I have several issues with the survey sent out by the Lottery Agents Association of Victoria about Intralot: It is poorly constructed – as if they have a specific outcome in mind; Some questions are push in nature; It has not been sent to all agents; and, the survey demonstrates the continued bias of the LAAV against Intralot.
I see little activity from the LAAV on the barriers imposed by Tattersalls against Intralot, barriers which deny Intralot fair and reasonable access in many retail situations. Take instant scratch tickets for example, they belong on the counter, next to online lottery products. Tattersalls successfully maneuvered it so that this could not be achieved.
I would hope that Tony Robinson, the Minister responsible, finds a way to achieve an equitable solution – for the sake of small business retailers, consumers and Intralot which paid good money for fair and reasonable access.
It’s not hard to see why Intralot have received and continue to receive criticism since my terminal was out yesterday for over an hour and as i type this it’s been out for the 4 hours i’ve been open. I dare say it’s an entire network problem given i’ve tried to get through to Intralot for the last 3 1/2 hours since i first realized it was down but all i get is an engaged signal.
Yesterday wasn’t much better, i got through but i was on hold for half an hour only to be cut off, i rang back again then for another 35 mins i was on hold. When i finally did talk to someone i was told all i had to do was print out my sweep report which will fix the problem.
Why in the hell did it take me over an hour of my time while trying to run my business at a very busy time just to find out the solution was so simple? Why didn’t they send through a terminal message and saved everybody the time they wasted on the phone?
They did eventually leave a message letting those who called what the problem was but fat lot of good that done me and others who had to wait so long. The worst part is they haven’t learned a thing from yesterday and are too stupid to think of sending through a terminal message or a blanket email telling us what the problem is.
I’ve never in all my time come across such incompetence and from a company of such a massive size. While they have seemed to have sorted some of the teething issues they had early on i still get many communication errors as well as these last 2 mornings which is just totally unacceptable no matter how you look at it.
The worst part is you never find out you have a problem until you go to serve someone and by then the customer doesn’t want to wait around for it to be fixed because it rarely is a quick fix by the time you call the helpline.
You said you hoped that Tony Robinson, the Minister responsible, finds a way to achieve an equitable solution. Well i hope he looks into it and finds the gross ineptness of Intralot and how they’ve under achieved in ways that even i couldn’t imagine. These are the issues i care about, not where the scratchies are placed which is trivial by comparison given i dare say many more people would have lost more money on the $10K they paid on the license as opposed to any shortfall (if any at all) on scratchie sales.
Another thing, i’m a big boy with my own mind and i certainly wasn’t “pushed” or coerced into writing anything i didn’t want to in the survey. It also wasn’t compulsory to fill in either so again nobody was obliged to do it if they didn’t want to. If i was so inclined, i or anyone else had plenty of opportunity to praise Intralot in the survey so i can’t subscribe to the theory which is utter rubbish that the questions pushed one way or another.
For example a question was overall, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with Intralot? Another one, Do you intend to terminate your contract with Intralot within the next six months, incur the $1,800 termination fee and return the equipment? A fair enough question given the unhappiness from many outlets. After that they also ask, If you answered NO to Question 6, what are your reasons for not intending to terminate your Intralot contract?
There’s just 2 examples of people given every chance to praise Intralot had they wanted to. Like i said, i’m an adult who runs my own business just as all the others are who received this survey. If i or any of others were swayed/pushed by these questions either way and were naive enough to be then they shouldn’t be running a business. Newsagents on for the very most part aren’t stupid Mark so don’t treat them as such.
Apologies for any typo’s or the like in my previous post. That comes from a combination of chopping and changing things while working and not proof reading it again before i send it.
This is a different Dean, but I suggest my opinion of Intralot is about the same.
My Keno sales have dropped 80% compared to Tatts, and Lucky Lines and Bingo sales are almost non-existent. Scratchie sales are up 40%, that is the ONLY good thing about Intralot.
I have some suggestions of how to improve the situation. Give Keno back to Tattersalls. My Keno sales will go up by $1,200 a week straight away. Also, let Tattersalls have Tatts 2 back. My sales will go up about $450 a week. Let Intralot keep their Bingo and Luck Lines, the $35 per week that I sell in each of them won’t make any difference either way. As for Scratchies, I don’t care who has them, but would suggest if Tatts gets back Keno and Tatts 2 their sales will drop to where they were before either way.
Also they need to fix the performance of their machine. My machine is also out today. Unlike the other Dean, I am not wasting my time on hold to Intralot to fix it. The $50 in sales that I will lose is not worth my time.
At the start I was excited because I thought that Intralot would help us grow our sales. The reality of the situation is that customers HATE and do not TRUST Intralot. There is nothing that Intralot can do to fix this, the damage has been done. While I accept that there are a few outlets doing well out of Intralot, they are in the minority, and from what I have been told it is in most cases at the expense of their Tattersalls sales. When the government gave Monday Wednesday Lotto to Tattersalls instead of Intralot, that meant the sales were at least 5 times greater than if Intralot had of got it.
I won’t be handing my licence back. I am actually making money out of Intralot if you look at the commission less the fees, however if you take into account time and effort, as well as electricity and interest, then I am losing money.
if we collectively had the strength we could force the issue.900 outlets turning off the machines for a week or two might force someones hand..im happy to forego my $200 odd bucks a week net commission for as long as it takes to fix this disgracefull mess that was forced upon us,failing something as drastic as that, i for one am handing back my licence on the 12 month anniversary and will make them chase me for the cancellation fee,im quite prepared to go to court even if nothing else to hopefully gain some expossure to the shit sandwich we were dealt,i will feel much better then…..surely intralots lack of turnover alone should be enough reason for their contract to be revoked or reviewed at the very least
If Intralot has been provided with fair and reasonable access to the network from the outset maybe things would have been different. At the very least, scratch ticket sales would have been better. Who knows about the online games.
I blame the government for allowing Tattersalls to get away with what I consider to be restrictive trade practices.
I like that Intralot has been advertising its retail outlet on radio and in print. I like that they have offered us cash rewards for engagement.
I also like that they consult so widely on developing new product.
Mark
Mark..I’m curious. For someone who is so outspoken against those who do harm to the newsagency channel, the absence of any criticism of Intralot since their beginning is noticeable. I understand why you are critical of Tatts but all I’ve seen in your posts re Intralot are excuses for them.
For the record, do you have any association, arrangement or partnership with Intralot other than having them as a supplier to your business? I think it’s important that this is cleared up as there appears to be a clear bias in your posts towards them and this would be an opportunity to clarify.
ted,
I have been critical of Intralot here and privately directly to them.
For the record, I have no association, arrangement or partnership with them or any party associated with them.
My comments here are driven by the way our core asset, our retail network, has been controlled by the government and Tattarsalls to block competition.
Mark
Mark,
You said “If Intralot has been provided with fair and reasonable access to the network from the outset maybe things would have been different. At the very least, scratch ticket sales would have been better. Who knows about the online games”.
