bodog cash out problems/ funds locked--warning

[mosta]

here's a scary situation. my full first name is 8 letters long. I usually go by a nickname, the first three letters. I've had bank accoutns and credit cards in both variations, as well as with just my first initial. on my neteller account I used the 3 letter version. (I didn't think neteller was all that formal when I signed up.) On my bank account I've got all 8 letters. I made two initial deposits to bodog in february. $1,000 by neteller. $500 by etf direct from my bank account.

bodog locked up a $6,000 cash out and locked me out of my account, because the spelling of the first name on the two accounts is not identical. they are demanding I produce identification and written permission from the "two different" people who have the bank account, and neteller account. I really don't know what to do, because there is only one person, me. I sent them screen shots of very private transaction information, namely all transactions in my neteller accoutn and all in my personal bank account (!) for the last year. so they can match the account numbers and the corresponding withdrawals and deposits. they dismissed that entirely, and still demand "identification". now I need an evil twin, I guess.

beware. if you put your money in bodog, and there is a glitch in paperwork, they may seize your money (and your winnings) as a penalty. I haven't been this pissed off in a long time. I have never had a cash out, by neteller or etf, held up ever at: party, empire, pacific, paradise, stars, intertops, multipoker, pokernow, eurobet, poker club, planet, pokerroom.

anyone know the name of the site that handles dispute resolution for online gaming?

[SirArthur]

I've done a few cashouts from Bodog with no problems.

This is scary though, as I have 5k in my Bodog account right now.

Let us know how this turns out, I hope it gets resolved for you.

[MicroBob]

From my understanding of the situation I believe I am happy that Bodog does something like this and am disappointed in the other sites for making it so easy to get one's money sent to an account that doesn't match your name.

That's my initial reaction anyway.

[dibbs]

Man that sucks, and doesn't seem to make much sense to me, seems like it might be a somewhat regular occurence, Bens and Benjamins Mikes and Micheals crap like that. My bodog email was different from my neteller email which locked me up for a day or so but it was quickly corrected, I don't know why theyre giving you so much crap. Good luck.

[mosta]

security's fine, but I've disclosed a lot of very private information to them. what they seem to want me to produce is impossible/non-existent. if they were playing straight, why don't they at least undo the two deposits to the respective bank and neteller accounts? it's not like a cash out is being directed to a completely unknown neteller account--it's the account where the deposit came from! who is it that would be in danger of being hurt in this scenario.

good luck keeping your t's crossed and i's dotted!

[guppy]

Have you actually spoken to a manager-level human being, as opposed to sending emails and getting form letter responses from low level customer service?

Have you tried jumping through as much of their hoops as is possible, i.e. sending them a copy of your ID and a signed letter from you stating that you are you, and the NETeller name is your nickname?

Good luck.

[MicroBob]

so they are asking for identification of a name that is not actually yours? is that why it's impossible to produce?


I agree that you should call them and speak with directly if you haven't done so already.

I found their phone support to be fairly competent and helpful.
If the guy you are speaking to isn't flexible then ask to speak to his manager or something.


Did they even ask for these screen-shots that you sent them?
If they did then it's pretty bad of them to look at them and NOT give you the cash-out AFTER you sent them what they wanted.
If they did not ask for them then I think you should have only OFFERED to send them....and only send them IF they agreed that they would be sufficient to prove that you are who you say you are.


Since you are trying to cash-out to the same neteller account that you deposited from I would insist on speaking with someone there.

Perhaps a run-down of the e-mail conversations you have had will produce some ideas for others here (because sometimes the customer is not doing as good a job of explaining their situation to the occassionally less-than-stellar support that sometimes just doesn't get it.

[jack_of_hearts]

I had the same thing with the cryptos before. I go by my middle name but my Neteller account is in my first name. I had to fax in some ID and they closed my old account and had me open a new account with the names matching and then after I made a deposit into the new account they transfered the contents of my old account over.

