Thanks HPIBet/OJC !!!!!!!

[AngelEyes]

The last time I made a bet at Woodbine(OJC/HPIBet) was back in September of 2004. That day I was sitting in my regular section at Woodbine banging my head in front of a slew of screens each displaying a different track. After a while I noticed that Fairplex was not being shown in my section only. By mistake Calder was being shown on 2 screens instead. Made several fruitless visits to customer service and still no resolution to problem. On fifth visit I demanded to speak to a manager who apprehensively agreed to come over to see the problem. Her response - "If I change one of the Calder screens to Fairplex I might upset someone else ... maybe try sitting in another section or better luck tomorrow" - and walked away.
After 30 years of losing my money I decided to do business elsewhere. Signed up with Pinnacle and later with Betfair. Estimated betting results ($CDN):

Pinnacle -> input: 200k output: 199k (loss of 1k)

Betfair -> input: 200k output: 206k (gain of 6k)

Total gain = $5000

HPI/OJC loss is approx. 20% of 400k = $80,000 (GREAT !!!!!!!)

If wanting to bet at HPIBet via phone make sure you have sufficient funds.
If you don't a message informs you of this followed by an unsympathetic "Goodbye" and you get disconnected. No option to fund your account or speak to a cust. rep..etc.. Service consistently crumby accross the board.

Did you know that anyone in the world (even from Iraq) could join a betting site that provides their customers with live video feeds with the following exception. Only people from Canada excluding Quebecers(they have Paritel) can not join. Is this HPIBet's doing ? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyways thanks Pinnacle/Betfair and many more thanks to that helpful woman manager at Woodbine - I finally had a winning year. Just feel a little upset that I was unaware of "Refer and Earn" program offered by Betfair when joining. Referrer and I would have made hundreds of dollars in bonuses based on my betting profile.

Good Luck
Angel Eyes

[JulieKrone]

On their site's opening an account page, they state sic: "You have many option". This is their credit card limits on depositing: "$500 per day , $1000 per week or $4000 per calendar Month"

nothing re debit card/etf...

no phone #, much less a toll-free one... or even an email contact addy.

no promotions...

all they list is an address asking one to mail mo or check to them, and their bank's telex info with stated fee of $14...

if wanting a withdrawal, one is to fax/snail mail request & they promise to mail funds "within 48 hours". No mention of any express delivery option.

So, just open your doors & expect to be sucessful and attract funds by not providing any phone, email, or electronic means/info; nor running any promotion, bonus or discounting of initial deposit fee. Even worse, limit the amount of money that can be deposited by cc.

Edit: on home page there are phone two phone #'s listed with exhortation to download registration form and mail it-- though no link to it is provided. One has to find that in a sublink. It's like they want potential customers to prove themselves to them--only commited & willing ones need apply; and ones who don't really expect or want to make withdrawals. Also, well off folks should not even bother!

[rokitman]

I emailed Paritel about deposits and I got an email back telling me the best way to make a deposit is to just stop by the office in person.

[nativenova]

I agree with you totally angel eyes. I live within a half hour of woodbine,and they are a joke,about five years ago I went to an OTB in Brampton,to buy the drf,to bring home with me to study with the intentions of going back to place some bets,the OTB ,refused to sell me a copy,unless I was paying admission! to boot I was a regular,so much for customer service,I called the OJC to complain,their response was they have the right to sell to paying admissions customers first,after telling customer service of this,I told them to check into my betting account,to which they confirmed,I was a frequent bettor,after to which I said Thank You,I will be at the track soon to withdraw my funds.
I have not made a bet with them since, Plus can anyone give me a reason why no USA outfit with accept Canadian accounts?

[AngelEyes]

I emailed Paritel about deposits and I got an email back telling me the best way to make a deposit is to just stop by the office in person.

Their website states that they accept credit card deposits. The fact still remains that at least they cover almost all US tracks and provide live video feeds. However to open an account you have to either fax or mail in the registration form - just can't register online. Below are the conditions :

1. PREREQUISITES FOR A BETTING ACCOUNT

To open a betting account in your name, you must have reached the age of majority in the jurisdiction where you live (18 years of age or more in Quebec) and you must reside:


within the boundaries of the province of Quebec; or
within the boundaries of the Northwest Territories, Yukon, or Nunavut; or
within the boundaries of the United States of America, more particularly, in a state where telephone pari-mutuel activity is permitted by law; or
in a country other than Canada or the United States of America.
......... A regular Canadian outside Quebec can't join. Still seems much better than HPI which only covers a few tracks and no online video.

A company like Youbet would gain many more customers if they accepted Canadians.