ANDERSON, Ind. —
Hoosier Park’s casino in Anderson accounted for 19 of the complaints filed in 2009, according to Jennifer Reske, deputy director of the Indiana Gaming Commission.
Although a previously published count indicates that just 14 of the complaints originated at Hoosier Park, Reske said a recent count adds five more complaints.
Just eight of those complaints were answered, she explained, leaving 11 without any response from the state agency.
Reske said the agency didn’t even realize there was a problem with its responses to complaints until the Munster newspaper submitted a request for gambling complaint records.
“They made a public records request and the records were provided. We didn’t really look closely at the records. We saw the story that we had failed to respond,” she said.
News that a staff member had failed to respond to complaints came as a shock, she said.
“It’s unacceptable what happened. We’re embarrassed by it.”
Reske said the agency is trying to contact Harold Turner, the Westfield man who complained that Hoosier Park didn’t pay him when he won a $25,000 jackpot in 2009.
Reske said the commission did investigate the claim and found that the casino was right, Turner had not hit the jackpot.
Reske said it appears that Gaming Commission staff did investigate the complaints, but a single staff member failed to notify those who filed complaints of each investigation’s findings.
A new electronic system makes it impossible for a complaint to go without a response, she explained.
Reske said that 30 days after a complaint is filed, an alarm is triggered in the system, alerting staff members that a response is due.
Hoosier Park’s Grant Scharton said most complaints about the casino involve the membership club benefits and staff service.
“Our experiences with the Indiana Gaming Commission have always been positive. We’re shocked to find out the instance of a staff member not responding in the appropriate manner, but that’s not typical of what we’ve come to find from the IGC,” Scharton said.
Contact Brandi Watters: 640-4847, brandi.watters@heraldbulletin.com
Local Business
Hoosier Park had 19 complaints in 2009
11 of them unanswered by Gaming Commission
- Local Business
-
-
Bus route expanding to include Flagship
The city is preparing to help transport workers to the Flagship Industrial Park — which should see an increase of about 500 jobs this year — by expanding its bus service to southwest Anderson.
-
History: Lapel Telephone Co. was talk of town
In November 1962, when the Lapel Telephone Co. was sold to United Utilities by the children of founder Earl Tull, a Madison County era ended.
-
Fire fighting, business coexist in heart of Anderson developer
Dave Cravens' latest development project is 5,600 square feet of retail space at 4131 S. Scatterfield Road that he calls Raven Plaza.
-
Business Briefs: May 27
A compilation of business news items of local interest as published in the Sunday edition of The Herald Bulletin.
-
'Big Joe' Clark: Problem isn’t the cost of education, but its quality
We must spend less time focusing on how to bring the price of an education down and more time figuring out how to bring up the quality of that education.
-
Boxes outside Aldi catch fire
A small fire outside the Aldi grocery store in Anderson caused an evacuation of shoppers and employees.
-
Remy to build Chinese manufacturing plant
Remy International Inc. plans to build a manufacturing plant and engineering center in Wuhan, China, company executives announced in Chicago earlier this week.
-
Susan Miller: Looking for a summer vacation vocation
Summer vacation is often a synonym for summer vocation, particularly for teenagers.
-
Frankton woman will be on online car ad
Tina Collins giggled as she sped around the track in a go-kart at Applewood Raceway. Her son, Owen Foit, 18, smiled broadly as he threatened to pass her while her daughter, Tarah Collins, 14, tried to catch up from behind.
-
Senate candidate visits Alexandria ethanol plant
In his first post-primary visit to Madison County on Wednesday, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Joe Donnelly visited the Poet Biorefining plant here to underscore his support for energy independence and Indiana corn farmers.
- More Local Business Headlines
-
Bus route expanding to include Flagship
