PokerStars Reply~Bogus!

Pokerstars Response to my email.
-The gyst is this..I Live in Canada, and unlike our neighbors to the South, The U.S.A. -
I have had the ardous task of find a vendor that sells a Visa 'All Access' Gift Card.
Any Bank I went to said 'Huh? Dunno?'..Really!
My Bank gave me a 'Toll Free Number to call and guess what..I cannot access that number from my region.
HAHAHA!!! F @ H Q!!!!

So I try several places and the only place I could get anything of a 'Loadable Credit Card (Debit)' was one of the sleaze-ball Payday Loan Joints. And it was a 1 Time Loadable Master Card.
I asked the vendor if I could use it for online transactions, they told me yes. I asked them if I need to register it by Phone or Internet, No again.
O.K. so I believe.
I log in to PokerStars and try my newly acquired MasterCard Debit..
And ..... BONK!!!!! Declined! WTF???

So I email them and try a few different things they suggested, and still nothing. So I call the Customer Service number on the card...and
Surprise, Surprise...I ask them..."Can I use this card to make a Deposit on PokerStars?"
~Instant reply was "NO." So I Ask, "do you get this question alot?"
Reply "Yes, all the time daily!!"...O.K. ~Thanks For Nothing!!~

So now I am rightly choked about this detail. I try my card at Full TILT.
Well isn't that quaint...It worked in a matter of 2 minutes.

Here is my email to PokerStars cashier support..
-------------------------------------------------------

Dear Cashier1 PokerStars Support,
Again, My Frustration in attempting to Deposit at your site has
been to say the VERY least TRYING!!
I Really do not know what else to say about this, and how many hoops it takes to jump through to get a simple deposit done here.
I have Purchased a 1-Time Loadable Mastercard, which I paid a fee to do initially. (which otherwise would have went to deposit to
Pokerstars!)
Then, Since I live in Canada and do not have Visa All Access
Gift cards available like a Candy store/Gas Station Like the U.S.

I know it is not your problem, but these 'leaks' in customer's ease to Deposit - must have some remedy on PokerStars 'end' to resolve this issue.
I have been to Many Poker Forums and your site has the worst reputation for deposit issues.

Aside from people that have immaculate credit and 'smooth Credit cards'.

Needless to say after my frustration I have chosen to take my deposit dollars to a rival site, namely 'Full Tilt'..

And I might add that it went smoother than butter and got credited in - ohh 2 minutes.
All I can say is regretably, PokerStars 'was' my Poker Site of Choice that I recommended to many potential players in the above mentioned Poker Forums.
Now I am not so sure.
If there is a secure, and convenient way to deposit I would sure like
to know if it exists. (aside from E passporte[sign-up+fee], Western Union-[complicated+fee+time], Diners Club-[Who has those??]Moneybookers.com[sorry!! 1 hour process and complications there too.], Cashiers Check-[and wait how long?] UseMyBank-[ahem!] under construction!)
I apologize if this sounds in anyway spirited, but my
sentiments are Echoed throughout the Online Poker Community -
Via Forums and other local discussion groups.
I Thank You for your time in reading this,
And do sincerely wish that your resources may find a simple solution.
Until that happens I will be playing my deposit on Full TILT...Sorry!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the email I get from PokerStars in response to my nasty letter.

Thank you for your email.

Your deposit request was declined by your issuing bank. Your bank did
not provide a specific reason as to why your request was not approved,
so unfortunately we're not able to give you any more information other
than that you probably won't be able to use this credit card to make a
successful deposit at PokerStars. It is likely that your bank does not
allow Internet gaming transactions. (<----Funny and amazing that it worked on Full TILT!)

Why not try ePassporte to fund your PokerStars account? This option
allows you to sign up for a virtual Visa card which can easily be
funded through your regular Visa card. (<----If I had a Visa would I need ePassporte U dumbass!)

Once the virtual card is loaded you may transfer funds to and from
PokerStars from the ePassporte option in Cashier. (<--- Ohh, so I gots to pay Peter to pay Paul to get Merry!)

The signup procedure can be done in a matter of minutes. <---(TRY HOURS!)
This option is very convenient for players who wish to keep track of their
purchases with their credit or debit card. (for a price!! FAHQ)

You also may be able to use NETeller which is fast, <--(HUH? Umm OK!?? B.S. - like molassas)
safe and convenient.

