Neteller - Beware UK residents
I used to be a huge fan of Neteller. Having been with them nearly from the start I was at one time a Gold VIP, thus was the amount of money I put through them. I enjoyed good service, easy transactions and recommended them to a lot of people. So it annoys me more than a little bit when they decide that they are going to police the internet, and even more when they decide that they are not going to tell anyone they are doing it.
Just recently my Neteller transactions started to get turned down at the gaming sites I regularly use. No reason given just transaction declined, and these were at sites I have played at for years, well known gaming sites such as Inetbet. After doing a little digging it also appears that this was happening to other UK players. So after getting my investigating head on I took a closer look and it appears that since the introduction of complusory UK licenses for gambling sites which wanted to accept wagers from players resident in the UK, it appears that Neteller are automatically declining GBP or UK transactions to sites which don’t hold a UK license.
I have no doubt that this new policy is hidden somewhere in their TOS but I have no intention of ploughing through reams of legal speak in order to find it. A simple communication from Neteller outlining this new policy would have been nice, and if they did send one, it didn’t reach me or the other UK players who were left scratching our heads as to what exactly what going on.
Now after their trial in 2007 in relation to their allegedly facilitating “illegal” gambling transactions in the USA it is not surprising that Neteller want to cover their backsides in relation to the UK gambling situation. However as I understand the situation, if I (a UK resident) want to send my own hard earned cash to a site which doesn’t yet hold a UK license even if I have been playing at that said casino for over ten years with no problems, Neteller will decide that I am not allowed to do that.
Now some people may argue that not being able to play at unlicensed gaming sites is a good thing. However in my opinion the new UK licensing regulations are more of a revenue gathering exercise for the treasury than providing genuine protection for players. Due to the restrictions and resources required to obtain a UK gaming license some really good casinos have already pulled out of the market place. Now we have Neteller acting as a playground monitor to make sure none of our money goes to the bad men….
If that didn’t annoy me enough, last week something really infuriating happened. I was contacted by one of the affiliate managers I work with who was trying to send me some earnings via Neteller but NETELLER WERE DECLINING THE TRANSACTIONS. Yes read that again. Neteller are now deciding whether or not I can receive my hard earned cash, but not a word to me about it - in fact if the lady concerned hadn’t have contacted me to ask for different payment details I would not have known a thing about it. Now IMO Neteller are starting to take the piss. Luckily Starpartner.com are a thoroughly reputable affiliate program who were honest enough to tell me what was going on.
I contacted Neteller immediately and they said someone would get back to me in 24 hours - I am still waiting for someone to deal with this. It is now nearly a week and not a damn thing from Neteller. Oh actually I lie - I received something from them saying my Neteller affiliate account had been deactivated, as if I would want to refer people to them anyhow.
About the only good thing which has come out of the whole affair is that I have switched to using Skrill (well I still call it Moneybookers but I’m behind the times) and have realised how much better it is. No randomly demanding I jump through a set of extra verification hoops from time to time like Neteller, no annoying secure ID to remember which again gets randomly changed at Netellers whim, great customer service, easy transactions and like every other 21st century payment processor (apart from Neteller) there is an App. Neither do they decide where I can spend my money or who I can receive money from.
