude that Ms. Rees at eCOGRA would need
an assistant to sort through a flood of complaints. Well, she doesn't. And
that's because there was no flood of complaints in 2007. In fact, the average
number of complaints per month per eCOGRA approved online casino was .44.
Although the total number of complaints collected in 2007 was up from the
previous year, 138 of the 783 complaints were deemed invalid due to not being
within the jurisdiction of eCOGRA (meaning complaints against online casinos not
bearing the eCOGRA seal of approval) or did not contain sufficient information
to validate the claims. While there is a good chance most of the invalid claims
were from unscrupulous players trying to earn a quick buck or disgruntled
parties who did not read the terms of conditions for opening a real money
account and/or claiming a free cash bonus, it goes without saying that when you
open an account at an online casino - no matter how good its reputation and
credentials - to always read the T&C's and to save every correspondence with
customer service.
Overall, the number of legitimate complaints was us, which Rees says is
likely due to more players being aware of eCOGRA's mediation services. Indeed,
there was a time when players gambled at eCOGRA online casinos and didn't even
what eCOGRA was! However, the last few years eCOGRA has been aggressive in
educating players and in 2006 conducted the largest survey of online gamblers to
date.
Other figures in Rees report show 47% of complaints were regarding payout
issues, 28% were regarding bonus issues, 21% were regarding locked accounts and
4% were miscellaneous. The most promising statistics in the report show that 68%
of all legitimate player disputes were successfully resolved in favor of the
player. Well, if that's not a good reason why a player advocate and mediator is
necessary in the online gambling industry, I don't know what is. You go eCOGRA.
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