Empire gone crazy !

[William]

Yesterday, I got an e-mail from Empire, telling me that they have a 50% up to 100$ bonus on tuesday. GREAT!

Today my account is frozen due to "security reasons"
WTF??? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

So I call the number in the little window that has pop'd-up in my screen and stops me from logging into Empire.
A nive lady that thanks me 100 times for calling tells me I have to e-mail Empire as she doesn't know why my account is frozen.
OK!, I do that, here is the e-mail I wrote:

"Hello,

I have noticed that my account has been frozen for "security reasons".
I have called to the phone number displayed in my screen and talked to a lady that asked me to e-mail you as soon as possible and ask you why this is happening.

I don't even have money in my account right now, so I really don't understand what is going on.
Please explain, either by mail or call me at xxx

Best regards,
xxx
Acct. id. : xxx"

30 minutes later the answer arrives. Here's the E-mail:

"Dear xxx,

Thank you for your e-mail.

This account has been randomly checked and found to consist with suspicious and wrongful actions that we don't support at EmpirePoker.com. As a result, we regret to inform you that the account has been closed permanently by the Management. The process is unfortunately not reversible and we thank you for the time you played with us."

What the hell??? First, I have played at Empire 2, maybe 3 times.
Second, there is no money in my account.
Third and this is what crosses me most, the [censored] is accusing me of suspicious and wrongful actions
He doesn't even bother to explain what these actions are [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Here's my answer:

"You are welcome to close my account if you wish, but I do not accept that you accuse me to suspicious and wrongful action, because I have not done anything "suspicious" or "wrongful"
I play poker at many sites, so one more or less changes nothing, but I think that when you make the kind of accusation you are making, you could at least have the courtesy of telling what the "suspicious and wrongful" action are, so I have a chance to prove you wrong."

Yes, I do have an account at Party and yes, I do play at Empire mostly when they offer a reload bonus, but if that's what is bothering them, why not say so and not come with insulting accusations?

Nothing new under the sun, but once again, I am reminded that:
SOME PEOPLE HAVE NO MANNERS

Empire Poker, if you read this, my public message to you is:

F*** YOU
A (very, very angry) William [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[wbrumfiel]

With all this going on Im wondering how Empire will survive once they ban all the multiple account holders. I know one thing for sure is that I would not have an Empire account if it werent for bonuses so Im probably next (or already banned and havent checked today). How many of thier customers are Empire only customers?

[William]

EMPIRE POKER

R.I.P.


I will come and both spit and piss on your grave! [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[Freudian]

[ QUOTE ]
With all this going on Im wondering how Empire will survive once they ban all the multiple account holders. I know one thing for sure is that I would not have an Empire account if it werent for bonuses so Im probably next (or already banned and havent checked today). How many of thier customers are Empire only customers?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure if you are joking or not here.

Are you wondering how Empire will survive if they close accounts that has cost them money in the past and most likely will continue to cost them money in the future if they remain open?

[ckmj23]

[ QUOTE ]


I'm not sure if you are joking or not here.

Are you wondering how Empire will survive if they close accounts that has cost them money in the past and most likely will continue to cost them money in the future if they remain open?

[/ QUOTE ]

Empire obviously has every right to close accounts they deem unprofitable. This is fine.

However, to accuse users of suspicious activities without any sort of evidence whatsoever is terrible IMO.

I play at Empire during reloads at 2/4. I am not a minus MGR player to them. If continued posts are made regarding account closures that give no explanation as to why, I will prompty ask them to close my account.

Perhaps with the an email such as this....

To whom it may concern,

It has come to my attention that your site is practicing in suspicious and wrongful actions that I dont support. As a result I regret to inform you that I wish for my account to be closed permanently.

[wbrumfiel]

If they are lucky and only piss off those that cost them money and ban them, sure why not. If they arent lucky and start to piss of others who actually make them money then what?
I mean if they were losing millions of dollars a year or something I would say its a good business decision but if they are losing only a little bit of money from a few whores but risk pissing off the "good" customers then I think its a bad business decision. I know one thing, Ive lost money on 2 different reloads at empire as Im sure other whores have so they were making money off of me even if I was just playing there for the bonus. In the long run I'll probably come out ahead (probably already have) but for a company that doesnt really seem to be financially burdened it just seems stupid.

Heres a thought, how many bonus "abusers" do you see at PokerStars or UB. Not as many as party and skins. Why might that be? MAYBE instead of banning accounts and creating a bad image for yourself it would be smarter to change the bonus terms (and not offer 15 bonuses a month) so that they quit losing money from the whores. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[Freudian]

[ QUOTE ]
If they are lucky and only piss off those that cost them money and ban them, sure why not. If they arent lucky and start to piss of others who actually make them money then what?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you can count the number of regular players that will stop playing on Empire after this on one hand. In fact if Empire uses the money they save here on customer relations they may attract even more players.


[ QUOTE ]
I know one thing, Ive lost money on 2 different reloads at empire as Im sure other whores have so they were making money off of me even if I was just playing there for the bonus.

[/ QUOTE ]

You lost money to other players. Empire don't particlarly care one way or another.

[ QUOTE ]
Heres a thought, how many bonus "abusers" do you see at PokerStars or UB. Not as many as party and skins. Why might that be? MAYBE instead of banning accounts and creating a bad image for yourself it would be smarter to change the bonus terms (and not offer 15 bonuses a month) so that they quit losing money from the whores. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

So you mean it would be better to have worse conditions for the loyal players instead of just closing accounts who only play for bonuses?

Empire did in fact do both here, which seems clumsy to me. Just getting rid of the bonus whores would have been enough.

[wbrumfiel]

I lost money to other players, which Empire likely raked in from them as well. Its fine if you think Im a fool for thinking what I think but people are already getting paranoid regardless of whether they strictly bonus whore or not. I have a buddy who plays there almost exclusively that has quit until this whole thing blows over just to be safe. That cant be good for business.

[FlFishOn]

UB bonii are everywhere and for me they amount to rake-free poker forever for me and the gnome and the gnome's buddy.

On almost every front I find UB far superior to it's competition.

[VinnyTheFish]

<font color="blue"> This is my Empire email. It leaves me baffled. </font> If someone else posted this email - I am sorry - I could not find it. I found many "fraud" emails, but no warning emails.
First Email from “PAY_PRO”

[ QUOTE ]

Please call us back from the number registered on your poker account. This will enable us to serve you better in protecting your account information.

Call us at +1 (866) 299-8893 (Toll free for US &amp; Canada only) or +350 41003 (International Rates Apply). We are available 24 hrs, 7 days a week and will be glad to assist you.

If you would prefer we contact you, please reply to this Email with a convenient time for us to call.

If we do not hear from you, your poker account will be temporarily put on hold to ensure your online safety until we are able to speak to you.


[/ QUOTE ]
<font color="blue"> Please inform what account this is in reference to. I would prefer you to email me, but you may call after 8:00 pm EST (New York, USA) </font>

note: at this point I believe this is a scam, but I am a little curious. I only have money at 2 sites, so I am not concerned.

They reply:

[ QUOTE ]
Thank you for contacting us.

This is in regards to your Empire Poker account.

In regards to the account, we would need to ask that you contact the email address mentioned - vip@empirepoker.com.

If you have any questions please contact us. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you.
http://www.pay-pro.com

*Please include your full name, telephone number and account name with all documents sent.



[/ QUOTE ]
Ok, now I am getting somewhere. I have read the Empire debacle and now this starts to make sense. I will now email Empire.