In some lower level of Hell, there’s a special area for casinos that cheat their players. I like to think that it’s nestled between sections reserved for mimes and fans of Justin Bieber. If my guess is correct, the folks at Loco Panda better start becoming familiar with the works of Marcel Marceau.
Founded in 2010 and powered by Realtime Gaming software, LocoPanda is part of Revenue Jet Casinos. That’s an immediate strike against them, as this gaming group also includes OnBling, Classy Coin, Grand Parker, and Ruby Royal. Each of these shares ties with the WinPalace Group, which means they’re all complicit in the same kind of fraud.
Chief among these unethical tricks is the not-so-gentle art of slow-paying customers. By stretching out the withdrawal process, the casino hopes that a player becomes frustrated and instead uses the money in their account to play more online games (where the odds will eventually catch up to them).
Complaints against Loco Panda Casino
LocoPanda has found plenty of ways to alienate their clientele, and the following list provides a number of examples (with links to additional information). Just be warned: if you’re the type of person prone to outrage over the mistreatment of others, you may wind up gripping your chair in anger by the end of this section.
Mysterious Jurisdiction – Reputable casinos are licensed in a certain jurisdiction, with the purpose being to help regulate activities and ensure players of a quality experience. While LocoPanda and its sister sites claim to be licensed in Curacao, this statement has been denied by representatives of the gaming association from the Netherlands Antilles. The obvious lack of oversight allows the casino to make up rules as they go, something which is never going to benefit the player.
August 2012 – While cleaning spam off his computer, one player found an email that had been returned after an unsuccessful attempt to send it. It was spam from Loco Panda, but it was using his email address as the point of origin. When you can turn your customers into unwitting spammers, you’ve certainly hit a new low.
September 2012 – After one of their affiliates kept spamming him, a player contacted LocoPanda to see if they could do anything about it. The customer service representative first suggested that they unsubscribe from the email. When the player responded that he’d already unsubscribed five times, the rep next suggested that the communications be marked as spam so the email service could block them in the future.
This was not, however, what the player wanted. Since the annoying affiliate had a direct business relationship with the casino, his desire was for them to become involved and help facilitate a resolution. They were unwilling to do this, repeatedly making claims that it was out of their hands.
This, of course, was a total lie. The casino had tremendous leverage in the situation and could’ve easily asked their affiliate to stop spamming customers. Bottom line: they simply didn’t care about the inconvenience and aggravation suffered by their player.
September 2012 – After being a loyal customer for several years, a customer had the temerity (sarcasm intended) to use comp points earned through play at the casino. This action resulted in Loco Panda blocking his ability to use any comp points in the future.
Not satisfied with getting screwed over, the player took his case to Casinomeister and got them involved. Thanks to their influence within the industry, the watchdog site managed to get the points redeemed for the customer.
That should have been the end of it, but the men and women at Loco Panda weren’t finished digging a hole for themselves. They next blocked the player from using both coupons and comps.
Finally fed up with their shenanigans, the player requested that his account be closed. The resulting reply from the company stated that the account was being closed due to a security issue, and that all deposits would be refunded. Then the following email arrived in the customer’s inbox:
“Apparently, because you got Casinomeister involved in your account is why this is a security issue. You gave them your username and that is prohibited by our terms and conditions.”
November 2012 – As you’ve seen, LocoPanda has excelled in racking up numerous customer gripes during their first year of operation. In this example, a player managed to accumulate $14,000 in winnings by wagering large sums of money on slots. Small payments were made for a while, but then they stopped and were replaced by an ominous email.
According to the site, the player was suspected of being part of a group that would register with the same affiliate and then employ an identical betting system. Since this suspected behavior constituted fraud in the eyes of the casino, the player was informed that no additional payments would be made.
When the customer made additional inquiries, he received no response. He also received no money, thus further solidifying the casino’s poor reputation.
August 2013 – In March of 2012, a lucky player requested a $40,000 withdrawal from the casino. As you might expect, he received a slow trickle of money ($1000 every two weeks), although this stopped a few months later. By this time, the player had collected about $10,000 (only $30,000 to go).
When the player contacted the website via phone, he was informed that an investigation was being conducted. However, he wasn’t given additional details on the matter.
Two months later, the “investigation” determined that the player was legitimate. Once again, a series of small payments were issued every few weeks.
Then, over a year later and with $9,000 still owed, the payments once again stopped and the customer’s account was locked. When he contacted a representative via live chat, the player was told that this was due to a “management decision.” Not surprisingly, the casino gave no further details and continued to dodge the player until he gave up.
In Conclusion
While there’s no evidence that the games at Loco Panda aren’t fair, you can be assured that most customers have to walk thought a veritable gauntlet in order to receive their winnings. And even if they do manage to avoid suspicious terms and conditions violations or lack of communication from customer service, the long waiting periods are enough to drive anyone to distraction.
That’s why you should cross LocoPanda off your list of potential gambling sites. There are numerous establishments that don’t try to defraud their customers, and they deserve to be rewarded for this behavior with increased patronage. Give them a try; while you’re at it, make sure to give LocoPanda the obscene gesture of your choice.
Complaint sources:
All Gambling Site Scams & Rip-Offs: