A question to my fellow poker players, "Do you ever feel like 'just another number' when you engage with customer support these days"? I know that I do.

It baffles me how the industry leaders, within a multi-billion dollar industry, thrive with cut-rate service. The longest time that it should take to process ANY deposit for EVERY multi-million dollar company is sixty minutes. The longest time that it should take to process-out a transaction is forty-eight hours. And, those should just be maximum default industry standards, not the norm. As it stands, I for one have been waiting for over 12-hours to be "verified" from Carbon Poker for my funds to clear/be deposited and I will be "lucky" if I receive my funds in the next 12-hours. I've read what are to me "horror stories" already through the thread about Carbon and others taking two, three, four+ days to process deposits.

However, I do not blame the Customer Support staff directly. These guys and gals are probably having to bust their butts to process 1,000+ messages a day. I blame the cheap executive management teams who do not appreciate the concept of customer value and who are trying to squeeze pennies. As a business owner, HR is the most important resource and in a global economy that is soft, it would not hurt to hire a few more people to field the most basic Customer Support needs of a company, processing the in and outflows of money.

If, a company is going to go electronic, fine. At least have the decency to provide live chat. If, that chat goes down, as is the case at Carbon right now. Provide temporary phone services until the chat returns.

For the love of God, do not waste the time of people trying to hand you money!

This just in, a reply before I post this article:

Dear [Texas Tokem],

Thank you for submitting the requested documentation. We have sent this for review and it might be taking from 24 to 48 hours depending on the volume. As soon as we have the outcome, we will contact you on this same email.

We certainly appreciate the fact you have chosen us to play poker with; and we continue to look for improvements on our daily operations and on the products and services we offer to you.

We are always here to help you. Please feel free to reply to this email if you have any additional questions in relation to this or any other matter. Your reference ID for this email is LTK572014313504X; please quote this number in any further communication on this subject.

Kind regards,

Fred Saunders

Twenty-four to Forty-Eight MORE HOURS!!! Here's the "improvement on [your] daily operations" that you are looking for!

Hey Texas,

I'm sorry that your initial interactions with support have not been positive so far.

In regards to account verification as a whole, the process is typically completed in well under 48 hours. That timeframe is given to account for any unforeseeable issues that may arise.

While I agree that the standards you lay out should definitely be what all sites strive for, it simply isnt viable for a number of business reasons. As a business owner yourself, hopefully you can appreciate the necessity to keep those kinds of proprietary issues internal. I can also guarantee that if players have had to wait "two, three, four+ days to process deposits." as you have said, it is not only 'not the norm', it would be such a small percentage of the overall number of processed transactions that it would not even rate a percentage point.

In regards to the live chat issue. Sometimes, live chat is not the best option for customer service. While it is definitely a useful tool under certain circumstances, overall there are issues that don't lend it to being the best option for a site to use. Also, having dealt with phone support in the past as well, it is a far more problem prone service than even live chat is. On top of being plagued with issues, it is extremely expensive to set up and to maintain. With email support, all customer interactions can be documented and stored for future review. While this is sometimes possible with Live Chat, it is not always possible, based on the solution used.

Again, I understand that first impressions last, and I do wish that your initial interaction could have been a more pleasant one.

That being said, please feel free to post up your player ID here, or email us at viphost@carbonpoker.com and we will look to get your issue resolved as efficiently as possible.

Cheers,

Ryan

Ryan,

I appreciate your response time on the active thread, engagement is the most important qualification for customer service. I completely understand the requirements of identification verification, my business is an identification authentication and account management service company. Granted, I do not know your "proprietary" methods but, I do know that the existing methods and means that are used by most industries for customer service (CS) are insufficient.

I agree with your live chat, phone, and e-mail justifications so long as they are analyzed independently of each other. I assume that one major problem that you may have with your live chat is spam chatting (i.e. a disgruntled customers won't quit trying to live chat). The same could be said with manning phone support and it too is very expensive. Finally, e-mail does have a lot of upside for the company.

However, CS is more about opportunity costs than it is overhead. Furthermore, the CS industry has, for the most part, simply dropped phone support and is walking away from chat to only honor e-mail. That's a MAJOR problem.

Carbon Poker (CP) and the Merge Network have a unique opportunity in the industry to capture SIGNIFICANT market share right now and prepare for the US industry to open back-up. You all "say" and "talk" about CS but, where is the investment?

CS is not an "either, or" operation, it is a how to best maximize EVERY method of communication to reach your audience, satisfy their needs, and keep them coming back operation.

