THANKS to everyone who took part in the survey over the weekend. It certainly stimulated debate and was a bit of an eye-opener for myself and Admin.
We wanted to share some of the feedback we received. The vast majority of it was supportive and constructive however some of it was as predictable as it was downright depressing.
On a positive note more than 1,000 have taken part now so we've decided to close the survey. It probably goes without saying but over 99% of you cite football as the sport you bet on. Horse racing was a distant second at 42%. Golf, darts and tennis were next so this will help us identify where we can add more sports to the site.
Seven per cent of respondents said they don't bet online. We actually thought this might be higher. While betting on anything other than sports wasn't as popular as we thought – just 12% play poker online, 8% casino and 5% games.
The least important aspect of the site is competitions (63% said they were not important). Given that the majority of people who regularly enter the competitions tend not to contribute to the site in any other way we may in fact review whether we keep them or not since all we're doing is rewarding those who are looking for a free bet.
The most important thing was winning tips, although only 56% rated it as very important, which is perhaps a measure of the mature community we have where people realise not every tip can be a winner.
The question that raised most debate was around whether people would pay for access to MrFixitsTips.co.uk. It was almost exactly a 50:50 split with the slim majority (52%) saying they wouldn't pay.
The most entertaining section of the survey was when users were asked for ideas to improve the site. Many suggestions were sensible, well thought out and worthy of serious consideration. As an alternative to charge a small fee the suggestion of adding a donation button was mentioned lots of times and is something we're now looking at.
Several people pointed out comments can be a bit unwieldy and again this is something we'll aim to resolve.
Trolls are a pain for everyone but in the current set-up we're limited to what we can do. More on this below.
Now for the not-so-good stuff …
From people moaning about receiving their free bets to others having a go at my English I can take (note to self: must do better) but to be accused of becoming a “gold digger” because of the suggestion of charging a small fee is just laughable. The truth of the matter is the cost of running the site is increasing all the time as more resources are needed to cater for the hosting and its upkeep, otherwise the question would not have been asked.
Others took the opportunity to abuse me which is sadly par for the course these days.
Once again thanks for all the contributions. You may start to see some changes to the site quickly although significant changes will take a while longer.
The winner of the £10 free bet at Bet365 has been emailed.
Please Don't Feed the Troll
From time to time we seem to be blighted by trolls here at MrFixitsTips. This week's visitor has been particularly tenacious but my advice is to please just leave him alone. We do our best to minimise the impact trolls have on the site and many of you only see a fraction of the comments they make before they are deleted.
It's sad that some people have no purpose in life other than to be a nuisance and cause distress to others. Some of it is nasty, vindictive stuff. When, as is the case this week, the comments become abusive and the personal home addresses of people who help to run the site are published without their consent we have no option but to alert the police. This kind of intrusion, when you have a young family, is simply not worth it.
So please do not give trolls the attention they crave by responding to them. Admin will deal with them in a professional manner as will the other authorities.
As for the trolls, here is a message from me: You are not welcome on this site. You need to find a hobby, a partner, a reason to live other than wasting your time leaving comments that no one will read.
You need to consider how you would feel if we were to publish your home address or contact your place of work (if you have a job) – after all, there's a lot you can find out about people these days.
You also need to think how you're going to feel when you get that knock at your door. If you have genuine concerns you'd like to raise about the site then do it via the contact form, otherwise your wasting your own time.
Onwards and upwards.
Resident football tipster at Scotland's most read newspaper, the Daily Record, for over 20 years and proud host of one the best betting communities on the web with daily betting tips.
Great to hear the feedback on the survey. I think almost a uniform policy needs to be taken on trolls that they are not reacted too and comments removed as soon as possible!
The results are in!
Ok promise to self that I will make a concerted effort to ignore trolls from now on. No reply or attention, just ignorance.
Mr F, would love to suggest a hall of shame though. Remember Helmond Sport last year, and wasn’t it Dundee Utd a few weeks back, when they scored twice in injury time, and that idiot against Raal yesterday. Id love it if you had some of the more whining messages archived, post them in the hall of shame! Matches last for 90 minutes after all, but that’s just my little rant.
Hope you got the stats you were looking for though mate, and cheers for the site and to all its contributors!
Andrew
I hope people take your advice when it comes to anyone trolling on here.
If people ignore them and you just delete the comments when you get the chance without acknowledging them in any way, the trolls will just disappear and move on to another site.
On a more serious note though, I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for those folks who get beyond personal and into the realm of serious abuse. If you get Old Bill at your door because of it, you didn’t just cross the line, you jumped all over it. We’ve all read the really bad messages, and they’re not only shocking, but they are downright repellent. You get back what you put out, end of.
Andrew
Way to go Mr. F. Respect.
Posting personal information, cyber-stalking, trolling to distress others are criminal acts in my country and there has been a strict crackdown with offenders facing jail time. Unfortunately, it tends to take a vulnerable person to take their own lives from the abuse they receive before the laws against cyber-stalking are put in place, but I hope these sadists get the lesson they deserve with the feds.
