PaddyPower - 'oversight' in the terms and conditions.

[MadAxl]

Hi,

I've just done the Paddypower signup, for which you can view the full terms here on Texas Holdem. In particular, this line is important:

Stakes on Baccarat, all Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Multiplier and Texas Tea and MegaJackpots games will not contribute towards the staking requirements to convert this bonus to payable cash.

There's absolutely no mention of Texas Holdem being banned, or it being slots only, or anything else - yet I've just spoken with two people on live chat who told me that Texas Holdem doesn't count towards the wagering, and that there was just an oversight with their terms and conditions.

whilst I accept that there has been an oversight in ht enlisted terms and conditions

as per the terms, "Paddypowercasino.com reserves the right to modify, alter, discontinue or terminate this promotion at any time for any reason whatsoever without notice to players. " further to that "In the event of any dispute, the decision of Paddypowercasino.com will be considered final "

although it does not specifically state that Texas holdem does not contribute, we are aware of this fact, this is still a stipulation of the bonus

... if I'm honest, it all seems slightly underhand to me - they mention they reserve the right to modify their bonuses, but surely that doesn't mean they can amend the current terms and conditions, and just completely ignore what's there when I signed up, and what's still there now?

Am I just over-reacting to this, or are they out of line? Thanks

[vinylweatherman]

Hi,

I've just done the Paddypower signup, for which you can view the full terms here on Texas Holdem. In particular, this line is important:


There's absolutely no mention of Texas Holdem being banned, or it being slots only, or anything else - yet I've just spoken with two people on live chat who told me that Texas Holdem doesn't count towards the wagering, and that there was just an oversight with their terms and conditions.


... if I'm honest, it all seems slightly underhand to me - they mention they reserve the right to modify their bonuses, but surely that doesn't mean they can amend the current terms and conditions, and just completely ignore what's there when I signed up, and what's still there now?

Am I just over-reacting to this, or are they out of line? Thanks

They are out of line. Any modification of the terms ONLY counts from when it was PUBLISHED. This will teach them not to be TOO LAZY to proof read the terms before they publish them.

I thought Paddy Power, being a well known brand, were trustworthy, but this is the kind of thing we see with rogue casinos.

This would be VERY ILLEGAL here in the UK, NO company can hold a customer to terms that didn't exist IN THE CONTRACT at the time of making the deal, and certain terms would automatically be deemed "unfair", and thus unenforceable.

The best thing to do here is to submit a formal PAB to Max. Make sure you get a copy of the terms BEFORE they sneak in & "correct" them by adding Texas HoldEm - a couple of casinos have tried this when they have made similar mistakes, and know a complaint might be coming.

The problem with this kind of behaviour, if allowed, is that it means casinos can decide to ban a game after the fact as it sees "too many" players winning, and then apply this change RETROSPECTIVELY so that it does not have to pay out these winnings.

[Senfgnu]

This no rogue behaviour and Axl is a bit overreacting. Let me tell you why:

Mad Axl linked to the T&Cs for paddypowercasino.com.
1. It is not possible to play poker via the client you download here.
2. It is not possible to clear the bonus offered there if you play poker, because - well, see section 1

If you are a poker player and want to make some money with their bonus, you have to go to http://paddypowerpoker.com/freechips/index.php
They also have a great loyalty program: http://www.paddypowerpoker.com/freechips/cash.php
Reloads are very rare, but 500$ a month at "General" is pretty good if you play microstakes like i do.

I hope this was helpful and you can understand my english
Senfgnu

edit: I maybe should add that i am playing there about 2500 hands/day and never had a problem.

[rpalmer83]

There are two Texas Holdem Games at PaddyPower Casino, Texas Holdem Shootout and Texas Holdem Bonus Poker. I assume MadAxi played one of these games, since he has quoted the casino terms and conditions I don't think he would have played on the Poker site and tried to claim the casino bonus. If he had have surely the CS rep would have told him this politely. MadAxi should clarify that he was indeed playing in the casino though.


The customer services responses are absolutely disgusting in this situation:

although it does not specifically state that Texas holdem does not contribute, we are aware of this fact, this is still a stipulation of the bonus

So let me get this straight, they seriously expect to award a player a bonus and then turn around and say a specific game doesn't count towards wagering AFTER he has wagered on a game that is inferred as counting from the terms and conditions. Definately rogue behaviour, and I would have expected better from what is supposed to be a reputable casino.

as per the terms, "Paddypowercasino.com reserves the right to modify, alter, discontinue or terminate this promotion at any time for any reason whatsoever without notice to players. " further to that "In the event of any dispute, the decision of Paddypowercasino.com will be considered final "

When anybody, be it a casino, bank or high street store exercises a term like this on you without a reasonable explaination why you can't have what your asking for. You know for a fact that they know they are in the wrong. It's the 'scapegoat' clause they are using as its the only realistic and in most cases legal way they can get out of it. Perhaps they have made a mistake in not including TH in the excluded games but surely it would make sense to either pull the promotion off the site until they can update the terms, or update it there and then but either way the player should be payed as he is not a phsycic and can't be expected to work out what games he is/isn't allowed to play by magic.

