Atlantic City Casino Faces Lawsuit Over Tricky Refund Offer

The golden rule of casino gambling never really changes: in the end, the house always wins. Still, when Revel, a casino in Atlantic City, NJ, announced a new promotion last July that would see gamblers refunded all slot machine losses for the month, many saw it as a no-lose chance to try their luck.

Revel was accused of defrauding customers.

It turned out to be a pretty big gamble. Revel was hit with a putative class action this week accusing the company of defrauding customers by misleading them over the promotion’s true nature and using complicated fine print to escape actual repayment.

The casino’s owners, Revel Entertainment Group and Chatham Asset Management, were named in the lawsuit, while the class membership is open to any gambler who used slot machines in the casino in July 2013.

The complaint alleges that Revel’s use of the phrases ‘All July slot losses refunded’ and ‘You can’t lose’ intentionally misled gamblers into thinking that they would receive back the full balance of any money lost. In reality, however, Revel offered casino credit – which carries no monetary value – that was only good for use, once more, in Revel slot machines.

To add insult to injury, the company’s stipulations continued. In fine print that the complaint described as ‘unreadable’ and in contradiction to the advertised claims, the company revealed that refunds would only be issued in 5% installments, one per week for twenty weeks. On top of that, consumers were required to go to the casino – once per week – to claim their credits and agreed to forfeit forever any credits for weeks they were unable to go.

By any stretch of the imagination, that’s a pretty big commitment to ask someone to make. The suit alleges that the promotion’s terms and conditions essentially guaranteed that gamblers would, once more, lose out to the casino. Meanwhile, the company’s slot machines enjoyed more than a 30% increase in use compared to the previous July, with more than $23 million in revenue, the suit says.

So, the casino certainly made out, while gamblers would be required to put up the expense and hassle of a weekly trip to Atlantic City in order to recover the full amount lost to the slots. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, cites the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, the New Jersey Truth in Consumer Contract Warranty and Notice Act, and the New York General Business Law in its allegations that the casino defrauded patrons.

The case – and the gambling– continues.