Two promotions on the William Hill website, www.williamhill.com:
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a. A promotion seen on 11 December 2015 was headed £5 Risk Free* With Family Guy ... Play Now. Further text stated Get cosy with the Griffins this weekend and get a giggidy Risk Free! Claim Now and stake £5 or more on Family Guy until midnight on Sunday,
and if the reels don't spin in your favour you'll get a £5 Risk Free to have another go and Family Guy £5 Risk Free Terms and Conditions: ... 2. The Promotions is only available to players who have claims and placed a minimum stake of £5 â?¦ 3. Refunded
cash will be calculated as losses incurred less winnings on the Selected Games up to £5. 4. A minimum of £5 will be awarded during any Promotion Period. Any amounts less than £5 will not qualify.
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b. A promotion seen on 25 December 2015 was headed Christmas Cracker - Get £10 Risk Free on The Pig Wizard. Further text stated Merry Christmas! You've pulled our cracker, now squeal with joy with this £10 Risk Free offer on The Pig Wizard! Simply, click
'Claim Now' and then stake £10 on this magical slot before midnight tonight, safe in the knowledge that if you're not a winner this time, we'll refund you up to £10 and £10 Risk Free The Pig Wizard Vega Millions Terms and Conditions ... 2. The Promotion
is only available to players who have claimed and placed a minimum stake of £10 â?¦ 4. Refunded money will be calculated as losses incurred less winnings on the Selected Games up to £10. 5. A minimum of £10 will be awarded during any Promotion Period.
Any amounts less than £10 will not qualify for bonus credit. Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
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the claim Risk Free in ad (a) was misleading, because when they played the game they were unable to obtain the £5 refund without staking additional money; and
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the claim £10 Risk Free in ad (b) was misleading, because they said they were refused a refund on the basis that they had only staked £9.80 of their own money and the 80p which they 'won' during the game and subsequently lost, did not count as their own
money.
ASA Assessment: Complaints upheld
1. Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would understand from the claim £5 Risk Free in ad (a) that they could stake £5 on the game without risk, meaning that if they lost that money on the game it would be refunded to them and withdrawable as cash. We noted
that the T&Cs for the promotion appeared on the same page as the promotion itself meaning they were drawn to consumers' attention. However, we considered that the wording of the terms was unclear and contradictory. In particular, the third term
stated that Refunded cash will be calculated as losses incurred less winnings on the Selected Games up to £5, but the fourth term stated A minimum will be awarded during any Promotion Period. Any amounts less than £5 will not qualify. We considered that
these references to up to £5, a minimum of £5 and Any amounts less than £5 will not qualify would be likely to confuse consumers about what amounts would be refunded. We also understood that in the case of the complainant, when they played the game they
were unable to obtain the £5 refund without staking additional money because they won 40 pence in the game and were therefore in credit to that amount in the game, which they were unable to stake without adding 10 pence of their own money due to a
minimum 50 pence stake. We considered that this contradicted the risk free offer, because it was not possible in all cases to stake £5 and receive a refund without a customer staking some additional money of their own. We therefore concluded that the
claim Risk Free was misleading.
2. Upheld
We considered that consumers would understand from the claim £10 Risk Free in ad (b) that they could stake £10 on the game without risk, meaning that if they lost that money on the game it would be refunded to them and withdrawable as cash. We noted that
the T&Cs for the promotion appeared on the same page as the promotion itself meaning they were drawn to consumers' attention. We considered that the ad made sufficiently clear that to participate in the promotion customers would have to stake £10 of
their own money -- the text giving information about the offer stated Simply, click Claim Now and then stake £10 on this magical slot and the T&Cs also stated that the promotion was only available to players who have claimed and placed a minimum
stake of £10. We therefore did not consider consumers would expect to be able to stake less than £10 and use any subsequent winnings for the minimum stake requirement for the promotion. However, we considered that the wording of other terms was unclear
and contradictory. In particular the fourth term stated Refunded money will be calculated as losses incurred less winnings on the Selected Games up to £10, but the fourth term stated A minimum of £10 will be awarded during any Promotion Period. Any
amounts less than £10 will not qualify for bonus credit. We considered these references to up to £10, a minimum of £10 and amounts less than £10 will not qualify for bonus credit would be likely to confuse consumers about what amounts would be refunded.
We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told William Hill to ensure that terms and conditions were clearly worded and unambiguous, so that consumers would understand how the promotion worked and what amounts would be refunded. We also
told them not to describe promotions as risk free if the mechanic of the relevant game meant that it was not possible in all cases to stake the required amount and receive a refund without a customer staking some additional money of their own.
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Malaysia's deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zhaid Hamidi recently announced that he would use the government's next cabinet meeting to address online gambling.
The Gaming Control Authority under the Ministry of Finance of Lithuania has announced that it has blocked further online gambling websites that do not adhere to new restrictions introduced in the country earlier this year.