CP's objective should be something like "To provide customers with a new CS platform in twelve months". The purpose: "Increase market share by 10% in twenty-four months". Outputs could be something like: (1) Online Gaming CS Analysis, (2) Launch Plan, and (3) Project Management. The activities could include (1.1) Collect Needs, (1.2) Analyze Needs, (1.3) Document needs, (1.4) Collect Cost Data, (1.5) Analyze Cost Data, (1.6) Document Cost Data, (1.7) Cross analyze needs and costs in a Feasibility Study (FS), (1.8) Conduct FS, and (1.9) Document FS. (2.1) Establish Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), (2.2) Establish roles and responsibilities, (2.3) Establish schedule, (2.4) Establish budget, (2.5) Establish other essential management plans, (2.6) Document the entire plan. (3.1) Project Charter, (3.2) Project Plan, (3.3) Status Updates, (3.4) Evaluation reports.

Your business is NOT about servicing online gaming. Your business is transaction processing. Every second that you can save to deposit funds for your customers is another increment of time that you will have to deposit more funds. Phone and chat have problems but, they have a place and it would behoove you to figure out their utility in your model.

Hey Texas,

You have fair and valid points there, but some just aren't applicable to our process at this given time. It is quite obvious that you are well versed in the CS industry, and I appreciate you taking the time to articulate your suggestions.

As I had mentioned in my response, I definitely agree that both Live Chat and Phones have their place, and are very useful, but they just can't be supported by Merge at this time.

Without further debating the Online Poker Industry's under utilisation of available CS tools (which I could do for quite some time), we just have to appreciate that there are people put in place who effectively crunch the data at any given time to appropriately allocate resources.

With the industry being in a current 'state of flux' since BF, I think many people feel that erring on the side of caution is the best action at this time. I am sure that once things start to calm down and solidify, you will see a lot more investment in the areas you discuss.

Thanks again, and please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have via that email address.

Ryan

Ryan,

This is the product of your existing process:

Dear Texas Tokem,

Thank you for contacting The Club Services.

We have received your inquiry and are assigning it to a representative. You can expect to receive a response from us within a timely fashion.

Please visit our FAQs or Support page to find answers to commonly asked questions about our products and services.

• For cancellation of subscription or billing inquiries, please write an email to cancel@theclubservices.com with Cancel Membership in the subject line.

• Clearly indicate your username and email address registered with us on all the documents sent through fax or emailed to verify@theclubservices.com

To help track your inquiry we have generated a reference number. Your ticket code is LTK4950129800962X. Please use this code in any further communication.

Customer Service

====== Your Inquiry ======

Support,

I am a new member and nearly 24 hours ago I received this post at Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 11:26 PM after I tried to make my second deposit:

Dear [Texas Tokem],

You have recently submitted a deposit by credit card for $400.00, which has been approved pending verification. (The actual amount charged to your card may be slightly less however you will receive the full $400.00 credit)

We now require you to complete a simple verification process. As soon as this has been completed, your funds will immediately be made available within your CarbonPoker wallet.

Please follow this link to begin verification:
https://secure.carbonpoker.ag/pendin...BnbWFpbC5jb20=

Once this has been completed your deposit will immediately be made available within your CarbonPoker wallet. Contact support if you have any questions or concerns.
By Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 11:40 PM, I submitted 3 scans that included my drivers license, credit card, and authorization form.

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 11:42 PM, I received this trouble ticket #: LTK572014313500X

On Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 09:43 AM, I received a response to this email:

Support,

Not only did I send you an e-mail with all of my verification information but, I went back through your site links and uploaded everything there too. Furthermore, the charge that was put onto my credit card the first time was $XXX.XX but, I get this error:

"Credit Card verification failed to complete due to an error - please contact customer support."

What kind of operation are you all running? I want my deposit posted NOW, please!

The email above become trouble ticket #: LTK572014314906X

By Wed., Feb 15, 2012 at 12:24 AM, I received this email:

Dear [Texas Tokem],

Thank you for contacting us.
We apologize for the inconvenience but you will need to sign by hand the Verification Form. It showed up signed digitally.

We are always here to help you. Please feel free to reply to this email if you have any additional questions in relation to this or any other matter. Your reference ID for this email is LTK572014314906X; please quote this number in any further communication on this subject.
I responded to that e-mail, complying with the request at Wed., Feb 15, 2012 at 12:42 AM

Finally, I send this e-mail at Wed., Feb 15, 2012 at 8:20 PM:

Support,

I have been in communication with you all about processing my deposit for almost 24 hours. You have multiple copies of ALL of my information so that you can verify my identity. You have everything that you asked for and I would like to know what is going on. Why does this process take you so long? If, your Customer Support (CS) is only going to e-mail then take on the corporate social responsibility for drafting a database of automated messages. That way, at every step of a process for whatever issue, you all can distribute a status report that will keep your customers from waiting in the dark. Let them know what is going on because I can't help but envision a que of trouble tickets managed by someone who does not care about his/her job, sitting on their thumb, drinking a Mountain Dew, and laughing at the prospect of making me miserable. Time is money and I've already lost nearly 24-hours of mine.