To put it bluntly, what a load of utter drivel. The problem isn’t the fact of where the terminals are or what can be advertised in certain places, the problem is the games are nothing but crap that the vast majority of people just don’t want to play.
IF Intralot didn’t tamper with Keno so much to the point of bastardization then they MAY have stood some sort of chance of keeping existing players. But in their wisdom and for whatever reason that is known only to them, they took away the main important element of Keno in that the original was so very easy to play. They went and changed it and in the process complicated it with stakes, hi-low, 2pm and 8pm draws etc which made it much harder for the operator of the terminals and customers alike.
Not to mention the substantial drop in prize money as well. They inherited a winning proven formula and stuffed it right up to the detriment of themselves, customers and agents alike. Purely and simply people don’t like change and that’s only reflected and proven in the abysmal performance of Intralot since it’s inception. As the old saying goes, if it aint broke then don’t fix it.
As for the scratchies, like the other Dean my sales are well up with mine being over 30% so even if Tattersall’s did relent or they were made to hand the scratchie bays back then i wouldn’t move them back anyway. Why mess with a winning formula when the arrangement is working for me so well? It’s a pity Intralot didn’t do the same when it came to Keno.
It’s ironic, you seem to be hanging your hat on the argument that Intralot aren’t allowed to use the existing scratchie bays and that’s a big reason why they’ve done so pathetically thus far, well i know 13 agents who i talk to on a regular basis in regards to these issues and EVERY single one of them tell me that the only thing that has been a success for them is the scratchies and that’s obviously when they’re placed in the non Tatts territory!
I know 13 is only a very small percentage of the entire network, but if i know 13 of 13, plus myself as well as the other Dean who are having success with scratchies, then the law of averages would suggest that many others are having success with them as well. Alas scratchies are only one part of the Intralot product range and they alone don’t help to make Intralot a viable proposition.
I would love to know what the scratchie sales are now overall as opposed to when Tatts had them. I recall quite well at Intralot training they gave the numbers of Tatt’s sales, how low they were and they would be making a concerted effort to exceed those figures substantially. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they have succeeded in their target and have lifted sales throughout the entire network.
That said if they have in fact increased sale it would shoot even more holes in your already flimsy argument about scratchie placement Mark. I can’t wait to read if/when Intralot release these figures because it’ll make fascinating reading.
Then again they may not even release them because if they have increased them they won’t have any basis to whinge about not using the Tatts bays. If you don’t mind me asking Mark, what are your Tatts/Intralot scratchie sales comparisons Mark? and please be transparent and not diddle the figures to and some sort of credence to your grievances. While you’re there could you also add Keno sales to that as well? In the interest of fairness mine are over 60% down as of the end of last week.
You can use the simplistic view that the vast majority of Intralots ills are Tatts’ doing but the fact is, Intralots ills were caused by Intralot alone for the above reasons and many others and unfortunately everyone is now paying for their ineptness. You can live in denial of that truth all you like but it doesn’t change one bit that Intralot have been a failure overall of epic proportions and there’s no way it’s going to turn around any time soon. If at all.
Well i’ve just returned to the shop after having a few hours off at home only to find that the Intralot terminal is STILL down. The girls that work for me have tried many many times to contact them by phone only to be met with the engaged signal every time.
I was absolutely dumbstruck when they told me it was still down since early this morning, this without so much as a courtesy email/terminal massage from Intralot to inform their agents of what the issue is. It would take 2 minutes to compose one of these messages for the entire network yet they didn’t even have the decency to do that.
This is the reason people don’t like nor play Intralot Mark and you can bet your life that they’ve lost many more of their very small market share of players after today. The girls told me that people are not one bit happy and let them know what they thought of the company and i don’t blame them one bit for their anger.
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and positive spin you try and put on this one Mark, let me guess it’s Tatts’ fault yet again? I’m sure it’ll work it’s way in somewhere. The funny thing is that the day when Tatts are donating millions of dollars in proceeds to the burns unit yet their competitor hasn’t let us sell one ticket with no explanation why.
Intralot have treated their agents and customers alike with utter contempt today and i for one hope they cop the wraith of all involved for this complete bebacle. I know i’ll be onto the gaming minister first thing Monday morning to voice my displeasure but i think it might prove even harder getting onto him than it is to Intralot today given there’ll be many many agents with the same idea as me. Their behavior and the way they run their business is nothing short of a disgrace. I’m interested in hearing what others think about Intralots actions (or lack thereof)
Good luck defending this one Mark.
Im with you Ted,i just dont understand why there is such blatant defence of a model that underdelivers and underperforms to our channel.Any other such underperformance is highlighted and ridiculed by Mark,Intralot on the other hand is constantly championed by him,obviously its nor just his Intralot commission driving such praise..
Mark…I’m not accusing you but a cursory check of your archived lottery posts shows no criticism of Intralot but no opportunity missed to criticise Tatts (justified criticism I might add). There does appear to be a bias towards one supplier with instant rejection of every other agents’ negative comments about Intralot.
Ted,
My first Intralot post was on January 31, 2007. I was critical of what I saw an a looming decision for Intralot. I followed this up two days later and another seven times leading to the decision. Many of these posts were critical of the Government and Intralot for what I suspected was coming. I was also critical of the LAAV for their inaction on the whole licence issue.
As the launch of Intralot approached I decided to give them a go because the competition would be good. I have acknowledged issues along the way with Intralot but have also defended them because of the significant barriers mounted by Tattersalls and State Government inaction.
I am mindful that we are comparing a company with less than a year operating in this state with a company with over 100 years experience here.
If you talk to the senior folks at Intralot they will tell you I have been robust in putting my case on a range of issues. Tattersalls could not say the same thing because they are, for the most part, inaccessible at a senior level unless you are in a legal forum.
Part of my response on Intralot is to provide this forum and the yahoogroups email group through which others can put their views. If I was hell bent on only one side of a debate getting out I could shut both down or at least moderate the comments. I don’t do that. Therefore, take on board the whole body of discussion here on Intralot and judge me for that, not as publisher, but as facilitator of the forum and that I do not block debate or diverse views being published by correspondents.
Intralot has made many mistakes. They know that. Their latest radio and print campaign, their in-store marketing, their sleighs and the prizes around Bingo are all examples of them responding to what outlets have requested.
We can continue to complain about them and, ultimately, push them out of town or to another retail channel and live with Tattersalls or we can continue to let them know what we need and hope that they build a stronger and more viable business for all involved.
Mark
bout the outage today why is it Optus
fault again! And not Intralot’s, and why couldn’t intralot as stated above send us an email at least, surely not all forms of correspondence have failed to inform us retailers of today’s debacle.We’ve had Tatt’s terminals go down but still we’re able to contact Help desk.
After reading all the above I am so confused as to what to make of the situation. Now the NSW government is looking to sell of NSW Lotto, does this mean we will experience the same situation as the newsagents in this blog?
