MILLENIUM'S STUPIDITY (full)

sd2 · Aug 9, 2004

Ah, to continue . . .

It is strange indeed to see tin ear denseness on the part of some offshores, even established ones.

A senior citizen of my acquaintance has been betting horses with Millenium for almost five years. Generally pops for $20 to $200 per bet, mostly straight wagers.

He's not online, always calls in. He has HorseRAcing TV, and usually waits until a few minutes before post to get down.

A week or so ago he bet $40 on a horse that was a second favorite. The next time he called in he noted the win he had on that was not credited. He inquired, and was informed that since he did not get it in before 3 minutes to post, the bet was invalid.

OK, fine. Most offshores have recently given themselves a few minutes time cushion, likely because they've been burned too often by racetrack wiseguys getting down in last few seconds. The books no doubt want the time to lay off the excess into the mutuel pools.

BUT MILLENIUM WAS ABSOLUTELY OBLIGATED TO INFORM MY FRIEND OF THIS NEW POLICY WHEN THEY PUT IN IN, NOT AFTER THE FACT. AND THEY DID NOT DO SO.

kerry · Aug 9, 2004

How about all the losers within 3 minutes? Those should be added back to the account. Now, if that is the only one within 3 minutes, one may be SOL.

dogdoug · Aug 9, 2004

Once again, this garbage book strikes again. Everytime I reply to a Millenium post (they ripped me off a couple of years ago), a good number of posters say they've had no problems or they're not that bad, etc. Others usually agree this is the lowest of all lows in this industry. Anyone who insists on continuing to give this place their money is treading on very dangerous ground. But, hey; it's your money.

MilesO'Toole · Aug 9, 2004

What you need to do to make sure people understand your point is to start 3 threads about this.

Seriously though your friend had to be given a post time when he wagered on the phone. He had to notice it then unless he wasnt listening.

bucsfan67 · Aug 9, 2004

sd2

posted August 09, 2004 01:27 PM
I keep getting called away and my kid, visiting today, is hitting button on the PC. Also sorry about a horse tale when everyone's mind, myself included, is on foots.

My friend argued with the manager, to no avail. He's been a regular Mill customer, and has several times over the years done four figure reloads. As Mill dropped the ball re non-informing on a new policy (doesn't matter if it's on their website, a call in guy can't see that)they should have just credited him the relatively small win. STUPID, just like I said. And my friend has asked me to find him another book, more considerate to callers-in.

bucsfan67 · Aug 9, 2004

SD2,

I moved your other thread post into this thread, since its about the exact same thing....no need to have 2 threads going about it.....

Just keep it all here....

Thanks

sd2 · Aug 9, 2004

No, he asked them when arguing with the manager why he wasn't notified, and got no real response. (Sorry about the 3 threads, it wasn't deliberate. Like Mill, I made an error. And apologized. But Mill should have apolgised with a credit. Instead, they lose a steady bettor. Rigidity teamed with stupidity in a losing parlay. The loss is really Millenium's.)

MilesO'Toole · Aug 9, 2004

I understand your friends angry but what I am saying is that most books automatically add whatever time they buffer with on the call. So if your friend was wagering and finished his call at 1pm est the clerk will give the read back saying post time is 1:03 pm est (or whatever time limit they add). Did your friend not ever notice this?

sd2 · Aug 9, 2004

Yes, they always gave him a current time. I think most books do on call in horse bets. But if he didn't know of the 3 minutes policy, it wouldn't matter. Of course, no one really knows when a race will start, there could be some kind of delay, horse refuses to enter, etc. He's on the West Coast, but I talked to him by phone last nite, and he insists that he was never informed of the 3 minute policy. I bet horses very occassionally online, and I do know the few mintues cushion is fairly new. I see it marked clearly on the site of the book I use (NOT Millenium.) I used to work in customer service, and for a gambling enterprise, at that. That ain't no way to do customer service! I can contrast it with wagerweb (nee cbs) whom - when on Monday July 4 I informed them they did not have the full holiday horse menu up on their site - responded by putting 50 bucks into my account for the heads-up. I'm not shilling - screw the shills - just stating facts. It's a differnce between marketing intelligence and the kind of dumbness displayed by Millenium.