I receive this reply at Wed., Feb 15, 2012 at 8:27 PM

Thank you for contacting us!

We've received your inquiry and assigned it reference number: LTK572014316512X. We'll reply within the next 24 hours.

If you haven't included complete details of your issue, please reply to this message with as much information as possible so we can handle your inquiry swiftly and efficiently. Remember to use your reference number: LTK572014316512X in any further communication about this particular issue.
At Wed., Feb 15, 2012 at 8:40 PM I receive this:

Hello [Texas Tokem],

Thank you for contacting us.

Please be informed that we haven't received your document, we advise you submitt us your Address proof so that we would verify your account and you could claim your prizes.

To submit a photocopy of any of the valid identification listed above along with your full name and your Club username, please do any of the following:
Scan and email to verify@theclubservices.com
Fax to (702) 920-7652

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.
At Wed., Feb 15, 2012 at 9:01 PM I reply with a copy of my cable bill to fulfill this requirement.

At Wed., Feb 15, 2012 at 9:49 PM I received this e-mail:

Hello [Texas Tokem],

Thank you for contacting us.
We've received the copy of your ID that we needed, and I've updated your account accordingly. You're now all set to claim the prizes you've won and any prizes you may win.

To claim your prizes, log in to the software and access your My Account page. Once there click on the link that says "Click here to view prize winnings". That will take you to the Claim Prizes screen.

To select your prizes, click the gray button that says "Check All Prizes". This will put a checkmark in the boxes in front of your prizes. Once the checkmarks have appeared, you can click the "Claim" button and that's it!

Congratulations on your success, and best of luck to you in the future!

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions

At Wed., Feb 15, 2012 at 10:00 PM I sent this:

I don't need to claim prizes, I need you to verify my credit card and post my deposit. The amount that is pending on my card from the first deposit is XXX.XX. Process my deposit please and load my account or tell whomever needs to do it to do so. If, you can't do it, please do not just throw my issue around in emails. That's what's wasting my time.

Fix this:

ID Payment Method Type Amount Status
#4958130 XXXX XX** **** XXXX - XX/XXXX (Texas Tokem) Deposit $400.00 Credit Card Verification Required
..OR..
Photo ID Verification Required

You have exceeded the maximum number of failed attempts at supplying the correct charge amount. Please contact Custom Support if you need further assistance.

Update:

It's Thu., Feb 15, 2012 and at 09:21 AM a "new" transaction was processed, approved, and it is now in my account.

It would not be fair for me to leave this thread open-ended or to suggest that my entire experience was totally grave, it wasn't. My goal in this process was to make transparent a distinction. On one hand is the theory and well thought out plan, on the other is the execution of that plan.

What I do find to be as dense as diamonds is the level and degree of dedication by Ryan here. Ryan not only believes in and for his organization and stands up to do his best to defend the integrity of their pursuit but, he too follows through with his word to engage customers when they need help. I did receive a personal e-mail from him in this process and for that I am grateful. That is the true mark of good CS and therefore, this picture would not be clear if one were to actually read through this experience and not fully appreciate the good with with bad.

When Ryan said, "With email support, all customer interactions can be documented and stored for future review," he was right. The problem, as I clearly illustrate here, is when trouble tickets get stacked over trouble tickets, over trouble tickets, over trouble tickets, and the administrators end up having to play electronic telephone with e-mail messages to figure out the inherent problem. In my case, for example, I do not need to claim a prize, I needed to complete my deposit.

It is almost as if the workers do not have access to telephones either. If, that is too the case then the CS department is going to have a really hard time, even if they flag tickets "High Priority" on a number scale or whatever, advancing their ticket que and will be stuck processing only "High Priority" tickets all of the time. The reason is because almost every ticket in the system becomes compounded by the inundation of new messages from disgruntled players who expect their deposits/withdrawals NOW! If, there are no other internal methods of communication being utilized then the ques will constantly flux between jams. This is an example of too much redundancy and not enough transparency in a system.

Now, the point of communicating what I am saying is to drive home the value lost in two-way, real-time communication. Carbon needs to be applauded for requesting feedback incessantly. I am just trying to do my part to help what I believe to be a really good product succeed because that's what my job in "the real world" is to do; I analyze the operations of businesses, determine what is wrong, and dictate how to fix them.

