Vic: Casino comes good on money-back guarantee

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2009
Vic: Casino comes good on money-back guarantee

MELBOURNE, Feb 2 AAP - Almost all of the 1,200 people playing poker machines at Melbourne's
Crown Casino when it was evacuated last Friday have been refunded the money stuck in the
machines at the time, the casino says.

After angry gamblers sweltered outside the casino when they were forced to leave their
machines and the credits in them when a power blackout shut the venue down, Crown spokesman
Gary O'Neill vowed they would be fully refunded.

Mr O'Neill on Monday said the casino had made good on its promise, with the refund
system "working very well" and only a handful of people yet to be refunded by Sunday night.

Only a couple of disputes over amounts owed had been referred to the Victorian Commission
for Gambling Regulation (VCGR) and these had been settled, Mr O'Neill said.

About 1,200 people were gambling on Crown's poker machines when Friday's heat-related
power outage struck, putting the lights out and leaving the machines dead.

Other businesses, homes and traffic lights across Melbourne also lost power in the blackout.

Mr O'Neill said about half of the 1,200 poker machine gamblers were Crown Club members,
whose names and credits owed were registered on their machines, making refunds straightforward.

Of the remainder, patrons contacted Crown to advise where they were playing and the
value of credits they had left in the machine.

When the blackout struck, the casino had been able to register the outstanding credits
left on every machine and then cross-reference it against the information provided by
people contacting them for a refund.

Mr O'Neill said he did not know how much money had been refunded, or how much money
the casino had lost due to the power outage, which lasted from about 6.30pm (AEDT) to
just after midnight.

"It's being calculated. Crown, like other businesses in Melbourne will be trying to
assess that value," Mr O'Neill told AAP.

"At the moment we haven't determined it."

He said it was too early to say whether Crown would seek compensation for revenues lost.

AAP kn/pmu/jm

KEYWORD: POWER VIC CASINO

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