Empire Bonus Debacle (For Discussion)

OK, now that I've had a few minutes to stew over this whole debacle at Empire over this latest Bonus code, here are my thoughts.

There are 2 sides to this argument. The side that brings out the conspiracy theorist in me and the side that thinks like a rational human being.

For the sake of convenience I will use the following abbreviations for the following bullet points:
- Rational Human Being (RHB)
- Conspiracy Theorist (CT)

1) RHB - No e-mail or advertisement was sent out (to my knowledge, at least I never received one) regarding this Bonus code. Therefore, it appears that this could simply be a case of a mistake in the release and details of this code to the general public. We saw a possibility of getting something for nothing and we jumped on it. It was a mistake and they are attempting to correct it.

CT - This sounds like just the type of thing that gives online poker a bad name in the first place. We were all sent an e-mail confirming that we had 30 days to clear this Bonus. What better way to generate new players and rekindle the "Empire spark" in existing players than to offer them an incredible Bonus offer like this? I can only imagine how much money in rake was generated yesterday as a result of the influx of action at Empire because of people trying to clear this Bonus. And, why not pull this offer immediately once an error was found? I find it hard to believe that it took Empire 24 hours to catch on to the fact that an "error" was made. Why wait? Because of the rake being generated. I don't know if anyone noticed yesterday but Empire was as busy as I've ever seen it.

2) RHB - They do not owe us anything. They clearly state that "9. EmpirePoker.com reserves the right to modify, alter, discontinue or terminate a promotion at any time for any reason whatsoever, with or without notice. Further, these Standard Promotional Offer Terms & Conditions may be modified or amended at any time, with or without notice, by EmpirePoker.com by the posting of new terms herein. It is your sole responsibility to check these Terms & Conditions before accepting any promotional offer."

CT - When you look in your Bonus account online nowhere does it say anything about this Bonus offer being "modif(ied)y, alter(ed), discontinue(d) or terminate(d)". It says "Elapsed". This clearly is the wrong verbage to use based on the fact that we received an e-mail stating that we had 30 days to clear this Bonus before it would expire.

3) RHB - Empire recognizes that they made a mistake and in an attempt to rectify it they gave everyone a $50 Bonus for the "HOTSEP" Bonus code. We should be thankful that they are even giving us anything at all because they made an honest mistake.

CT - This has all the makings of a "Bait & Switch"-type scenario. Reel people in with the promise of a great deal and then take that away from them and hope they are enticed enough to stay and give them a mere fraction of what was promised originally as a Bonus. Should Empire be boycotted as a result?

EDIT: 4) RHB - This had to have been an honest error on Empire's part because this type of thing could have cost them millions of dollars. Assume, for the sake of argument that a mere 5K of there 50K+ players took advantage of this Bonus at it's maximum. That comes out to 5000 players x $500 = $2.5 million. No online poker company would willingly give this amount of money away.

CT - Thhhhhhpppppptttttt!

Well, there are the 2 sides of the story being presented as I see them. Anyone have any thoughts?

I actually cleared the MATCHBONUSEP last week.

I believe it was intended for new accounts.

I made my $500 deposit getting a matching 20% on my deposit.
The next day I saw that MATCHBONUSEP was automaticly added to my $500. I don't believe it was meant to be a re-load Bonus.
Someone screwed up and it got applied to anyone who wanted it.

I sent them an email complaining and got this response:
Dear Shane,

This Bonus was meant for selective players and you were awarded the Bonus even though you were not eligible. Since part of the error that we faced with the $500 Bonus as this Bonus was meant for selective players and you were awarded the Bonus even though you were not eligible. Since part of the error was from our side we are more than making up for it by providing you with an alternative Bonus HOTSEP.

As this was an error and which caused inconvenience to many of our player so we have compensated and issued and also released the HOTSEP Bonus which is a 10 % up to $100 Bonus based on your last deposit amount. We do apologize for the inconvenience caused in this regards and thank you in advance for your co-operation and understanding in this regard.

We see that you are a special player on our site and offer you a 20% Deposit Bonus (to a maximum of $100) on your next deposit through iGM-Pay( through your US checking account). This is a release-restricted Bonus and all you have to do is play the required number of raked hands (five times the Bonus amount) so that the Bonus is credited to your account. The Bonus code for the deposit is "IGMPAY". Just make the deposit and get back to us so that we can issue the Bonus to your account.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Care Department at any time. We are here 24/7 to assist you via email.

Thank you for choosing us as your online gaming site!

Garima
Poker Customer Care

--Original Message--
From:
Date: 2004-09-29 14:23
To: info@empirepoker.com
Subject: Re: $500 has been added to your Bonus account[#1709064]

What happened my Bonus has been taken away? This sounds like a bait and switch sort of a deal. Say $500 and get someone to put in $500 then take it away and give them $50. It is things like this and sites that go under that give poker a bad name. You certainly owe your loyal customers some anwsers and compensation. Shane

I thought this was ok response from them, since yes we all took advantage of the deal that was out there.

Les_'worm" - They claim that they are giving this to those who used the matching Bonus as a sort of compensation for the fact that they closed the matching Bonus. They say that you do not have to play any raked hands to get this 10% and that it was just deposited into your account.

The reality of it is that anyone who used the code and played yesterday did, indeed, play raked hands so you actually did end up laying raked hands for the 10%. All semantics but you get the gist.

To hell with the Empire! Evil or Very Mad

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Empire Bonus Debacle (For Discussion)

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Empire Bonus Debacle (For Discussion)