casino voided free spins win because i opened the game from search not promo page

Has anyone else had a casino refuse a free spins win because you launched the slot from the search bar instead of clicking through the actual promo link? That just happened to me, and I’m feeling pretty annoyed. The spins were clearly credited to my account, I played them out, saw the bonus balance tick up, then support tells me I did it “wrong” by not starting from their promo page. No big warning, no popup, nothing.

Feels kind of sketchy since it’s not like I tried to game the system, just muscle memory took over and I typed the name in. I’ve never had this come up on live dealer or blackjack bonuses, always just used whatever route to get to the table and the bets count. Are slots just more picky, or is this a new trick to keep from paying out? Anyone have experience with getting them to pay out if you push back a bit?