Grand Privé Group Launches Investigation

[bonustreak]

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For Immediate Release
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Grand Privé Group Launches Investigation​

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eCOGRA commissioned to investigate Affiliates Program closure​

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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.
About Grand Privé
The Grand Privé casinos have been in operation for more than a decade and are well established members of the online gaming community. The casino software is powered by Microgaming, a well known and respected software provider.
The following brands fall under the Grand Privé umbrella:

• Casino Grand Bay
• Jupiter Club
• Bella Vegas
• Lake Palace
• Road House Reels

Safety and security are our top priorities and we are committed to providing a secure and reliable environment to our players.

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[greek39]

Throwing this out now just in case needed for debate.

TERM AND TERMINATION
The term of this Agreement will begin when the applicant completes an application form and accepts the terms and conditions herein and will continue until either party notifies the other in writing that it wishes to terminate the Agreement, in which case this Agreement will be terminated immediately. TERMINATION IS AT WILL, FOR ANY REASON, BY EITHER PARTY. For purposes of notification of termination, delivery via e-mail is considered a written and immediate form of notification.


Grand Privé Affiliates may terminate this agreement if Grand Privé Affiliates determines in its sole discretion that the affiliate site is unsuitable. Unsuitable sites may include those that are aimed at children, promote sexually explicit materials, promote violence, promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age, promote illegal activities, or violate intellectual property rights.


Grand Privé Affiliates reserves the right to terminate this agreement at any time.



Any possible assistance from a Grand Privé Affiliates Account Manager is entirely at Grand Privé Affiliate's discretion. (See also Term and Termination). Rendering of said assistance shall not constitute a waiver of any of Grand Privé's rights herein.


Upon termination:
All rights and licenses given to the Webmaster (Affiliate) in this Agreement shall immediately terminate.


The Webmaster (Affiliate) will be entitled only to those unpaid referral fees, if any, earned by the Webmaster (Affiliate) on or prior to the date of termination (except in those situations referred to above). The Webmaster (Affiliate) will not be entitled to referral fees occurring after the date of termination.


If the Webmaster (Affiliate) has failed to fulfill its obligations and responsibilities, Grand Privé Affiliates will not pay the Webmaster (Affiliate)) any referral fees otherwise owing to the Webmaster (Affiliate) on termination.


Grand Privé Affiliates may withhold the Webmaster's (Affiliate's) final payment for a reasonable time to ensure that the correct amount is paid and for subsequent set-off eg. chargebacks.


If Grand Privé Affiliates continue(s) to permit activity (generation of revenue) from customers after termination, this will not constitute a continuation or renewal of this Agreement or a waiver of termination.


The Webmaster (Affiliate) and Grand Privé Affiliates will be released from all obligations and liabilities to each other occurring or arising after the date of such termination, except with respect to those obligations which by their nature are designed to survive termination, as set out in this Agreement.


Termination will not relieve the Webmaster (Affiliate) from any liability arising from any breach of this Agreement, which occurred prior to termination.


source: ..::| Grand Privé Affiliates |::..

Would be interesting to pull up the referspot agreement as well and compare.

greek39

 

[greek39]

No real interest in Grand Prive other than I dislike how they screwed over so many. I never put any weight behind Grand Prive maybe a year’s worth.

As we all know they were once known as Referspot then changed their name to Grandprive.

Here is what it says with respect to Referspot,

Tier Commission–Earn up to 38% Commission on all Players you refer this month.
The best part is that this is residual income
(you continue to earn from players you refer... for life)
CPA–Earn a straight $50 per player (with a threshold of $50) that you refer to Referspot.

Source: Casino Affiliate Programs - Referspot.com - Making You Money

IMO either a buyout must happen or they must continue to pay for the referrals.

So when Referspot changed there name to Grandprive again the bait,

True 35% commission for all affiliates
· Lifetime (annuity) income for players
· No negative balance carryover
· Create your own campaigns
· Unparalleled affiliate marketing tools

source: ..::| Grand Privé's Online Casino Affiliate Program - Sign Up Now!! |::..

Grand Privé Affiliates reserves the right to terminate this agreement at any time.

All rights and licenses given to the Webmaster (Affiliate) in this Agreement shall immediately terminate.
The Webmaster (Affiliate) will be entitled only to those unpaid referral fees, if any, earned by the Webmaster (Affiliate) on or prior to the date of termination (except in those situations referred to above). The Webmaster (Affiliate) will not be entitled to referral fees occurring after the date of termination.
If the Webmaster (Affiliate) has failed to fulfill its obligations and responsibilities, Grand Privé Affiliates will not pay the Webmaster (Affiliate)) any referral fees otherwise owing to the Webmaster (Affiliate) on termination.
source: ..::| Grand Privé Affiliates |::..

