Vegas Palms - Be careful what currency you choose when signing up!

I will start this post by apologizing about the enormous wall of text!


The topic is pretty much self explanatory, but I will go ahead and post my "little" story here anyways.

Today I had some available cash to play around with. Not much, but enough to get a solid play time with proper bonuses. And I was looking forward to playing some Lord of the Rings slots.
I have accounts in a lot of MG casinos, so I have to be careful on which casino I choose to be able to redeem a first deposit bonus, which usually yields the largest sum of bonus.

I found Vegas Palms. They offered a 200% bonus up to 50 euros, and I had around 50 euros available, so that was perfect. I went to the site, downloaded the client and opened a live chat in order to get a few things clarified.


You are now chatting with Bella
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Bella: HI there
Bella: How are you?
Me: Hi, I'm fine, thanks for asking
Me: I'm just wondering... Do I already have an account here?
Me: My old e-mail was XXX@gmail.com
Bella: I'll take a look for you
Me: I'm about to install Vegas Palms, but I'm not sure if I should make a new account, or if I have one already...
Me: As that would violate the rules
Bella: Not with Vegas Palms, with our sister casino's yes
Me: Ah, good
Me: I have deleted that e-mail account, you see.. So I have no way to check
Bella: Yes that would, but you don't have a vegas palms account according to the email you gave me
Me: If you could re-direct all my e-mails going to XXX@gmail.com to YYY@gmail.com, that would be awesome, but I guess that's beyond your power?
Bella: That's alright, you can always check with us. Send us an email with your new and old email addresses so that we can update all your accounts to support@casinodesk.com
Me: Will do
Bella: Hehe no problem, once you send that we will update it for you
Me: One more thing... am I eligable for the first deposit bonus/sign up bonus at Vegas Palms with my new account?
Me: I haven't used the bonuses on the other casinos in quite some time.. more than 7 days ago at least.. and I think that was the "limit", according to the T&C?


((( At this point in the chat, I registered my account, and being from Norway, I naturally chose my local currency, which is NOK )))


Me: My new account username is: XxxxXxxxXxxxX (if you need it)
Bella: Yes you are, how much were you looking at depositing?
Me: Hmm.. not all that much.. let me check how much gambling money I have left..
Bella: Try put over 40, then I can get you an extra 20 bonus for you :-)
Me: Ah, I think I can manage 40 euros
Me: or, over?
Me: as in 41?
Bella: hehehe 40 is fine
Me: Alright, 40 it is then.. just need to move it to my e-wallet..
Me: might take a few minutes
Bella: No prob, I'll get things set in motion so long...
Me: Excellent
Bella: :0)


((( Now I was sending money to my EcoCard account and waiting for the go-ahead to deposit to the casino )))


Me: Hmm, I chose NOK as my currency (seeing that I'm from Norway and all).. I'm depositing 360 NOK (That's about 46 euros)
Bella: Perfect! :-) I'll claim both bonuses for you
Me: Wonderful
Bella: :-)
Me: I guess I should wait before playing until the bonus has arrived, eh?
Bella: Did it go through?
Me: The deposit? Yes.. My account now reads 360 NOK
Bella: Redeeming
Me: Google tells me that's 46.25 euros
Bella: Nice, so you got some solid startings :-)
Me: Yup... I don't plan on winning anything though.. But I've been craving some LotR slot action lately
Bella: Hahahaha
Me: And this will give me a fair amount of play time
Bella: Well if you expect nothing then if it doesn't come you're not disappointed and if you do get something it will be a great surprise
Me: Exactly


((( 5 minutes later )))


Me: Hmm, now my account reads 460 NOK...
Bella: Thank you for claiming. Below are the details of your claim. Account : XxxxXxxxXxxxX
Promotion : vp100
Amount Claimed : 100.00

Bella: First bonus, please hold while I claim the others :-)
Me: but.. first bonus? The initial 200% bonus? Shouldn't it be much more than 100 NOK? (around 13 euros)
Bella: Let me take a look for you
Me: Please do


((( Another 5 minutes passes )))


Bella: I think it is 200% match up to 50 for your currency as far as i know, but I'll double check
Me: 100 NOK as a bonus is a 27% bonus
Me: Ohhh... that's a bit weird
Me: It can't be right
Me: NOK is worth a lot less than euro
Me: It doesn't say anything about this in the T&C.. The only thing it says, is that I can't use GBP sterling, and ... well, I didn't
Bella: Sorry i was checking something with my manager, wanted to get you the correct information, nearly done
Me: Alright, I hope you can clear this up.... I would feel kinda cheated if I got a measly 40% bonus on my first deposit, when promised more than 200%... I hope you can understand
Bella: I do, you have played fair game and i am currently working on your problem and your problem alone
Me: Aw
Me: Thank you!


