Where The Customer Is King…

Notice Turffontein card looks different on Saturday?

Horseracing is one of the few businesses where the customer is probably better informed than many of the personnel who serve him.

Tote staff can be motivated…

Consider the average tote teller’s passion, or likely lack of it, for this evening’s Gulfstream Park Place Accumulator that starts after many decent people are supposed to be in bed.

In the good old days your local tote teller was your personal banker.

She knew your name, your habits and preferences. You enjoyed the luxury of calling your bets. She knew the way you structured your quartets. A cup of tea was there to soothe you after a bad race.

She knew what to tell your wife when she phoned – on the landline – to inform you that the supper was cold, the couch was your bed for the night – and that separation was back on the agenda.

Fast forward to 2018, and besides a litre of petrol costing close on three times the minimum exotic bet outlay, things have changed dramatically.

Sea Cottage

Sea Cottage

Gone are the familiar faces. They have been replaced with people who have never cared about owning a cottage by the sea – or a Sea Cottage – don’t really get excited about your oft repeated hard luck story when Tom whatsisname came off Jamaican Music, think that boxed swingers are deceased naughty people, and often don’t always see the urgency when you are trying to get a bet on with just two horses to load.

So what happened?

“The world is evolving towards digital platforms. Look at banking as an example. You can do almost anything on your phone or PC that you could inside a banking hall. We have enjoyed a pleasing migration from our bricks and mortar customers to the use of online facilities. Naturally there will always be a sector of the market – just as some still prefer print newspapers to digital – that want the company of fellow players in the outlet, or maybe don’t have access to an electronic facility,” says Phumelela Sports Betting Executive, Vee Moodley.

Vee Moodley – wants to hear from customers

The refreshingly transparent Moodley is always willing to share a thought with the media.

“Our average customer is extremely well informed and knows his racing. But that doesn’t mean that our staff training and our customer education and information focus should not be high on the agenda. When you go out and buy a new car, the salesperson will have all the information and reasons why you should get the xyz model. You will take advice and be guided. In the tote it works the other way around. Our customers are passionate, they know the game inside out and walk the emotional tight-rope that is gambling. It brings out the best and worst in people. Our staff cannot learn in a month of training what a punter has developed over decades of passion. It’s a poser for us and I take my hat off to our personnel who work long hard hours in a trying environment.”

Turffontein

Last Saturday’s half completed Turffontein meeting evoked plenty of debate. Some were unhappy that the Pick 6 was refunded. Others not. Vee explained that the two race dividend rule for exotics was a Gauteng Gambling Board ruling.

A poster who joined the exotic bet refund debate on www.sportingpost.co.za said:

‘What Mr Moodley failed to say is that they do gain financially when tickets taken at a tote over the counter are discarded or torn up after leg one. The punter only finds out 35 minutes later, or even longer, that racing has been abandoned and bets are refundable. It’s called breakages on Phumelela’s Income Statement and contributes quite significantly to that line item of profit. The rounding down of tote payouts is another big contributor. Remember there is no rounding up only down.’

Vee responded, saying that it was ludicrous to suggest that Phumelela rubbed their hands in glee when punters threw valid tickets in the bin.

“It’s a bizarre perception indeed that a company that benefits more when it’s patrons win, would gain some form of satisfaction when a customer lost out on something that was rightfully due to him. I listen to all of the input and suggestions and have already implemented a stepped up awareness focus via Tellytrack and our outlets to warn and inform punters to check their tickets. If I may mention to the poster too that any unclaimed ticket proceeds ultimately go back into stakes. And the manager of the Tote will gladly assist any customer who has lost a ticket with a refund application form.”

With the long-term weather outlook to this Saturday’s Turffontein meeting looking dicey, Vee and his team took a pragmatic approach to the configuration of the twelve race programme.

“A burnt child dreads fire. We have started the meeting with smaller fields to be easier on the track and the Summer Cup build-up and prep race is the 3rd. Then the three features will be completed much earlier than the norm by 14h15. We thus have ended up with two maidens late in the card in the 10th and 11th. We have scheduled a second Jackpot as an option for those punters who are keen to have a dip.”

There’s some lateral thinking that deserves credit!

Let’s stop moaning and being negative. There are people in the hierarchy thinking out of the box. And it’s not the same box with those weird swingers in it…

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