FullTilt Issue

[IMTheWalrus8]

So I just signed up at Full Tilt a few weeks ago. Tuesday night I decided to play in a qualifier they have for their Saturday $25K guaranteed MTT. The buy-in for that tourney is $100 + 9, and the qualifier is $4.40. There were 68 players in the qualifier, with the final two qualifying, and another three ITM.

I made the final table with a slightly above average stack, and was disconnected. I actually thought I was on break (I was multi-tabling at the time), so when I realized I was disconnected, I rebooted and logged back on.

I found myself shortstacked in the final four players. I played my butt off and ended up in the final two. I looked in the tournament lobby and saw that I was registered for the Saturday tournament.

The next day I got an e-mail from FullTilt saying that they had lost their connection for awhile on Tuesday night, and that tournament refunds would be given per their rules. So I logged on to FullTilt, and saw that my $4.40 was refunded, and I was no longer registered for the tournament.

I immediately sent an e-mail to FT, explaining that I did not think this was appropriate, and felt I deserved the entry into the tournament. After not hearing from them for 18 hours, I forwarded my message. About six hours later I finally heard from them. It was a message I would expect from Party Poker, saying that if I qualified for the tournament, my name would appear in the lobby, and if I didn't, I wouldn't. It was clear they didn't understand what I was asking.

So I sent another message spelling everything out last night, and I still haven't heard from them.

I'm not happy. I really wish they had cancelled the tournament at the time, instead of making me feel like I was still playing for $109 entry. I also played for 3 hours, and got the same net result as someone who went all-in on the first hand and lost. At the very least, I think the players who made the final table (I think there were 7-8 players left when I lost my connection), should split the prize pool.

I'm also very disappointed in the service, which I had heard was pretty good. It was 24 hours before I heard from them, and the response did not answer my question. I can't seem to find a phone number for their support, either.

Would love to hear advice or comments on this. If they don't at least treat me like a human being I think I'm going to withdraw and say goodbye to FT.