((( 10 minutes passes, and I'm noticing no activity on the chat or on my account )))


Me: Ohh, I just spotted a LotR promotion as well... €10 Free if I've wagered on the game after my first deposit... I'll have to come back to you for that one, I think
Me: The LOTR10... I didn't know about that one at all
Me: And another one: ECOCARD100 ... Man, you guys are giving out all sorts of promo bonuses
Bella: Yeah , that's the one I am trying to claim my side as our promo managers are going a bit haywire lol
Me: Heheh
Me: If only I had selected Euros instead... (I was afraid to violate any currency rules if I did though).
Bella: No not at all, let me see what i can do


((( Almost 15 minutes later, now my total account is 496 NOK )))


Bella: Ok thanks for holding. Ok, my manager informed me that you will need to play out your bonuses that you have got (I claimed the 10% for your eco already and am in the process of claiming your extra 20), then We will be happy to get you another bonus after that so keep me online :-)
Me: Soo.. play out my bonus.. do you mean the additional 136 NOK? Or the whole playthrough of ... 3936 NOK?
Me: Well, I guess you're on top of things.. I'll just start playing then
Me: While keeping the chat open
Bella: Just start the gambling lol and then we'll top you up. Yeah keep me open don't close me Gee Gees; Money Star; The Osbournes and Oceans are our top 4 hot games for the week
Bella: Did you get that?
Me: Ah, yes
Me: But if it's ok, I'll stick to LotR
Bella: Great!!! Yeah that's perfect :-) I'm right here if you get stuck as well ok
Me: Awesome
Bella:


((( A swift 10 minutes later )))


Me: Okay, that was fast... I'm at 0.00 now
Me: I guess that's the very defenition of "playout out my bonus"
Me: playing out*
Bella: Woweee, that fast already lol that's crazy, ok just a sec
Me: I had a long, long, long streak of bad luck... I think my highest win was 20 NOK, at a wager of 6 NOK... Oh well, it happens
Bella: To the best of us :-) Just a sec while I load you up
Me: "Load me up." Sounds exiting
Bella: hahaha yeah :-) Did you play some of those hot games? How were they?
Me: Actually, it was all on the Lord of the Rings game
Me: I'm wary of trying new games, although many of them seem fun
Bella: Which ever you're comfortable with and which ever you feel is the best for you :-) holding thumbs myside as well
Me: =)


((( So, I'm waiting for another 15 minutes, until I notice a 60 NOK increase in my account )))


Bella: There we go claimed for you
Me: Uhm... 60 NOK?
Me: That's like ... 8 euros
Bella: I explained your exact situation to my manager and he said because of the currency that you chose he couldn't do anything with regards to changing it back to Euros. Unfortunately it works according to the currency that you selected...

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The rest of the conversation, which lasted for a combined total of 2 hours, didn't get me anywhere. The operator was trying to help me out, but from what I understood, she was in no position to redeem more bonus money for me. She did offer me a free 10€ at a sister casino though...

If you (the one reading this) is crazy enough to look at the whole chat log, check out the attachment, it's quite amusing, but sad at the same time)

I had gotten a grand total of 196 NOK as bonus money from a deposit of 360. (The 10% EcoCard bonus was calculated correctly though, 32 NOK)
The rest was my 200% bonus and an additional 20. (As promised in the chat)

Roughly calculated to euros, that would be a €25 bonus from a €46 deposit.
A whooping 54% bonus!


The only reason I didn't get the rest of my promised bonus, was due to the fact that I had chosen an inferior currency.
I "lost" about 95 euros due to this rather strange (unwritten) rule. And from the chat, I was under the impression that my local currency didn't matter, as it was all calculated in euros.

I was wrong.

So, be warned.
If you find yourself signing up to this Casino, I recommend going for a standard currency like $,€ or £(if you live in the UK).
And under no circumstances pick the natural choice, being your local one, as you will find yourself screwed with any kind of promotions in the future! (This doesn't count for currencies with higher value than euros though)


My main problem with this issue wasn't really the lack of playable bonus money, but the inability for the management to clear up the situation properly. I found the whole ordeal to be extremely frustrating, especially when the operator herself seemed to feel the same way.
I'll just quote the chat a bit more:

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Bella: It should be more clear. I tried argueing myside, it was explained exactly as we were talking about now so I don't know what to do for you <FirstName>. I wish there was something I could in my power i wish but I don't know..
Me: So... that's it then? I'm screwed?
Me: Just for choosing my local currency, and not going for euro, as was my initial idea
Bella: As far as I have found out yeah

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There...
A big thank you for making it through giant wall of text. Here, have a cookie!


-Krogoth2000


(And yes, if you feel like reading more of the chat.. it goes on for quite a while, feel free to check out the attachment)
((and also, to you moderators, if this is posted in the wrong area, feel free to (re)move it))

Where's my cookie?

Actually Krogoth, whilst this was a long chat and you did get a bad deal because you used your own currency, I have to say Bella tried her very best for you so kudos to her.

A valid warning though and thank you for taking the time to post this.

blue

Blue, I sent the cookie with a carrion pigeon a few days ago, it should be arriving any time now.

But yeah, like you said, Bella was all kinds of awesome. Fortune Lounge should be very proud to have her on their staff!

I do regret posting this story in such detailed manner. Not many people care to read all my crap. I can try to shorten it a bit:

Warning:
All bonuses are calculated based on number of credits only, regardless of currency value!

There, a lot easier to read this

I guess this rule goes for all Microgaming casinos, but so far Vegas Palms has been the only one I've spotted without any hints on this in the T&C.

So, I've been in touch with the Floor Manager of Vegas Palms regarding this issue, and they've considered changing their T&C slightly. Or, not changing, more like adding a line or two, similar to the one above in bold text. Of course, since this was suggested by a random player like me, I doubt they will prioritize it. (I have made other casinos change their T&C before though *flex*)

If they actually go through with this the next time they update it, it would make me very happy. Informing players about these simple things might avoid similar incidents in the future.


On a side note;
This was not a post started to bash Vegas Palms in any way. I actually like the casino, and I have deposited there several times lately. Just to be clear

Krogoth - your post was in no way taken as a bash against that casino.  You were merely informing everyone to take care which currency they choose when depositing as it affects the bonus you will get.

By the way - the cookie has yet to arrive (I swear I saw a pigeon with some crumps on his beak smirking at me yesterday).

blue