You may call a NETeller deposit expert <---(HAHAHA MAKE ME LAUGH SOME MORE) any time at 1-877-769-3444 for
help during the sign-up process. <---200 Hoops to jump through there too!!

The following countries can use NETeller by transferring funds
for FREE with Internet banking: United Kingdom, France, Spain,
Germany, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Italy. <---(Did I not mention I live in Canada!?)

If you would like information on any of our other deposit options,
please visit (Blah Blah Blah pokerstars BS. Blah blah blah)

If you have any questions, please email us again any time and we'll be
happy to answer them for you. <---And get the same BS as the last 5 emails about deposits YAH RIGHT!)

~PokerStars can forget it !! Get it simple and right then maybe I will put my $ there again!~

After such a frustrating experience, I suggest you NOT play any poker today! The exasperation will affect you all day.

Your tale is cautionary, and actually sounds like a horror story from the U.S.

Here are a few of the things we have learned about these prepay credit cards in the U.S.;

1. The easiest place to find them seems to be at the check out counter, typically above the candy and movie rags in most big grocery chains. The often hang on a hook at the top of that display, next to the prepaid phone cards.

2. They often do NOT work on the first try! It may be best to verify them online once you get to your computer.

3. There was at least one post suggesting that the prepaid, reloadable All Access cards do work, but it took a while, and several attempts after verification online. The All Access Gift cards, which in my case had a large scrolled 'Gift' writen on its face, took 3 trys.

4, There seems to be some homage to the Credit Card/Poker Gods that must be uttered out of earshot of any moralist alive for that actual transaction to occur. More data needed to clarify this aspect of the process.

Thanks DJ..if anyone could calm the last nerve I have it would be you or Aloe!!
hahaha!
thanks again for the soothing advise..

Pokerstars can suck my FUll-Boat!

The titanium mastercard available at any money mart location has worked for me on three different poker sites with no problems including POKER STARS

Why do you have to jump through the hoops if you're not from the US there are a ton of options open to you.

Other than the fact that they should have seen you were in Canada and couldn't use Neteller, I didn't see much wrong with their email. You can complain all you want, but they can't do anything when the problem's on the card's end. They gave you a rundown of all possible options, you just didn't like any of them. I didn't see anything bogus with their reply and thought they responded very kindly for the frankly rude email you sent them to start.

hmmm this thread is like 5 months old

That's too bad, Flops'm&Bets'm.
I think you're a little harsh on poor PokerStars though. They tried to use your card, it was the card company who declined the offer. There is nothing they can do about that.
They also looked into it and were not given a reason why your card was declined. I bet you got the response twice as fast as any support request send to any other online gaming site.

I assume the reason Full Tilt worked is because they went though some sort of proxy that your card company hasn't banned. IE, the money was deposited to a non-gaming middle-man company which then passes it on to Full Tilt, and said middle-man is *not* on their block list. I'm pretty sure that PokerStars does this too, but I guess their middle-man made the block list, maybe because PokerStars is bigger and attracts more attention?

I'm guessing that everything after that first paragraph was a pre-written response to similar questions.

Are you retarded or something? Hours to sign up? HOURS?

WOW, I am knew to all this on-line money tranactions for poker-sites.
I live in AZ. USA,boy am I worried now about it!
According to "Nick" I am a "FRW" anyways, so all must be good. lol
I am new on the block and am getting schooled daily.
thanks for all the great info, keep up the good work.
May all the flops be in your hand.

4999Perish

See the other thread "Depositing Methods".

For Cannucks and Yankees both, Poker Stars accepts direct check deposit from your checking account, FOR FREE!! That's the way to go. Bodog does too, but they don't allow Canadian players.....go figure(?).

If my game didn't bite so bad, I'd tell you to just win a couple freerolls and then play some ring games. But, that would make me a hipocrit.

A country who touts itself as the purveyor of freedom in the world, the USA sure is degrading to its citizens.

Oh well, I gotta go clean my guns.

Titanium Mastercard ++

Load it and go. Plus its not like you playing with your credit. Its cash on hand.

I went to make a deposit on Ultimatebet with my mastercard debit and was told that mastercard was no longer accepted for deposits. It could be you had problems because of that. I just assumed that my bank put a stop to internet gambling sites, so, its not just you. After awhile I got used to it. I'm a US player.

yeh i get that alotso i have started using moneybookers now |