Well said Mr f however I was one of the 50% who would pay for the service as it has become very popular lately and would also avoid unnecessary comments from so called troll’s. Look forward to whatever happens
I’ve not posted for a while and missed the survey. I do still visit the site daily for tips and find the reasoning of Mr F and a lot of posters really useful- in most cases I find reasoning to be the most important part.
Just wanted to pitch in with a suggestion even though I missed the survey but it may have been mentioned by someone else. A good few years back I helped out EA Sports as a volunteer moderator on the forums. Its a good way to keep on top of the trolls if someone has the time and is willing to do it.
PS- Not suggesting myself as I have young kids now but a trusted regular who has time throughout the day to be given moderator privileges.
RabTheHermit, we’ve spoken about moderators and that’s likely to be the case depending on the road we go.
Hi all,
I know the surveys closed and I did participate, but I have a suggestion.
Could we have a FAQ section. Maybe just a page with links to different sites explaining bet types, betting systems etc.
I know this could easily be done by the user themselves with any search engine but the comments nowadays seem to be filled with first time users asking “whats a trixie?”
Michael S, it’s something we’ll do when add to the site.
Get ready for that six o clock knock boys,and it wont be the milkman.
MrF a Fiver a month sound’s fair for all mate and will certainly keep the Trampy trolls away!
If someone has published someones address or email address on this site {didnt see the comment myself} then surely you should have reported thier IP sddress to the authorities,simply a disgraceful thing to publish online.Im all for a bit of banter but that is just nasty.
Sean, admin have been dealing with this individual but yeah it wasn’t funny.
Is there a way mr fixit that you can get the trolls IP address and report them to the police if it becomes annoying or especially threatening .
Dar-tha-man, yes we can do that but the police probably have better things to do with their time. It would be a last resort I suppose but I think admin have done it once or twice.
Love your site never looked for tips b4 and did ok love ur tips and do even better. Thanks daniel from ireland
I made a strong point about the competitions in the survey glad to see I wasn’t the only one get shot of free bet nonsense by all means keep 1 even 2 but to have about 5 of them on the go is an unnecessary strain on your time
Danny, re the contests, we’ll listen and act. It’s tough keeping them going but the entries are high. But as the survey said most people are not that bothered so we’ll do other things.
Forget the trolls. Ive been on a few tipping sites and this is by far the best. Although I rarely post, im a daily visitor and use he tips as what they are…just tips. The trolls tale the tips as a sign of being a cert, which unfortunately nothing is.
Competitions might get folk entering when they don’t post but it’s always a bonus getting a free bet every once in a while. Can see where your coming from tho getting asked every 2nd day when free bets will be credited tho
Craig, what we may do is fewer competitions but for bigger prizes and do £10-£1000 challenges and nap competitions. I also like the idea of a beat Mr Fixit challenge but we’ll see.
Interesting results of the survey. Commiserations on the troll problems, they are troublesome. Unfortunately, feeding them can lead to an infestation, a tech savvy misanthrope can actually destroy a website which is what nearly happened to a reasonably popular website i use recently.
It was prevented by an alert admin noticing a highly sophisticated attack and another admin(professional techie) limiting the damage.
All of those are cracking ideas and I especially love the ‘beat Mr. F’ challenge one. Everyone’s an expert and a critic so it would be nice to see if anyone can actually out-tip you; I’m willing to be that the percentage will be low and no, I would not be one of the few to beat you :D
Not too bothered about comps, the consistently high quality tips is more than enough without throwing free bets into the mix. The donation button idea is also a good one, people tend to be more generous when they’ve just won :)
Well done on the survey response and love the write up on Trolls, no time for these p. Once again congrats.
As a matter of interest i wonder how many people have regular input/comments, tips etc etc compared to the daily traffic of visitors that come to the site, would be interesting to see the % who actually contribute compared to those that don’t.
Also regarding charging whatever fee’s or not do sites like Punters Lounge and OLBG feel the need to charge people who use there sites i am not sure as i have not been there in ages but as far as i remember they didn’t charge but seemed to be able to provide lots of different stuff fairly hassle free.
This is by no means an attack on this site but if they can do all the stuff they do without charging the people that go there is it not possible to follow suit and do the same here ?
I never did survey. But would pay for tips and banter. As for trolls am afraid social media warriors are everywhere these days. It’s easy to sit in house being a hero.
I use the site a lot and think that there shouldn’t be a charge for the tips as people would complain more about losing tips because they are paying for them. I think a donations button is sensible as if people want to donate money they can.
Mr f love your site been following the tips since you started in the record, did the survey cause myself and I think a lot of your punters like doing the comps and maybe getting it right and hoping you get a £10 bet cause a lot of us bet £2 to £5 on your tips don’t get me wrong love the guys on here that punt big money esp Chris guy took some of his 1st scorers because it’s players I wouldn’t even think off oh and won money through him.
