Absolute putting forth the effort

[MicroBob]

As I've indicated on several occasions in the past, I am impressed with the effort that AP displays in trying to attract and keep customers.
I have also stated several times that I might be interested in playing there if their software didn't bring my computer to a screeching halt for whatever reason.

I went back today and it still behaves VERY sluggishly on my computer. I know virtually nothing about computers...so any of you who have similar issues who actually know something about computers feel free to chime-in with why you think this occurs.


Anyway - absolute contacted me clear out of the blue to ask for my opinions on this matter which I found to be VERY interesting.
Their software has problems...but they monitor the forums and they are trying to fix the problems which I think is definitely a step in the right direction.


Anyway....here's some of the correspondence I've had with them of recent:


[ QUOTE ]
Hi Bob,



I’ve been with Absolute Poker for two years now and I frequently monitor the various poker forums for feedback and information about Absolute. After a little investigation, I’m making the assumption, hopefully correctly, that you’re MICROBOB on 2+2. I’ve seen many of your posts and recognize that you’ve had a number of problems with our product.



Anyhow – the reason for this email is to ask if you’d be interested in participating in a one person focus group with the end goal of making your computer and AP function together in perfect harmony. We recently (yesterday) seem to have fixed the lag problems that were plaguing our players and if you’d like to call me I will tell you more about the changes that are taking place at AP. We would be happy to compensate you for your time.



Please feel free to reach me at any of the numbers below. (Please don’t post these as they are my personal numbers)



I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.



Cheers,



Brent



Brent Beckley

Team Absolute ~ Director of Client Services



[/ QUOTE ]


[ QUOTE ]
Brent -

I am indeed microbob.
I am extremely impressed that you contacted me and that you are interested in trying to fix the slowness issues that I have encountered there. I think others have experienced the same problems.

As you know, I'm one to speak my mind with regard to a given poker-site.
I have stated many times that I think absolute is trying to go in the right direction but that their software became an issue for me.

There have been several instances where a site has done something well and I have written about them postively. I would be interested in doing this at 2+2 with regard to your site.
Just the fact that you took the time to contact me has impressed me.

Anyway, I'll check out the site and see what I think and will get back to you at some point.

Let me know if I may post your e-mail to me on 2+2 (without your phone numbers).

I haven't been playing at absolute lately and haven't been keeping up with it that much...but I think some of the 2+2'ers would be interested to know that you contacted me like this.

If you would like to keep this correspondance confidential then I certainly understand and that would be fine too.

Either way, I'll get back to you when I get a chance to check it out and will give you some of my thoughts.

Sincerely,
Bob Rotruck


[/ QUOTE ]


[ QUOTE ]
Hi again Brent -

I have just downloaded absolute again and I can't say that I detect any improvement unfortunately.
After opening just 1 table my mouse was noticeably sluggish. This is not a problem that I have at party or stars or ub.
I can't tell you why I have this problem...but the fact that I could see it after just opening 1 table is obviously an issue still.

I have 3 tables open right now and am playing on 1 of them (.02/.04). I'm able to play fine...but the mouse is still dragging and even the cursor as I type this e-mail occasionally gets weird.

The problems I've encountered in the past seemed to get exaggerated with continued play.
And that might be happening a little bit here even after just a few hands (actually...I think this is the case...it's dragging more already).

Wish I knew more about computers so I could give you some ideas. Because there's no way that your other players would have these problems as much as I do (because they probably wouldn't be playing there). I do think it's a problem that affects some people more than others for whatever reason.

More thoughts later.

- Bob


[/ QUOTE ]


[ QUOTE ]
Hi Bob,



Thanks for your response. I’m glad that you are actually MICROBOB. I figured that it would be pretty uncanny for there to be two Bob Rotrucks out there anyhow.



I don’t mind if you post my email, but please have my email address and phone numbers omitted (who knows what kind of unnecessary work that might create). We’ve made it a company policy to stay off of the forums for a few reasons, but I don’t mind you posting our correspondence. We monitor the major forums daily for feedback and criticism, but have decided to not officially post regarding topics.



I have credited your account with $50 for your help with these software issues, but please let me make it clear that this gift is NOT in order to win favorable postings on a forum. That would defeat the purpose of this and it isn’t how we want Absolute Poker to earn positive feedback.



I really appreciate your willingness to help us identify your problems with our software and your computer. While we have made numerous improvements, we’re the first to realize that we’ve got occasional hiccups. Building scalable multi player poker software isn’t the easiest task out there, but hopefully with your help we can make some solid improvements (with your issues, anywaysJ).



I’ve emailed our tech team and have asked them if they would do a net meeting with you. If you’re unfamiliar with a net meeting, it is basically when they connect to your PC and monitor the issues that you’re having. Are you willing to participate in a net meeting with our software engineers?



I hope to hear back from them either tonight or tomorrow. I will be sure to keep you posted on what they say.



Thanks again for your help.



Sincerely,



Brent



[/ QUOTE ]

[ewile]

This is great on their part. I've never played there, butI'm warming up to the idea.

[BradleyT]

This alone is worth signing up. Just ordered mine.

[SuitedSixes]

I, too, love Absolute poker and hope that more people start playing there (especially Omaha players), but they ignored my last e-mail to customer support about fixing my rakeback problem, and that makes me a sad panda.

[1p0kerb0y]

Wow, the e-mail they sent you is very impressive. I truely believe that Absolute Poker is set on making their customers happy. Hopefully we will see some good changes coming up in the near future.

BTW Bob, I'm far from a computer expert but it sounds like your problem might be coming from your equipment rather than Absolute's software.

[SuitedSixes]

No, I have top o' the line, and my computer freezes after 500 hands like clockwork. I like it though, it reminds me to get up and eat.

[MicroBob]

maybe. I have no idea.

I just know that virtually every other site runs fine and dandy on my computer (with occasional problems from pokerroom but I haven't been playing there for awhile so I don't know).


I did nothing different to my computer.
It's a Dell Inspiron 5100 that I got in Jan, 2004.

I know that not everyone has the same issues that I have with absolute....but I think a few players have reported similar difficulties with slow-downs when they play there.


If they want to help me specifically figure out what I need to change about my computer then I'm more than willing to have them help me.
I certainly wouldn't mind playing the occasional tourney there (and maybe some ring-games). And if they can figure out what the deal is with my computer related to AP then they should hopefully be able to offer constructive advice for other players experiencing similar difficulties.


Mostly I'm in your camp as I indicated in my e-mail to them: I'm just impressed that they would go out of their way to contact me as they have.

[1p0kerb0y]

[ QUOTE ]
No, I have top o' the line, and my computer freezes after 500 hands like clockwork. I like it though, it reminds me to get up and eat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fortunately I have not had to deal with this, just the "other" AP nuances.

1. 3 table max
2. eyestrain due to the color schemes
3. generally slow software

[PokerBob]

I was going to whore them a few months ago, so I deposited $1.5K. I played MAYBE 100 hands and just couldn't take it. They called me out of the blue a few weeks ago. I was shocked. I think they smell blood in the water.

[Uglyowl]

[ QUOTE ]
I figured that it would be pretty uncanny for there to be two Bob Rotrucks out there anyhow.


[/ QUOTE ]

Little does he know about the double Bob's [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] (see his blog for a funny story on this)

Anyhow I have had nothing, but positive experiences with Absolute. I am not just saying that since I won the first ever ARP freeroll.

-Joe