Following an investigation by eCOGRA, affiliate programme operator is set to compensate 26 accrued commissions including 'life of player' adjustments.
Monday 15th February 2010
The now non-operational Grand Prive Affiliate Program is set to pay 26 affiliate commissions that were overlooked when the service was shut just over a year ago due software difficulties.
Grand Prive Affiliate Program served sites including JupiterClub.com, GrandBayPoker.com and BellaVegas.com but was closed in December of 2008 after ongoing software problems saw costs escalate and service levels deteriorate leading to damage in operator Grand Prive’s reputation.
“Losses accrued to the company that were not viable in relation to the relatively small income being derived and after some twelve months led to a decision to close the programme,” read a statement from the former operator.
Disputes over missed payments surfaced soon after, which prompted Grand Prive to request an investigation by player protection and standards organisation eCommerce And Online Gaming Regulation And Assurance (eCOGRA). Following a protracted and detailed study, eCOGRA has now published its findings, which can be viewed in full at eCOGRA.org.
Despite two communication exercises conducted by Grand Prive before the programme shut, eCOGRA found that 26 affiliate commissions of ‘relatively low amounts’ had been overlooked. The report covers communication of the investigation to interested parties and the methodology used by eCOGRA’s team of chartered accountants and established that the 26 omissions had been unintentional.
“Grand Prive apologises for this unintentional omission, has accepted the eCOGRA findings and will pay these accrued commissions including any commission earned during the 13-month period to December 31, 2009 and 'life of player' adjustments,” read the statement from Grand Prive.
“In addressing the compensation due to these 26 affiliates, the eCOGRA auditors were able to accurately calculate the commission accruing to each claimant, for the period December 1, 2008, when the program closed, to December 31, 2009, when the investigation began. To this has been added an amount to compensate for 'life of player'. The effect of this is that we have implied an average lifetime value for each of these players of at least 3.5 times the actual average lifetime of all Grand Prive players.
“The 26 affiliates will be paid the accrued amounts by February 26, 2010 and Grand Prive has closed the book on this unfortunate and regrettable issue. Management would like to thank those affiliates who submitted claims for their information along with those affiliate representative bodies who assisted the eCOGRA investigation team by publicising the enquiry.”
