Portofino Insanity?

[suzecat]

I have deposited and played at Portofino for many months. Sometimes I use a bonus with deposit, sometimes not. I redeem free chips when they are offered. I haven't won off a free chip, just find it fun to play for "free." So I am confused with their T&C cited during a chat session today with their live help. I wanted to redeem code for St. Paddy's day free chip of $17. I checked my account and had two cents left to play from previous deposit, which was a free chip, that I had lost all but two cents. The wagering requirements of $800 was cleared down to about $700 left and system would not let me redeem chip until I cleared wagering requirement. I did live chat to ask that my account be cleared so I could deposit and play. This is what happened:

Please wait for a site operator to respond.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
You are now chatting with 'Casino Help'
Casino Help: Hello! Welcome to our Live Help Service. How may I help?
suzecat: Please clear the penny from my account so playthrough clears.
Casino Help: Playthrough won`t clear if I remove the 2 penny, only you can zero out your playthrough balance by wagering the remaining amount shown there
suzecat: How can I wager 2 penny?
Casino Help: you can`t, but you can deposit, since you still have to wager $695.05
suzecat: The system won't take deposit because it says I must clear the playthrough.
suzecat: I lost previous deposit so should playthrough be void?
Casino Help: It will take it, please try it again. Playthrough is created by the previously used bonus amount.
suzecat: So you want me to deposit again to clear previous playthrough on bonus that I lost?
Casino Help: You used a bonus. Each bonus has a wagering requirement, until fulfilling it you are unable to use a bonus again. If you have no money on your playable balance, the only way to fulfill the wagering requirement is to deposit.
suzecat: This will be an interesting item for Casinomeister forum.
Casino Help: Please read the terms and conditions before you use bonuses
suzecat: I read T&C very carefully and did not see any terms that said if I lose I need to deposit until playthrough is cleared before I can use another bonus.
suzecat: I did see terms that said a zero balance is any amount under $1.
Casino Help: That does not matter.I can clear the remaining $0.02 for you, but still bonuses can be used only if the previous one`s wagering requirement is completed.
suzecat: I appreciate you clearing the pennies.
suzecat: I wish I had won enough to have cleared the wagering requirement but I lost instead.
Casino Help: Sorry, but I was unable to clear it since I have no authority to deduct any money from your account. But still if I have been able to do so, the playthrough amount would be still there as remaining wagering requirement.
suzecat: If you cleared the penny from my account the wagering requirement would also clear.
suzecat: How can you have a wagering requirement on zero dollars?
Casino Help: I did this several times before, please believe me. It is not on the zero dollars, it is on the previously redeemed bonus amount. You redeemed the bonus RM97J on 3/12/2005 1:39:05 AM, the wagering requirement was $800. You already wagered $104.95. Therefore, you still have to wager $695.05.
suzecat: OK, but I lost the money already and can't wager any more of it since it is gone.
suzecat: If I deposit money and lose it it is gone.
Casino Help: This is gambling, it depends on luck. Someone fulfills the wagering requirement easily, some not.
suzecat: I understand the concept. I have deposited and won sometimes, lost sometimes. But if I lose before meeting wager requirements how can I be expected to meet them?
suzecat: You want me to deposit and clear wager requirements on bonus money that I already lost?
Casino Help: I don`t want you to deposit, but this is the only way to clear wagering requirements if you don`t have money on your playable balance.
suzecat: This seems to be going in circles. I think I will say goodbye and try another casino. Thank you for your time.

If I had been only using free chips at Portofino, I guess I could understand the treatment. However, I had deposited "real money" in the past and usually lost it. What am I missing?

 

[jpsartre]

What's the problem? You have to zero out to reset the wager-requirement. You didn't zero out so the wager-requirement stands. Of course, it's unfortunate that you can't play 2 cent but that's the rules - you simply have to make a deposit to meet the wager-requirement or zero out. Intercasino has the same system I believe. Seems to me the casino is in the right and that the guy you talked to was actually explaining the situation quite clearly. Or am I missing the point???

