The best casinos in Australia provide at least three customer support channels to their customers, including:
- Live chat available 24/7
- Email support and contact form with less than 24 hours response time
- FAQ page or Help Center with several topics addressed
Some go a step further and also cater to their members through phone support and social media. The range of customer support channels isn’t the only aspect that matters, though. Polite, knowledgeable, and responsive agents must man the department and quickly resolve the issue or clarify the situation.
Our team places significant emphasis on the number of support channels and the quality of customer service at every online casino we review. However, the importance of efficient customer support at online casinos cannot be overstated, which is why we review the topic in-depth below.
Why Casino Customer Service Matters
The digital world has brought several benefits to our lives, for instance, you don’t need to travel for hours to play your favourite pokies. On the flip side, finding help at a brick-and-mortar casino takes less than a minute, while the situation is not so straightforward with online casinos.
For an online casino to be rated as trustworthy, it must hold a valid license, disclose its T&Cs, have fair games, and several promos – yet nothing matters if its customers cannot find the answers they need when they do. I get super frustrated when I’ve spent A$500 on a gambling site and cannot find answers to simple queries instantly. Most feel scammed when the support department of a service doesn’t cater to their needs, and reasonably so.
Customer support at online casinos is regularly needed on the following fronts:
- When bonuses aren’t credited automatically (cashback, reload bonuses, loyalty rewards)
- KYC verification
- Geolocation problems
- Inability to verify phone or email
- Delays or questions related to payouts
- Rejected deposits or withdrawals
- Resolving lags, delays, or maintenance problems
- Setting responsible gambling limits or asking for exclusion
- And more
Agents typically respond to live chat questions within 10 minutes and email within 5 – 12 hours. The resolution might take longer but the important thing is getting acknowledged by the staff quickly.
Common Issues Encountered at Online Casinos
The most common problems players face at online casinos concern account verification. All legitimate casinos request proof of ID, banking method, and address for AML and fraud prevention. Although players often have access to the documents, they fail to correctly source the casino with the photocopies. The submission of documents, pending times for review, rejection, and repetition of this process may result in fiery exchanges with customer support agents.
Issues with bonus activation, wagering, or requests for freebies also make up a large part of the support tickets issued at casinos. These are often resolved quickly but can often result in heated conversations due to a misunderstanding of crucial bonus terms like the wagering requirement and what implications they have on payouts.
Speaking of real money withdrawals, this is the third most common type of customer support queries. Online gambling sites can take a minute to process payments, and their withdrawal limits, fees, banking methods, and withdrawal times can vary and subsequently lead to angry customers. Agents must acknowledge the issue and explain the situation, while customers should show respect and not step out of line while expressing their concerns.
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The variety of support channels ensures you get more technical responses after a while or quick responses for simple matters. That’s why casinos should encompass a variety of customer support channels to cater to every potential scenario. Below I explain the main means of communication I have encountered at Aussie online casinos and their features.
Live chat
The live chat is typically one click away from any page, placed at a visible spot without disrupting the gaming experience. Users can click on the chat bubble and select a category or simply type in their query. The window informs about the approximate response time and notifies when the message has been read or when an agent is typing back. At most, live chat responses take less than 10 minutes and are the best way to resolve insignificant problems.
An online casino must have a live chat feature with responses coming through fast. Also, I never recommend casinos with agents simply copying and pasting their answers directly from the T&Cs, instead of using plain English to really get to the bottom of the query.
Online casinos share their email address on their support pages or T&Cs. You should save it and send an email if the live chat support hasn’t proved fruitful. Online casinos can take as long as 72 hours to respond to email requests, which is long, yet complicated queries are usually better communicated this way. Doing so ensures you have a paper trail of your request in case you want to file a complaint against the casino. Further, emails take a minute to compose, ensuring you are not speaking out of anger, and let you clearly explain the situation. Lastly, email customer service is the only channel through which you can attach evidence to support your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ pages are apparent at all online casinos. They are usually the worst way to get help, often providing outdated info or generic responses. Still, some casinos have FAQ pages covering all main areas (banking, bonuses, games, registration, VPN, etc.) with detailed responses that answer every potential query faster than any other customer support channel.
