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Grayson, if you stay up all night you should have the first episode ready for immediate dispatch to the BBC by dawn!
The night is still young, and my pen is twitching…
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Yes I am a Cobblers fan. Awesome win at home last night aganst Leeds
There is a guy in a certain betting shop in Coventry that sits in a shopping thoroughfair with a paper cup begging. When his cup if full he walks round to the corner into the bookies and puts it on the dogs.
The next Donald Trump
As people have said, there has been a huge change in the people and kind of people who betting shops now employ. In the past managers and most of their staff took an interest in racing or at the least had a fair degree of knowledge. now they are just counter hands who rarely know or care whats going on because their job is merely to put tickets through a till and take money, occasionally pay out money, and empty machines when the money gets short. A lot of them in my area barely speak or understand English and from some of the ads I’ve seen are barely paid minimum wage. I had several friends who got out of it when they brought in the computerised tills and didn’t need settlers any more and the companies were only interested i cartoons, bingo, lotto draws all over the world and slot machines. Still go in my local to have a bet every now and again, but it is too full of people huddled around machines or around the screen which is showing the latest numbers racket and its hard to get to the till sometimes.
Firefox, northampton have small squad but some real quality in there. Leeds FA cup replay we had key players out. The game last night a few players back and we beat them fair and square. MK Dons are a quality outfit this season i.m.o
I like the bookies, it is a social thing for me and for a lot of people.
If it only ever becomes about the gambling then it kinda loses something for me..and not just my dosh..
The manager is very important as s/he sets the tone for the shop, and the banter…a decent managaer makes all the difference…maybe not so much turnover wise as the terminals rule….but I still think the relationship they have with their customers is very important. Where I live there are 4 different major chain bookies within 1/2 of a mile of each other – the machines are usually steady, but not so much now post-credit crunch.
Some nights the shops are empty though, which must be very boring for the staff, even if they can watch the soaps and talk about Big Brother ad nauseam.
I do find rudeness offputting, so I tend to treat staff as they treat me…I am polite, but if they do not reciprocate then I do not make any effort.
Let’s face it….bookies will become casinos sooner rather than later….surely the Gvnt will eventually have a more encompassing Gambling Act allowing local casino-style establishments?
Just wonder if the human relationship element will eventually disappear.
*sob*
Zip
Managers do indeed make all the difference, and having just left a local bookies myself (Chisholm’s) as well as frequenting the Coral near where I worked and Ladbrokes up the street I have found that it is the smaller bookies that have the best banter. My manager is great with the customers, as are all the others I worked with in the company (bar one arrogant dick who, rather than asking if he could help a customer, would bang his hand on the counter till the handed him their slip). The staff at Coral are also brilliant, making for a great atmosphere in the shop. However at Ladbrokes I got the impression they didn’t give a ****, and rarely spoke to me unless I made the effort. One of the lads is sound enough though.
Get Zippy , you are spot on , betting shops are becoming much more like mini casinos each day
But then again our own Zorro who sometimes masquerades as Paul Haigh writing occasionally for the RP forecast this about 5 yrs ago , I agreed with him then but really wondered if it would ever happen , for me its just around the corner
The same losers frequent thrm , but at least its not smokey anymore
cheers
Ricky
Yep, it will be a sad day once we are served by robots…
Maybe we could create our own Racing Forum betting shop? The ultimate punting environment on the basis of our voting stystem?
It would have EVERYTHING we need
So is Zorro the spitting image of Paul Haigh?
Zip
Zippy , only one man/creature can answer that ,he’s called Gamble, once upon a time on this forum there was a classic topic involving them both , sadly its been shelved in cyberspace , but take my word for it , they have form
Ricky
I had a right row with the manager of my local Coral the other night for accusing me of trying to nick a price when it was their own screens that were slow to change and took him over half an hour of phone calls to admit it was their fault not mine and never fully apologised.
I hear you MCFC Stan!
Happens all the time in the bookies. Sure, I’m as guilty as the next person when I try and "steal" half a point if I can, but the amount of times I miss a price because of slowness of staff etc…
Guess it’s swings and roundabouts…
However, your manager in Corals should use some common sense and give you the bloody price (assuming it was negligible), esp if you are a loyal customer.
I know firms are getting tighter than ever and staff can be disciplined over such matters, but really….
Zip
It’s stressful enough when you’re having a bad run but then these things happen to lighten your day:-
1) Staff decide to go outside for a smoke, leaving one colleague on the till just a minute away from the off and you end up at the back of a queue with those in front asking for a price on a one pound bet with most of the field in the stalls.
2) The Manager and Deputy having a day off and leaving the youngsters in charge who see this as an opportunity to be permanently attached to their mobile phones sending texts to all their mates.
3) Someone who hasn’t a clue about racing pinning-up the main meeting’s form on the board with the worst possible access for more than one customer and giving the night meeting at Timbuctoo pride of place in the shop.
4)Punters who, knowing there’s a queue behind them decide to have a social chit-chat with staff and think female staff appreciate sexist jokes.
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