Racing Post Replays

Ridiculous decision by them. They have always come across as incredibly money hungry, wringing their customers for every penny they can, but this is a huge mistake in my opinion. They are hugely dropping the quality of their service to save a few quid.

I have no intention of staying on the top package and will be downgrading. I'm sure many(most?) will follow.

Totally agree, would expect 20-25% discount on fees for this, some chance....

They either can't or won't pay the fees that RUK and ATR are asking for the pictures. Obviously I don't know the full facts but I can't help feeling they are shooting thmselves in the foot by providing their customer base with a worse service.

I only joined for the replays so that's me finished.

There's a big drop in sub prices from 'Ultimate' to 'Essential' membership (£21.67 to £12.08 a month). The only extras were the videos and some tips. I have no interest in their tips and I'm sure most won't either.

I'll happily drop to the £12.08 plan and get my vids elsewhere but I've no doubt at all that the money grabbers will rearrange the package offerings or simply increase the prices.

There is a 25% discount on your subscription.

I was only on the essential as you can obviously get the ATR replays on their site ,I try and record the ruk replays but used the essential when I missed some or in the winter as I don't record much NH so its no use to me whatsoever now.

You can get them all on the SportingLife with a skybet account.

A truly shocking decision

how can you say that without knowing how much extra RUK were demanding for them?

Maybe I am doing something wrong but when I go to the Sportinglife results for horsereacing, it asks for me to log in to Skybet account.I do...no result videos I can see?

It's a while since I used that site for that purpose porterline but I know you can. Can't be too difficult to find. Yes you do need a Skybet account (you don't need to use it - they don't let me anyway).

For those who did not get the email and/or would like to see it, here is the content.


RACE REPLAY REMOVAL

Dear x,

Following your recent telephone call with Racing Post I can confirm race replays will unfortunately be removed from Members' Club on July 31, 2015. This is because we have been unable to agree a satisfactory, long-term commercial arrangement with the rights holders following a reduction in usage of the service.

Although we wanted to keep the replays feature, a significant increase in the cost of the service and declining usage meant it was no longer commercially viable. We would have had to impose a substantial rise in your membership fee from August to retain replays and we faced the prospect of being asked to pay even more for the pictures in the future.

As one of a small group of frequent users of replays we have applied a 25% discount to your subscription, meaning you now have three months access free - effective for the three payment dates that follow removal on July 31, 2015.

We are pleased to announce that we will shortly be adding daily Signposts for members. Signposts provide you with a huge amount of valuable pointers for a day's racing and betting - everything from Hot and Cold Trainers to Training Debutants. Over the next year we will be delivering more significant enhancements to your Members' Club service through a range of great new features.

Our commitment to ensuring your membership pays for itself is unwavering and, despite the loss of archive pictures, we will continue to strive for ways to improve your Members' Club package. Racing Post invests more than anyone else in high-quality news, tipping, data and analysis so that we can provide you with the sport's best website.

I hope you will enjoy these features as they are released and would like to apologise on behalf of Racing Post for any inconvenience caused by the loss of race replays.

Yours sincerely,

James de Wesselow,
Head of Subscriptions

PS. You may be interested to know that race replays can be viewed free on bet365.com - an account with this bookmaker is required. A guide to finding replays on their site is here.

blackbarn - do you pay monthly?

working ok here porterline

watch the replays alot, and have just taken a years membership out last month

The ONLY thing worth paying for on the RP is the replays,the rest is worthless

I pay for the analysis and the sales TRD but tend to agree with you otherwise.

jm You are better off doing your own analysis,taking note of someone else is just their opinion and if their opinion was any good they wouldn't be working  at The RP,they would be on here full time

agree...if you've got the time to analyse 19 meetings over the next 3 days and type it up

There are too many races TRD - good luck with that venture. I watch every NH race! My brain cannot remember five years of races! The only reason we all pay is because time will always beat us.

jm  I agree there are a lot of races. I don't bet maidens,sellers or claimers that cuts the workload down a lot. I make notes after every race and concentrate on horses I have notes about in the first instance. It's not easy,but if it was they would all be doing it and winning at the game. Good luck

ged - Yes I do pay monthly and I am an Essential member.   All of which makes the wording of the 25% reduction total bollo cks as it is written as though I paid annually.

blackbarn - thanks for replying. I ask because it is my guess, at present, that they are only bothering to contact people who are paying monthly, or, perhaps, people who pay annually whose subscriptions are due soon. I pay annually, and my subscription is not due up until December, and I have heard nothing from them - no phone call, no email. I am an Ultimate member, so arguably have the most to lose (other than Ultimate members whose subscriptions run out later than mine).

I'm Essential Ged and have heard nothing.  I'm looking forward to my free three months.

I'm Essential Ged and have heard nothing.  I'm looking forward to my free three months.

jmdc - do you pay monthly or annually?

I'm Essential, but obviously don't use the replays enough, as my email makes no mention of a discount.

Annually ged.

annual,essential,e-mail but NO discount

jmdc, tom, thanks for the replies. That changes the picture then. I'll write and see what sort of an answer I get.

jm Yo don't get replays with the essential package,well not unlimited anyway

i did earlier ged,only paid in may...5th time in a month i've had to contact them,fed up now

You get 600 replays I believe on Essential.

my allowance is 50..that's why i don't use them much because you never know the monthly count as you go along

sorry per month

That figures tom - 50 per month.

jm I doubt you get 600,I may be wrong though

I think I do TRD.

ahhh 600 a year you are talking about

Replied to my e mail from them thus -

Dear Mr de Wesselow,

Thank you for your e mail although it does contain unwelcome news.

Conspicuous by its absence in your e mail is any mention of monetary compensation for what I would regard is clearly, prima facie, a breach of contract on your
part. My annual membership was renewed in the expectation that race replays would be provided throughout the subscription period.

The other and new features that you mention are of no interest to me whatsoever and cannot reasonably be regarded as providing adequate compensation for the
loss of the part of the membership that is one of two features that I regard as useful (the other being the ability to retain notes - which I will have to
laboriously transfer elsewhere before my membership ceases). 

Please let me have your proposals for compensation within the next 7 days in order to prevent me needing to escalate this matter.

Whilst I have noted your reasons for withdrawing the replay facility I have to say it reinforces my view that the Post is in a spiral of decline which I regard
as a great shame. Whilst you may retort that all newspaper circulation figures are in decline and there is an element of truth in that, major contributory
factors in my view have been the lamentable standard of content and an  unwillingness to properly accept the mantle of providing objective, even handed
investigative journalism which should be the purpose of the only remaining daily racing paper.

WD Paris