Hi everyone—
Time to stir up the hornet's nest with an update.
I went up to the corporate offices of Virtual and Ace (last week) to meet with the company’s management, and we’ve made some progress with things. Here’s a quick rundown…
As has been brought up as the biggest issue, is the necessity to improve withdrawal times. Virtual has a very different approach and model with their brands and after providing me further insight into this, I can understand the associated limitations in the way processing is handled. Virtual and Ace understand the necessity for change and would like to make an effort to improve its withdrawal to a certain level without affecting the bonuses which they believe will severely impact their loyal customers. There will be changes to these withdrawal times in a methodical fashion:
• Ace group will begin by implementing a 72-hour approval time on the Royal Ace and Captain Jack casino brands, beginning January 1st, 2014.
• Virtual group will begin by implementing a 7 day approval time on the Ruby Slots and Prism casino brands, beginning January 1st, 2014.
The companies are committed to improve their withdrawal process (both with Ace and Virtual). They will review these changes in the next few weeks and will continue to roll it out on remaining brands over the next few months. Further, as previously discussed, if a player chooses to play with no bonus or a bonus only up to 100%, the approval time will be only 48 hours, with both the Ace and Virtual brands, in total. Unfortunately, due to the difficulties the group has with processing for US players, the actual processing (after approval) will still take seven days or longer. I believe US players understand this—this is something that is really out of the casino’s control.
All mass marketing activities will now have an opt-out. If you receive a promotion, there will be specific instructions, which will remove you from receiving any further offers.
I’ve explained that in the past, Virtual/Ace opened a resolution department and emailed their database of ‘dead players’ (meaning those players who’d not returned to their casinos in more than one year). The email sent was in an effort to ask players if they believed they were treated unfairly, to please submit a claim and whatever the grievance, it would be reviewed again, with fresh eyes and a commitment to fairness. Virtual/Ace has agreed to do this once again, this time, not solely to the ‘dead player’ database, but to its entire database of current and former players. Along with this, there will be a survey included to gain insight on how players feel about their casinos’ performance. This email will go out immediately after the 1st of the year.
Ace and Virtual have also committed themselves to improving their customer support operations. With this, there will be some re-structuring, new policies put in place and better communications with its players. Look for significant changes in the next few months.
There are also two new employees you should know about: Martin Sacks has taken over as Affiliate Director for Ace Revenue. Martin brings with him 10 years of industry experience, involving Affiliate management, operations and customer service expertise.
Next is Tawni Wilson who will be handling all forum-related queries—both here at Casinomeister and elsewhere. Tawni’s username at Casinomeister is: TawniVirtualAce Tawni will begin answering any queries, beginning December 18th.
I realize that much of what I’ve written will still be viewed with skepticism—Virtual and Ace understands this, as well. Over the course of the last 4 years they have shown improvement but they also know they still have long way to go. I can only tell you that even with all of the negatives brought up in this thread, Virtual and Ace are still continuing to show a very real commitment for change and I'm hopeful that in the coming months, they will live up to this commitment.