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"These winnings will quite possibly change my life and help me re-pay my student debt, this has led to my decision to contact you."
Those words are from the first e-mail Gambling Grumbles received from Samuel T, a student at London's Royal College of Art and Design, and are the reason that we are even happier than usual that we could mediate a mutually satisfactory agreement between a casino and a player.
Actually, there was not all much for us to do -- the only problem was satisfying Club World as to Samuel's identity. However, given the amount at stake 29,535 GBP (which translates to 33,703 Euros or US $45,312), it is not at all surprising that Club World wanted to be 100% certain that Samuel was who he said he was.
For that matter, Gambling Grumbles also would not have wanted to assist someone in defrauding a casino, so we, too, didn't want to take any chances.
Samuel understood all of that even before he wrote to Gambling Grumbles. He told us that, "I signed up, deposited 500 pounds via Neteller and played slots at the casino on the 5th of November 2009 and after completing the wager requirement I I finished with 29535 pounds. Elated with my win I started the withdrawal process and between the 5th of November to the 26th of January, in total I sent them:
"* Bank statement
"* My college ID
"* My passport certified by the post office
"* The address and contact Number of the post office where I got my passport certified
"* A clear photo of me holding passport
"* The fax back form signed by me
"* A notarized copy of my passport certified by (a South Kensington solicitor)."
It sounds complete, right?
It probably would have been -- except for an apparent mistake made by someone in the solicitors' office. Here, we will let Tom of Club World tell what happened:
"When any new player registers at our casino we actively verify the account. In this case we could not verify any of the details on his account. There were no matching records for his name, address, phone number and when we tried to call the phone number registered on his account while he was online there was no response.
"This in itself is not a huge problem, however after he won the funds he still would not answer the phone or respond to e-mails. Two weeks later he supplied us with the documentation required for withdrawal, however they looked suspicious (photoshopping pixilation and shading inconsistencies) and so we asked him to get them notarized by an official notary.
"Instead, weeks later he sent us in another version of his passport that had a post office stamp near it. This proves nothing, so again I asked him to send us his passport notarized officially.
"Weeks later I received a copy of his passport with a stamp near it from a solicitor. The solicitor’s stamp did not cover any part of the ID, the associated text was obviously printed on a desk top printer, there was no signature, no date and no indication of which solicitor was acting as a notary. When I phoned the solicitor they had no record of him, no record of providing the notarization, no record of the ID and not even a receipt for the payment."
The last part was the crux of the problem. If the solicitor had confirmed that Samuel had been brought in his passport and had it notarized, Club World would have already paid him.
"I then decided to call (the solicitor's office) regarding the matter and they apologised to me for the misunderstanding and told me that they would be more than happy to call the casino themselves to verify the document I had sent the casino," Samuel said.
This probably would have been sufficient for Club World if it had been a much smaller withdrawal, but with 29535 pounds at stake, who can blame them for being very careful?
As Samuel told Gambling Grumbles that he was willing to go to any notary in central London that Club World would accept, we suggested to Tom that he choose one he had either a personal or business connection with and, more than that, give the notary exact instructions of what the casino wants.
Tom, in turn, contacted the casino's London law office, was given the names of two notaries, and told us that he would accept certifications from either one of them. To be extra careful, the notary will keep a copy of the passport and will confirm it when Tom calls to check.
Gambling Grumbles, in turn, had the very great pleasure of writing to Samuel today to tell him this. Now, all he has to do is decide which of the two notaries is more convenient for him, go there with his passport, and then wait until Club World sends him the money to pay off his student debt.
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