Desert Orchid
Senior Jockey
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2005
- Messages
- 25,712
Copy of the email I just fired off to the RP/Weekender:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I despair.
I really do.
I have been suggesting for years now in exchanges of letter and email that the people in charge of editorial decisions at The Weekender, to put it politely, are not on the same wavelength as end-users.
I accept that I am now officially a senior citizen, that my custom may be less important to your business than that of a younger enthusiast and that my tastes may differ in terms of what readers may want to see in the printed paper but there is simply no excuse for including the seasonal Flat Index in the Jumps pullout this week.
I have been waiting nearly six weeks for this Index to arrive but I now find it will be extremely difficult to use because someone with a perverse sense of logic decided it would be a good idea to put the Flat Index in a Jumps pullout.
It beggars belief.
It really does.
Does the person responsible for this decision not realise that compiling the pullouts involves keeping two separate collections building up to 52 editions for each code? Now they want us, as users, to dig into the Jumps pile to find the Flat Index in order to refer to a race back in the Flat pile! Really! Yes, that is exactly what someone on the staff of Racing Post thinks is an acceptable idea.
And perhaps therein lies the rub.
"Acceptable".
Providing a top quality service for "valued customers", as we're always being told we are, is no longer part of your mission. "Valued customers" should be willing to accept no better than "acceptable" decisions.
I tried Raceform Interactive some years ago so please don't suggest I switch. It's expensive and doesn't suit my method of studying. Believe me, I would much rather study using my laptop but RI struck me as much more useful as a research tool for people who rely on statistics rather than a form study tool, certainly with regard to how I go about it.
Can I please ask that you re-issue the Flat Index in the Flat Pullout next week.
Right now I feel like cancelling my order with my newsagent.
Yours in anger and disgust,
Mr O'Neill
Dear Sir/Madam,
I despair.
I really do.
I have been suggesting for years now in exchanges of letter and email that the people in charge of editorial decisions at The Weekender, to put it politely, are not on the same wavelength as end-users.
I accept that I am now officially a senior citizen, that my custom may be less important to your business than that of a younger enthusiast and that my tastes may differ in terms of what readers may want to see in the printed paper but there is simply no excuse for including the seasonal Flat Index in the Jumps pullout this week.
I have been waiting nearly six weeks for this Index to arrive but I now find it will be extremely difficult to use because someone with a perverse sense of logic decided it would be a good idea to put the Flat Index in a Jumps pullout.
It beggars belief.
It really does.
Does the person responsible for this decision not realise that compiling the pullouts involves keeping two separate collections building up to 52 editions for each code? Now they want us, as users, to dig into the Jumps pile to find the Flat Index in order to refer to a race back in the Flat pile! Really! Yes, that is exactly what someone on the staff of Racing Post thinks is an acceptable idea.
And perhaps therein lies the rub.
"Acceptable".
Providing a top quality service for "valued customers", as we're always being told we are, is no longer part of your mission. "Valued customers" should be willing to accept no better than "acceptable" decisions.
I tried Raceform Interactive some years ago so please don't suggest I switch. It's expensive and doesn't suit my method of studying. Believe me, I would much rather study using my laptop but RI struck me as much more useful as a research tool for people who rely on statistics rather than a form study tool, certainly with regard to how I go about it.
Can I please ask that you re-issue the Flat Index in the Flat Pullout next week.
Right now I feel like cancelling my order with my newsagent.
Yours in anger and disgust,
Mr O'Neill
