BestSites.Bet > Mecca Bingo

Mecca Bingo, owned by The Rank Group, started in the 60s. One of the oldest of the bunch is pretty much a house-hold name. It has dozens of physical bingo halls in the UK, with the largest one in Camden, a 1200-seater. Its pictures on Google gives it a very seedy bad-odor vibe, with graffiti on its walls, and the unkempt outer decor makes it look like an off-the-grid club of the 80s.

Bingo is a massive business, going to hit over $145 Billion by 2030, according to Pune-based, Zion Research. Over 100 million people play it daily according to a market research company, Gitnux, operating out of New York. And it's comprehensively sizeable in places like Italy, where a game similar to it has been played since the 1530s; the UK, home to over 3.5 million active bingo fans; Canada, where charity bingo is literally part of the local civic culture; Australia, almost a third of the country plays it; and leading the charts is the US, that has over 60 million dedicated players. Thus, calling Bingo less popular would be stupidity. Yes, the growth may not be as strong as the modern-day young and hip crypto gambling genre, but it's still got a football-ground sized room to extend its influence, over women turning 40, and fresh off the boat retirees.

This piece is not about its brick-and-mortar bingo clubs, but its website (www.meccabingo.com), that was created in 2003. It's actually quite well designed. The multi-colour schemes, original pictures of real people, and how the navigational links are structured on top of the website, starting from Bingo (duh), followed by slots, slingo, jackpots, powered by the best in the business, NetEnt, IGT and Playtech. All sections are boxed appropriately - each horizontally scrollable, listing all the latest games on offer. The website has been built for conversions. Not that Mecca Bingo is a stranger to the UK public.

There's no fee on deposits, which can made through Visa, Mastercard, Paysafecard, Apple Pay and PayPal. Minimum deposit and withdrawal amount is only £ € 5. Charges will show up as "MeccaBingo" on the card statements, so if you plan on hiding your online gambling exploits from your significant other, don't. Withdrawals are processed very fast, within 15 minutes, after the completion of the necessary KYC procedures. Sometimes it can take 1 to 3 business day for crediting money into cards. There is an upper withdrawal limit of £15k. Not sure how this applies to jackpot wins. Best to contact their customer support for clarification. I haven't read many cases of rejected withdrawals on social media, or sites like Reddit and TrustPilot.

All threads on Reddit pretty much talk about their physical locations. There's even an AMA from an ex-Mecca Bingo employee. Go check it out, it's funny, most people on there just trolled him. TrustPilot has awful review ratings for this brand. Just 2.5/5.0, graded as poor. Majority of the complaints there revolve around their games crashing during play, followed by allegations of rigged slot machines, suspended accounts, and one odd regarding delayed withdrawals. Mecca Bingo's staff also seems to respond randomly to the negative reviews. Not sure, if it's company policy, or they too have had enough, or may be someone's not doing their job right. Anyhow, it would make more sense to keep their disgruntled customers in the loop, instead of abandoning them to the cold streets.

Bingo is a popular product, for sure, but it does seem that slots and slingo are two products, where their customers show more interest, over time. And it works in favor of Mecca Bingo too - most money is made in slots and live casino games. Slots like Big Bass Bonanza by Pragmatic Play (RTP: 96.71%, Volatility: Medium), NetEnt's Starburst (RTP: 96.1%, Volatility: Low) or The Goonies by Blueprint Gaming and Warner Brothers (RTP: 96%, Volatility: Medium to High) and many other coveted titles, searched for by the thousands daily. Slingo games like Elf Blitz (RTP: 95.2%, Max Win: 1000X) and Rainbow Riches (RTP: 95.6%) by Slingo Originals keep craftily encouraging Mecca Bingo's customers revisit the website.

Their support section is like a kingdom of its own. Massive library of topics that also includes a vibrant blog, an energetic community area that has chat games and hosts one can talk to directly. Phone support is available too. Wait times can be a bit high, but the staff is professional. They will let you know, if an issue can't be resolved the same day, or what needs to be precisely done to fix an account related problem. Even, better? the people hired are all UK-based, not outsourced to places like India. Players living in the UK get to talk to someone in their own accent, which helps in faster resolutions. The only downside is that their live chat isn't available 24x7. The timings are 7 a.m to 10:30 p.m, 7 days a week, which isn't bad at all.

