Hi guys,
Seems like we have many issues at hand here, so let's try to clarify:
1/ Promotion email received today
As mentioned above, we have no way to find out whether we have had a problem with the sending of our last promo newsletter if you guys don't help us out.
If you were informed earlier that you wont be eligible for future promotions and you have nevertheless received today's promotional newsletter, please give us at least one of your Virgin Casino identifiers (your registered email address, username; anything that would help us) so we can investigate.
We have contacted some of you by PM this morning, and are awaiting reply.
If you havent received the promotion restriction notification, then you are eligible for promotions; that's why you received it.
Uungy, your quote above is extracted from an apology email for another promotion.
We realised that Monday's Red room promo was sent by mistake to players who had just been excluded, so we apologised and told those players, since we were responsible for the mistake, that they could take part in it:
"We wanted to let you know that you will be eligible for your weekly Red Room 20% Cash Back and Red Room 100 Bonus
from Virgin Casino this week. We know that you received your Red Room promotional email at the same time
as you were notified about your exclusion from Virgin Casino promotions.
Naturally, if you would still like to play in this weeks Red Room promotions, you can do so.
To clarify, and sorry for the confusion, following the week ending at 23h59 (GMT) on 25 November 2007,
you will no longer be able to play in promotional offers at Virgin Casino."
Sorry if that was confusing, but this email related to that specific Red room promotion.
Grandmaster, thanks for the PM, and were glad you did receive the bonus in the end.
However were keen to find out what happened, and we would appreciate you giving us a username and more details on the interaction you had with our support center staff (email, telephone, and content of conversation) that lead to your post #112. Cheers.
2/ Gameplay review
We are currently investigating those of you who have requested by PM to have their gameplay reviewed in more details, and will contact you individually with our findings.
Most of us are choosing to use Casinomeister anonymously. You know who you are, but we dont if you dont tell us.
Those of you we are not already in contact with please PM us and let us who you are so we know how we can help you.
Things are clearer now, however, these bans are NOT for promotion "abuse" in the accepted sense, such as doubling up and grinding, or playing excluded games, but seem merely to have been directed at players who ONLY, or MOSTLY deposit and play when a promotion is on. Since there are two per week, plus, it seems, many other events running alongside, it is hardly surprising that players look to be depositing only for bonuses, there is little opportunity to do anything else unless players are pretty wealthy and can afford to make big deposits.
What has been flagged as "bonus abuse" is probably for the most part players trying to be responsible gamblers, withdrawing when they reach targets, and not chasing losses when they lose to a promotion, but waiting just one more day or so for the next one. This is by far the broadest definition of "bonus abuse" I have seen from the industry, and to use the term "bonus abuse" to describe what has happened here is off the mark. "Bonus abuse" is different from just depositing at times of greatest value for money, "bonus abuse" implies that players have used specific strategies to manipulate the casino promotions with no intention of playing for enjoyment, so no wonder players have reacted badly to this "explanation" for their ban, the expression is loaded with suggestions bordering on accusations of player fraud!
I doubt these players will want to return, even if the ban is classed as "temporary". The implication is that they have to deposit at a disadvantage to the mainstream of players, and lose enough to trigger a review. There is no guarantee that any review will go their way either, neither have they been told what they are supposed to do to convince the Virgin bosses that their play is recreational, rather than a business.
Prospective players reading this, such as myself, will be wondering if it is even possible to avoid a promotion ban however we play, manipulative or not, and implies that we have to frequently chase losses to convince the Virgin bosses that we are good customers, so much for promoting responsible gambling.
If taking promotions twice a week is too much, don't SEND the second one out to players who took the first, don't leave it till the only course of action is an outright ban. There could even be a rule included that prevents the taking of consecutive deposit bonus promotions without an intervening deposit(s) of a given amount having been made. If players know what is required of them to remain eligible, it is less likely to come as a shock when they get a temporary exclusion. In the absence of proper information and explanation, rumour and speculation fill the void, which is what has happened with this thread.
The fact that one player has now had the decision overturned, an appeal that only became available to him because of the publicity generated in this thread (he was getting nowhere privately with CS), seems to suggest the criteria used to analyse the offending accounts was flawed, and many profitable players have been thrown out along with those who only milked the promotions.
Can Virgin Ace reassure us that these players who were suspended from promotions, on what could be subjective and flawed analyses, have NOT had their details forwarded to other WW casinos in order to "blacklist" them from the outset should they decide to take their custom elsewhere in responce to their experience at Virgin casino?
Or mebbe it was deliberately done to keep people wagering, not knowing if the bonus hit? Whatever the reason, it's a very annoying & un-necessary step backwards IMO.
