Fortune Affiliates Retroactive Terms

[caruso]

Affy stuff ain't exactly my thing, but:

Originally Posted by spearmaster

But to put it in player terms, it is similar to promising you a bonus, later changing their terms and conditions and applying it to all your past play retroactively.

Did they cut the commission, from, say, 30% to 20%, and apply it retrospectively, so you effectively have to "earn it back"?

[dominique]

That is truly nice to hear, adamruns.

Now if only T&Cs with affiliates could also be taken as binding and sincere...

Did they cut the commission, from, say, 30% to 20%, and apply it retrospectively, so you effectively have to "earn it back"?

No. It used to be that affiliates went to look at earning statistics at Fortune and see a mix of winning and losing players and it was a good thing to see. As aff, you want to see a nice mix, you want to see your players win.

In this industry, "if the players ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

Since Fortune holds a lot of individual casinos, winnings and losses would be nicely spread out and affiliates could happily advertise all of the casinos, teach their players as much about winning as possible, watch a good percentage of them win, and still take home a paycheck. All was well.

If a casino had a big winner the affiliate would not make money there in that month, but s/he would still be making money at other casinos. So - it's a small price to pay for having happy players return to your website and be happy and loyal with you.

But no more. The rules were changed so that now if there is one big winner at one Fortune casino it wipes out all income from all casinos. The affiliate gets no paycheck that month at all.

Perhaps it is not immediately visible how this affects players - but it does. Maybe not the sophisticated players who have discovered message boards that truly look out for them, but the majority of players who go through affiliate sites are now in a much worse position. Now the affiliate isn't all that interested anymore in teaching how to win - it's too costly. No one is going to lose all their income voluntarily. Affiliates who allow themselves to depend on Fortune will now fear for their livelihood and not encourage smart play.

Good for the casinos, bad for players, bad for affiliates.

[spearmaster]

Jeremy -

With all due respect, the stink is unbearable. Nothing was tabled or resolved, none of my recommendations - which were very reasonable by the way - were taken up, no changes or further announcements have been made, so I will simply assume that FA - and FL - choose to ignore the issue and hope it will go away.

Let me put it very bluntly - it will not go away, and if a reasonable solution is not found, it will become a very, very big problem.

[Simmo!]

As an affiliate myself, it would be morally wrong for me to recommend a casino to players who I know cannot be trusted to hold an agreement. Plus it p*ss*s me off to think of the time and effort spent testing, researching and chatting to them (although it was a free pizza to be fair) in the first instance only to have them treat me this way

Cheers

Simmo!

[Webzcas]

I cannot believe the comment :

' Fortune Affiliates regard this matter as having been tabled, discussed and resolved. '

Unfortunately it was not tabled, discussed and resolved with your partners - the affiliates. Time will obviously be the factor to see whether by making these changes you haven't actually fallen upon your own petard.

The fact that you go back on an legal agreement with your affiliates without even consulting them beforehand, speaks volumes.

[tim5ny]

Originally Posted by adamruns

I just hope that Fortune Lounge allows everyone in my situation to do what they have allowed me to do.

Very doubtful Adamruns! Your problem got alot of exposure here, so they naturally have to put out the small fires before they become larger. Everyone else who's fending for himself probably hasn't had the same outcome as you. I'd bet my life on that.

[spearmaster]

I see that Jeremy has been and gone - and chosen to take the silent route.

Needless to say - what they can do to affiliates, they can do to players. Regardless of what you see in the T&Cs, if they decide to change their mind, their decision is "final" even if you performed according to the rules.

I will allow them another chance to address the issue - or else I will spell it out very clearly with a warning to all people who think that Fortune will perform according to the terms and conditions they themselves laid out.

The staff at Fortunelounge has always done their absolute best to keep our players as happy as possible, and have over the years built a reputation of fairness and interest in our customers.

I further note that this is due in large part to affiliates who work their asses off to see that you get players, and that you take care of them.

This "reputation" is about to be spoiled big-time if you do not take urgent action to redress the breach of your own terms and conditions and promises to affiliates who have faithfully served you in the past - and have also defended you in these forums. We did not set the rules - you did. We played by these rules - but you broke them.

I urge you not to ignore this warning.

[dominique]

At this point all the action I have taken is to inform the IGC (and their lawyer who will handle this is back at work on Monday). I have not removed the casinos who are in breach from my Casino Webmaster Program page (which ranks #3 on Google). I did add my comments to the listing. Fortune wasn't listed, but I will update and add them asap, next week sometime.

I did post about it in the announcement section there - http://www.gamesandcasino.com/casino-affiliates/ and link to that from the webmaster page.

Now, other than that I haven't taken any action because I still count on the basic honesty and business sense of Fortune. I hope that they will negotiate with the IGC if not with us affiliates. I will overlook being snubbed now and hope for this to be worked out between Fortune and the industry watchdog.

But I will not hesitate to ask players for help if it comes to that. Affiliates have helped players get paid for years, I am sure players will give some of the support back when needed.

[Bruce Hamilton]

Originally Posted by spearmaster

I see that Jeremy has been and gone - and chosen to take the silent route.

He took the same route with my beef re: Royal Vegas and their 100 Free Spins.

[Webzcas]

The fact that Fortune is ignoring us here and added to this we are being ignored on CAP by the FA members there, only reinforces my belief that they do not consider affiliates as partners.

Therefore if we can be treated with a lack of respect by FA, what is there to say that the casinos and poker rooms which make up FA's portfolio won't start treating their players in the same way as they are now treating their partners/affiliates.