Blame yourself Phumelela not the Open Bet..

I do not have an answer they don't seem to listen or care and I'm not sure where or who will ban you Sharkie(I don't think you can get banned by the RA if for Phumelela's failings and as Groucho Marxs said "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member"- The point is that the lack of basic business skills is chasing away the few remainig punters we have left.
Element I'm not sure about a robbery at HW maybe Jason can help. I did feel safer there though just by seeing the security guys (one inside one outside) and two of those metal gates. I'm not advocating that punters rush off to Hollywood or there local Bookie - I'm saying to Phumelela "you have to take your local business seriously as the world market could let you down and allyou need is an outbreak of a virus or the like and if local racing is suspended for a few weeks you will face huge problems so look after your existing patrons. The Football World Cup is coming and the focus will fall heavily on that sport and the product(Soccer six)already has strong competion from bookmakers as they offer a wider selection of bets. Many players could migrate at this point(those that want doubles fixed price etc) and you may never get them back to take racing bets

Mr H, you sound like a very intelligent and logical person. I want you to consider the theory that loosing all it horse racing customers, is exactly what Phum want. I know it would be stupid,but would that not explain all the postings on this and other sites about poor service. It would explain a hell of a lot.

To be honest this has crossed my mind but what about the really big owners who have spent millions in buying bloodstock and are linked to the board(makes no sense to kill something you love)? No i think it is more likely that the problem lies with the people employed that are not doing their jobs and should leave before they damage something that they have very little interest in. Racing does not have to compete with any other betting types as it will always have followers(just the amount of fans will change)- It has a fundamental human condition(Competition - the will to win) as its foundation. If all the TB horses died of a disease tomorrow someone would get a bunch of mules to race the next day. Racing can't die but could become so small that it would be the domain of a few diehards if Phumelela are allowed to continue unchecked. As Freud(i think it was him) once said "sometimes an umbrella is just an umbrella" and an incompetent person is just that without hidden agenda - he/she would be just as lax working in a Bank/Dairy or TOTE/Management

Having had other interaction with "P" and Tab-online,I don't think they are smart enough to be particularly devious...I think its chronic incompetence and lack of management of basic issues!

At the very least P need to consider bringing their takeouts in line with UK and Aus. Even the foreign totes offer South African punters far better value (14-15% takeout) than the local tote.

It is one thing to point to foreign money coming into the local tote and boast how good it is for local racing, but what about local cash flowing out to overseas totes, especially as these offer better value?

This is quite a depressing thread.

Is that better Barry?

A great industry, but depressingly run.