Rob, I think if you look back over this thread you will find that it was a Tusk representative and not eCOGRA that described this as a minor administrative matter and that the seals would soon be reinstated! That was shortly after eCOGRA's press release a week ago that it had suspended the seals.
Yes, you are correct about that Jet...what eCOGRA had stated was :
"The following operations were found to have failures in compliance with eCOGRA's eGAP or Generally Accepted Principles - the wide ranging requirements governing all aspects of an accredited company's operations"
and I was in err as stating "administrative problem" ...but Casinomeister and Vinyl and other prominent posters also presumed it to be an "administrative problem" as stated in their posts...but irregardless of that fact in my view no matter the exact reason of the Seal suspensions the fact is still there that eCOGRA has not offered any further comment on this issue to the player community for two weeks now...there is absolutely nothing on eCOGRA's home page either stating that one of their member groups have recently lost their accreditation seals and no warning to the player community whatsoever other than the newsletter that I would guess that 90% or more of the player community doesn't even subscribe to...I know I didn't.
The fact that eCOGRA suspended the seals (presumably as soon as they uncovered a dangerous non-compliance) indicated this was a serious issue from the start, and I recall I posted as much.
With respect, in my opinion you are attacking the wrong organisation here.
Tusk is the company that apparently allowed commitments and obligations to outstrip ability to pay (which is what a "notification to liquidate" implies for me.)
You are definitely right about this being a serious issue and I am not attacking the eCOGRA organization as much as I am stating my dire disappointment with them in the fact that they have remained silent now for two weeks and they have not posted any warning or statement on their website homepage to let the players that do visit their website know what is going on with this group.
If eCOGRA thought the issue serious enough to suspend Seals then I would think as a player they would also think it serious enough to warn the player community in some form or fashion that it may not be in our best interests to deposit at this group until this matter is cleared up as they are "My Player Advocate" which I understand that to mean...that they will look out for my best interests above the casino groups interests.
The fact that eCOGRA discovered it in a routine professional review and publicised its seal suspensions on it in a timeous manner should be acknowledged, not criticised. There may have been reasons why the details could not be disclosed, but the suspension of seals is a serious step not taken lightly and I would suggest that in itself was a red flag.
I agree with you on that point and you and I both recognize the seriousness of it but what about the multitudes of players who don't get the newsletter or don't read the forum boards...how are they supposed to know about these serious issues...those poor souls just go on depositing blindly not knowing what eCOGRA knows about this group and that it could fold at any minute ?
Had eCOGRA done nothing but sit on its hands after alerting Tusk management I would join the critics here, but this was not the case.
Instead, eCOGRA did what it is supposed to do in terms of its review and monitoring mandate - it found a serious non-compliance with possible consequences for the players; it notified the management of the casino group concerned and it issued a public notification that its "Safe and Fair" seals were no longer valid on the company concerned.
I would add to that statement and also say with possible
"Serious" consequences for the players" in the fact that the ones that have recently deposited there and have a cashout pending will possibly be waiting for quite some time now for MG to step in and make this issue right for the players...eCOGRA has got to figure out some sort of system of properly warning the player community whether thru forum boards or their website or some other form of communication and they also need to be more transparent in their communication in the future with the player community.
The main players in this sad affair are Tusk, which has decided on the liquidation route and should communicate with the players on its intentions going forward, and Microgaming which has the practical power to halt operations to prevent any further damage, which it has done.
I am also concerned that MG is just now stepping in after two weeks to "halt operations to prevent any further damage"...makes me wonder if eCOGRA actually communicated their serious concerns with MG back a couple of weeks ago ? and if so why did MG wait two weeks to come forward and step in ?
We haven't heard anything yet, but I'm pretty sure MGS will be considering its past strategies when this rare sort of crisis occurs, where despite having no legal obligation to do so it has stepped in with a Player's Trust to assist the players.
And that in and of itself still blows me away on eCOGRA's silence in this...no where on eCOGRA's website or in their eGAP policy can I find anything about or regarding a Non-Disclosure policy with casinos...