So what argument should we take to our local government ministers to stop this happening in NSW or will it be a good thing? HELP
I could pick your post apart and point out many things you mentioned that are just plain cop outs Mark but i’ll only touch on one thing and what i think is an important thing to the newsagency channel.
You said “We can continue to complain about them and, ultimately, push them out of town or to another retail channel and live with Tattersalls or we can continue to let them know what we need and hope that they build a stronger and more viable business for all involved.”
Well i for one and i’m sure the vast majority of others would love to push Intralot out of town and be more than happy to “live” with Tattersall’s. The reason being is because Tattersall’s are one of the main reasons, if not the main reason that not only many of our businesses remain viable, but also keep them afloat in general and without them i think you’d find that there’d be far less newsagents around without them. Fact.
I know for one that my business would be far less profitable without them and would have been far more profitable without Intralot as it once was before they came in. As it stands now for various reasons i’m putting the wheels in motion to sell my shop and i can categorically say that i’d have made much more selling it without the Introduction of Intralot as what i would have when Tatts had a monopoly on it. Basically the person who is buying my shop will inherit the Intralot mess and the figures are there for them to see to show that. My main saving grace though is so are my Tatt’s figures which clearly show my business will be a good buy because of them.
With Intralot i’m not only $10K down the tubes for buying into this rabble but also lose thousands on what i would’ve made if i was to sell it had they not come into the market. Again Tattersall’s have a shitload to answer for in regards to how they’ve treated some of their AR’s not to mention the appalling decision to bring 7eleven into the market, but i can say that without them my business would be worth nowhere near as much when it comes to selling it. Once again, fact.
Not only for me but a ridiculously high number of newsagents with Tattersall’s in them. For all their obvious faults i’m not going to bite the hand that feeds me and the one that will give me a decent price for my business. Can i say the same for the opposition? Of course not, they’re only going to cost me many thousands more not to mention leaving a very bitter taste in my mouth.
Dean,
I am not 100% sure if this is right, but I think the person who buys your shop would have to pay $10k to keep Intralot, something they may not do. They then would not inherit the Intralot mess, but would be better off than you currently are.
I hope you’re right there Dean. It makes sense that it would work that way but while i cant be sure, i seem to recall somewhere in the Intralot contract that the new owner actually has to pay them a sum to take over the license. Not the whole amount we paid but maybe around half or something like that.
I’m not sure how that works in regards to me working it into my selling price but i’ll get more info from the brokers and let them take care of it. I hope your right because that’d make it much better for me. Better still hopefully Intralot will be gone altogether and it’s one less headache i’ll have to worry about.
DEAN.
Now I have statrted contibuting again , I make some comments on your posts which always make interesting reading.
The Keno Jackpot is now $1million minimum.
That is a substantial prize.
Remain optimistic, and remember the easiest thing in life to do , is do nothing.
Try drawing up a poster highlighting the fact of the substantive jackpot .
You may be in for a pleasant surprise.
Re the dedicated area , I am positive that our sales of Intralot products would be dramatically increased if they were side by side with the Tatts.
Our problem is that customers have to walk towards the rear of the shop, and often they do not have time.
Tatts were spiteful in the extreme, and they did it well knowing that hurting Intralot would also hurt the agent.
As I view matters , Minister Robinson should act to allow all lottery tickets to be sold at the one point.
The major problem as I see it began with the types of games Intralot were allowed to introduce.
Their category of licence restricts them to games that were never the brand leaders for Tatts.
From the begining i forsaw that Intalot sales would never be big with games such as Lucky lines and Bingo.
Tatts strength is drawn from the strength and power of the national block.
To be successful ( obviously helping agents), Intralot must apply to market new games and games that are just not sold in victoria. They need some form of national block exposure
They are currently linked with Tasmania , but the lottery expenditure there is peanuts.
If this cannot be done the future is grim.
They will not survive 10 years on what they have at present.
From the start their advertising advice was pathetic.
The luck factory concept was a waste of time and money.
It told the consumer nothing about the games.
Not to mention the highlighting of the factory chimney bleaching smoke into the environment, which is still on their web site.
They got it all wrong.
Hopefully the first thing they do in this field in 2009 is sack their inept advertising company.
They need to make a fresh start, completly rebranding the entire concept, with new themes and new games.
The strong scratchie sales proove that if they can market similar games to Tatts , they have evey chance of dramatically increaseing sales, therefore allowing the suffering agents who invested in Intralot products, a better chance of recoping their money.
The exclusive Tatts area is a major problem.
People are impatient and just want to make their lottery purchases a “one stop shop”
The Sunday sun article says the minister is meeting Intalot chiefs this week.
For ouir sake he should be trying to find ways to allow laws to be changed and to force Intalot to introduce more customer attractive games.
Luck Lines is a school kids game.
Intalots home page says something like
Lucky Lines is a fresh new game , but is actually based on an ancient games called noughts and crosses.
How could a massive company like intalot , which I am told is bigger than Tatts and tabcorp combined, be serious about thinking that noughts and crosses is ever going to be a game of choice for customers.
Again yesterday was a PR disaster for the company and painfull for agents.
If it was the fault of Optus then the minister should force intralot to sack them , and use reliable telcos.
It seems to me that Intalot made a number of serious mistakes when they were setting up their business.
THey obviously did not do their homework, and the overseas bosses that run the company in Australia are apparently dismissive and scornful of the local staff advice.
They may well be content to go on loosing money on their Victoria operation, but the ripple effect on agents is a disaster.
I truely suggest that the minister should force intalot to refund $ 5.ooo OF THE ORIGINAL PAYMENT TO ALL AGENTS BY jULY 1.
iI welcomed them to the market , to provide some competition to Tatts, a company that has financially and morally gone backwards since going public.
i am now disappointed and disillusioned as I cannot see any way out of the current situation.
Intalot will continue to have poor sales and we will continue to loose money.
Why did our association everv agree to the Tatts sleight of hand trick with the restricted area.
The agents have been betrayed by all concerned, The government, Intalot and the LAAV.
Craig,
To say the lucky Keno bonus with Inralot is now a minimum $1 million is somewhat misleading. After introducing the new changes to try salvage what they could from the game and win back the thousands of Keno players they lost they made it twice as expensive to win that million.
Where in the past you could win the old jackpot with $1 per game, you now have to spend $2.20 for the privilege paying the extra for the lucky break. Why would someone pay twice as much to play something they’ve played for years with a jackpot that’s around the same money? No matter which way you look at it just doesn’t make one bit of sense and that’s only proven in the numbers the people have flocked away in. They’ve been alienated by Intralot and i dare say never to return for the vast majority of them.
I never have and never will subscribe to the simplistic theory that Tatts have played a major part in Intralots woes. The main contributing factor is Intralot got many many things wrong from the start and have been unable to fix their bungles.
