Betfair miss the chance for some great customer service
First off, on the plus side, the start of the flat turf season was a success, so that was a big positive.
On the downside; how would you feel if minutes into a game of football the match stopped and the team you just backed, decided to field a reserve team instead? Would you like your bet to stand? Thought not!
Yesterday at Meydan the Dubai Gold Cup had to be stopped mid race due to a fatal injury to a horse. After discussion it was decided to re-run the race later that evening, nearly five hours later in fact.
I think it was an obviously mistake to re-run the race given that two other horses suffered in the re-run. I think it was a poor decision: –
https://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/mar/31/dubai-world-cup-deaths-gold-cup
As was proved, attempting a re-run would present a very different market. Most bookies voided or offered to void bets. Befair was in the unique position that 75% of their bets arrive in the last five minutes and everybody can be contacted quickly as they are purely internet based. So a void would pose no problems to them. No joe punter with a tenner in cash over a counter. You also had people with large amounts of cash tied up in the race itself, stopping them from doing other things. As the race was now scheduled five hours later, voiding it would give people plenty of chance to decide if they wanted to bet again and would err on the customer side of things. It looks like a really judgement and really easy to implement. Just press that void button.
So their decision to withdraw the runner, apply a retrospective R4, backtrack SP, and all inplay bets and continue with the existing betting market had me completely perplexed. Yes there was a precedent, but each set of circumstances are unique on these events and deserve a unique response. You also have two decisions, a commercial one and a customer service one. On this occasion it looks to me that Betfair choose the commercial decision and missed a great opportunity for a no lose customer service win. Of course that decision will continue to have a commercial impact as people bury their heads in their hands again when yet another decision seemingly robs them of money.
Other bookmakers had their hands tied, but Betfair did not; so it’s a really shame they choose incorrectly, again!
Category: Betfair, Horse Racing
