Revel Casino has been working hard to shed its image as one of Atlantic City's biggest losers, though its new promotion designed to make slot machine players feel like winners is turning out to do anything but.
In June, Revel announced a promotion that began on July 1. Under its slot rebate program, Revel promised to refund slot machine players any losses up to the amount of $100,000. Now that the program has been up and running for a few weeks, Revel's patrons are beginning to complain that the offer is not quite what it was cracked up to be.
Last week we reported that some high-frequency players were reportedly barred from benefitting from the promotion, and now it turns out that another group of players is dissatisfied with the offer's terms and conditions.
Refund delivered in the form of additional play
With many offers that can seem too good to be true, they often are. Visitors and frequent slots players at Revel, the newest casino property in the state of New Jersey, are finding out that this seems to be the case with Revel's slot rebate program.
Instead of providing the refund in the form of cash, as seemingly many slots losers would prefer, the casino is instead offering customers credit toward future slots play. Further irritating those who were hoping to cash in the deal is the fact that the casino intends to pay only a portion of the refund amount on a weekly basis, beginning on August 5, and paying out over the course of twenty weeks.
Fine print reveals all
In heavily promoting the rebate promotion, which Revel did through much of June into the month of July, many say that Revel failed to adequately reveal the fine print of the deal, leaving many customers confused or out of money that they had hoped to recoup via the refund offer.
While the terms of the offer are pretty clear, what many have taken issue with is the fact that the requirements were not clearly stated despite numerous advertisements touting the promotion, slated to run through the end of the month.
"See Revel Card Desk for details. Must be 21 or older. Revel Card required. Minimum cumulative loss of $100 by July 31, 2013. Loss refunds are capped at $100,000. Only slot, video poker and electronic table game play is eligible. Losses are refunded over 20 weeks beginning August 5, 2013 in the form of Free Slot Play," the actual fine print reads.
The misinformation has left some feeling deceived by Revel, a property that cost $2.4 billion to develop and build only to find itself filing for bankruptcy less than one year after it opened in the spring of 2012.
"I have a very different definition of a ‘refund’ than the Revel and I believe a majority of other folks would agree that a refund implies that you will receive a full reimbursement of funds," said one Revel customer, who has vowed not to return to the casino. "I’m sure seniors and others have fallen prey to this ‘catch’ and I don’t feel it is right."
Revel one of two Atlantic City properties not to announce iGaming deal
The struggles endured by Revel since its opening are fairly typical of the larger Atlantic City casino market. All twelve of the land-based casinos in the city are struggling in the face of increased pressure for gambling revenue from other states in the region, such as Pennsylvania, which are opening newer casinos with more amenities. Last year Pennsylvania was able to capture the title of the United State's second largest gambling market - a distinction once enjoyed by Atlantic City.
So far, ten of the city's dozen casino properties have announced partnerships for iGaming ventures, with the exception of Revel and so-called "locals casino" the Atlantic Club. Last winter, the Garden State's Republican Governor Chris Christie signed an Internet gambling bill into law, making New Jersey the third state behind Nevada and Delaware to enact some type of gambling legislation to regulate Internet betting in the US.
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