As much as i don’t like how Tatts deal with certain issues, i think it’s a bit of an over reaction to say they’ve been spiteful to the extreme. I mean if you had a player coming into the market place would you give them a free kick and help them out? Of course you wouldn’t as any business wouldn’t and especially when hundreds of millions of dollars that are at stake. If you would do that then with all respect Craig maybe you shouldn’t be in business.
I wont go into these things again where i think Intralot have messed up and brought it on themselves as i’ve made my views well known. One thing i will add that i don’t think i have though is one of the biggest mistakes they made is coming in all gung ho thinking that Victorian’s insatiable appetite for a gamble would be enough to get them through and make them millions. Went in with the “If you build it they will come” type mentality. Well they built it alright, but the people didn’t come they only scared them away, or should i say pushed them away.
I think you overestimate greatly that your figures would improve “dramatically” if your Intralot terminal were closer to Tatt’s. My terminals are only a meter away from each other and my Intralot sales are still abysmal while my Tatt’s sales have literally never been better this current year. My Intralot terminal is BEFORE my Tatt’s terminal where it’s impossible to not walk past it for anything you want to buy in the store yet it still hasn’t made a scrap of difference.
I’m not sure how many outlets you’ve been into but of all the ones i have which has been many, i’ve found that a very high percentage of them are very close to the Tatt’s terminals and over 9 times out of 10 on the same main counter so that’s no excuse either.
Not to mention many Intralot agents aren’t Tatt’s agents either so it’s a bit hard to say Intralot’s poor performance has anything to do with terminal placement given most are relatively/very close to Tatt’s terminals and other outlets without Tatts could place it anywhere they chose. You say you’re positive that your Intralot income would increase dramatically if the terminals were together, well i can be just as positive that they wouldn’t increase any great deal at all. Even more positive as i and many other agents can attest to who have only lost money even with the terminals together.
The facts are Craig is that Intralot have games that nobody wants to play and it’s that pure and simple. Even though that’s the main reason, it’s also that people just don’t trust them as a brand. They’ve been mucked around and inconvenienced far too many times like with the debacle of Saturday and the months of problems they had right from the start. People don’t trust them and don’t want to give them their hard earned.
If their games were that great and people wanted to play them they’d sell at a rate of knots no matter where the terminals were placed. If people really want something they’ll buy it regardless of these circumstances and if they have to walk a little extra.
Some of my better sellers in certain items can be found near the rear of my store and i’m confident keeping them there as i know people will still buy them, because they WANT to. But we can argue until we’re blue in the face about such things and still not see it the same which is fine.
Another thing i did notice in your post is that you pretty much apportion all the blame to Tatts and the gaming minister for Intralots below average performance and none on Intralot. Surely you couldn’t possibly think they haven’t brought the majority of this mess on themselves? If you do i dare say that yourself and Mark would be two of just the very few.
One last thing i notice that Intralot still haven’t had the decency to let their outlets know via email/terminal message or even an announcement on their site as to exactly what happened. Sure people who come here will know it was (allegedly) a fault of Optus but what about the many who don’t come here, they’d be none the wiser. Even so it’d be nice to get a more detailed explanation of the problem for the source themselves. Then again we are talking about Intralot here so i shouldn’t expect anything from them, especially something so simple.
Why did tatts claim in their media release last week and stated by the CEO that their”all of tatts proceed will go to the bushfire appeal……..proceeds for the bushfire appeal would be in the region of $3.5 million”(media release 12 feb)and then yesterday we find out they raised $400,000 only.Hope it wasnt opportunistic marketing or even worse.Dont get me wrong $400 grand is great but why quote $3.5million,was it just to lure players ,if both figures are true its missleading to say the least..
I believe that the government was to put in the taxes that it get’s from the lottery sales into the bushfire appeal.
Also did anybody hear last weeks thursday rumour file on 3aw bout Intralot
inabillity to pay out the lucky bingo winner the $2+ million and had to get the funds from the overseas parent company based in Athens.
Well it took them nearly 3 days but we finally got and email from Intralot explaining from their side what happened on Saturday. Fair enough it was an Optus fault and i can accept that but there’s still no excuse whatsoever for them taking this long to contact their retailers as to exactly what the issue was.
They said the issue was fixed at 5pm on Saturday but i can categorically say that mine wasn’t. Even if that was the case then why wasn’t a message sent through the terminal then? Or Sunday? Or even this morning? Let me guess their internet connection was down as well so they couldn’t email us in that way.
It may well have been an Optus fault and i’ll acknowledge that, but that still doesn’t for one second justify Intralot’s shabby treatment of their retailers. This mob is supposed to be and spruiked to anyone who cared to listen that they’re the second largest gaming services provider in the world but fair dinkum i reckon they’d be lucky to be able to run the local 2 up comp down the local pub.
Hang on i gave them too much credit there, make that lucky enough to be able to run the chook raffle effectively. But i have a funny feeling that they’d even manage to stuff that up somehow.
Now the CEO of Intralot Mr John Katanis blames us retailers, the Victorian public, Tatts and Optus for the fiasco that is his company. Is this bloke for real? In not one of the following articles he blames himself or his company.
If he hasn’t alienated us and the customers already then he sure as hell has here. If he thought it was bad now just wait til the public and retailers alike read this in tomorrow’s papers!
First rule of business 101 John, don’t insult and and talk down the people who are crucial to making you a success. Have a look in the mirror and you’ll soon see where the vast majority of the blame lies you uneducated moron. Uneducated as in you came in here all gung ho thinking you had all the answers as to what the Victorian public wanted when in actual fact you had no idea and your pathetic figure show that accordingly.
Say what you like about Peter Judkins Mark but he’s hit the nail right on the head in the following articles. No offense but in this instance i’d much rather him fighting for us in regards to all things Intralot than yourself. At least he can see the dire mess that Intralot is in and how it’s only hurt the newsagency industry and is prepared to stand up for it and us.
I wasn’t one of the parties threatening to sue Intralot as mentioned in the article but i’ll be the first to sign up should i’m asked, now where’s that pen? Happy reading, it’s worse than what even i could’ve imagined.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25120545-661,00.html
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25120448-661,00.html
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25120447-661,00.html
Dean, As I commented on another post, you lodged this comment just minutes after the Herald Sun story was loaded to their website. I suspect that you are ffar more connected to this story than you disclose.
I am curious why a small group of newsagents get into a lather on Intralot when they lose more on magazines each week. 65% of magazines in newsagencies are cash flow negative.
Mark,
I am not going to dispute your 65% magazine figure for magazines or attempt to justify the teatment we receive from magazine distributors but I think there is a more than subtle difference between non-performing magazines and non-performing lottery products.
The Intralot license fee still sticks in the craw of many newsagents who were forced to fork out large amounts (similar to what they had paid Tattersalls) to secure 15% lost revenue which, according to the figures, is really about 3%. (that Tatts agents received no recompense on their original investment is another issue).
