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Playtech is attempting to raise its level of customer service to not just include the internet casinos it provides software for, but customer service to the players in those casinos as well. Specifically, Playtech is offering assistance with dispute resolution for the online casinos they provide software for. While I respect the good intentions behind it, I have to admit I wonder just how realistic such a goal could be. First off, why would the software manufacturer itself be responsible for the honesty and integrity of the people they sell their merchandise to? I realize that may sound like a callous question, but really, when someone manufacturers an item they are responsible for the item itself, not in the integrity of the store selling the item. When Ralph Lauren designs and sells a shirt to a store he's not going to be held personably responsible for the sales staff of the store unless the store happens to be a Polo store (which is his own licensed company). As such why is it that players think it normal for Playtech to hold themselves responsible for helping in dispute resolution with an internet casino they have sold their software to. Playtech's only responsibility, as I see it, should be to make sure they have a good product with no bugs that runs well and has wonderful games. Yes, they should do their best to screen the companies who buy their products, as this is in their best interest. The better the reputation Playtech online casinos have the better their company will do in getting more companies to use their products and the more players will choose to play in their software run casinos. All of this contributes to a better bottom line as they earn their money through licensing and portion of gross profits. However, how easy is it to really know if the company will do what they say they will do once they actually have the product? There's no real way of knowing. You can have companies sign a code of conduct agreement and you can be in constant contact with their management. All of that will be for naught if they end up running out of money and choose to screw over their players instead. The fact of the matter is, it's better if the software manufacturer stayed as far out of it as possible. By getting into the fray of a dispute they are accepting a level of responsibility for everything an internet casino which runs their software does. While that is a noble idea, it seems a daunting task, one which seems to be doing them more harm than good. The thing is that Playtech is a software manufacturer. They are not a dispute resolution service nor do they seem to know how to properly go about handling the disputes. The service itself is not directly listed on their website. Instead the only reference to it is on the player inquiries page where nothing is explained but they do have a form which a player can fill out. This form includes a problem information area. There is no explanation of the protocol on how they handle disputes nor is there any information as to how long the player may be waiting for a response. Furthermore, since they instigated this service (which I'm not totally certain about as there was no mention of it on the site – no press release, no news item, nothing) there has been no news on the message boards of it actually working. In fact the general discussions on it via various industry message boards are that it is useless and is doing Playtech more harm than good. On the other hand you have other online casino software manufacturers who don't seem to have any problems with player disputes (or at least very few). Microgaming software run internet casinos are generally complaint free, relatively. I say relatively because this is gambling, and it would be impossible for everyone who lost to able to recognize their responsibility in their loss. Nor is it possible for those who win constantly to admit that maybe they aren't following all of the terms and conditions. Not to mention that companies are who they are and aren't always happy with the idea of giving money away even if the player deserves it. Of course Microgaming has always been in close contact with eCogra, the leading responsible gaming player advocate organization online. This helps them keep their reputation high, as anything that may tarnish their reputation is expertly handled by eCogra. Their online casinos also typically have the strictest terms and conditions online, the type that even lawyers needs a lawyer to sort out. Furthermore the bonuses on offer in their software run casinos tend to be weak at best, as such there's less to debate as the casinos they license to tend to cover their asses a bit better. If you use Microgaming as an example then perhaps you could argue that yes, Playtech should be more active in handling the disputes of the players who gamble in their software run online casinos. However, I still don't think at the end of the day that it's fair to blame the manufacturer for their product is being used. On the other hand Playtech brought the criticism and scorn from the message boards down on themselves as they did volunteer and offered this service. Now that the service is supposedly out there they need to follow through with it and take it seriously. Just offering such a service and then not announcing it on their website, nor actually handling any claims, isn't the way to win friends and influence people. It is, in fact, probably the best way to turn potential and regular players off as you are then proving their worst fears that there is nothing they can do if something happens with their money. Hopefully they will start a serious customer service division, send a press release out announcing the service, explain the service fully on their website, and otherwise follow through on their word. Related Links: Posted on: December 12, 2005
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