[mosta]

thanks. they say faxed ID should do it. I've done that. Unless I post otherwise later, we can assume that it will go through now. still it was annoying: to be denied a substantial amount of my money; to be locked out from playing in my account; to have to collect documents and trudge over to kinko's (I generally keep very busy and don't respond well to hour long interruptions). if you are comparing sites, weigh that inconvenience (which is less if you hvae a desktop scanner etc), vs how valuable you think the security is.

what I take from the situation:

1. if you have any variation in your name (maiden name/married name/ work name, variation in use of first or middle, name vs initial), be prepared for hassles.

2. they (not just bodog, but probably all sites) have no problem taking money from anyone in any form. problems don't crop up until they have to give it back.

3. why do they think that a screen shot is less reliable as documentation than faxes and scanners? it seems to me it's a whole lot easy to use a black pen on a blury image than it is to doctor a full color high res screen shot.

4. what's the point of a policy that withholds a cash out from the original account that made the deposit? if anyone had been ripped off in this situation it seems to me that it would be the owner of the account that can't get the cash out. how does this protect anyone?

5. don't get too attached to your online privacy. they can demand anything from you when they are holding your money.

[BlueBear]

[ QUOTE ]

anyone know the name of the site that handles dispute resolution for online gaming?

[/ QUOTE ]

The site that handles these disputes is www.casinomeister.com (http://www.casinomeister.com), they have a forums to specially handle these complaints plus you can ask their webmaster to look into it for you.

[mosta]

in the original email they wanted ID and authorization from "both" persons. now they say one ID is enough. that's what I sent. I expect it to be fine. I just get worked up when 1. a significant money transaction gets screwed with and 2. it significanlty interrupts my day. but i don't mean to go over board (I admit the last paragraph in my first post is a bit overboard--but you know, in the heat of the momen...). I'm not going to flame and cross post in every mention of bodog. just be aware that these sites have a power over you, and little variations in paperwork can cause head aches.

[MicroBob]

I completely agree with this sentiment and don't like it.
I also agree with your previous post with the 5 different things that you thought of (or whatever it was) including the inconvenience of taking an hour out of your day to fax as well as the general idea that they can do whatever the hell they want.

I especially agree with the idea that they don't seem to have any problems ACCEPTING your money but are far more likely to find an issue when they have to GIVE you your money back and I don't like that one little bit either and I've commented about that before.


But you WERE using a different name so it's not entirely their fault.


Some of the reasons you have sited have partly been why I don't do the 'casino-whoring' blackjack (or whatever) stuff...because they are more likely to mess with you on faxes and so forth.

Do the prima sites still do the fax thing? I haven't even started playing there yet but I seem to recall several people saying they had to fax ID to a place like Golden Palace in order to cash-out.
This is so unappealing to me that I still haven't bothered to check out their games and bonuses (but probably will get around to it at some point).
Why a fax over a scan is beyond me. Probably just their idiotic policy.

[SirArthur]

Mosta-Glad it appears to have been reslolved in your favor.

I understand your possible overreation in your OP. Just thinking there's a decent chance you may never get your hands on your 6K, thatis enough to make anyone feel very uneasy.


[ QUOTE ]

Do the prima sites still do the fax thing? I haven't even started playing there yet but I seem to recall several people saying they had to fax ID to a place like Golden Palace in order to cash-out.


[/ QUOTE ]

MicroBob-
I played extensively on TGC for about 6 months. I did many cashouts during this time, & never had to fax them anything.
Cashouts were a breeze through neteller.
FWIW (cuz I believe your'e a limit player)-Prima has a wide variety of NL games going at all times, and is not big for limit players. The initial bonus takes a while to clear, & they seldom do reloads.

[teddyFBI]

I'm glad the situation finally resolved itself in your favor.
Not to sound insensitive to how annoying it was, but seriously -- if you didn't do anything wrong, being asked to produce ID is a VERY minor 'inconvenience'. Frankly, I'm glad online poker sites take security moderately seriously. Consider the tens of thousands of cashouts they process every day...it's somewhat reassuring to think that someone's at least checking this stuff to some degree.

The only people who really seem to have REAL problems cashing out are those who did something wrong, like open multiple accounts, or gnomes...and then they come on here with their first post on the forum saying site XYZ is fraudlent.

Like I said, I'm glad it worked out and I'm sure it was a PITA...but I think we should all relax a little bit when it comes to these types of situations...the sky is not falling.