Obviously a lot of agents struggled both financially and from an ROI perspective in investing in an Intralot license but found themselves between a rock and a hard place with the threat of the product being placed elsewhere in sales pitches not too dissimilar to the Bill Express approach.
Without suggesting anything, the outcomes are looking eerily similar for a lot of people and the associations react with the typical knee-jerks having allowed themselves to be jerked around by the government and Intralot in the first instance!
Jim, in comparing to magaiznes I and trying to point out that we lose substantially more from a broken magazine distribution system than the new Intralot products.
I agree that Intralot has problems. The Herald Sun, the LAAV and others appear to want them to fail. I’d rather be working to try and fix it. New games and a more Australian approach would help.
I for one would like to see them exit the Victorian market. The profitability of my business will increase if they do.
Even if they fix their games, they have lost the faith of the customers, and they will never get it back.
I am one of the agents making money on Intralot. The article doesn’t factor in interest, wages, electricity etc, so if you count them I am probably neutral.
What I found especially interesting was that my sales are about the average across the network. As my business ranks about 550 in the Tatts network, I am surprised that my sales come anywhere near to the average.
Mark,
I take your point on magazines but proactivity does not seem to be a widespread characteristic in this industry and anyone seeming to be so or trying to fix the multitudinous problems usually cops a verbal kicking at the least. You could have added all those other issues such as home deliveries, non-performing and non representative associations, non-competitiveness, etc, etc, ad nauseam to complete the picture though.
The approach by the Herald Sun and the LAAV on Intralot is curious to say the least but Intralot has more than problems if the quotes attributed to John Katakis are correct. I’d suggest that anyone trying to make helpful suggestions to them might cop a bit of the same!
Jim, you’re right. Newsagents make less today our of newspaper home delivery and retail sales than ten years ago yet we do not read about the working poor newsagent.
John is a nice bloke but not someone who should handle media.
lol i’m involved in this more than i let on? Hardly Mark, you’re clutching at straws now. It seems that many times i make some decent points against Intralot you pull out that old chestnut. I’m often online late at night and the Herald Sun as well as the Daily Telegraph are sites i visit frequently. It’s not unusual for me to visit both sites 20 odd times a day to get up to date news because i like to know whats going on and the sites update frequently.
Is there anything sinister in wanting to know the current state of affairs in the world at any given time? You can pedal your conspiracy theories all you like Mark but the FACT is i’m just one of hundreds of people who are saying exactly the same thing in regards to Intralot. Are all of them far more connected in this as well? Or is it just me who happened to report the facts first? Believe me if i had been more closely connected and was privy to these pathetic figures reported then i would have exposed this sham much earlier than now.
You say “a small group” of agents get into a lather about Intralot, where do you get your data from Mark? From this site alone? Well sorry to burst your self important bubble but the vast majority of Intralot retailers wouldn’t even know about this site let alone comment on it so your comment is not only invalid and has no credence it’s also just plain ridiculous.
Why don’t you go by the 204 of the 769 agents who have lost money on Intralot as well as the 122 that have made less than $22 a week? Just because they don’t comment here doesn’t mean they don’t exist as much as you’d like to sweep them under the carpet as well as the company want to as themselves.
I’d much rather go by Peter Judkins as he has much more of an idea and is far more in touch with reality than you are in regards to this matter. And before you even suggest it, i’m not a member of LAAV, never have been and i’ve never even spoke to him or met him. But i know a couple of people that are members who have discussed this issue with him at length and have been told by him that the amount of complaints he’s received is astronomical and yes, that was the word that was used.
You obviously have some sort of beef with Judkins judging by a few of the remarks you’ve made about him on here and in all honestly i couldn’t care less what it is. But what i do know is that from the looks of things he’s got Intralot retailers best interests at heart and is doing all he can to give us the best possible outcome in this debacle.
Can you say the same Mark? No need to answer that it was a rhetorical question, it’s painfully obvious that you can’t say the same. You bitch and moan about things as pissy as post it notes on the front of newspapers, yet for the most part continue to ignore something that’s had the biggest impact by far on our industry since i’ve been involved in it and something that’s collectively lost us millions upon millions of dollars in revenue in 8 months. Not just what we could have earned had they not been introduced but also out of our own pockets! Can you see what’s wrong with this picture?
As for your diversionary “argument” on magazine sales that’s every bit as absurd as your previous one about only a small group of agents being upset at Intralot. Without going too much into it because Jim summed it up perfectly above, but the two things are at the opposite ends of the spectrum and incomparable on so many levels.
For good and the bad magazines are part and parcel of the newsagent industry, always has been and always will be. We all know the distribution problems, payment issues among other things, but mags aren’t something that were forced upon us, or something we felt we had to hand over a substantial amount of money for in the fear of losing existing customers if we didn’t. Hence why you just can’t compare the two and i’m very surprised that you thought we’d be that stupid to even contemplate for a second that the two are anywhere near alike when they’re actually poles apart in many ways.
Also another thing about magazines is i make money on them and always get my money back eventually for what i don’t sell. I certainly can’t say the same to either thing with Intralot can i? I’d much rather make 25% of something i do sell than make 7%-10% or whatever it is of nothing that i don’t sell. Simple logic will tell you that but somewhere that’s appeared to be lost on you.
So once again Mark i don’t work for Tattersall’s as you’ve intimated before, i was there at their zone meeting at Bulleen on Tuesday night and i could go on about some of the things i didn’t like in regards to what i heard. Especially the parts how they’ve made it harder than ever to sell your business in regards to prospective buyers and who they will and won’t accept no matter how much they say they’ve made it easier but that’s a whole other thing. As mentioned i’m in the process of starting to sell my shop so that part was of particular interest to me.
I also certainly don’t work for the HS as you also intimated from what i gather in your earlier post (why would i be at the zone meeting if i did with my name tag on with my newsagency name on it that was provided) I’m just an every day newsagent and Intralot retailer trying to make a dollar but who has lost $10K on them that i just couldn’t afford to lose.
Maybe i’m more vocal than some others as it’s in my nature to fight against something that i think is wrong, but i work for me and only me and not any other company as you’ve suggested. Is it really that hard for you to comprehend why i’m so vocal and upset about losing $10K that i really couldn’t afford to? Don’t get me wrong it hasn’t broke the bank but than doesn’t mean for one instant that i’m going to be happy to lose it and sit back and just wear it.
You take that as a sign i work for other parties when the fact is i’m just another of the many poor saps that got sucked in to this mess. I don’t own several agencies and shops as well as a computer software company Mark so maybe $10K to you isn’t that much to you. But this is my one and only shop and main form of income so the money means a hell of a lot more for me and my future. Again, is that so hard for you to comprehend?
Regardless of your constant denials, here’s much more circumstantial evidence to suggest that you have some sort of arrangement with Intralot than what i have with anyone else and i’m sure many here would agree with that but would never dare say as much. Maybe you haven’t got any arrangement with them but that certainly doesn’t stop it from looking that way even with your couple of posts about them lately that were less than positive.