Carbon may have "...people put in place who effectively crunch the data at any given time to appropriately allocate resources." However, if Carbon wants to fix the problem then put that guy/gal in a room with two to three line workers who represent every department in the organization that deals with CS (almost every department) and a project manager to discover the ideas that they need to develop. Then, put together a proposal and execute a new plan so that the line workers can correlate the importance of the data being crunched to their job and the data cruncher can appreciate the inefficiencies in the line work of the workers to calculate more accurately the figures that represent the true nature of the system they fail to execute well all of the time.

For the "Social Network" lovers out there, if Mark Zuckerberg did sever his relationship with Eduardo because Eduardo sacrificed the integrity of Facebook due to his jealousy of Shawn Parker then I applaud Mark. There are a million poker sites in the world and the competitive advantages are won and lost in the CS department trenches.

My nominal fee for consultation is a free evaluation plus $1,000 per hour and expenses. I do six month minimum assignments, 5% down, 15% rolling, and 80% contingent on the completion of meeting any and all objective(s) for which I define (e.g. increasing the market share of a company by 10% within twenty-four months). Not, to suggest that I am free to work at this time (I'm not). My point is to allude to the fact that I know what I'm talking about and that my compensation packages always reflect the correlation between my actions and words; I am 100% results oriented. Carbon needs to ask their numbers guy what kind of impact in the market they would need to justify CS modifications and execute them immediately.

Other than that, I hope to see you all at the tables on Carbon when I have free time and I hope to get at least a few free-roll tickets for my poor experience and the free advice .

I'll keep you all the players, 2+2, and Carbon updated...

I just want to clarify that this issue was resolved, and Texas' deposit was cleared and posted to his account in the early hours of this morning.

Ryan

Update:

It's Tue., Feb 28, 2012 and on Sun., Feb 26, 2012 I attempted to make another $400.00 deposit. I had a decent run with my last deposit and made some mistakes in my play that I hope to have learned from but, I may never get the chance to sit at the tables again because yet AGAIN, Carbon Poker cannot manage their systems properly.

This time, my deposit processed but, it had to be "manually applied". Carbon Poker's trouble ticket response time is so hideous that the transaction timed-out but, not until after it froze the $400.00 in my account. After talking with my bank, the transaction was approved, the funds were taken from my account, but I have yet to see the monies on CP.

We have reached the two day mark and counting. What's the excuse going to be this time?

This was the message that I received 15 hours ago:

Thank you for contacting us.

In regards to your inquiry we would like to inform you that we have checked your account and the transaction made has a 'Time Out' Status that has been sent to be reviewed by the proper department. You should receive a confirmation note soon that will advise you if the Deposit went through correctly.

We are always here to help you. Please feel free to reply to this email if you have any additional questions in relation to this or any other matter. Your reference ID for this email is LTK572014351556X; please quote this number in any further communication on this subject.

Kind regards,

Joseph Forest --

Please define SOON Carbon Poker because this was 15 HOURS ago!!!

Texas Tokem OUT!

I am having the very same issue, put in the numbers to verify my credit card, said I failed too many times and to contact support. I contact support and they tell me to send in ID's, and documents...I send them in and keep getting responses that don't directly resolve the issue. I'm going on 2 days now with this being unresolved. And when I get an email from them that doesn't help or needs a response from me, that only means I have to wait another 4-8 hours to get another response from them. This site is ridiculous. The support system definitely needs an improvement, other than that I enjoy the site and all that it has to offer and believe it has the potential to be one of the top sites in the world for poker.

Hi UpNdown,

Are you making sure that all the attached files are no larger than 2MB in total? If all the attachments exceed 2MB, they may not be received.

You can also upload the documents yourself via your player admin page.

PM me or post up your player ID and I will see what the hold up may be.

Ryan

UpNdown,

I can't agree with you more regarding the potential of CP. The GUI is nice, customization cool, they have some great promotions, and the best opportunity to compete at the highest level for online poker superiority (especially when/if the US regulates). Their problem, Customer Support.

As of right now, I made a deposit over 72 hours ago and I sent them evidence that the transaction processed over the account but, they still want to "investigate". Rather than post my money now and figure out what they did wrong later, they are holding my money hostage at their convenience.

I will update the forum as to when, if ever, they fix themselves and do the right thing.

Well I cancelled the deposits and tried a lesser amount and it worked, then I sent the rest of the money via WU. So I'm fine now, finally...

Glad to hear you are all sorted, sorry it took longer than expected.

Ryan

I have just had confirmation that the funds have been credited to your account.

Cheers,

Ryan