I grew up going to Saratoga with my Dad or taking a bus from Schenectady on Saturdays when he didn’t want to go, and I still think Saratoga has the highest quality racing in the country. When I lived on the East Coast, my Dad, siblings, and I used to make annual pilgrimages to the Spa (accompanied by dinners at Luigi’s in Schenectady). I now live in California, but when I moved here I opened a NYRA Telebet account so I could bet NY racing by phone. Eventually, for convenience, I shifted most of my handle to an online account, betting only occasionally through NYRA by phone. Finally, I couldn’t even bet by phone, so I closed the account.

When NYRA started offering a video feed of their races, I opened a Basic account (no betting) so I could watch. Last summer, I thought about taking advantage of a Bet and Get offer from NYRA Bets, so I sent them an e-mail asking whether my old Telebet account would disqualify me. They never responded. I’ve never had any such problem with XpressBet.

Last Saturday, signed in through my Basic account, I played in the Saturday Showdown contest and won, proving that it’s better to be lucky than good. I didn’t hear anything from NYRA, so I went online to find out whether and how I could collect the prize of 50,000 points. I also renewed my question about eligibility for the current Bet and Get offer. The chat function was offline, so I was encouraged to leave a message and my e-mail address. I did that. I got an e-mail back that their spam filter had blocked my message (which I had typed into a message box on their website).

Failing to contact them online, I called on Tuesday morning. The woman on the phone was very courteous and helpful, but could not answer my question about the contest points. She said I would need to call back on Thursday, when the promotions personnel were in the office. She did answer my question about Bet and Get. They did not get around to suspending my Telebet account for over a year after I emptied and closed it, so the three-year inactivity requirement is not met.

I called back on Thursday. The same woman answered my call and transferred me to promotions. No one answered, so I got kicked to voice mail and left a message to call me. No one did.

Today (Friday), I connected with an operator through the chat function. She told me that, because I live in California, I am not eligible for the prize. The rules say the contest is open to anyone in the US, but they also say “void where prohibited,” so I’ll live with that. I’ve had worse beats.

My annual handle is minuscule by TG standards, so I’m sure my absence won’t affect the bottom line at NYRA Bets, but I’m struck by NYRA’s repeated failure to meet even minimal customer relations standards. If anyone ever wanted to see NYRA succeed, it’s me, but it’s like they’re trying to piss me off. I’ll incorporate this post into a letter to Chris Kay to let him know how my “guest experience” has been.