I guess it was just a coincidence that they just happened to pop up only after you yourself were again accused of having a deal with Intralot and that wasn’t just by me. Funny about that hey, i wonder where those comments were before those accusations were made.
If i were a cynic i’d say you only made them only to give the impression that you were impartial is this issue given you said very little in regards to Intralot and their ridiculously poor business practices before that.
If it were any other company you’d be attacking them relentlessly as you so often have in the past, Universal mags, Tatts, mag distributors just to name a few. I just find it perplexing that given the massive damage Intralot have done to our industry they got off relatively scott free from you when others that have done much less and even kept not only individual shops, but out industry overall afloat continually cop the ire and criticism from you on an almost daily basis in one way or another.
And you reckon i’m far more connected in this as opposed to you. What an absolute joke that is.
Just noticed that the other Dean commented at 11.31am and it wasn’t my post. Even though we essentially share the same views on Intralot and rather they not be in the picture, i wanted to distinguish the difference for his sake as i don’t want him to be painted in a bad light for the way i choose to express my views on the topic.
You protest too much Dean. Mark’s question about your comment last night needs to be answered. You knew that the herald sun article was being published.
I don’t know what your connection is but to does seem to me that you have a vested interest.
I agree Mark has defended Intralot but last week he ridiculed them for their latest scratchie competition. Maybe you missed that.
Dean,
Since you will not let go of your obsession that I have some connection with Intralot please let me know what you will accept as proof. A Statutory Declaration maybe?
I have told you I have no commercial arrangement or connection whatsoever other than that I have it in three of my shops.
You have rejected my statement and it appears to distress you that I might have a view different to yours.
So, what do you want from me to prove the negative?
Mark
I think I understand where Dean is coming from…just don’t understand where he finds the time to construct such long posts:-)
Mark…you do seem very defensive of Intralot. Imagine if a magazine supplier came out with the statements attributed to John Katarkis. You would have screamed blue murder and justifiably so. In this case you come out with a statement along the lines of “silly old John, such a nice man, just shouldn’t speak to the nasty media”.
Can you understand why people might think you have a closer relationship than you have admitted? Forget your stat dec….we believe you but there is an apparent inconsistency with your posts citicising the actions of various suppliers.
Ted, while Intralot has made mistakes, I think they have been treated poorly by the State Government, tattersalls, some media outlets, the LAAV and some retailers.
They are here, with a licence. We can bleat all we like or we can get on and work with them. I’d prefer to work with them in the spirit of a fair go.
Their CEO has been in the job 14 weeks as have many of their current key staff.
The magazine analogy works for me because they are serial offenders. Intralot has been here less than a year.
Dean has to decide what proof he wants because he is the one who keeps making allegations about me.
Mark
What question did he ask that needs to be answered Denise? Did i not say i’m an avid reader of the HS and DT online no matter what time i’m online and check them frequently to get news updates? How on earth can you categorically say i “knew” the article was going to be published? So just because i happened to go on (again as i often do) and saw the above articles then that makes me some sort of plant? Geez i hope you don’t take that to court as your only piece of evidence or you’ll get laughed out LOL.
If you must know why i was online at that time of night checking the HS website it’s because i’m a massive fan of the Melbourne Storm (Mark can verify that as it’s a part of my email address) and they played a trial against the Brisbane Bronco’s that wasn’t televised so i wanted to get a score to see how we went. Bingo! that instantly makes me a plant for the Herald Sun!
If i had some sort of vested interest and i dont do what i say i do then why the hell was i at the Tatts zone meeting the other night? Anyone there can validate when i say that we all signed in and got our name tags, Tim Walter spoke (who used to be my RBM) and we had lovely refreshments with tea/coffee and all manner of snacks to eat.
Not to mention i and many others walked out halfway through question time because we couldn’t hear what the AR’s were asking and for the most part they didn’t repeat them on the mike so there was no point in staying. Oh and it finished just after 8pm or at least that’s the time i left.
I could go in deeper about what was discussed like sales numbers, new brand naming and logo’s, shopfit designs, the retail incentive scheme and how that’s structured and who will receive what etc not to mention what i said earlier about selling your business and how i wasn’t very happy about that at all how hard they’ve made it for us in regards to being so picky about who they choose and reject in potential AR’s.
Why on earth would i be at a Tatts AR zone meeting if i don’t do what i say i do? I think it’s you that’s missed some things Denise because i mentioned earlier how i came across the article just as i also mentioned that Mark made a couple of less than positive posts about Intralot which coincidentally enough only appeared when someone else (as well as i said it appears that Mark has some sort of connection with Intralot given his obvious bias toward them) Did you miss that bit Denise? Apparently so.
But at least you are right about one thing, i do have a vested interest and that is a vested interest in my business, my future and my family’s future hence why i’m so pissed about being the original $10K out of pocket as well as the thousands i’ve lost in potential earnings i’d have made if Intralot didn’t come in. Sue me for having a vested interest in things that are the most important thing in all this!
If those things aren’t important to you or this issue isn’t high on your list of priorities then that’s your prerogative. But don’t you dare make assumptions about me or my motives just because this issue means so much to me and for that i make no apologies to you or anyone.
So who do i work for Denise? It can’t be Tatt’s because i’ve been critical of them numerous times and for numerous issues. If it was the HS then perhaps you should look back to when Intralot first started and you’ll see i’ve had my say about it since then (which is when it was intimated that i was a Tatts plant) so why would an employee of the HS hang around for so long and do i know so much about the industry? That is the ENTIRE industry and not just Intralot and Tatts.
I get my magazines from NDD, Network and G & G. I go to the GNS market fairs to source new products, i get my stationary from Stationers Supply in Collingwood, i deal with Hallmark on a regular basis and i face all the same issues as every single other Newsagent. Would you like more proof or would that make you look even more silly when i provide it?
Now if you don’t agree with that or understand that in all honesty i couldn’t care less. I’m not here for people to agree with or receive some sort of validation and i’m certainly not here for to be liked as i’m sure most people don’t like me for the way i express my views. I’m simply here to have my say in this matter and if you don’t like it then simply don’t read my posts.
So who are you Dean? In all your words I cannot work out who you are. Your name and the name of your business would give me confidence to take your views more seriously. You come across like someone from the LAAV. Their views on Intralot have been made clear many times, like yours.
If I disagree with Mark I can write or call him and discuss our different views. With you you type a lot of words and say little.
Mark,
I’m simply questioning you and your relationship with Intralot just have you have done several times when it comes to myself and my motives (which you did again in this thread) as well as Denise who mentioned my “vested interest just because i happened to be online and read the article on a site i visit so often every day.
I take it it’s ok for you to do that but not ok for others? The word hypocrite springs to mind. You can’t have it both ways, if you cast stones at someone you have to expect them back.
