eCogra is investigating Grand Prive - about time!!

[thepokerkeep]

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Grand Privé Affiliates Investigation

eCOGRA facilitates submission of affiliate claims

London, 7 December 2009 - Following a number of Internet-based allegations concerning payments following the closure of the Grand Privé Affiliate Program on 1 December 2008, eCOGRA's professional services have been engaged by the management of the company.

Pursuant to an independent and fair resolution of the issues involved, eCOGRA has been tasked with:

• Independently investigating the manner in which the Program was terminated and the reasons therefore; subsequently compiling a full and transparent report.
• Gathering and verifying claims by any affiliate that considers an amount still to be owing by the Program as a result of player wagering activity subsequent to 1 December 2008; and
• Carrying out a full and independent review by suitably qualified staff of the program software and data to confirm amounts owing to claimants at 21 December 2009.

eCOGRA is open to all submissions concerning the closure and payments owed, and urges affiliate watchdog organisations in receipt of this email to assist it in order to ensure that respective affiliate members are informed of this opportunity to submit legitimate claims.

Claims can be submitted prior to 21 December 2009 at http://www.ecogra.org/grandprive.aspx. Former Grand Privé affiliates who believe they have a legitimate and verifiable claim will be asked to complete the Claim Submission Form that they will find on this link.

The following information will be required on the Claim Form, and will be treated in strict confidence:

• FIRST NAME
• LAST NAME
• BANNER TAG
• EMAIL ADDRESS
• WEBSITES
• PHYSICAL ADDRESS
• TELEPHONE NUMBER
• BANKING DETAILS
• AMOUNT OF LAST PAYMENT RECEIVED FROM GRAND PRIVÉ
• DATE OF LAST PAYMENT RECEIVED

Closing dates for submission of claims is 21 December 2009.

In the interests of transparency, eCOGRA’s findings will be publicly released on conclusion of the investigation.

[GFPC]

You beat me to it Terry by one minute!!! LOL - Thanks for sharing.

[thepokerkeep]

You snooze you lose...

Note the cut-off date for submissions:
Closing dates for submission of claims is 21 December 2009.

[thepokerkeep]

Grand Privé Group Launches Investigation

eCOGRA commissioned to investigate Affiliates Program closure

London, 7 December 2009 - The Grand Privé group has been following the often inaccurate information exchanges on the Internet regarding the closure of Grand Privé Affiliates with interest, mindful of its reputation as a responsible and respectable business.

Management has reached the conclusion that there is a need to present its point of view, and more importantly to address any perceived shortcomings regarding payments to affiliates genuinely impacted by the Grand Privé Affiliates closure.

The company has therefore decided to make the following factual disclosures:

• For purely commercial reasons, in August 2008 a decision to close Grand Privé effective 1 December 2008 was taken, and a communication exercise aimed at affiliates commenced.
• This was followed by payment to all affiliates of all amounts owed.
• The termination was, in Management's opinion, conducted according to the terms of Grand Privé’s contract with affiliates, and in addition to these Grand Privé also entered into mutually agreeable compensation settlements with all affiliates who at that time had players considered to be reasonably active.
• Following these initiatives, Management has not become aware of one single affiliate claim for compensation being submitted directly to Grand Privé, despite a rising noise level on the Internet.
• Nevertheless, the company is prepared to concede that certain smaller and relatively inactive affiliate accounts may feel prejudiced by the closure, and acknowledges that this needs to be addressed with both an apology and a fair and reasonable financial settlement.

Moving forward from this factual base, Grand Privé proposes to address both reputational and payment issues in a transparent and forthright manner as follows:

• By commissioning the independent, fully qualified and professional auditing services of eCOGRA to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Grand Privé Affiliates closure both within and without the company and issue a public report;
• eCOGRA will additionally facilitate the submission of claims by any affiliate that considers an amount to be owing by the Grand Privé Affiliate program as a result of player wagering activity subsequent to 1 December 2008; and
• Perform a full and professional review of the program software and data to confirm amounts owing to claimants at 21 December 2009.

Grand Privé will cooperate whole-heartedly with this process, and has asked eCOGRA to involve all leading affiliate watchdog organisations in informing affiliates of their opportunity to submit legitimate claims.

We have agreed on eCOGRA's insistence that we will be bound by its findings and recommendations arising from the investigation, remaining at arm’s length from the enquiry unless asked for pertinent information.

Grand Privé wishes to emphasise that its primary concern is to address any genuine wrongs in a fair and forthright manner, and it will lend every effort in order to do this.

