The Golden Tiger Casino, an online operator based out of Malta, is in hot water this week over a bonus e-mail UK advertising watchdogs say is very misleading.
According to published reports, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint recently about an deposit bonus e-mail a Brit had received from the company. The e-mail offer purported to offer a massive bonus in text which read:
Limited time offer! Mobile users get 30 free spins. No deposit required. Plus £ 1500 in welcome bonuses. Click here to claim now…if you win, you get to keep it.
So far, so good. Right?
The problem the consumer had came a little further in the body of the e-mail where it was mentioned that:
…deposit is required to claim your winnings.
While this sort of offer seems pretty standard to those familiar with the online gambling industry, and was shielded by a standard, “terms and conditions may apply,” clause, that wasn’t good enough for the ASA. In their view, the fine print of the T&C was placed a few too many clicks away from the actual offer for their liking.
In a statement of their own, the ASA countered saying:
We acknowledged that the email stated ‘terms and conditions may apply’, but we understood from Apollo that consumers were presented with a hyperlink to the terms and conditions terms via a hyperlink from the promotion’s landing page. the ASA finding reads. We therefore considered that the terms and conditions did apply and furthermore, that they were presented to consumers two clicks away from the email. The email should therefore have stated that terms and conditions applied (rather than that they ‘may apply’) and should have included all conditions which might have affected a consumer’s decision to take up the offer.
Despite their authoritative tone, the ASA was ultimately prepared to forgive and forget. As it stands, the Golden Tiger Casino won’t face any fines or other punishments over the matter.