An out-of-state spinner is suing Hard Rock, Atlantic City, stating claims that the casino is short-changing its customers.
The class action lawsuit was filed on Saturday, in New York, and accuses Hard Rock of breach a breach of contract as well as conversion and unjust enrichment. It’s cash-out voucher policy for slot machines has been cited as “deceptive, unconscionable, unlawful, misleading, and unfair”.
The Cash-Out Voucher Policy
gamblers who wish to cash out unused credits will be given a voucher, to be redeemed at any electronic kiosk within the casino. However, those machines only pay out whole dollar amounts.
The remaining cent (¢) sum is printed out on another cash-out ticket, which is then redeemed in another section of the casino. According to the lawsuit, many customers are reluctant to go through with it all as they don’t want to end up in a long line for less than a dollar.
But that neglected change starts to add up.
“Many players are unsure of where to redeem their vouchers, and the ones who decide it is inconvenient to wait in a line for more than 40 minutes to obtain the change they are entitled to,” as per the claims of the lawsuit. “The result is that players like Plaintiff discard their vouchers or even toss them into a fountain, the same way people toss actual change into fountains.
“The practical impact of not dispensing the amounts beyond whole dollars lures customers to make more wagers, especially since they have to trek to far ends of the casino to receive their change,” it adds.
The filing argues it to be a “deceptive business practice” that’s designed to make players gamble and is, ultimately, in breach of the federal Consumer Fraud Act.
DiBenedetto, the plaintiff, is asking for monetary, statutory or punitive damages, with interest.
“A Las Vegas casino owner once uttered that ‘when we put 50 machines in, I consider them 50 mousetraps. You have to have a mousetrap to catch a mouse,’” declares the lawsuit. “However, Defendant employs certain ‘mousetraps’ with no relationship to any odds and where patrons lose every single time.”