[Daera]

Wow.. I'm in shock. After ALL this time Ecogra is just now acknowledging this need for this to be investigated.

I'm really happy to see this, but also disappointed it took so long for this, and wonder who's really on who's side here. And even if they did come out in the end saying that us affiliates are due some monies... from what I've heard about things that had gone on in the past.... I would have little faith that we'd now be paid accurate amounts.

Either way, it's still good to see SOMETHING here. And at this point, any money is better than no money.

A BIG thank you to thepokerkeep for making sure this information was available for here. I didn't waste any time. My submission was just sent!

[Daera]

After reading your last post with Grand Prive's statement, I think I'm going to be sick now.

It looks to me like this whole thing is a stunt to try and make themselves look like good guys suddenly.

The termination was, in Management's opinion, conducted according to the terms of Grand Privé’s contract with affiliates, and in addition to these Grand Privé also entered into mutually agreeable compensation settlements with all affiliates who at that time had players considered to be reasonably active.
Following these initiatives, Management has not become aware of one single affiliate claim for compensation being submitted directly to Grand Privé, despite a rising noise level on the Internet.

Now that bit is total B.S.

There were many of us that had active accounts and had no mutually agreeable compensation settlements. There was nothing mutual about this here. We used to promote this group the most, and made the most from this group, and stuck up for them all over the net whenever we seen bad things.. because we truly believed they were worth defending then. In the end, they left us looking like the fool when they stopped paying us earnings as agreed, for the players we had brought them. There was never any mention of any mutual compensations.

And they say management was not aware of one single affiliate claim for compensation being submitted directly to Grand Prive. Did they offer any type of process for this? No. Did they know affiliates were unhappy and felt they were cheated? Of course, they said so themselves above.. as they watched this noise on the internet since Dec. 2008. Yet they never offered affiliates any process to submit anything. And when we contacted Grand Prive Affiliate staff/management, they said they were sorry, but they had no control over this and this is how it was going to be. Period.

It really makes me sick to see this not as an honest investigation taking place that is LONG, LONG overdue. But I see this as a PR stunt from Grand Prive I guess. It sure looks that way to me. Ok, fine.. but how dare they do so and still not be honest about things. An apology without more BS would have come across better.

I am really upset after reading this last bit.

[thepokerkeep]

This was my favorite line from GP's statement

Following these initiatives, Management has not become aware of one single affiliate claim for compensation being submitted directly to Grand Privé, despite a rising noise level on the Internet.

How the hell could any affiliate make a claim for compensation when they had no access to the player stats???

The only recourse open to those affected was to make noise on the internet!

[Chalkie]

So, Ecogra whom, if you believe what you read around and about have connections of sorts with GP, are the chosen organisation to finalise the issues and put the whole thing to bed!

Well, seems that all the furore over this during 2009 has forced GP to try to get a solution in place to appease people. If it gets peoples hard earned money then great, however, there is a few big buts!

There seems no intention to actually pay life time commissions just pay up to date any outstanding commissions.

If people go for this and accept just outstanding moneys without lifetime payments, then there is a very strong chance that this can set a precedence. Even if a solution is found and outstanding moneys are paid should the pressure be relieved on GP?

This is the biggest proof yet that terms need to be in place with all programs to stop this happening! Because most offer themselves the option to do exactly what GP are now trying to finalise.

i.e. Pay up to date and cut free!

And they are only doing this because they are hurting from all the bad publicity affiliates and organisations have been putting on them!

[Daera]

And they are only doing this because they are hurting from all the bad publicity affiliates and organisations have been putting on them!

That's what I think too.

[belgamo]

This was my favorite line from GP's statement


How the hell could any affiliate make a claim for compensation when they had no access to the player stats???

The only recourse open to those affected was to make noise on the internet!

Eaxctly, what are you going to do when you have no access to stats. Without access how the hell are we supoosed to know what is owed plus "AMOUNT OF LAST PAYMENT RECEIVED FROM GRAND PRIVÉ" I really would have no clue how much that was. It was so long ago. i am not even going to get my hopes up.

[thepokerkeep]

And they are only doing this because they are hurting from all the bad publicity affiliates and organisations have been putting on them!

Agreed. Thanks to J Todd, AGD, GPWA, all the affiliates who blacklisted them and the GAU, they have finally been forced to address this in public.

[Chips]

Funny how they spring to action when J. Todd put them on notice in his last video that he was coming for them.

