Online gambling player community AskGamblers has enhanced its customer mediation service to also engage with sports betting-related disputes.
The Catena Media-owned property has operated its ‘AskGamblers casino complaint service’ (AGCCS) since 2009, returning more than $6 million to customers in 2020 via settled disputes with operators.
It allows consumers who seek to resolve a dispute with an AskGamblers accredited sportsbook to be paired up with an ‘expert agent’ who will examine and mediate the customer’s complaint made against the sportsbook.
AskGamblers’ player community will handle sportsbook disputes in relation to delayed/declined payments, unsatisfactory refunds, bonus violations, unclear terms of play, software glitches, market/odds infringements and unfair account closures.
The firm’s expansion means its dispute service as online gambling consumer rights are being reviewed across multiple European jurisdictions.
This April, Mediateur, France’s online gambling dispute service, presented its first report to national regulator ANJ, underlining its concerns at the number of cases it had settled in relation to unclear operator terms and conditions.
Meanwhile, presenting its new ‘Corporate Strategy’, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) underlined that consumer-led policies that ensure a fairer marketplace will be the key dynamic in how it governs licensed incumbents.
The UKGC’s new consumer-led strategy has been backed by safer gambling charities GambleAware and GamCare, submitting their individual responses to the 2005 Gambling Act review.