In saying that i’d be more than happy to provide a stat dec as well, i have nothing to hide and i think from my heavy criticism of both Tatts and Intralot it’s quite obvious for all to see i have no affiliation with one more than the other besides selling their products.
Yes, i have given Intralot more criticism than Tatts but the difference is i make tens of thousand of dollars a year on Tatts like all of us do as opposed to losing it. It doesn’t take a ricket scientist to work out why one cops more than the other.
And Ted, sorry for the long posts lol i’m sitting at home on my day of rest so i have plenty of time on my hands to write them.
Dean,
I have not continually challenged that you have a vested interest as you have done to me. My comment today relates to the very convenient timing of you being online and ready with a very long post within minutes of the Herald Sun story going up. Coincidence? Maybe.
You said you don’t believe about my interests, what evidence do you need? I’ll provide that when you verify where you are located so people can trust you just as they can trust me since they know where I am and how to reach me personally.
On the Herald Sun article itself, it is not good journalism.
Mark
Denise,
I like most others don’t want to or feel the need to advertise my shop or where it is on here. If i want that to remain private then surely you can respect that and understand why that.
Believe what you will but i can swear on my family i have NEVER paid a cent to LAAV and never been a member of them and never will be. Not because i dislike them or anything like that, but from day one i’ve always wanted to and have remained an independent newsagency who hasn’t alligned to any marketing group like Newspower, Newsxpress, Nextra etc just as i haven’t joined LAAV or VANA.
Like i said believe it if you want i couldn’t care less otherwise, but just because i agree with the LAAV doesn’t mean i work for them or are a member. There’s so many holes in that argument i don’t know where to begin.
Does that make the hundreds of others who agree with them affiliated with them as well? Hell i even reckon you might agree with them to agree as well. Yes i’m more vocal than most but as i’ve mentioned that’s only because it’s my nature to fight as hard as i can when i think i and others are being treated like dirt. Oh and i can assure you if i did work for the LAAV i’d be the first one to admit it, why on earth would i have any reason to hide it?
That said you’re more than welcome to email me and i’ll be more than happy to talk to you should you wish to discuss any issue privately either by phone or email. If not that’s fine as well, but at least i’ve given you that option.
Mark,
So it makes it ok for you to accuse me of having vested interests elsewhere but it’s not ok for me because i may have mentioned the same thing a couple more times than you? It doesn’t matter if you said it once or 10 times, you’re still guilty of it and you also cast the first stone months and months ago.
As i mentioned in my last post, if Denise would like to talk to me on issues (intralot and otherwise) i’ll be happy to let her know my number and she’s welcome to call. Just because i don’t want a blanket coverage of my location just as most don’t for their own reasons, doesn’t mean i’m not adverse to telling certain people know who i’d be happy to talk to.
As for you and i, we obviously disagree on many things so talking about anything would be not only fruitless but also a waste of both our time.
If i want to ( i do and i will) talk to someone in regards to Intralot, i’ll talk to someone of note in the company of my concerns and can maybe even help and not to someone who can’t.
Strange response Dean or whoever you are. You have written a lot here today and said little. You have repeated an accusation against me and I have asked how you want me to prove the negative. And now you withdraw.
Part of debate is about understanding the place from where the debater comes. Your staying in the closet does not help your cause.
dean, i think it my benefit to learn to compact your essays just a bit. a wall of text isn’t exactly something you’d want to look at.
and if the newsagency industry is so fractured, i say just go back to paperboys selling newspapers on the corner and rebuild the shop up around them. start from scratch.
Mark,
What have i withdrawn? You there’s no real way you can prove the negative besides deny it just like there’s no way i can prove anything other than to deny it. If you don’t believe me then that’s fine, if i don’t believe you that’s fine as well. That’s not withdrawing, that’s just realising a stalemate has been reached and there’s no point in going on with it without a resolution being possible.
As for me staying in the closet, i extend the invitation to everyone that i did to Denise and they’re more than welcome to contact me. If that’s the case then you have my permission to pass on my email so we can. I’ll be more than happy for people who want to discuss things to do so and i don’t mind one bit if you give my email.
In saying that, i’ll be totally honest and talk to anyone here except yourself. Call that petty or make something out of it that isn’t there but as mentioned it’d be a waste of both our time and quite frankly i don’t want to talk to you. I don’t talk to people offline that i don’t want to so online is no different.
Im not in the habit of making public my email on any forum because i know how many idiots and spammers there are on the net. You point me out solely to try and discredit the points i make because you can’t argue them yet 99% of posters don’t give their details either. Every time i do make points you can’t repond to you go off on some other tangent to divert away from the real issues.
The email i use here is my work email i use for everything in regards to work so i don’t want it clogged up with spammers and i’m sure anonymous abusive emails from people who don’t agree with me or who i’ve upset on here with my views.
So there you go Mark, again i give my wholehearted permission for you to pass on my email for anyone who wants it and come out of the closet so to speak lol I’m sure that won’t be enough for you but it certainly does make a mockery of your (wrong) claims that i’m not willing to share things with others and hide from others if they want to talk.
Fair enough Aaron i’ll take your advice on the essays on board. In saying that though i’m not making anyone read them and people have a choice if they do or not.
I also won’t be starting from scratch as i’ll be selling up shop this year. For reason such as Intralot, Tattersall’s and their move into 7-11 not to mention the everyday issues with magazines and such i’ve just become very disillusioned with the game.
There’s much of it i will miss, the customers being the main things but with all the other things i mentioned i wont miss them at all.
I’m getting out while i still have the opportunity to make good money on my business and when newsagents are still highly sort after. I seen massive changes in the industry and more and more business’s becoming more like newsagents as each year as past and it’s inevitable that it’s only going to get worse in future and it will become a less an less viable business in the future where many won’t be able to compete.
I sincerely hope i’m wrong there because it’d be a tragedy if newsagents became nothing but an insignificant blimp on the radar, but i feel the introduction of Tatts in 7-11 for instance is just the very start and newsagents will be just another place to get your tickets, not THE place to get your tickets.
Dean, By withdraw I mean withdraw from actually pursuing prooof. This may be so you can make the accusation again.
I am not about to hand out the four different email addresses you have used here.
lol that old chestnut again trying to discredit the points made and divert away from them. It didn’t take Einstein to work out you were going to do that once more.
As i said i never pursued it again because it was at a stalemate and we obviously weren’t going to get anywhere. Though if you’d like to go on with it cast the first stone again and i’ll accommodate you.
So again, anyone who wants to contact me to talk about things please ask Mark for my email (the storm email i’ve used on here a million times) and you’ll soon see that i’m easily accessible on that. I’ve put myself out there for anyone who wants to take me up on it so i can’t really do any more than that.
Though i’m sure that won’t be enough for Mark even though i’ve given everyone here a clear avenue to contact me on. If you don’t want to believe it’s my email Mark then please pass it on to people to make up their own minds and not judge solely on your paranoia. They can even ring me if they want to seriously discuss things i don’t mind. It’s quite simple really.