[Caruso]

>>>Breaking news<<<

"Microgaming licensee Grand Privč engages Micogaming glove-puppet to investigate."

I'm all a-quiver.

[TheCPA]

I'm not sure how to look at this. Clearly eCOGRA isn't understanding the core issue.

The issue that needs to be investigated is Grand Prive NOT HONORING the lifetime payments on the players they got from affiliates.

Any Affiliate that aquired players over the years at Grand Prive has a legitimate claim, so they already have all of those details.

How the hell could any affiliate make a claim for compensation when they had no access to the player stats???

Agreed.

It doesn't sound to me like eCOGRA is going to rule on whether Grand Prive has to pay up, and honor payments for the lifetime of the players as initially agreed.
It almost sounds like they are agreeing that Grand Prive was within it's rights to close up and not continue to pay as agreed, IMO.

The simple fact is that they are within their rights to close the affiliate program. There has never been an issue with that. They did give adequate notice that the program was closing so affiliates could remove their links to their casinos. That was never an issue either.

So, the closure itself is not the problem, and never has been.
HOWEVER,The closure of the affiliate program does not relieve Grand Prive itself of the obligation to honor their lifetime payments on the exsiting players.

It isn't that complicated.
eCOGRA needs to rule that Grand Prive is obligated to pay up and then to continue to pay on the exsiting players that Grand Prive aquired thru affiliates, and all will be fine.

And if they want to settle up by paying for those players, then they should how in the world could anyone figure that out fairly???

I have players at some programs that have been playing since 2001!!!
Seriously, how do you put a price tag on that?

[universal4]

I agree with most of what was said so far....

Nevertheless, the company is prepared to concede that certain smaller and relatively inactive affiliate accounts may feel prejudiced by the closure, and acknowledges that this needs to be addressed with both an apology and a fair and reasonable financial settlement.

I would also like to know what the heck that means truly and how smaller affiliates that had smaller player bases with them are supposed to handle this.

And don't be fooled by this whole thing.

This whole thing is designed, and has a specific cutoff date so that after that date they can start screaming...."well we gave you the opportunity to file a claim"...

I agree this is all designed because they are tired of the "noise" we are creating with our posts and our blacklists...

And notice not once did they use the word partner....we are nothing to them except "noisemakers"

Rick
Universal4

[mojo]

eCOGRA needs to rule that Grand Prive is obligated to pay up and then to continue to pay on the exsiting players that Grand Prive aquired thru affiliates, and all will be fine.

And if they want to settle up by paying for those players, then they should how in the world could anyone figure that out fairly???

I have players at some programs that have been playing since 2001!!!
Seriously, how do you put a price tag on that?
__________________

Agreed. eCOGRA and GP would like us to make a claim, they will pay us and then it will be all over.

It can't work that way.

For example, if somone gets unjustly hurt on the job and is unable to work for the rest of their lives, judgements are done by multiplying expected earnings with the individuals expected lifespan and monies are paid that way.

These players need to be individually bought out at the very least. eCOGRA can come up with the formula for online players. If they must close their program then they must do a fair settlement with affs. Affs have no idea what that player with be worth and to me this is getting out of it easy with no feedback from affs.

[Dominique]

I will be making a comment on this later today. All I have to say for now is that I am not happy.

[giggles7p]

I need to stop smoking "pot" first thing in the morning, cause i can't stop laughing my ass off at this!.....

Correct me if i am wrong, but doesn't this say that "Grand Prive" asked Ecogra to step in and evaluate "Grand Prive's" actions??? Doesn't that seem all cozy and warm to you?

LMAOOO......I think i need another hit! lolllll

The only thing this shows me IMO is that all the black listings are doing there job and hurting GP....WELL DONE TO ALL YOU AFFILIATES WHO HAVE BEEN KNOCKING DOWN DOORS AND POSTINGS ON THIS ROGUE CASINO GROUP, YOUR DOING A FANTASTIC JOB!

[Anthony]

I agree, we are hurting them.

[topboss]

Glad things are finally happening, but what really irritates me is that I had to sit and listen to Grand Prive's sob story for 2 %6$#@@^ hours ( can't find my previous post I made about it but those who read it know what i am talking about ) I asked them to contact J todd - they assured me they would, and then proceeded to do diddly squat...until eCogra finally steps in.
Granted - Topboss ain't no eCogra...but still....to think I could have rather spent those 2 hours picking my nose instead and would have got better results