Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  03/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Previous 3+ years. I have been personally suspended and made not able to participate on the same level playing field as all other players. I do not have ability to post in forum, site mail players, post horses for sale or advertise, have players site mail me and ask about horses or have any communication. This is a direct violation of fair play and equity. I am unable to compete on the same level platform as every other active player contributing. I am punished for violations, but many hundreds of others are overlooked. This is undeniable. I have asked to be able to post and advertise via the site mail and forum to be able to leave the game, I have gotten ZERO replies for 18+ months. Yet they allow me to pay money to enter races, breed horses, buy horses, all things that assist there monetary benefit, but I am hindered with extreme bias and disqualification.

  Customer response

  03/14/2023

  So do they get a bad rating for non response?

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  Virtual Sports runs a game called Horse Race Game. it pays out prizes to our accounts on the 3rd of every month. It is n ow the 8th, and no payments have been made. I have sent multiple requests that they do so. None have been answered. Others I am in communication with have had the same complaint. They are still happily taking deposits to our accounts for the purposes of playing the game, however. Alas, this is not new. They have had at least occasional payment problems before, both in paying prizes to accounts, and in paying actual cash withdrawals from accounts. In those cases, they did finally pay, but made no comment or reply or apology to those affected. In fact ,they rarely reply to anything, or make anything but the most routine communications. Most of us involved think the site is run on autopilot most of the time. Their phone number is notorious for ringing without being answered, then cutting off without taking messages.

  Business response

  08/19/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2022/07/26) */ We are sorry for the delay in posting of the monthly prizes. It was caused by a technical issue and the slow response was caused by a combination of the holiday and multiple technical issues to deal with most of which were unseen by the users other than the processing of the prize. The technical issues were fully resolved and the prizes posted on the 8th. The prizes have been continuously paid on the 3rd of every month without fail since October of 2015 shortly after we started running the site. This has not been a common issue and the issue was fully resolved so we do not feel any further action is necessary as it was going on 7 years without any delay. In regards to phone support we do not offer phone support for the site. While having phone support would decrease response time to solve support issues the costs would go up significantly to the end user and so we do not feel it is appropriate as issues are able to be resolved through site mail and email adequately albeit just not as quickly. We do acknowledge your complaint and will do our best to keep response times to a minimum at least in regards to technical support issues. Support is meant for technical support issues where someone is having trouble with the functionality of the site, etc. We receive a lot of messages that are non-technical support type messages which are not a priority. Thank you Consumer Response /* (3000, 9, 2022/08/02) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Actually, I partially accept the response. It does include a better apology and a fair explanation of what happened. However, they have not put up anything like this for the entire HorseRaceGame community to see. All they said was "Sorry for delay. Monthly winners for June are now processed." Not a word on why, or on what will be done to prevent a recurrence. Before considering this complaint resolved, I would like to see them post something along the lines of what they sent to you somewhere for our general membership to see, not just me or a few people they replied t privately. If they do not wish to have the general public read it on the Home page, post it in the Forums. yes, I know, they don't generally engage there, but I think this might qualify as an exception. The recurrence issue is actually a big one, IMO. Despite their claims to the contrary, Virtual Sports has had problems with payouts in the past. They may credit them to accounts on time, but there have been multiple times when cash outs have been delayed, once rather badly. There have been other occasional major glitches, too. Nothing is ever explained, either at the time something occurs, or afterwards. Secrecy seems to be this company's go-to, or at least an unwillingness to explain, or answer queries when something goes wrong. In this case, much trouble would have been saved if they had briefly posted something like: "We are experiencing multiple technical difficulties right now. We are trying to keep it from affecting gameplay. Some administrative functions, like processing monthly prizes, may be delayed. We are working to resolve everything as quickly as possible. We will update players once we have a resolution. Thank you for your patience." That took me barely a minute to write. Surely they could have spared that much attention from what they were doing. I'd also like to see a public declaration on future delivery and communication standards. Something like: "In future, if there are to be any delays to monthly prizes or other normal activities as a result of statutory holidays, we will inform players ahead of time. If technical problems arise that affect game play or administration, and they cannot be resolved seamlessly, we will warn players that problems may be occurring, and keep people informed as solutions are reached." It really doesn't take much. Yet they have a history of doing nothing, and actively discouraging any contact beyond very simple glitch fixing by making it almost impossible to contact them. It would seem that they do not understand that clear, helpful communication is absolutely necessary for effective modern customer service. I would really like to see them start to do a better job in this regard. Regarding their statement on phone support, I never complained of the lack of such. My problem was the lack of a public statement when things went wrong, leaving us to speculate in a vacuum. I also do not like that they did not respond to a few direct inquiries to the HRG staff, and to my inquiries to Virtual Sports directly. I consider this latter the "nuclear option". I do not think it should be used except in extremis. Inquiries and problems should generally go through normal channels, and I try to do this. In their first few years of owning the game, they were pretty good at that. I have only gone to Virtual Sports directly, rather than the game admin, twice before, in addition to this. I will remain restrained in the future. But frankly, it shouldn't be necessary at all. Once again, this illustrates the lamentable lack of value and emphasis the Virtual Sports ownership and admin place on clear, fair, helpful, proactive communication. As mentioned before, I really hope they start to address this. Hope all this helps. Yours Very Truly **** ******

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  The site has failed to pay out monthly prizes to recipients who spend money there. They make payouts on the 3rd of the month. As of this morning, (7/8), they have not made those payments. In addition, they do not respond to messages (both through their site messaging system, nor thru direct email). They have a phone number listed but it rings without being answered then hangs up. However, they continue to charge monthly membership fees as well as accepting deposits. The folks that run this site are notorious about their lack of customer service, as the site mainly runs on "auto pilot. I would like this company to be required to make the earned payouts as well as issue a public apology to all members regarding the lack of customer service in resolving this issue. I would also like the last $300 I deposited refunded to me since that money was deposited in the hopes of purchasing more virtual horses that would earn me prize money. And since they appear to be no longer paying prize money, that means I am not receiving the product or service I paid for. i would not have made those deposits if I knew they had stopped making prize payouts. To sum up: 1) The site owes me $215 in prize money for June racing awards, 2) I would like the $300 I deposited in the last 30 days refunded if they are no longer going to be making monthly prize payouts, 3) I request that they made a public announcement regarding the lack of payment, and pledge to respond to customer inquiries in a timely manner rather than not responding at all.

  Business response

  07/18/2022

  Consumer Response /* (2000, 6, 2022/07/11) */ The business did make the payouts on Luly 8th. They issued a brief update/apology on the sit home page. They then responded to a message I had sent as follows...."We are sorry for the delay. Between the holiday and fires needing to be put out resolving the issue was delayed some. We know the communication was not great but it is processed now." So in the end, they did make the payouts. However, their communication and customer service remains well below average to be polite.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