Dean, It is not my place to give out your storm email or the other email addresses yand names you have used to post comments here.
bout intralot, have they made mistakes lotsa like sending my outlet the chinese new year gift envelopes two weeks after the event!
they Intralot bragg about being in 20+ countries but do those countries have competition like this state? or are they the successfully tenderer for the monolopy from the previous operator.
i would like to know how they came up with that 200+million budget as well,
and from reading previous posts a western australia operator aint happy either why same complaint bout speed.
Intralot is desperate (so it should be) because the N.S.W lottery licence may be up for grabs next year or two to get things right a.s.a.p. to be in the same playing ground as Tatts( they will vie for it obviously).
personal opinion tatts products will be here long after intralot products-
why bigger prizes are easier to sell than little prize.
cheers
Haha no worries Mark. If i was worried about what people thought of me then i certainly wouldn’t keep using my name that has obviously rubbed people up the wrong way. It wouldn’t make a bit of sense now would it?
But the invitation still stands to anyone who wants to contact me Mark has my unreserved permission to hand it over. If he doesn’t then i’m sure he’s doing it for his own reasons but as you can see i said on several occasions i don’t care in the slightest if he does and i’ll be more than happy to share my views one on one in anything about the industry.
The ironic thing is that Mark has on several occasions challenged me to reveal my anonymity so to speak (which most others haven’t either and nor should they if they don’t want to. Yet when i give everyone a clear avenue to contact me and talk about things he doesn’t want me to reveal my anonymity and the thing he’s been asking me to do!
As i said previously Mark, you can think all you like that i use four emails but at the very least give your peers the chance to make up their own mind and see for themselves i’m easily contactable. If i can’t be then at least that’ll prove you right and shoot me down in flames.
If you don’t want to hand it over that’s your business, but it’s absurd to the extreme to say and intimate i’m trying to remain anonymous when i welcome people to contact me should they want to.
Dean as I have said, I will not hand over any of your email addresses used here. If you want people to contact you then publish your name and your business name here. Stop this nonsense trying to get me to pass on your details.
Dean you have shot youself in the foot as far as I am concerned. Your comments over the last couple of hours show you as a game player. I am suspicious that you are here to talk up the LAAV and put down Tatts.
Mark’s mistake is that he refuses to play your game. I have looked back here and while he has been more complimentary of Intralot than I would like, he has been critical sometimes. More balanced than you come across.
Do not respond as I am not reading your comments any more as they are a waste of my time. If you put your business name and real name here as mark said I might have called but not now.
Gee what a surprise, Mark wont pass on my email for anyone who wants it for fear it’ll prove him wrong that i won’t reveal who i am and Denise you don’t have the courage to either for fear of the same thing. I made the offer which is all i can do but at least i gave you the chance. How about you post your details on here for all to see just as your asking me to do?
Do you actually read my posts or just guess? I’m predicting the latter because more often than not you’re way off. How am i putting down Tatts when i’ve stated a few times that without them most of wouldn’t be in business and the industry wouldn’t be anywhere near the same as what it is without them.
Yes, i did say i was pissed off that they put their products in 7-11 especially since i have one withing a stones throw of me but what Tatts agent in the city wasn’t pissed with that decision? The vast majority of us were.
All i’m doing in pointing out that issue was only for the balance of fairness. Go back and see how much i’ve defended Tatts in the past (to the point i was accused of being a plant for them) and you’ll once again be proved dead wrong.
I don’t agree with what they did there, i don’t agree with them shutting up a few of the smaller business’s because they didn’t meet sales targets and which i knew one of those stores. it happened to.
But again without Tatts i can categorically state that my shop wouldn’t be viable without them and wouldn’t exist just as the vast majority wouldn’t and for that i am very grateful to them despite a few decisions they’ve made. They aren’t perfect and they certainly aren’t immune to some criticism when it’s warranted but that’s not trying to make them look bad, it’s just stating simple facts.
The initial reports say i’ll be able to sell my shop at a very decent price and that’s mainly because of Tattersall’s. Now how on earth am i putting them down like you said i was?
Oh that’s right you aren’t answering me now are you? Just as well because there’s no answer you could give because my posts here in regards to putting down Tatts as well as numerous positive ones i’ve posted in the past make a mockery out of your accusations and flat out prove you wrong that i’m trying to make them look bad.
I’d go as far to say ive probably given them more praise on here than anyone. Go ahead and read it, it’s all there in black and white but i get the sneaking suspicion you won’t given again you’ll be proven wrong.
oh for God’s sake get over it you two
Obviously you missed the part where i said if you or anyone else doesn’t like what i have to say then don’t read it. Which part didn’t you understand? I see you’re from NSW so Intralot and Tattersall’s issues have absolutely nothing to do with you and don’t affect you so i have no idea why you’re even in this thread let alone commenting on it.
Just for the record i am over it. Well for the moment anyway, i’m sure it’ll flare up again as more details of Intralot come to light.
I constantly challenge Mark about Intralots underperformance and his constant refusal to be more critical of their damage to our businesses but im with Mark on this one,publish your own email address and phone numbers you fool Dean,why would or should someone else do it,if you’re fair dinkum you do it!! i used to think you had some valid points,ive realised your just a dimwit,hopefully your business sale comes sooner rather than later and you take your boring mindless ill-informed timewasting drivel somewhere else
Helen , now thats getting to the point …put a smile on my face when reading that one
Oh Helen 🙂
Dean sounds burn’t out to the max, the $10K seems to be core issue and because Mark created the world.
The $10K is an issue because it at the moment because it seems the return on investment is slower than most thought.
Derek,if the quoted average commission is correct it will take the network 9 years just to recoup sign on fees alone,not really an accetable situation i would have thought
Helen
In my view it is unacceptable. If it took off it would be easier to swallow, however I cannot understand how any Government has allowed this to happen. Taking $10K off small business for a so called licence is legalised blackmail.
The Victorian Government should be fighting for small business’s and not penalising them $10K to “stay in business”
The comments of Mr Katakis are resentful and regretable.
Two games need to be scrapped, Lucky Lines and Bingo.
The point of view that appears to escape him is that THE CUSTOMER does not have interest in such games.
I am Greek by birth and I well know that noboby in Greece takes the blame for anything.
Accordingly here in Victoria, Intralot will
shift blame as it sees fit.
In shifting it to the agent and the customer however Katakis has made a massive mistake, and my prediction is that sales will drop even more.
At the least he needs to explain to us as agents what he pre3cisely means by his criticism.
SUGGESTIONS.
Undertake extensive market research and discover what lottery games people would find attractive.
I reckon it is time to have alternatives to the Tatts games, in an attempt to attract a different playing age group.
If possible
Subtitute new games for L/L and BINGO.
Develop a new marketing / Advertising campaign.