Pattern of Failure im Gambling Industry on our High St

Mate i am sorry to hear this when i self excluded from Merkurs i was told by one of the staff member some lady lost £4000 the fobt and make my loss feel like it was common this told me enough about the toxic gambling industry they were in the paper when a lady a cancer paitent spent 12 hours in the place i believe it was the only case which successed and Murker were fined £100k so this tell me everything u need to know i believe it was more about the time spent then the amount spent as they all do have duty of care to protect it customers 

I absolutely agree with everything you have said in a ideal world I would have it done like this.

Anything related to gambling especially slots/betting shops you should get given a gambling identity card with photo ID what needs to be scanned on to a system to be even able to place any bets or step foot inside a shop what is linked upto gamstop for those who have gambling addictions but the government would never do that they make to much tax from people like us unfortunately 

Hi Jack

You really have nailed it on the head. The industry doesn't care. Responsible gambling has been forced on them. This was originally legislated in order to protect compulsive gamblers but as we all know it simply only protects responsible gamblers. All of the tools on websites etc will only ever be used by responsible gambling. I know adult games centres are different to this but you are totally correct, they don't care about anything other than money. The system is broken. I don't blame you for trying to take something to parliament but until a MP has a child with a gambling addiction, nothing will ever be done. It looks 8 years to get the £2 limit on FOBT.

I'm going to share something with you which shows how broken the system is.

In November I had over 60 accounts online. My responsible gambling monthly limits were 16 X my monthly salary. So im just going to talk about one company and not mention their name.

This company I lost six figures over 4 years. I have an email where they openly admitted that they set my monthly loss limit at 80% of my salary but they regularly set it at 85% and they think that's ok to take that amount of anyone's salary. Don't get me wrong, I earned a decent amount but my rent was 40% of my salary so I wasn't on celebrity wages. They based this limit on a P60 from three years ago when I was earning a lot more profit from the company I ran. They used a VIP manager to act as my friend. They changed promos for me to encourage higher staking. Deposit bonuses as well

I complained and went through six stages, all the way to the board. I pointed out that it lead me to be depressed, anxiety and sent them my GP and psych reports. I showed them that I was about to be homeless including my partner and two disabled children. I told them about the debts I have now and that it lead to me losing my job. They never asked for wage slips or bank statements. They never asked if I gambled with other operators. So I proved that they didn't offer me any protection. 

According to them they have completely adhered to responsible gambling rules. 

This just says it all and I was only one out of the 64 I spent a long time complaining to. 

I'm not wasting my time anymore. As you say, the system is broken, full stop, end of it for me. I commend you on wanting to fight.

Thanks 4 the replies.

The report about the £100k fine seems legit and there is a story related to it; an undercover agent for the BBC tries to enter 15  stores and only 1 manages to stop him whilst he is on a self excluded customer list. However, the shop that does manage to uphold the self exclusion is the one Im complaining about! 

The reporting doesnt make any sense to me,  they are saying 1 venue out of 15  managed to spot an excluded customer? Yet still, they dont have the same system in place as the others because the other 14 are newer refurbished places and are using facial recognition and they also have several other ways to spot gambling harm yet still they failed?

It seems to me their is a complete cover up and media has falsely reported that out of 15 venues this particular venue is superior in detecting self excluded customers? Yet still, these guys are completely offshore avoiding cooperation Tax.

Correct me if I am wrong, but this venue I am talking about has a Bank machine that can continiously turn your savings into a ticket which you can load onto a machine which I have never seen before. And I never noticed that before in an arcade. Yet still, they rely on finding you on a handheld tablet to spot in you are a self excluded player? Something is very off and I want to get this out there, this is major corruption and twisted so badly that it is enough to make me sick just thinking about it.

After the losses I found that Their internal investigation process is terrible....Their ADR resolution company is complete rubbish and they fabricate investigations. Apparently they pay £150 per year for their ADR which flatly refuses to deal with anything related to self exclusion.

Another point, In their investigation they told me they had 331 self excluded customers and I was last on the list and they even had the audacity to say I wore a disguise. I actually look exactly the same as before and I even have their picture of me and its no different. Basically they will do and say anything to keep the money...They are crooks!  

 With regards to the ID I agree it should be implemented, however, they want to exploit the system in place as much as they can so there will definitelty be another way around it.

I look at it like this, they always win no matter what. If we always won too we would be confident that we cannot lose and that is the real reason they are here... It works for them but just look at all the damage it has caused. Not just for us for everyone in our community! The money we had could have supported small businesses and the social aspect has huge implications either way.

The profits they make are too big to worry about the small fry, yet its us that fund their companies the most and they have even found ways to minimise any cost to themselves.

Thanks for commending me on fighting it. I look at it like this...If I can stop just one person playing a silly flashy game that actually programs your mind to say 'I know what I am doing' even when you know its a lie then I have saved someone from a life of misery.

 Those machines have bypassed our logical reasoning which is another illegal aspect of Gaming that nobody in government is talking about.

Lastly, I have nothing to hide and nothing to lose and they think they have Won. We all know that you feel untouchable when you always win but to me that is me getting the last laugh! Because nature isnt designed that way, is it?