888 and Partypoker Address Online Poker Player Concerns

888 and Partypoker are taking steps to insure their online poker players are as happy as possible ahead of the two operators’ potential merger.
The new policies are aimed at keeping established customers in place, thereby reducing expensive customer acquisition costs. While there’s been no official word that the new policies are related to 888’s bid to acquire bwin.party, any effort to keep customers happy during the transition is probably just good business.
‘Poker for the People’
Over at Partypoker, player retention efforts are focused on an internal policy that was not exactly a big hit with players; withdrawal fees. As of this week, the company is discontinuing its two-year experiment with the unpopular charge.
While the company is no longer charging withdrawal fees for funds housed in Visa, MasterCard and bank accounts, players can still expect to pay the fee for cash in their e-wallets.
Company officials say they’re still negotiating with e-wallet firms about removing the unpopular fees but, for now, they’re not going anywhere.
PartyPoker has also revamped its loyalty in response to player feedback.
888 Hits Pause on Tournaments
888 tournament players have weathered a sea of frustrations due to connectivity issues on the site while tournaments are actually in progress.
To combat the issues, which Lee Davy over at CalvinAyre.com suspects are part of a DDOS attack, the company has instituted a new tournament pause feature.
The tournament pause feature is similar to the broadcast delay used by television stations and, in theory, should allow the company time to address the issue without disrupting play.