FireBad · Aug 9, 2004

Everyone has a 3 to 5 minute window to bet before post. If he's been betting with them for years he has to know this.

MilesO'Toole · Aug 9, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fire Bad:
Everyone has a 3 to 5 minute window to bet before post. If he's been betting with them for years he has to know this.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is exaclty my point also. But if we are only talking about $20 and he is a big lifetime loser to them then I do agree that they should give him the benifit of the doubt and pay off the race.

How much money are we talking about here?

SubZaero · Aug 9, 2004

I don't know why people always make such a big deal about some things. Real Simple:
Check the customer's history in horse betting.

If he's a regular horse bettor, check if he has a history of past posting, if he does, end of story, "sorry sir, but this has happened before". If he doesn't, check at exactly what time he made the bet, if it was within the 3 minute policy (not later of course) and if he says he didn't know about the rule, honor the bet and ask him to please for now on, call within 5 minutes before the race's post time so they can avoid the same situation. He's been "officialy" warned.

Standard customer service procedure.

sd2 · Aug 9, 2004

I totally agree with SubZaero. That what YOU would do were you in cs, and so would I when I was so doing. But why didn't Millenium? Cripes, they've been making money off the guy for years. To give Mill the benefit of the doubt, it was anal rigidity on the part of a low-level employee. Must have been. They couldn't have been that dumb. (Or could they?)

BTW, the few minute cushion policy is not, I am sure, years old. I think it was just instituted by most books within the past year. I know for a fact that most books used to take bets right up until the official post (or "off" time). This includes Millenium, I know, I bet with them once (yes, I put my elderly friend on to them five years ago when I didn't know better, but when I left them 3 years ago due to - guess what - their bad behavior, he decided to stay).

My main point was that this was a case where a book clearly acted against their own interests. My friend will now lose his money elsewhere. Mill isn't new, they've been plying their trade for years, and I notice they're on Prescription's Preferred List.

MilesO'Toole · Aug 9, 2004

SD2 - How much money did he wager and how much did the horse pay, along with the supposed bet time and post time of the race?

DickyW · Aug 9, 2004

More then likely it is some cowboy at millenium who believes you do everything by the book. Every situation can vary depending upon the type of player your dealing with. If all the fact stated above are correct I suggest your friend call Mill and ask to speak to a manger. No businesman in his right mind would let a longtime player walk over a $20 win bet, no matter how much it paid

ChuckSims · Aug 9, 2004

sd2, Millennium is a SHIT book. If thats their policy then the bet is voided. But knowing Millennium like I do, if the horse had lost the bet would have been graded a loser. Tell your acquaintance to select another book like Pinnacle or betehorse.

Guest · Aug 9, 2004

Aren't these guys under bad NASA's umbrella? I wouldn't touch them with a 10 ft pole. Sims is right there are better places to play the horses.

I'm a Pinny fan and yes even a Youbet fan if betting horses. Youbet charges 14.95/mo but IMO if you play everyday it's worth it. Plus they're based in Oregon which is better than some other places to play horses.

sb

JeromeJ · Aug 9, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chuck Sims:
Tell your acquaintance to select another book like Pinnacle or betehorse. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pinny won't work. The poster said his friend like to call his plays in.

AB_O.G. · Aug 9, 2004

Millennium has had the same policy for years. At the end of every call, in the read back, the post time is read to you. You can even ask to listen to the tape.

sd2 · Aug 9, 2004

Right, Pinnacle would be fine, but my friend, in another state than I now, is not online. He's one of those seniors (in his 70s) who would rather handle horse plop than touch a computer. He probably figures he'd immediately die. I'll look for a good call in race book for him, offshore, because he also likes to stick a teaser bet in on the NFL now and then.

Just one more thing, as Colombo used to say. It is absolutely false that the books have had the time buffer for years. Yes, they always stated the time the bet was made, but five years ago, even three years ago, THEY WERE TAKING BETS RIGHT UP TO THE "OFF" TIME. I'm not calling anyone who states the contrary a liar, I am simply and charitably stating they are freakin' mistaken!! LOL