Being fully licensed by the UKGC, means Mecca Bingo can provide top-notch bingo and casino entertainment, officially without restrictions, on real, installable apps at both Apple App Store and Google Play. The functionality of its app is above-average. But, personally, using their betting platform on a desktop PC is the best way to experience it. A smartphone, no matter how modern and powerful, simply cannot provide the breadth required to enjoy the graphic-intensive games. They need to be enjoyed on larger screens, to make the best out of them.

Mecca Bingo has daily, weekly freshly baked promotions running all the time. The best way to know the deal of the day, is to simply visit their official website, or sign up for their newsletter (thousands have already). But, this piece would be incomplete sans the deets on their welcome bonus, which is £60, that breaks down to £30 for Bingo, £20 for Slots and a £10 Club Voucher. A great aspect about their bonus is its wagering requirement of 5X. This is extremely low, when the industry standard hovers around 30X. But, this is not because of Mecca Bingo's generosity, rather UKGC's illegal-to-break rules around free money doled out on gambling sites. They monitor everyone like a hawk, and fine anyone getting out of hand; a duty of every serious regulator. Mecca Bingo's parent has paid numerous such fines, over the course of its life.

Entain's Coral Bingo, BV Gaming's Heart Bingo, Jumpman Gaming's Mirror Bingo and The Sun newspaper's Sun Bingo can all serve as its reasonable alternatives. All these sites are similar in nature; same igaming providers, localized UK staff, availability of apps etc. There isn't a need to shift around the block, if you're happy at Mecca Bingo. The hot and cold meals you'll be eating at other places will taste the same; meaning all UK bingo sites are part of the same wolf pack. They all look, act and feel the same.

Not living in the UK? it's not just the UKGC-authorized companies that offer Bingo games; offshore betting sites, known for fast withdrawals of winnings, like the Super Slots Casino that's known for its honesty and is owned by an old and trusted sportsbook BetOnline, do too. Folks living in Africa can check out BetKing; the ones living in the Middle East can visit an above-average casino Betfinal; and if you're reading this page from India or Bangladesh, give Baji Live, or the fairly popular Mostbet a try.

Mecca Bingo's biggest drawback is its inability to fix its technicals. They can't keep their website up during times of peak traffic. The most prominent complaint about them is not about their bad customer support, but frequently crashing website and games during live play. One the most Googled search term for Mecca Bingo is if their website is down, or if the brand itself is closing or if it is fixed, just because their website and casino software undeviatingly continues to be fickle and unpredictable. Funny part is that, these things are entirely fixable. All it requires is an integration of a better network infrastructure, for which both the money and the human talent it has aplenty. Instead of just trying to play legal and legit, which it is of course, it should take corrective on-ground measures to act like a safe and dependable bingo site.

Official website address: www.meccabingo.com

 

Claire Reid

Why should Claire's review be trusted?

• Completed Gaming Management Program from the University of Nevada Reno. This gives her the ability to evaluate gambling establishments on technical grounds.
• Worked for three years at the UKGC as a compliance manager at their Birmingham, West Midlands office. This means she knows the ins and outs of what makes up a good law-abiding gambling site.
• Completed an online course on Ethics and Ethical-Decision Making Essentials from Udemy, which serves as a guide for her when writing true reviews, without taking sides.

A word from the author:

To make this review fair, transparent and to remove any sponsorship bias, I allocated anywhere between $500 (for casual betting) to $25,000 (for evaluating the quality of the high-roller gambling services) out of my own pocket for testing the browser-based platform and the app (where available) of this betting site.

• This money was spent on online casino games and sports betting, depending on what the place is primarily known for. For example, certain brands only cater to slots, while others are predominantly sportsbooks.
• My tests involved all the processes, such as initial deposit and accepting welcome bonuses, KYC, an actual experience of playing the games, and finally withdrawing my winnings, if any.

Legally Binding Oath: I hereby declare that the above made statements are true to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that I understand it may be used as evidence in court and is subject to penalty for perjury.

Disclosure: BestSites.Bet is not compensated, for any outbound clicks or new customer signups at Mecca Bingo. This document is free of affiliate marketing links in order to maintain its editorial integrity. As per our internal company policy, we do not use any AI or Automated tools to produce content on this website. To maintain the accuracy and innovation of new ideas, all reviews are written and edited by real humans. Guaranteed.

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