I end up confused? They say Lifetime (annuity) income for players but in the terms that affiliates agreed to.

The Webmaster (Affiliate) will be entitled only to those unpaid referral fees, if any, earned by the Webmaster (Affiliate) on or prior to the date of termination (except in those situations referred to above). The Webmaster (Affiliate) will not be entitled to referral fees occurring after the date of termination.

This would tell me after they ended there aff program December 2008 nothing is owed after that. Still doesn't seem fair...

Well good luck everyone. Grand Prive will always be rogue in my view having putting us through this BS.


JMO

greek39

 

[Tovey]

>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

Well, I can say I sure had active players prior to stats not being available and no settlement offer was made or discussions started.

Where do we go on eCOGRA or to Grand Prive directly to submit our account numbers and ask for "settlement"? Personally, there's not much need to negotiate anything, I and other affiliates just need to be paid what I'm/we are owed on players.

 

[dominique]

I submitted a claim, but since I have no access to my stats, I don't know what amount the last payment was, what date it was on, and what my tracker is.

I am unable to submit a proper claim. I submitted what I knew without access to my stats.
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[bonustreak]

I didn't do a proper claim either Dom but I know my last payment date I could track was Dec 8, 2008.

 

[Tovey]

Couple interesting points perhaps for AGD to take up -

1. What of interest? I'm sure if Grand Prive had to borrow funds, it wouldn't be free, nor at 5% - they would have been lucky to get single digit interest rates (espesically given all that happened in the last year banking wise!), so we essentially all lent them free funds for a year and counting now... Should interest not be paid?

2. Why the eCOGRA route from Grand Prive's point of view? If its just honouring what we already owed, that you don't need to pay anyone to advise on how to do that, just pay us what we are owed.

3. None of this solves the issue of an affiliate not accepting what compensation is offered if in their view it is too low. If its "take it or get nothing" than that is coercive, and basically blackmail as the parties are not negotiating on an equal and fair footing. The harder they play with an affiliate, is the "better" the deal might look from the point of view of an affiliate just wanting to salvage something.

4. Not to seem too hard here, I'll welcome an attempt by this group to make good with the aff community. The simple and fairest and quickest route is just to pay what is owed, and pay on future earnings for past players along with an interest payment to cover our very late payments!

 

[Guard Dog]

I think there is a lot to say about this issue. I will say that it was a HUGE surprise to see eCogra (and their marketing campaign) touting themselves as the mediator here. There is a lot more to this than meets the eye and I am sure that tomorrow will bring some interesting news.

 

[Tovey]

Info on how to claim -


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 ecogra DOT 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.

(Apparently I'm under 10 posts, so the link you have to assemble manually)

 

[maxo]

eCOGRA Progress Report

eCOGRA PRESS RELEASE, December 17, 2009

PROGRESS REPORT : GRAND PRIVÉ AFFILIATES PROGRAM INVESTIGATION

17 December 2009 - The audit team continues to receive and assess claims in connection with the the above and the investigation is on track.

The eCOGRA team has noted affiliate concerns regarding the lack of communications reach of affiliate representative bodies and webmasters, and Grand Privé management has consequently decided the following:

1. That the communications exercise be expanded by emailing all affiliates who had active players on the Program's records during the 3 months prior to 1 December 2008 when the Program closed;

2. That the deadline for submission of claims be extended to 31st December 2009.

Our mandate has therefore been amended accordingly, and the expanded communications exercise has commenced. Our investigation will also include confirming the accuracy and completeness of the database list of emails used in the expanded communications exercise.

 

[Guard Dog]

Excellent News! It is the exact reason that I decided to post about our involvement... to show our plan in hopes that eCogra/GP would follow the idea of contacting ALL affiliates and not just those few who filled out the form.

Now- they need to extend beyond December 31st That's way too soon with the holidays. January 31st would make a whole lot more sense if we are to truly allow all affiliates to have time to submit a claim form.

 

[Engineer]

What will happen after everyone is paid up?

It's nice that they might finally settle the outstanding debts, but if you think about it, what they are doing is simply pushing the closing date back one year. Instead of GP closing at the end of 2008, they're closing at the end of 2009. It's the same situation as before, only one year later.

I don't see how that can be acceptable to anyone.

We really need to have fair buyouts and/or continued payments into 2010 and beyond, either through a resurrected GP program or through the Villa Fortuna program.