Casino US Loyalty Scam

[brianzz]

Ok, last month Casino US (Vegas Partner Lounge) ran a triple loyalty point on slots only promotion (advertised via email and the casino message of the day (MOTD)). Now that the month is over after email support and live chat both confirmed I was getting triple points on slot play at Casino US live support said this doesn't apply to Casino US players. If you played at Casino US last month hold their feet to the fire to get your triple cash back.

May want to get a pen and paper to keep up with this bitchfest.

This issue started on June 29, 2006 with this email (screen shot below) I got from Casino US.



This may be hard to see, but you can clearly make out the casino US logo across the top and the TRIPLE LOYALTY POINTS in big red letters in the center. Dunno if you can tell the date or not but I have the full screen images upon request.

So thinking I was getting triple points I played, not more than usual but I played at this casino as opposed to another casino knowing I would get triple points.

Around July 19, 2006 I looked at my loyalty page and it said I had earned 1286 points for the month of July. I opened a live chat session with a representative and asked them about the problem. They reviewed my account for nearly 30 minutes and finally came back and said my actual point count including the promotion was in excess of 3000 points and I should email support about the promotion points not showing up on the loyalty page. I did so and this is the reply I got.

Original Message:
<*******@**********.***> wrote:

> I was in a live chat session today in reference to the triple points
> promotion
> going on at Casino US. I showed 1286 loyality points in my account but
> live
> chat showed over 3000. Do the bonus points not reflect on the points page?
>

From: "TheCasino" <helpcenter@thecasinosupport.com>
To: <**************>
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 10:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Ticket#20060720111465] Loyality points


Dear ******,

Thank you for your request.

We have reviewed your account and according to our records, your Loyalty
Points are 1286. The points that are displayed in the Loyalty page are the
total points you have.

If you would like a detailed summary of your loyalty points earned, please
click on the "Playcheck" option within the casino.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

We strive to give you the best online gambling experience of your life,
offering the greatest promotions all the time and backing our services up
with
a 24-hour toll free helpdesk service.
Contact us 24-hours a day, 7 days a week if you have any other queries or
suggestions.

Regards,

Marko
The Support Team
Vegas Partner Lounge


So my reply was....

Please see the following information relating to my loyalty account:
tccr02********

Using the following playcheck sessions dating from July 01, 2006 till July 20, 2006:
7853426
7853508
7853731
7857916
7879096
7885194
7912706
7946139
7951846
7952021
7959679
7966678
7967914
7990008
7990019
7990181
7991644
7992783
7994977
7997932
7999253
8001767
8002291
8006095

I used the above playcheck sessions pasted into an excel spreadsheet, which
is available if you'd like to see it, to attain total wagers on slots only.
The total number of wagers on slots games is 4707 games played, for a total
of $11,302.91 in cash wagers. The base loyalty points for these wagers would
be 1130.291 loyalty points (11302.91/10). When the triple point promotion
running from July 01 till July 31, 2006 (per live support chat operator July
19, 2006) is added into this number it would equal $33,908.76 in wagers
which would equal 3390.876 total loyalty points (33908.76/10).

This is a far cry from the stated points on the loyalty page and from the
number of points this email has quoted me.


So a number of days pass and they never even reply, which really steams me. So on July 26th and July 27, 2006 I email them again with the exact same email from above. The reply was so classic I had to take another screen shot of it, you can't make the rudeness of this email up.



Also note the date, 3 days to answer? Jeebus, what great CS. Now maybe there was some mistake, a wrong keystroke or something but the font increasing 6 or 7 points and the color changing to bright red? I don't think so, what a bunch of smart asses.


So I waiting till the monthly loyalty bonus was credited, which happened on August 04, 2006. When I logged into the casino I saw my points had been redeemed at 1x which was supposed to be 3x. I went directly to live chat, see below.

You are now chatting with 'George'
George: Welcome to the Casino Support Desk. How can I help you?
******: hi george, my monthly comp points were credited overnight but I think there's a mistake, last month was triple points month and I was only credited for 1x points
George: For which casino are you referring to ?
******: casino us
******: tccr0******* is the account number
George: One moment while I check my records please.
George: Can you send me an e-mail on the details on that and I will request feedback from our finance department

I sent the following email:

I asked live chat support about the triple points promotion that went on from July 01 till July 31, 2006. When my monthly comp points were converted to real money into my account overnight the points were only put in at 1X. See the live chat below and also a previous email from customer support person Marko. Also please note the huge text and bright red color was done by customer support and not by me and I thought it was pretty rude.

Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with 'George'
George: Welcome to the Casino Support Desk. How can I help you?
******: hi george, my monthly comp points were credited overnight but I think there's a mistake, last month was triple points month and I was only credited for 1x points
George: For which casino are you referring to ?
******: casino us
******: tccr0******* is the account number
George: One moment while I check my records please.
George: Can you send me an e-mail on the details on that and I will request feedback from our finance department


And the reply I got a little later in the morning:

Dear *****,

Thank you for your interest and support in CasinoUS at Vegas Partner Lounge.