I recommend trying the casino’s FAQs before any other support route.
Chatbots
Chatbots are often utilised instead of live chat. They present 10 or more possible topics, and the user selects the most relevant phrase each time, hoping to find the answer they were looking for. Anyone familiar with this support channel knows that it doesn’t help in most cases. When a chatbot is provided with the option to ask to get in touch with a real agent, I don’t downgrade the casino. However, chatbots are not usually good at providing help at this stage of AI evolution.
Help Center
Casino help centres are well-organised FAQ pages. Some online casinos we have reviewed group 5 – 20 queries under a parent category, helping readers find various relevant topics and their answers from a single page. Help centres are a hit or miss, at some online casinos they are highly efficient and provide instant responses, while they can also be outdated or missing crucial areas.
Contact Form
A contact form is usually featured in casinos’ customer support departments. They include three areas, topic, subject, and message. They allow users to place an email request with the casino without using their webmail provider. It’s a solid customer support option, although it can take up to 72 hours to get a response in this way.
Phone Support
I rarely encounter online casinos with phone support in Australia. This method was prevalent before live chat support became the norm, it made users feel safe and heard. I always appreciate operators offering both live chat and phone support, although any of the two should do the work.
Social Media
Social media handles are almost always attached to the casinos’ footers. Users who haven’t received a proper response after using the above channels could try following operators on Facebook, X, or Instagram and sending a message there. I don’t consider this option an extra, though, casinos with social media groups on Telegram or WhatsApp get extra points from me because they help players connect with like-minded punters.
Red Flags
Although you shouldn’t expect to find all of the above options at any online casino you are evaluating, there is a standard all of them must meet to be worthy of your time and money. Our benchmark when rating online casinos’ support departments includes:
- A minimum of one direct way of communication (live chat or phone support)
- 0 – 10 minutes response time
- Excellent use of English by the agents and genuine responses
- Support links should be provided to non-logged-in users too
- FAQs and Help Centers must be up-to-date
- Email should be publicly available
So, if you encounter any of the following when trying to talk to a casino’s representatives then you are better off stirring clear:
- Unresponsive or scattered/delayed responses
- Unprofessional manners
- Unclear responses
- Ignoring certain queries
- Finding excuses
- Failure to take actions based on requests
When a casino lacks proper support, you should not touch them with a 10-foot pole. Sooner or later you will need something, and there is nothing worse than not having someone to help you sort things out.
Steps When a Casino Doesn’t Respond
In countries where online casinos are licensed at a local level, like the UK and the US, operators who don’t support their users can get in real trouble. Players with evidence can file a complaint with the country’s iGaming authority, which will in turn investigate and could potentially assign fines or even strip the casino’s license.
In Australia, online casinos are operating offshore, licensed by less strict authorities such as Curacao. Player complaints are rarely resolved through this body. What you can instead do is post evidence or public comments on forums and hope that the casino addresses your point to avoid having its reputation tarnished.
If this doesn’t work, you can reach out to us and submit your evidence. Casinos partnered with us will explain the situation and we can fight your case if they’ve wronged you. On the other hand, players who have been involved with blacklisted or scam casinos are unlikely to ever get proper help or honest responses. Consult our guides and resources to avoid finding yourself in such a situation, we’ve seen numerous cases.
Conclusion
Players don’t usually consider the casino’s customer support performance before joining an operator. Although it is not the number one factor of our reviews either, it plays a crucial role when a problem occurs. And issues eventually appear.
To be on the safe side, you should establish that the casino has one or two contacts that work, and the agents meet your expectations. It shouldn’t take over a minute or so to test and will put your mind at ease when money is on the line.
- About the Author
- Affiliate Disclosure
Michael has reviewed and verified all information on this page. Having worked in the iGaming industry for over 8 years, he is the most capable person to help you navigate online casinos, pokies, and the Australian gambling landscape.
