Absolute closed my account and confiscated my funds ($50)

[jrz1972]

Background: A few days ago I received an email from AP saying there was a free $10 in my account. This is the third time they've given me $10. Each of the previous times, I simply deposited $50 at AP, waited a few days, and cashed out. I did not encounter a problem either time. The first time I did this, I did read the T/C of the bonus offer and saw nothing requiring any particular # hands I had to play or anything, but I will admit I did not read the T/C of their latest offer. So again, I deposit $50, waited 48 hours, and cashed out on Monday.

Today I get this email:

[ QUOTE ]

Dear ####,

Thank you for choosing Absolute Poker; it is a pleasure to be of your assistance.

This message is to inform you that your Absolute Poker account has been permanently closed because you did not fulfill the terms and conditions from our User Agreement which state:

“BONUSES:

Complimentary or bonus amounts credited by Company into your account for promotional purposes may only be used to play in the Games, and you are not entitled to deposit or withdraw such amounts without first complying with the additional terms and conditions set forth in each bonus offering, and if none, then the terms and conditions set forth on the Standard Promotional Offer Terms and Conditions are by way of reference specifically incorporated herein. Further, the Company reserves the right to reclaim any bonus amounts if you do not use them within the period of time specified.”

Furthermore, regarding the closure of your account, our User Agreement states the following:

“FORFEITURE, ACCOUNT CLOSURE AND CONFISCATION:
The Company reserves the right to cancel your Absolute Poker account for any reason whatsoever at any time without notice to you. Company reserves the right, in its unfettered discretion, to void any winnings and confiscate any balance in your Absolute Poker account in any of the following circumstances:

i. If you have more than one active account at Absolute Poker;
ii. If the name on your Absolute Poker account registration does not match the name on the credit card(s) or other payment accounts used to make purchases at Absolute Poker;
iii. If you provide incorrect or misleading registration information;
iv. If you are not of legal age;
v. If you connect from a jurisdiction where participation in the games is prohibited by law;
vi. If you have not played at Absolute Poker on an individual basis for personal entertainment only (that is, you have played in a professional sense or in concert with other player(s) as part of a club, group, etc.);
vii. If you have "charged back" or denied any of the purchases or deposits that you have made to your Account;
viii. If you are found cheating or if it is determined by Company that you have employed or made use of a system (including machines, computers, software or other automated systems) designed specifically to defeat the system;
ix. If you fail to comply with any of the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement; or
x. If Company should become aware that you have played at any other online gaming site under any of the circumstances set out at i) to x) above.”

You can find our complete User Agreement on the link provided below:

<http://www.absolutepoker.com/support...eement.asp>

We are very sorry for the drastic measures that we have been forced to take. Our policy is to freeze any Absolute Poker accounts that do not comply with our User Agreement. You will not be able to enter your Absolute Poker account nor create a new account at Absolute Poker.

Please feel free to contact us back if you have any further questions or comments.

If there is anything else we can assist you with please let us know.

Sincerely,

Gus
Team Absolute

[/ QUOTE ]

First, let me say that I am totally cool with AP closing my account. I haven't played there since last year, and I shamelessly took $20 off them previously without giving them any play. I have no problem with a site not wanting to do business with someone is obviously just whores them and hurts their bottom line, even if it is just $20.

Confiscating my funds, on the other hand, seems way out of line. Granted, it is $50, and I am not exactly sweating this. But I do not cheat, I don't have multiple accounts there, or engage in any other funny business. They gave me $10, and I tried to cash it out apparently in violation of their T/C. That should not be grounds for confiscating a person's money IMO, is extraordinarily shday, and isn't the sort of image AP wants to project. Especially when you consider that it's $50.

I sent back the following email:

[ QUOTE ]
I don't have any particular objection to your closing my account, but I had $50 there, and I would like my money back.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll update as I hear anything back. I know a fair number of people play at AP and would therefore be interested in this kind of thing.