The Triple loyalty points applies to all casino's at Vegas Partner lounge except CasinoUS as per the term's and conditions of the promotion.

This is due to the high loyalty programe given by CasinoUS.

Hope this meet's with your approval.

CasinoUS strives to ensure you the best online gaming experience, offering the best promotions all the time. We also back our services with a 24-hour toll free helpdesk service. Contact us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Regards,
George
The Support Team
CasinoUS
Vegas Partner Lounge




That totally floored me, I couldn't believe what they were saying. So I started another live chat conversation with yet another CS rep:

Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with 'Karl'
Karl: Welcome to the Casino Support Desk. How can I help you?
*******: hi Karl, george sent me an email about triple loyalty points didn't apply last month at casino us, could you explain to me why it was on the casino message of the day all month and why live chat and email support told me it applied to casino us
Karl: One moment while I check my records please.
Karl: The Triple loyalty promotion does not apply to casino US as we have a Platinum loyalty program running there which is 5 times better that any other.
*******: no no no
*******: it was on the message of the day all month long
*******: you have to honor the promotion
*******: it was on the casino us message of the day all month long
Karl: This was being advertised our sister Casinos in the Vegas Partner lounge.
*******: no it wasn't
*******: you're a liar
*******: the text said triple points all month on slots
*******: didn't say at any other casino
*******: why would you advertise another casino in casino us's message of the day?
*******: give me the casino managers email address, I'll take this up with them and casinomeister
*******: this is a complete crock
Karl: Please email your query to help@vegaspartnerlounge.com
*******: no, I want the casino managers email address
*******: not some cheesy yes man CS agents
Karl: Would you please send us the URL on which you read about this promotion.
*******: it was on the casino message of the day
*******: when you open the casino and log in, the little screen that pops up[
*******: on casino us
*******: not any other casino
Karl: When exactly because this promotion did not apply to Casino US and the casino message of the day pops up on all the casinos within the vegas partner lounge group
*******: all of them don't use the same MOTD
*******: I'm not an idiot
*******: and as far as when exactly, from July 01 till July 31
Karl: The promotion came to an end on the 31 st of July.
*******: yeah it sure did, are you saying it applied to casino US now?
Karl: Casino US has always had this promotion.
Karl: As a player at The Casino you are automatically part of the Platinum Club <http://www.casinous.com/loyalty.asp>, which is 5 times better than any other casino Loyalty Program. Earn loyalty points while you play - every $10 you wager, earns you one point! Your Platinum Club Points will be calculated at the end of every month and deposited into your Real Money Casino Account within the first week of the following month!
Karl:
*******: do you understand english?
*******: the MOTD at casino us said slots earn triple points the whole month of July
*******: I could care less about the so called special players club
*******: you're cheating me out of $131.56
Karl: Okay please send an email query should you ave doubts.
*******: which is the amount I'm owed outright from the loyaly triple points promotion
*******: I'll send an email to the casino manager as soon as you give me the email address for the casino manager
Karl: The address i gave you earlier is for the manger.
Karl: They are the only ones with access to that mailbox
*******: yeah well, I'll post a message on the casinomeister forum and just send you all a link to that posting, maybe some publicity will help this issue along
Karl: help@vegaspartnerlounge.com
Karl: Is there anything else that I may assist you with?
*******: I'll be sure to include all the live chat and emails I've had
*******: there's nothing you've helped me with yet but a bunch of back paddling, I guess not
*******: good day sir.



As you can clearly see this live support person was going to protect the casino managers email address with vengeance. My favorite part is in the last live chat session they said the promotion applied to casino us after denying it the whole time...

Karl: The promotion came to an end on the 31 st of July.
*******: yeah it sure did, are you saying it applied to casino US now?
Karl: Casino US has always had this promotion

This is ridiculous, live chat and email support agree you're getting triple points till it comes to cashing them in time, then it doesn't apply to this casino. I guess I'm left holding the bag waiting on my $131.56. Are there any VPL reps that come around here, I checked the list and couldn't find one.

[vinylweatherman]

Clearly there is a high level of incompetence in both CS and technical at VPL. The URL for casino message of the day is casino specific, and the mailer you showed clearly had the Casino US header, so was NOT a generic newsletter but a casino specific one. CS then added to this miserable state of affairs by trying to explain how the promotion worked at Casino US, to the point of ramming it down your throat with big red letters to "make you understand it will work out in the end" so as to stop bothering them with the display of only 1x points.
I would be mad as hell to have been strung along all this time only to be told it was a big mistake all along and the promotion was never intended to run at that casino. The better loyalty club is ALREADY "paid for" as Casino US do not have any of the ongoing 10% or 15% deposit bonuses the others have, giving this back as better loyalty conversions. There is no need to make players pay twice by aborting the other promotions too!
A few players that do not go round "doing" all the casinos in a group may not actually appreciate that there are sister casinos that the promotion applies to.

