Published on March 29th, 2007 11:49 pm EST
This is a tough article to write.
I really like Ultimatebet, and have nothing but fond memories. In my opinion, UB has the industry's best table setup, in terms of graphics, in terms of speed of cards dealt, everything. Everything about the look of Ultimatebet's tables I like.
But if you remember, Ultimatebet had some major, major problems a while ago with a software upgrade, and ever since then, the bloom is off of the rose. It seems as though the company never truly recovered from that fiasco. Well-known name players who were constantly supportive of the company seem to be turning their back on Ultimatebet now, finally fed up themselves of all of the software problems and problems with customer service.
Pokerstars figured it out a long time ago. If you offer superior customer service, people will remain loyal. You send Pokerstars an email, and chances are you will have a reply within a few minutes. Ultimatebet? You are lucky to get a reply within a few days. These are all companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars, so customer service should be of the utmost importance. Ultimatebet, to put it kindly, has horrendous customer service.
And in addition to that, the software just is buggy. It loads slowly, and acts weird when you try to take a seat at a SNG or a tournament. Why does it take so long for a person's name to appear when they sign up for a tournament or a Sit and Go? Small things like that may seem small, however they add up when people look at the entire picture. If Ultimate provided outstanding customer service but had slightly buggy software, I guarantee you that people wouldn't care. However, when you add everything up, people would rather play at a place like Full Tilt Poker or Pokerstars. Bugs are addressed at those poker rooms, and the customer service is top notch.
I hate to say it, but I think that Ultimatebet will be purchased over the next year or so and its player base folded into a bigger room. They just don't seem to be building any customer loyalty, and in this market, that's all that matters in the end.
This is a tough article to write.
I really like Ultimatebet, and have nothing but fond memories. In my opinion, UB has the industry's best table setup, in terms of graphics, in terms of speed of cards dealt, everything. Everything about the look of Ultimatebet's tables I like.
But if you remember, Ultimatebet had some major, major problems a while ago with a software upgrade, and ever since then, the bloom is off of the rose. It seems as though the company never truly recovered from that fiasco. Well-known name players who were constantly supportive of the company seem to be turning their back on Ultimatebet now, finally fed up themselves of all of the software problems and problems with customer service.
Pokerstars figured it out a long time ago. If you offer superior customer service, people will remain loyal. You send Pokerstars an email, and chances are you will have a reply within a few minutes. Ultimatebet? You are lucky to get a reply within a few days. These are all companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars, so customer service should be of the utmost importance. Ultimatebet, to put it kindly, has horrendous customer service.
And in addition to that, the software just is buggy. It loads slowly, and acts weird when you try to take a seat at a SNG or a tournament. Why does it take so long for a person's name to appear when they sign up for a tournament or a Sit and Go? Small things like that may seem small, however they add up when people look at the entire picture. If Ultimate provided outstanding customer service but had slightly buggy software, I guarantee you that people wouldn't care. However, when you add everything up, people would rather play at a place like Full Tilt Poker or Pokerstars. Bugs are addressed at those poker rooms, and the customer service is top notch.
I hate to say it, but I think that Ultimatebet will be purchased over the next year or so and its player base folded into a bigger room. They just don't seem to be building any customer loyalty, and in this market, that's all that matters in the end.