He abided by the terms, he should be payed his bonus!.

As a once loyal customer of PaddyPower Casino myself, In the past I have always found their customer service to be polite, courtious and know what their talking about. Your experience does not sound like the service I once knew but saying that I was VIP there and there VIP treatment turned pretty sour towards the end of last year which I won't go into so I gave up on them and found myself a better casino so maybe somethings changed internally and its not the place it once was.

[3dfella]

This no rogue behaviour and Axl is a bit overreacting. Let me tell you why:

Mad Axl linked to the T&Cs for paddypowercasino.com.
1. It is not possible to play poker via the client you download here.
2. It is not possible to clear the bonus offered there if you play poker, because - well, see section 1

MadAxl is not referring to Poker, he is referring to the Casino Game Texas Holdem Bonus. Please be very careful and understand what you are posting about before you do so.

I am frankly appalled at this from Paddypower and I would be very surprised if they didnt rectify this. Even Alderney couldnt agree with this one!

[Senfgnu]

He said "Texas Holdem", not "Texas Holdem Bonus". Three times. I am not in his head and so i thought he wanted to play Texas Holdem and not Texas Holdem Bonus. If i want toplay Texas Holdem Bonus, i say "Texas Holdem Bonus", maybe THB, not "Texas Holdem".

How could i know?

srykthxbye

[MadAxl]

Huge thanks for the support guys! It is as palmer and 3dfella said by the way, I was playing the casino version of Texas Holdem Bonus, but I guess I wasn't very clear in my original post!

I sent an email to their supporting enquiring about this (after the live chats) and got a similar response, but as soon as I mentioned the thoughts of users from this forum (again, thanks guys ) they changed their stance, and have just recieved this in an email:

As a gesture of goodwill, I have decided to add the £100. We understand some of the terms are incorrect and we are in the process of rectifying them. Apologies for the inconvenience caused to you.

Result! Thank you very much again guys

[rpalmer83]

Very pleased this is sorted for you MadAxi, its just still very sad that it had to come to this. Unfortunately these days it seems you have to complain, use casinomeister or otherwise threaten to take action just to get the simplest of things sorted out. You abided by all the terms in my eyes and shouldn't have had to go through what you did to get the bonus credited.

I appreciate that casinos can make mistakes in their conditions and it appears this is what happened in this case, but I find it hard to sympathise with PaddyPower. It's like walking into a shop seeing all the blazing signs advertising a special offer, picking the advertised product up and taking it to the till and them saying you can't have it it's a mistake and they are going to take the signs down 'when they can be bothered'. It pretty much boils down to false advertising.

Also worrying is the fact that as this was a signup bonus, it is not a very good way to treat what could be a prospective long term customer.

Anyway I hope they have learned from their mistake, keep terms up to date in future and look after their customers in a more reasonable and courtious way!.

[3dfella]

He said "Texas Holdem", not "Texas Holdem Bonus". Three times. I am not in his head and so i thought he wanted to play Texas Holdem and not Texas Holdem Bonus. If i want toplay Texas Holdem Bonus, i say "Texas Holdem Bonus", maybe THB, not "Texas Holdem".

How could i know?

srykthxbye

Same way I did I guess. I see your point though. Glad its sorted now MadAxl.

[Endre]

I had the same experience. I played Texas Hold'em Bonus, but didn't get the bonus, despite that the game was not excluded at that time and for several days after. I got on live chat and asked about in, and after a few minutes wait I was told that the T&C was wrong, and he quoted me some bullshit terms basically saying that their T&C doesn't mean anything (like most casinos have, I guess, but a reputable casino like Paddy Power shouldn't use them in my opinion).

However, as a "gesture of goodwill" they would give me not the full £100 bonus, but a £50 one. I argued some, and told him that I didn't think this was acceptable, and they would hear from me again, but I let him give me the half bonus, of course.

I didn't do anything about for a few, but when I saw this thread I thought I had a pretty strong case, and they would give me the full bonus, so I sent them an email, where I mentioned this thread. I got a reply saing "Your query has now been sent on to the Casino Operations team for review and they will get back to you in the morning once they are in the office."

4 days later, no reply. I emailed them again and got "This has been escalated to the casino team blah blah apologise for the delay."

It's now been 12 days, and they still haven't come up with a decision. I can't see this being a tough one. I'm dissapointed with Paddy Power.