DONE WITH NYRA

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by EMD4ME

SRU. For the record, they are two separate incidents and I have separated them, however, they are linked. I would not have attempted to use the money gram feature that they advertise if the room at Belmont was open.

Response #2. Buddy, believe you me, I don't care if I hit for 4.2 Million, I would 10000000% still be upset at Mr. Traver's poor communication skills, business sense, decision making capabilities, SARCASM and I would most definitely file my complaint with anyone who cares at NYRA.

I don't know why he brought us down for a discussion. After 2 minutes of humane, interactional, 2 way communication with his "clients", he rudely cut off a high roller and said "fellas let me cut to the point. We spent 7 million on Aqueduct and it's going to work". In other words, I don't really care to discuss your opinions or your attempts at negotiation. One player immediately asked if this is open to discussion. To paraphrase him, he said no. I asked him politely about the possible opportunity cost of his decision and his response was sarcastic (he told me that I can go to Belmont & play on my thousand dollar laptop if I don't like aqueduct-as their wont be any machines for me to wager on up in the room). (I had made a prior reference that I can't go to aqueduct because my laptop can be stolen at any time there-he used my valid concern, sarcastically, in his later response to me).

Real professional....

At that point, I said I will reduce my handle to nill and if they want me to go away, I will.

I'm not sure what was the point of bringing you guys in, it would have been better if he just didnt answer his phone when you called to ask "what happened".

The customer is always right within reason, and what you're asking for is not unreasonable. Bad job by them.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by EMD4ME

True, if they work. I never mentioned how I have a surface 2 and NYRA rewards is the only ADW that freezes every 5 bets with my surface 2. So let's recap..... can't go to the track to bet, can't fund (still don't know why-isn't that so pathetic? They don't know why all client's money grams didn't go through, not just mine) my account and when my account is funded, their tech team can't help my freezing problem.

What is a "surface 2"?
Why not just switch to another ADW? Or Keep funds in your NYRA Rewards account to at least get you through your first few races?
Why do you use moneygram or these other prepaid cards to fund your account? Why not just use your checking account? Are you concerned with security?
What is wrong with the regular Belmont simulcast area?
I am asking these things because, I believe you and I process things differently. To me when things don't go according to plan, I vent my spleen cuz I'm pissed. Then I find a solution and get it done.
For example...Ok, no Belmont Club room? Ahh, no biggie, I'll just bet 'over there"....I'm not seeing a problem here. But that's just me.

[WP1981]

Originally Posted by Stillriledup

Another "Parasite" is the person who stands at the SAM machine "swishing" ticket after ticket that he found on the floor while blocking the lines of the people who actually bet.

Worse. On busy days at Los Al the SAMs get backed up and spit your remaining balance out about 5 seconds after your ticket. I have lost two. One they tracked and froze right before the guy tried to cash it and once it was cashed within 30 seconds.

It makes me want to scream at everyone in the vacinity. This is still theft.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by EMD4ME

Great question, my fault. Belmont created a first floor simulcasting area for 7 day simulcasts. Hate to say it but you can barely walk 4 feet without being disgusted repulsed or smell someone. Same goes for aqueduct.

Belmont has a really nice players club for clients who wager 300,000 a year or more. It is manned by security, an attendant who is there for all your needs and all players know each other real well. It has assigned seating, you face the paddock (and the sun) and have glass windows not thick dark walls. If you feel like taking a walk to the back yard to tan between races, you can. If you want to walk to the apron and just hang out , you can. You can do all this while your belongings ($1000 lap top, notes, cell phone) are safe in that air conditioning sun filled room.

You don't have that feeling of security and comfort at the Aqueduct version of this room. Aqu is available via public transportation (subway and bus) and has that disgusting racino attached to it so it attracts all sort of scum.

Ok..I get the lap top thing and the rest of it....
Here's an idea. If you have the wealth that you can run $300 large through the windows in a year then you can hire someone to take care of your personal security. How much can it cost? $100- $150 for the day to have someone sit or stand nearby and watch over you and your stuff?
ONe other question...Why not just bet from home like 90% of the other larger players?

