Boo Empire

So Empire decided to be ass monkeys and reverse the $500 match bonus that was available yesterday. Which isn't completely surprising, as that was too fat a bonus to be completely intentional on their part, especially since it wasn't advertised anywhere and, for all intent and purposes, not meant to be offered to the general public. Their official excuse is that it was a "system error".

Here's the rub, though. They did send a confirmation email when you deposited using the code, which spelled out the terms, conditions, etc. So it wasn't a complete glitch, as they'd already set up a system of some sort to deal with that bonus. What's worse is that in the email they sent out, rescinding the bonus, they try to claim that they're sorry, and as a token of their appreciation they're "rewarding" people who signed up for that bonus a replacement HOTSEP bonus, which is a 10% up to $100 bonus.

Except the ass monkeys immediately applied that replacement bonus to your last deposit. So if you deposited $500 to take advantage of the $500 match, you only get $50 for the HOTSEP bonus. You don't have the option to deposit $1,000 to take advantage of the full bonus. It's already done. To add further insult to injury, the HOTSEP bonus is available to any Empire member, and advertised on the log-in page. So not only is it not exclusive, to make up for their being ass monkeys and reversing the $500 bonus, but they force you to qualify for only half the potential bonus. To be fair, they're waiving the raked hand requirements for the HOTSEP bonus, but most people chasing the $500 bonus weren't exactly worried about that anyway.

But it gets better. Apparently if you signed up for their VIP program and signed up for the $500 bonus, you get to keep $400 of the bonus they offered and confirmed but claim they never meant to actually offer. And yeah, sure, being a VIP should be worth something, but I can't help but see it as another form of ass monkery. That's not how you treat customers, especially when there are plenty of online forums for people to post on.

I honestly don't mind losing the bonus, as things that are too good to be true often are. But their handling of this is pretty damn poor.

On the bright side, I had a good run of cards and was +$140 last night on Empire, not including any bonuses, so I can't really gripe. It just annoys me when online companies that rely heavily on promotions play loosely with the rules, backing out when it could cost them too much money with no real explanation or concern, and not really thinking through half-assed attempts at remediation.