PR: ECOGRA REPORT ON THE GRAND PRIVÉ AFFILIATE PROGRAM INVESTIGATION

[Webzcas]

This response from eCOGRA has just been received by Daera who posted this over on the GPWA Forum - I will quote it word for word, but will also link back to the post in question.

We have noted your concern raised as to the adequacy of the settlement amount recommended by the eCOGRA investigators.

We would like to emphasise that our mandate from Grand Prive was to review all records provided by the company in respect of the Grand Prive Affiliate Program software and related database. We were not requested to review any other affiliate program system or information, nor were we made aware of any other system or pertinent information.

We are confident that the settlement amounts have been correctly calculated based on our mandate and the affiliate and player data provided to us by Grand Prive at the time of the review. Regrettably we cannot legally perform any further investigation work into this matter unless mandated by Grand Prive management. Such a mandate has not to date been forthcoming.

http://www.gpwa.org/forum/584654-post76.html

So a couple of things here to comment on:

Grand Prive instructed eCOGRA to carry out this audit.

Grand Prive provided the data and one can assume that eCOGRA did not ask for any additional data.

eCOGRA have closed this matter.

I am waiting to see what they come back to Michael and Dominique with. Until such time I am having a big problem biting my tongue.

[AussieDave]

I am waiting to see what they come back to Michael and Dominique with. Until such time I am having a big problem biting my tongue.

No offense intended but biting tongues and not speaking up has IMHO contributed to the mess.

Like yourself I never promoted GP. But we're both affiliates and believe we both, like most of our peers, expect a fair deal.

This eCOGRA investigation & audit (loose terms) flies directly in the face of what is fair and just.

No one can tell me for 1 minute that Microgaming did not play a substantial role in forcing eCOGRA to act on this.
But just because there was an investigation ordered, it does not mean the outcome/findings had to be fair.


Cheers



Dave

[Webzcas]

No offense intended but biting tongues and not speaking up has IMHO contributed to the mess.

Oh don't get me wrong Dave. After Dominque and Michael receive their respective responses from Andrew, I will be definately having my say. Based on what he comes back with.

But to do so beforehand, would be premature.

[bonustreak]

Hi Christine,



The information you provided as well as the time taken to compile this information is much appreciated.



We have noted your concern raised as to the adequacy of the settlement amount recommended by the eCOGRA investigators.



We would like to emphasise that our mandate from Grand Prive was to review all records provided by the company in respect of the Grand Prive Affiliate Program software and related database. We were not requested to review any other affiliate program system or information, nor were we made aware of any other system or pertinent information.



We are confident that the settlement amounts have been correctly calculated based on our mandate and the affiliate and player data provided to us by Grand Prive at the time of the review. Regrettably we cannot legally perform any further investigation work into this matter unless mandated by Grand Prive management. Such a mandate has not to date been forthcoming.



Regards,



Sean

My response....

I have given proof that our marketing talents are worth a hell of a lot more then $7 bucks and this entire audit was a waste of everyone's time Grand Prive is nothing but a bunch of scum bag cheats and everyone on the web knows this expect eCogra! I hope that you seriously reconsider letting these thieves continue to carry that seal of approval you have given them! Do not send that money to me because I will end up owing a wire fee why not take that amount and have yourself a cup of coffee on behalf of Streak Gaming.

Yes they have done the audit on the request of Grand Prive and I am sorry but I find it hard to believe that they feel this audit was not a joke from the start up! Do they really think affiliates earned so little from Grand Prive over the years?

[AussieDave]

Do they really think affiliates earned so little from Grand Prive over the years?

You can teach a dog to sit and a parrot to talk...


Cheers



Dave

[AussieDave]

I've just sent Tex an email outlining my thoughts.

Edit: Received notice that Tex is on extended leave until April 1'st 2010.
Next port of call Andrew.

[jetset]

This is truly a real shocker. I say that because my interpretation is that eCOGRA were possibly misled on the Referspot issue (GP possibly didn't expect that affiliates like Dom would figure that one out, and they must have been surprised when eCOGRA presumably went back and interrogated them on it - that's speculation btw!).