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by EMD4ME

Ive been so spoiled by the nyra rewards rooms that I forgot what its like to be at the track in the normal areas. After being on the first floor of Belmont for 30 minutes opening weekend, I went home. I felt like I was at a homeless shelter. I couldn't place my tablet down for a second as it would be stolen. Never mind put a drink down.....

Make a bet?? Ha! Who could possibly concentrate with all the pick pockets walking around and peddlers asking for a cigarette or two bucks as your constructing $750 weighed out pick 6 tickets.

It's insane that they treat their top clients like this

Come on....There's what maybe 3 or 4,000 people in attendance. Heck you could walk through the grandstand and not come within 20 yards of another human being.
What about dining areas in the Clubhouse?
Look, I'm not trying to start anything with you here, but you seem to have certain expectations and may have gotten used to certain things and it pains you to not get the treatment you think you deserve. I sit on the fence here. If your approach is the experience, I agree with you. If you are focused on your handicapping/wagering, well there I differ. If I need to make things work, I figure out how to make them work and that's that.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by EMD4ME

Ive been so spoiled by the nyra rewards rooms that I forgot what its like to be at the track in the normal areas. After being on the first floor of Belmont for 30 minutes opening weekend, I went home. I felt like I was at a homeless shelter. I couldn't place my tablet down for a second as it would be stolen. Never mind put a drink down.....

Make a bet?? Ha! Who could possibly concentrate with all the pick pockets walking around and peddlers asking for a cigarette or two bucks as your constructing $750 weighed out pick 6 tickets.

It's insane that they treat their top clients like this

Oh..One more thing..If you look at my posting history on here, you'll note that I have always supported the idea of tracks copying the casinos in treating their best customers to a VIP experience.
I think racing management is missing the boat on this...

[Hoofless_Wonder]

EMD4ME, your post reads like the unfortunate sequence of events often preceding a plane crash. Your beef with NYRA customer relations is valid. The fact you missed out on $10K of profits is mostly on you. I guess you weren't in the Boy Scouts. Being a New Yorker and with the recent events of Super Storm Sandy and the DRF outage just this summer has me believing you're not paying attention.

Surely in your lifetime there's been a power outage at Belmont?

[EMD4ME]

Originally Posted by Hoofless_Wonder

EMD4ME, your post reads like the unfortunate sequence of events often preceding a plane crash. Your beef with NYRA customer relations is valid. The fact you missed out on $10K of profits is mostly on you. I guess you weren't in the Boy Scouts. Being a New Yorker and with the recent events of Super Storm Sandy and the DRF outage just this summer has me believing you're not paying attention.

Surely in your lifetime there's been a power outage at Belmont?

This aggravation and disappointment was in place before and after the 10,000.00. Quite frankly, it's not about the 10,000.00. Please reread my other posts in this thread and you'll see what it's about.

Thank you sincerely.

[EMD4ME]

Originally Posted by thespaah

Oh..One more thing..If you look at my posting history on here, you'll note that I have always supported the idea of tracks copying the casinos in treating their best customers to a VIP experience.
I think racing management is missing the boat on this...

Belmont is now condensed to a tiny small area called the Belmont café. You have nowhere and I mean nowhere to sit. No where to stand. I'm not a spoiled brat and I am not a sissy. I am a new yawker. Picture NYC OTB at it's worst and that's what you find there during the spa season.

[EMD4ME]

Originally Posted by thespaah

Come on....There's what maybe 3 or 4,000 people in attendance. Heck you could walk through the grandstand and not come within 20 yards of another human being.
What about dining areas in the Clubhouse?
Look, I'm not trying to start anything with you here, but you seem to have certain expectations and may have gotten used to certain things and it pains you to not get the treatment you think you deserve. I sit on the fence here. If your approach is the experience, I agree with you. If you are focused on your handicapping/wagering, well there I differ. If I need to make things work, I figure out how to make them work and that's that.

