Gold Circle - come join the rest of us in 2012!!

Just a warning to all would be punters utilising Gold Circle's telebet and fixed odds telebet facility.

Heard about a case where a punter on course phoned the fixed odds telebet for a straight bet on a horse having the odds read back to him and the call got cut off. He did not phone back as he had placed the bet clearly and had heard the correct odds read back to him. After the race was run and the horse won, he phoned to have a punt on another race with his winnings only to be told that the bet had not been struck as no verbal confirmation was given by him to accept this bet. If this were in terms of the rules and regulations, that would all be well and good, but upon research of this issue I found Gold Circle's terms and conditions, which I have attached accordingly. I suppose there ruling would be based on point 1.4, but nowhere does it implicitly state that verbal confirmation is needed, only to check against your written record, further to this the NB: states that the call back of the operator are the bets recorded against your account. It does not define what a call back by the operator entails e.g. the odds of the bet, the number or name etc.

Further to this point 4.9.2 states that recordings go back 14 days, I have confirmed with an employee of the fixed odds telebetting side that there recordings only go back 7 days. Further to this, point 1.4 states that your new balance is read back to you, this does not always occur on the fixed odds telebet facility. Upon explanation from said employee, it was found out that the tote telebetting side updates immediately as the balance is available real-time, whereas with the fixed odds telebet facility, the bet needs to go into the system, and there is a delay for the balance to reflect, at which time most of the punters have put down the phone, the operator does not tell them to wait for their balance due to this being Tabgold's Terms and Conditions.

Upon request to the tote manager to show which rule confirms that a verbal confirmation is needed, the response was that he is not a legal eagle and does not know. Surely this is not in the spirit of the new Consumer Protection Act which ensures that Terms and Conditions setout by a supplier / operator to a customer should be simple enough for the man on the street to work out / decipher.

It seems as if Gold Circle is using one set of Terms and Conditions that looks as if it was drafted before Madiba was released from prison, for two sets of business models (tote and fixed-odds) and seems to base rules more on heresay then what has been clearly defined. Come on Gold Circle, surely with all the heat you are getting from the Gambling Board as well as the Kings III report on good Corporate Governance you can use that Internal Audit department of yours as well as other resources at hand to draft a current, clear, concise policy that defines your betting rules. Surely the betting side of your business is your bread and butter, and curbing out any grey areas would be a priority in what is already perceived as a 'grey and shady' industry.

Thought and comments welcome.

Attached files TEMPLET - RULES AND REGULATIONS.doc (36 KB)Â

Was just re-reading the rules and regulations:

Check point 4.1.7
All bets struck through Gold Circle’s Telebetting Centre are subject to the totalisator
rules in force at the time, and to the provisions laid down in the Horse Racing and
Betting Ordinance of 1957 and the regulations framed thereunder, and to any
provisions laid down by any legislation regarding horse racing and betting passed by
any competent authority.


Wowser!! The Ordinance was regulated in 1957, I wonder if there has been significant changing to this as surely this is antequated in todays terms.

And if the horse lost............you would use exactly the same argument to prove that the bet was never accepted.I have absolutly no problem with what they did. It was the correct and only option. The punter should have phoned back, or would you also argue that it is telebet's fault that the call was dropped.

Hollywood phones back if the dropped no matter who's to be blamed. Happen to me on Sunday.

Hi Sharkie,

You misunderstand my post, this is certainly not touching on the individual case but rather the antequated rules and regulations. The answer that was given was that no verbal confirmation was given, I am just asking under which rule or regulation this this is defined in. Surely there should be a clear conformed way of placing and accepting bets, not just a dodgy one pager where nothing is defined, sets up heresay when something should clearly be in black and white.

ffs just like punters are responsible for checking that their tote tickets are correct so are they responsible when calling bets to on the phone ...the punter only has himself to blame for not phoning back and confirming the bet ffs what a load of dogshit

agree pirates,

But if the operator called the odds, the terms and conditions state that what the operator calls back will come off your account, what is the definition of what a call back is by the operator. Just looking for clarity in terms of what is written and defined. A physical ticket in your hand you can touch and feel (is tangible). The call back by the operator could mean anything as this is not defined in rules and regulations. Must he say you have a bet, just call out the price, read the name and number of the horse etc. Show me the guidelines.

they call the bet back to you and you confirm the bet is correct ,was this done ?

Pirates,

I do not want to get into semantics with you as this does not concern me directly, I am just forewarning the punting public in general and asking Gold Circle to update and formalise their antequated policies. All I am saying is with the totalisator you get a ticket which you can proof-read to confirm that all is in order. In the telebet rules and regulations, nowhere can I read with exact definition that they call the back to you and you have to verbally confirm the bet, point 1.4 states that you should check that the call back is correct, meaning if the call back is correct you do not have to rectify the call back and therefore technically do not have to confirm the bet, and the correct bet will be placed. Show me where it states that when they call the bet back to you you have to confirm that the bet is correct. I agree with you in principle, but the rules and regulations are ambiguous as once again I quote:
N.B. The bets called back by the operator are the bets recorded against your account.
There is no mention once confirmed.