If not Referspot, then it would appear that very relevant information was either by ommission or commission not made available to the investigators.

Hence, rubbish in and rubbish out to quote an old computer truth.

What other implication can one draw from the apparent refusal by GP to grant any further access to eCOGRA in order to finalise the investigation in a fair and conclusive manner?

Look at these three elements in what looks like a very carefully worded eCOGRA statement (there may be legal aspects behind the scenes here that force them to be cautious in what they can and cannot say upfront):

Quote "We were not requested to review any other affiliate program system or information, nor were we made aware of any other system or pertinent information." Unquote.

and

Quote: "Regrettably we cannot legally perform any further investigation work into this matter unless mandated by Grand Prive management." Unquote.

and

Quote: "Such a mandate has not to date been forthcoming." Unquote.

Why, at this stage in the dispute when a fair resolution could have been achieved, would GP now pull up the drawbridge and refuse to cooperate further?

Could it be that the exposure of the possibility of larger amounts owed to affiliates has scared GP management off? That seems to be one possible explanation.

Whatever it is, this is a very ill-advised move by GP imo that can only take their reputation to new lows, and at the same time alienate well-intentioned industry execs like Andrew Beveridge, who must be furious at being left out in the cold and unable to provide the fair conclusion for adversely affected affiliates he said was his objective.

GP must be battening down the hatches here, because they must know there sure as hell is going to be a storm.

What other options are there for affiliates prejudiced in the closure of the Grand Prive Affiliate Program? Has anyone among the affiliates impacted by this looked into the possibility of a class action against GP?

[dominique]

Well, eCOGRA can only audit what it can see.

But the whole thing is silly, really.

Andrew was nice enough to offer to call me to explain, but I figure I should wait and see what the general reaction is and if anyone comes up with any constructive, useable suggestions.

There is no way eCOGRA can make GP show them anything.

The stats are offline, GP isn't going to produce them, and everyone is up the creek without a paddle.

The original issue a few years back was that Referspot ceased to exist and was replaced by Grand Prive affiliates, a Microgaming driven database. There were numerous issues transferring players into the corresponding accounts, and I went to look at archived threads at CAP and saw posts by the affiliate manager at the time explaining that the statistics were not working yet because MICROGAMING was still working on the integration of the system.

So MICROGAMING has information on what happened and the size of the database containing Referspot legacy players. And quite possibly they have the details too.

So it is not only Grand Prive who failed to disclose accurate statistics to eCOGRA, it is also Microgaming.

In any case, this proves that GP considers itself above the law, and if nothing can be done about it, one can only wonder when another incident like this will occur. Apparently this industry does not feel it needs to conduct business in a law abiding fashion.

It also proves that Microgaming has no interest in assuring us that their licencees are acting ethically.

I must conclude that JTODD and APCW weekly were correct all along re. Grand Prive and Microgaming.

So, is it possible for affiliates to trust affiliate programs? Referspot never had any issues. And look how that ended.

It looks foolish anymore to give any considerable exposure to any particular program. The more players go to any one casino, the higher the risk of substantial losses.

So much for self policing of the industry.

[Auditor]

We are clear the bad guys here are Grand Prive. Microgaming and eCogra should be livid at Grand Prive for dragging their reputations down.

Microgaming and eCogra needs to cut ties with Grand Prive for their continued despicable behavior. It would be the best move they could make.

[spiderlegz]

Im pretty sure Microgaming cant just cut ties with GP. And dont think that they want that either as long as they get their money.

This isnt the first time an affiliate program has closed and wont be the last time either. And some of them have belonged to big companies, and have yet to hear about any succesful legal action against a closed affiliate program.

But these must have been a big slap in the face of affiliates who had lodged a complaint with eCogra. I at least would be even more pissed off.

Maybe one could say that affiliates lost the battle but won the war. I doubt that any other program would go the same route as Grand Prive. At least not if they want to prosper.