Surface 2 is the tablet that I utilize (besides my laptop). There is no clubhouse dining area. We're all jammed into a tiny corner on the bottom floor. There is no admission cost. It's the size of a medium sized OTB. It's 1 floor. Limited seating that is piranha style. First come first serve, get up you lose the seat. Machines are 5-6 deep with .10 straight super players handicapping at the machine with their .40 cent voucher. Screaming and yelling so loud that an insane asylum is where you go to get some peace and quiet. No joke, not exaggerating.

[EMD4ME]

Originally Posted by thespaah

Ok..I get the lap top thing and the rest of it....
Here's an idea. If you have the wealth that you can run $300 large through the windows in a year then you can hire someone to take care of your personal security. How much can it cost? $100- $150 for the day to have someone sit or stand nearby and watch over you and your stuff?
ONe other question...Why not just bet from home like 90% of the other larger players?

I like to pick up my elderly mother and take her out for a day at the races. Been doing so for 35 years. Don't want her in that element. I don't want to be in that element. That is why a good environment is needed and why I go to the track, plus I like the track, the smell of horse shit, seeing a race live, leaving the house, interactions with fellow horseplayers etc.

[MOG4023]

EMD4ME - I completely get where you are coming from. There is nothing worse (ok there is) than being snubbed by an establishment that you patronize so heavily. If it were a private enterprise you and your group would not have been treated with such contempt.

As always - it's not just what they have done - it's the manner in which it was conveyed.

I am sure they could have done exactly what they wanted to do / did and still kept you happy if they had got the message across.

Many a war could have been avoided with a little tact.

[BettinBilly]

OP:

Thanks for the thread. I'm shocked at your recent experience at NYRA, however, as someone mentioned, it's not surprising in America these days where customer service is consistently sorely lacking.

Frankly, I am not at your level of play, even though I have the same amount to time into the sport as you do. However, I am an avid Horseplayer, and an Entrepreneur that runs two businesses. I started my companies pounding the pavement and busting my ass making sure my customers knew that THEY were the reason I was in business. I kissed their butts daily. Groveled and schmoozed and took grief by the bucket loads all in the name of customer service. That is why today, I am reaping the rewards. There is a lesson in that for NYRA, or so it seems from reading this thread. And for TOP TIER customers? Get the lips ready for schmoozing. They are 80 percent of your business. 80/20 rule.

I'm a former New Yorker and used to frequent many of the tracks back in the day. Today I only make a yearly trek to Saratoga. I'll still do that, but after reading your posts, It's not quite the bright shiny penny it once was to me. Slight paradigm shift for me.

People may not have thought much of Beulah Park, but at least being there, I could get up from my desk in the "Clubhouse", go out in the main area, place a bet, use the toilet, get a beer and a hotdog, chat with a few other Horseplayers, then mosey on back to my desk. ALL of my items would be there, even my laptop. I never worried. I'll miss Beulah.

Thanks again for posting. Sorry about your experience.

[thaskalos]

What some people don't understand is that it is INSULTING to have something taken away from you when you have complied with your part of the agreement which got you this "comp" to begin with.

If the big bettors are given their own room where they can place their wagers in relative secrecy and safety, and they continue to wager the amounts to satisfy the original agreement that they've made with the track...then losing this room is -- in no uncertain terms -- the track's way of telling them that their action is no longer appreciated.

[dirty moose]

Originally Posted by EMD4ME

Surface 2 is the tablet that I utilize (besides my laptop). There is no clubhouse dining area. We're all jammed into a tiny corner on the bottom floor. There is no admission cost. It's the size of a medium sized OTB. It's 1 floor. Limited seating that is piranha style. First come first serve, get up you lose the seat. Machines are 5-6 deep with .10 straight super players handicapping at the machine with their .40 cent voucher. Screaming and yelling so loud that an insane asylum is where you go to get some peace and quiet. No joke, not exaggerating.

This is pretty funny, mostly cause it's true...