VPL - if it is the Casino US newsletter, don't confuse players by headlining promotions that do not count there, save them for the casinos where they DO count (and make sure CS know about the difference between Casino US and all the others so they do not give bad responses to players).
How can casinos, after this, come back on players who interpret general group T & C as "not applying in this case as it is special, clearly an exception" even though they are on the website.

[Mousey]

Are there any VPL reps that come around here, I checked the list and couldn't find one.

I almost missed them, too... they're at the bottom of the Contacts page.

Good luck.

http://www.casinomeister.com/forums/members/vpl.html

[Trezz]

Originally Posted by vinylweatherman

Clearly there is a high level of incompetence in both CS and technical at VPL.

I also experienced a simular thing, though this is going back a while. Hence I don't play at any VPL casinos.

The guts of my issues was their standard loyality points:

The Platinum Club Loyalty Program is in the hot spot as it claims to be 5 times more lucrative than any other web based casino reward program. Earn 1 point for every $10 wagered, and get $5 for every 100 points earned here at Casino US .

http://www.casinous.com/loyalty.asp

Here's an example of a Platinum Club Points Balance Statement:

Breaking down their above points with their $5 for every 100 points earned shows that their calculations are way out of whack!

EG - Points redeemed for December: 4,000 points = (they say it $40) should be $200

Math = 4,000 points divided by 100 = 40 x 5 = $200

At the time I was owed something like $150 but after getting the same stupid, BS, idiotic, repsonses from their CSR's I simple didn't play their anymore.

The worst part of this is that they are eCogra sealed. Obviously eCogra's Audit guys in charge of Quality Assurance missed this section


For posterity thought I'd save this copied from http://www.casinous.com/loyalty.asp )


Please read the following:

With our loyalty program for every $10 wagered players receive 1 loyalty point.
For every 100 points the player receives $5 in casino credits.
These points accumulate during the month are AUTOMATICALLY converted to money and credited to the players account within the first 5 working days of the following month.
When these credits are received players can use them to play with or can even cash them in immediately (subject to the minimum cashin value requirements).
Compare this promotion to other top casino’s and you will find that $ for $ we are offering 5 times or more casino credits than even the best programs.
Except for the initial deposit promotion there are no cashin requirements other than the minimum cashing value of $50.
Example: A player deposits $500 and wagers 40 times the deposit on roulette and 20 times on blackjack.
Win or lose the player has wagered $23’333 (($500 x 40)+BJ($500 x 20 x 1/3)) and has accumulated 2333 points ($23’333 divided by 10) doing so. At the beginning of the next month the players account will be automatically credited with $116.65 free bonus (2333 points divided by 100 points x $5).
The player is free to use this money to play with or cash-in as the balance is greater than the minimum cashin value.
Platinum Club Points will be paid out to active accounts only.
Platinum Club Points in inactive accounts will become redundant after three (3) months.
If you have any queries, please contact our Customer Service Team via mail:

[Trezz]

brianzz,

So in affect you should be receiving 3x the standard points from CasinoUS, which their standard points are $5 for every 100 points.

Your standard point = 1191.5

which using CasinoUS ($5 for every 100 points) calculation.

You can claim 1100 points = $55

The triple points you were offer in the promo.

Brings your total points to 3574.5

You can redeem 3500 points. These equal = $175


Don't need to be a road scholar to work this one out!
CasinoUS is scamming its players

[brianzz]

So in affect you should be receiving 3x the standard points from CasinoUS, which their standard points are $5 for every 100 points.

Indeed, but by the time the month was over it was $65.78 or 1315.6 points. They credit the entire amount of your points so nothing carries over. So in reality I should have been comped for 3946.8 points or $197.34 in cash but I only got $65.78, very blatent theft, robbery via broadband.

Like all online casinos, they have the upper hand by being unregulated and they can lie cheat and steal their way out of your money if they feel like it.

[VPL]

Hi guys,

Please rest assured that it's not a scam, but merely a miscommunication. These things aren't supposed to happen, but unfortunately they do creep in on occasion.

We will honor the Triple Loyalty points on Casino US, as per the newsletter.

I hope this is a satisfactory resolution.

Regards
Schalk

[Trezz]

Originally Posted by VPL

Hi guys,
Please rest assured that it's not a scam, but merely a miscommunication. These things aren't supposed to happen, but unfortunately they do creep in on occasion.

Casino's are not without error, hence if this was merely a once off issue then the above statement would be a reasonable explaination.

However...

I had the a simular issue with CasinoUS ages ago (less than 12 months).

I simply gave up trying to get support (including the casino management) to see the abvious $5 for every 100 points (as perported on CasinoUS web site - view my intial post), as apposed the the $10 for every 1000 points they were using, which was wrong and still is wrong (no one's bothered to fix it).

Guess that's been written off as a "miscommunication" "but unfortunately they do creep in on occasion". too!

Originally Posted by VPL

I hope this is a satisfactory resolution.

Given that my issue never got sorted out, feeling scammed pretty much sums up my feeling on this issue also.

[mikekloeg]

i either did not recieved 3x my points

[winbig]

Originally Posted by mikekloeg

i either did not recieved 3x my points

Did you PM the rep?