Don't touch this casino with a 10 foot pole, people.

(3 part story... 1st part below)


This one is just too ridiculous. If I wasn't so infuriated, I'd laugh... or cry. I apologize for the length of it, but they really dragged me through the meat grinder on this one and I just wanted to give the play-by-play. This has to be the finest example of run-around ever.

On Sept 3/2006 I played some blackjack at Tajmahalpalacecasino.com and had some awesome luck playing blackjack. I deposited $400, got their $400 match bonus and went on to turn that into $5, 058! Best luck I ever had at the casinos. I was on top of the world. I put in for a cashout of the full amount on Sept 8 and began to wait. Here is the sequence of events that unfolded, check this out:


(1) On Sept 10 I received an email from them:

"Dear Tom,
Thank you for your email.
Account Department are working hours monday to friday.
The withdrawal process takes 4-7 business days."


(2) So I waited a few days... all excited. Then I emailed them again just to see how the cashout was progressing. Got this back on Sept 16:

"Dear Tom,
Thank you for your reply,
Sorry for the misunderstanding, your withdrawal will be processed within 4-7 days.I will follow up on Monday with accounts department exactly when it will be processed."

... Hmmm, still 4-7 days. This is what they told me 6 days ago. Oh well...


(3) After waiting a few days, I emailed them again. The response came almost a week later:

"Dear Tom,
Thank you for your email,
Our account management is not in today they will be on tomorrow
morning.I put your email as follow up.
Regards,
Casino Support Team "


(4) By this time I'm sensing "run-around" and I'm getting a little testy. I send this email back on the 26th directly to Taj casino and to their 3rd party player support (www.playersupport.com):

"What is going on with my withdrawal???? 2 and a half weeks ago you told me
it would be "4-7 days"."


(5) I get this response back the next day (Sept 27) from the 3rd party player support:

"Hello Thomas,
Thank you for contacting Player Support. Unfortunately for any cashier
questions you will have to contact Casinotajmahalpalace at
[email protected] this is because they deal with their own
cashier support. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you
and if there is anything else we can do for you please feel free to contact us
again.
Sincerely,
James"


(6) On Oct 1 I get this from the 3rd party player support:

"Tom,
Thanks for contacting Player Support.
I apologize for the extended delays regarding your withdrawal as well as the
delays in communicating with [email protected]
Our records on your account do show there may be an ID verification process
involved/requested of you in order to make a successful withdrawal.
For now, I will forward your issue to our own managament, and hopefully they
can look into this and get a fast(er) resolve and solution.
Sincerely,
Emmie"


... oh so they need ID? OK, no problem. About time they tell me though... it's been almost a month since I requested the cashout. I'm getting a little bit pissed by now. It seems like a classic "stalling" tactic to me (wait a month and *then* tell the player that they need ID documents)... plus the fact that it now seems like Tajmahal casino itself takes about a week or so to answer one email. I'm not happy at this point.


(7) SO that very day I sent their requested ID documents - drivers license and utility bills. Here is the reply from the 3rd party player support 2 days later on Oct 3:

"Hello Thomas,
Thank you for contacting Player Support. Unfortunately the cashier your of
Casinotajmahal is handling this matter. It seems to be that your address does
not match the address on your drivers lisence.For more information regarding
this you will have to contact [email protected]. Thank you again
for contacting us and if there is anything else please feel free to contact us
again.
Sincerely,
James"

... true enough on the address discrepancy. In the time since I had my license made, I've moved to a new place here in the city. My current address is reflected in the utility bills of course. On the reverse of my license is an official Change of Address Sticker bearing my current address, so I took a scan of that and sent that to them on Oct 8 (I had went away for a few days between the 3rd and the 8th). Meanwhile - patience level decreasing all the while.


(8) 4 days later on Oct 12 I get a reply back from Tajmahal casino itself:

"Dear Tom,
Thank you for the scanned back of the license. But we still require 2
exactly the same address as in you license that should be in utility bill if
you won`t provide two utility bills by Mon 16 Oct we will close the account.
Regards,
Accounts Department"

... huh??? I had already sent them 2 utility bills from my current address, which matches the current address shown on the reverse of my license. And now they say they're going to close the account??!! What the...?? I replied back, I was pissed and I let them have it. They were going to close the account? I was freaking. Next thing you know, their email address ([email protected]) starts bouncing back all my emails. Wonderful.


(9) The support phone number on the TajmahalPalace site at the time would only get me to the 3rd party player support, who made it clear to me that they didn't handle cashier related issues. But anyhow, I called them and vented... in particular to one fellow Stephane who said he would do what he can to help me out.
Anyway, finally my emails to Tajmahalpalacecasino get through and I get a reply back on Oct 17:

"Dear Tom,
Thank you for your email,
I apologize for the delay in your reply.
Please note that we wont close your account but we still require the utility
bill the same as in your driver license. We are not familiar with US
Legislation but we need to make sure that we are paying right person. Please
provide us the utility bill as in your driver license. Thank you for
understanding.
Regards,
Cashier Department"

... well, I thought I DID send them utility bills in the same address as my license - the same as reflected on the Change of Address sticker on the back. Blood pressure rising...