 

[kavaman]

2 cents

2 cents can be cleared. Wager it on cleopatras gold slot on minimum bet, i dont know any other game they have that can clear amounts below dollar on rtg softaware, but it should do it when you are betting 2 lines on the minimum bet.
I think the csr you talked to was not too good on knowing how and when wagering requirements are zeroed out. It should definately clear the requirements when your balance reaches 0$. However i dont think playing on a casino like portofino is a good thing in any case. There are a couple much better Realtimegaming casinos out there. Scifi, Breakaway, Or inetbet. Those are my choices for the moment.

-kavaman

 

[winbig]

What's the problem? You have to zero out to reset the wager-requirement. You didn't zero out so the wager-requirement stands. Of course, it's unfortunate that you can't play 2 cent but that's the rules - you simply have to make a deposit to meet the wager-requirement or zero out. Intercasino has the same system I believe. Seems to me the casino is in the right and that the guy you talked to was actually explaining the situation quite clearly. Or am I missing the point???

She did zero out.

"suzecat: I did see terms that said a zero balance is any amount under $1."

Going by that, she is in the right.

 

[kavaman]

yeah

I read the post. According to the terms yes she did zero out. However sometimes the software sees that only 0.00$ =zero out, even though the terms might say differently. That is why i pointed out that if she wishes to she may get his balance to exactly 0.00$. I got the impression from her post, that it is what she wanted to do.

-kavaman

 

[realwtfsup]

Wierd. Have had no problems getting wagering requirments lifted at Inetbet. Just asked and they said ok.

 

[Black21Jack]

Wierd. Have had no problems getting wagering requirments lifted at Inetbet. Just asked and they said ok.

Don't forget who we are talking about here, they are no iNetBet that's for sure. I would not go anywhere near Portofino.

 

[winbig]

I read the post. According to the terms yes she did zero out. However sometimes the software sees that only 0.00$ =zero out, even though the terms might say differently. That is why i pointed out that if she wishes to she may get his balance to exactly 0.00$. I got the impression from her post, that it is what she wanted to do.

-kavaman

True, true, but really it all boils down to:

"suzecat: I read T&C very carefully and did not see any terms that said if I lose I need to deposit until playthrough is cleared before I can use another bonus."

And their T&C verifies this at:

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"Playthrough requirements DON'T carry forward:
You deposit $ 100 and redeem 100% bonus on it making a total of $ 200. Let's assume the playthrough/wagering requirements are 30X which means you have to wager the deposit + bonus 30 times i.e. $ 200 x 30 = $ 6000. So you wager $ 500 and are left with a balance of $ 1. At this time your playthrough requirements reset. You no longer need to wager the remaining $ 4500 of the original $ 6000 requirements. If you redeem another bonus coupon on a deposit of $ 100 for say 200% and wagering requirements are again say 30X you'll need to wager $ 300 x 30 = $ 9000 ONLY and not $ 4500 (old requirement) + $ 3000 (new requirement)"


The only time (going by their t&c) the WR's do carry forward is when you have a balance of $1.01+. Farther down the page, it goes as far as to give exceptions to the 'zero out'. It even goes to say that if you *don't* take a bonus on your next deposit, then the WR carry forward. (typo?)

Exceptions to the zero out rule
Playthrough requirements carry over even if your account balance reflects a zero balance (after logging out and back in) if any or all of the conditions mentioned below are satisfied:

1. If you zero out, deposit again and don't take a bonus on your next deposit
2. If you zero out and your next deposit is less than a quarter of your previous deposit



It just seems to me that the CSR is changing the T&C's as they saw fit. She has every right to claim another bonus.......*unless* they play their hand as this being a case of abusing their bonuses. Then they can do whatever they want.

 

[moonchica]

Easily solved

Go to Cleo's gold, move the bet down to .20, select 2 lines, hit spin. Balance and WRs cleared.