What I’m trying to say your site is the best around and a lot of people who like a punt love putting our £2-£5 on your tips and I like nothing better on a Friday night doing your comps, super6, premier picks & champions tipster online and speaking for myself I love reading all the tipsters.
TROLLS just ignore them laugh at them.
Everyone keep up the great work don’t put tips on myself but love all the regular tipsters.
Interesting findings Mr F from the survey. Not really surprised with football being most popular and Raaljaca and Johnb and all the other guys on the racing team doing a good job.
Regarding the minority of idiots, I have only responded to one and the irony was it was a winner he was complaining because I picked the favourite, I learned just too ignore them even though it is difficult at times.
Keep up the good work 99.9% appreciate what you and other regulars do to help contribute to this site.
Hi Mr.F
This is the first time I’ve left a message, I’d just like to say since ive been introduced to your site about 4 weeeks ago my gambling life has changed for the better, You and all the guys like Alex, greg, Raal,Abbas and others, and of course the legend johnb, Are not only giving some great tips but also some great advise in regards to how to gamble really, And this is from a guy who has been gambling for around 35 years,
I have managed to get around 15 to 20 bets up since ive been on the site and the reason for this is because I look at my bets in a different way.
I’d just like to say thanks for all the great tips and the great advise.
Finally I would just like to say, that if we need to pay a fee im in and do not have a problem with contributing to this wonderful site, Keep up the good work and long may it continue.
Froggy, glad it’s working for you – that’s what it’s all about.
Echo everyone else comments about the site, doing a wonderful job! Main thing I have learned from you and the guys on the site is that yes there will be bad days when tips don’t come in but stay disciplined and patient and you will be rewarded! Before I joined this site if I had a bad day betting I lost my discipline and it really affected me not anymore thanks to some advice from Mr F and the other guys! Just hope these mindless idiots don’t ruin this site which has saved my bacon since last July when I was in a bit of trouble!
I think when people comment on your English and being a gold digger that’s a pretty pathetic and totally irrelevant matter given that the principle theme on this site is to get returns…. my own opinion is that when the words ” easy money” ” banker” and ” sure things” are used that’s when the silly season comes in……
Aye Paul they comps sound alot better than the weekly ones. The tipster comp last summer was great fun to be involved in with the mythical £1,000 to start the week and was good following everyone’s bets daily to see how they got on plus it makes it more worthwhile wi so much at stake. Has Cammy been in touch about the night out at the racing, Hamilton if I remember right??
craig, he’s not but hope he enjoyed it.
Why would anybody pay for tips when its in the paper most days anyway
Rab, hardly anything in the paper appears on the site and vice versa. Anyway the plan isn’t to charge for tips as such but all will be revealed soon.
Mr F,
I do most of the competition’s on your site because it gives you a bit of interest if money you have punted has gone down.
Agree there is maybe too many,but I don’t visit the site for comps, same as I enter the comps in the Record,but only because I buy the paper anyway.
I don’t think there is anything weong with site and visit as often as I can.
I don’t put tips up because mine are usually rubbish.
Keep up the good work.
Ian, there will still be contests but maybe not as many.
Well said Mr f
I totally agree about the trolls and don’t mind a minimal charge on the site, because I use it daily. I am surprised about the lack of interest in the competitions. I enjoy the challenge. Although most people win by following the legend that is JohnB!
I got the free bet but got my account deleted from bet365 as I stuck with hills.
Can you give it to Craig ?
Mr Kop, contact admin mrfixitstips@gmail.com
alva, why have you become a troll? Goodbye.
Simples Mr F, £5 a month for access to you Alex, ralj, noor and the rest of the boys I’ve missed will lose the trolls completely.
yup have to agree with the majority of comments this site IS TOO GOOD to be ruined by a handful of trools just ignore them and ban their self centred attention seeking comments its also nice to see how the regular posters come up with so many winners and long may that continue thank you mr f for running this fantastic service for free
I must be a said troll but if winning a free bet on the 7th December and despite being told a couple of times to email admin but getting no response is trolling as they say on Dragons Den “I’m Out”
Helen, who said you were trolling? I’ll bring it to admin’s attention – have you checked spam mail?
Ive checked my email and spam mail for weeks now and had no reply from Admin since 2nd January !
Mr fixit,im not sure how easy it is – but can you start giving ratings to decent contributors like alex and raajilaca? When u put your shortlist up for example, its good to see views of those with valid opinions rather than trolls and jokers. i know u ca have ratings on social sharepoint sites. so may a simple 1-5* rating. 5* for those who are sensible and give great tips and 1* to those who are sensible. it gives us punters an idea of which commnets to trust or not. it is just an idea – im not sure of the upkeep etc.
Andy, we’re looking at the possibility of adding, for example, a naps table which will allow you to see who is performing best. For now you’ll need to follow them and work it out – and it’s pretty easy to see who’s consistently putting up winners.