[jrz1972]

Actually, I went back and checked my deleted emails, and the email informing me of my free $10 specifically referred to it as a "ten dollar free unrestricted cash bonus." It said nothing at all about requiring any play, and there were no link to any fine print.

[jrz1972]

UPDATE:

Okay, so I called the phone number for security and explained the situation. They agreed to reopen my account, credit it with the $50 I had deposited a few days ago, and I have since requested a cashout back to Neteller. I assume my account will be closed again when the cashout goes through, but neglected to ask.

I'm glad I'm money back, but IMO this is still a real dick move on Absolute's part. You do not close someone's account and threaten them with forfeiture because they violated the terms of a bonus, especially when your software should be able to automate the process (like, by automatically blocking unqualified cashouts). But hey it's their site. They can run it however they want.

[tom10167]

HAHAHAHA not to be a dick but I was like halfway letting a burp out and I saw the "$50" and burst in to laughter at the same time and almost threw up in my mouth.


Glad it all worked out.

[CalvinTy]

[ QUOTE ]
Actually, I went back and checked my deleted emails, and the email informing me of my free $10 specifically referred to it as a "ten dollar free unrestricted cash bonus." It said nothing at all about requiring any play, and there were no link to any fine print.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, the "unrestricted cash bonus" part is what 'told' me that I could just deposit $50 and then cash out the $50 and the $10 bonus. I haven't done this month's attempt yet.

In light of this, I tried to look at the Promotions Terms page on the website since the security guy told you this section of the User Agreement:

"BONUSES:

Complimentary or bonus amounts credited by Company into your account for promotional purposes may only be used to play in the Games, and you are not entitled to deposit or withdraw such amounts without first complying with the additional terms and conditions set forth in each bonus offering, and if none, then the terms and conditions set forth on the Standard Promotional Offer Terms and Conditions are by way of reference specifically incorporated herein."

Promotions Terms

Nothing in that link above really applies to the emails that we get (for example, this email link for "the $10 FREE UNRESTRICTED CASH BONUS" that some of us do get: link here)

The only part that may apply would be what we already do:

"Other Bonuses and Awards - Pre Deposit

Bonus money is money awarded via FreeRoll tournaments and or special registration offers. This money is not restricted for play. To cash out as the player must have met the following requirements.

* Established a real money account with a minimum deposit of $50 ($20 by NETeller, Firepay, CLICK2PAY or ePassporte).
* All money held in a player account prior to meeting the above is restricted from cash out for 48 hours from date of deposit."

Anyway, their problem is using the word "unrestricted" and should have NOT taken any action until they CORRECTED that wording in the emails & updated the Terms & Conditions/User Agreement to explicitly be clear that this particular action is not permitted.

Then again, they are "the master" and can do whatever they want. I maybe will just play and post 1 round of NL10 (what are the blinds? LOL.) Then cash out my $50 and their $9.90 or such bonus. At least I played as they requested. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

P.S. Note that I'm in a silly mood and don't plan to abuse AP over a mere $10. This is obviously a complimentary bonus amount & they do say it can only be used "to play in the Games" so okay, if I wanted to claim the $10 bonus, I'll play there at AP as normal. However, don't they realize that anyone can make a deposit any day in the month and most likely have a valid bonus code to deposit with??-- and that redeposit bonus would be released in $10 increments anyway (yes, 1 big difference... you gotta play 100 points first but come on...waste of time for them to send those emails, really).

* CalvinTy

[brendanb438]

Thats funny that they did that. I keep getting $5 from them every few weeks and the last 2 times I ran it up to $20 and $30 playing blackjack. I then deposited enough to cashout the minimum and I haven't had a problem with them at all.. You should at least bet it once on a hand of blackjack. Give them a chance or two to double you up.

Brendan

[2+2 wannabe]

no offense, but I wish they'd take your money for doing stuff like this