Ladbrokes Bingo has decided to sponsor a 76-year-old lady bingo player who has been barred for life from playing at any Mecca Bingo site. Mecca barred her as a result of her organizing a trip to another bingo site for herself and her friends. Ladbrokes thought this ban was excessive and came to her aid by telling her she was welcome to play on their site. The opened an account for her, gave her a laptop so she could play online and funded a live account for her play.
She will be used as a tester for new bingo games and other site improvements or changes. They see her as an ambassador to the friends and other players that she will bring to Ladbrokes to play. This long time bingo player had been playing bingo for over 50 years, much of that time at Mecca Bingo sites. She now will be playing at Ladbrokes, with the express welcome of the Ladbrokes management.
Seems to this blogger that Ladbrokes has scored a PR win by coming to the aid of this long time bingo lover. She will be a great influence on her friends and will probably get many of her bingo-playing friends to at least try Ladbrokes, which is after all what all bingo sites want to happen.
The ban by Mecca can be understood, but for life seems a little harsh. Maybe a letter asking her to refrain from dragging her friends to a competitor and a week or so ban from play at Mecca’s sites would be acceptable, but they seem to have over reacted, at least that is the implication of Ladbrokes actions. As an active ambassador for Ladbrokes, she can be useful in attracting new players to a very good site. Ladbrokes enjoys a well-earned reputation for gaming excellence and this move to help this lady was a smart move by this aggressive site.
