Party Poker Admin Charges - Outrageous!

[rowmare]

A player forwarded the email quoted below to me.

Dear XXXXXXX,
Our records show that that you have not logged in to your account for 180 days.

A$$5 administration fee* has been charged to your inactive account. The next charge will be deducted from you account balance on: 13-Jul-2006.

However, this fee will NOT be charged if your account, or any related account, is reactivated on or before 12-Jul-2006.

Reactivating your account is easy: Just log in and place a cash wager, enter a tournament with a cash entry fee, or play a raked hand.

*TERMS & CONDITIONS If you do not access your Account by "logging on" to your Account using your Account name and password for any period of 180 days, then after those 180 days (the "180 day grace period") your Account (and any related account with any ESP) will be deemed "Inactive". If your Account becomes Inactive, then the Company is entitled to charge you an administrative fee (the "Inactive Account Fee"). The Inactive Account Fee shall be deducted from your Account Balance at the end of each calendar month in accordance with the Inactive Account Fee Schedule. We will stop deducting the Inactive Account Fee from your Account Balance if your Account is re-activated.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us. Our Customer Care team is available 24/7.

Sincerely,

Party Team

info@partyaccount.com

[bpb]

Please explain why this is outrageous.

[Vesuvio]

It does strike me as outrageous (how much admin can an account with no activity require?), though the Party Poker players are getting off lightly compared to those at Bellerock:

http://www.casinomeister.com/forums/...t-serious.html

[arccos]

Originally Posted by bpb

Please explain why this is outrageous.

Personally, considering Party is probably getting interest off the money in the account, I think it's absurd to charge a user for the privilige of leaving their money in a non-interest account. If there's no activity in the account, there's at most a record sitting on a database somewhere. It doesn't cost them $5 to keep the record.

Was there any advanced notice that the amount would be charged, or was this the first notification?

[henryVIII]

Originally Posted by bpb

Please explain why this is outrageous.

Please explain why cash-laden dormant accounts are a bad thing for a casino?

Bet you can't.

[paul02085]

There are banks in the US who do this same thing. Not a big issue to me.

[henryVIII]

Originally Posted by paul02085

There are banks in the US who do this same thing. Not a big issue to me.

But doesnt a bank also give you interest, a cheque book, offer direct debits, give you debit/credit cards, have branches you can visit, offer you financial facilities, offer cashpoints, etc etc.

A credit card company can offer you credit when you have none, can pay bills in a million places, send you monthly statements, offer insurance against any fraud on your card anywhere in the world, offer insurance if you buy faulty goods with the card, etc etc.

In contrast where would the casinos costs come from?

Or would you have no problem with any company you have an online account with charging you for, erm, having an account with them?

Sorry for being blunt but it seems a bit sheepsish to not question what you are actually paying for.

[rowmare]

Sure banks do this, but only after you open an account, sign legal documents telling, in which you are informed about the service charges.

[phynqster]

Two reasons I like the casino is doing this. First lets use as an example 1k what if an employee of the casino notices the idle account and enters the account from a home computer and withdrawals the funds. Remember they were an employee and had access to account information. Secondly, if account balance is at zero it is a lot easier for the casino to drop in a blanket bonus to zero balance accounts. Thirdly, thought of another, saves headaches down the road if the player says that policys or rules have changed since the funds were deposited and want what those terms were. If a player doesn't know the money is there and does not respond when the casino tells them, than those funds are not really as important as they seem to the player.

[paul02085]

Originally Posted by phynqster

Two reasons I like the casino is doing this. First lets use as an example 1k what if an employee of the casino notices the idle account and enters the account from a home computer and withdrawals the funds. Remember they were an employee and had access to account information. Secondly, if account balance is at zero it is a lot easier for the casino to drop in a blanket bonus to zero balance accounts. Thirdly, thought of another, saves headaches down the road if the player says that policys or rules have changed since the funds were deposited and want what those terms were. If a player doesn't know the money is there and does not respond when the casino tells them, than those funds are not really as important as they seem to the player.

What he said.