Chapter Two; pages 24-26

As for the customer service room they were really active when the phones were ringing off the hooks with new prospects and gamblers looking to bet as they took the overflow calls from wagering. I am not sure what they did with customer service other than being told to be on the alert for scammers and making sure not to mention any key phrases like “Would you like a payout today sir?” Unfortunately gamblers attract scammers because gamblers sometimes have the money spent before they bet and in the world of offshore gambling they get a bonus when signing up. Some would be so obvious that they would sign up make a few bets and try to cash out which was stated in policy that when getting a bonus one had to play a minimum amount of bets. This was fair otherwise the gamblers could deposit a $1000 leave it at the sports book for a day and withdraw the next day with 10-20% interest. I have always thought that the sports books should dismiss the bonuses and pay that 10-20% in taxes because a government guarantee would carry a lot more weight with customer trust for the foreign businesses.

BOS rarely fired anyone but people might end up never being seen again should a payout be brought up in subject. This is more of a joke than truth because gamblers usually run out of money before they can take a payout combined with BOS never wanting to do a payout, but then again were they really much different from a lot of operations. In the end BOS would neglect payouts and that is what they are rightfully known for by the public.

BOS security was always monitoring the phones. In the words of Claude, “I don't trust anyone”. Even the sales people would be occasionally monitored and guys would be reprimanded for not asking certain questions from the prospects. Fact is more often than not new gamblers wanted to get signed up ASAP to get some money down on a pending game. If you bugged them with too many questions they would get irate and hang up the phone. On the weekends in 2000 the sales office would sign up more than a 1000 people per day with the sales guys never taking breaks going from one phone call to the next like machines. This business was just over the phone sign-ups. More gamblers were signing up over the web. BOS certainly was and exciting and booming with business in 2000.

The two people I dealt with on a daily basis were Shaun K and Claude for marketing. Shaun really didn’t know much about sports like his older cousin and I was rightfully skeptical about the Marketing Director title. Turns out he really didn't know much about advertising and marketing either. He asked a lot of questions and listened which I will admit the Ripner family consisted of excellent listeners but they consistently, and conveniently forgot about payments. Ask any of them for a payment and they would look at you like you were speaking a mixture of the multiple languages of Nigeria. Both Shaun and Claude occasionally jumped on the telephones in the sales room to sign up new customers, where I spent considerable time during my first trip to Costa Rica. Claude loved each and every customer that signed up with his company. What owner wouldn’t? The company was his baby and as a business owner you appreciate everyone that contributes to your project or should. Problem was Claude was terrible on the phone with customers and the sales manager Big George would have to let him know that it wasn’t in his best interest to be in the sales office. The only one worse on the phones was Cousin Shaun.

That first trip to Costa Rica, Shaun would usually be seen running around trying to look busy while it was apparent he was trying to find himself while wearing his standard faded blue jeans, button up un-tucked shirt which was a poor excuse for concealing his belly, and sneakers. Claude meanwhile would be suit and tie from Monday through Friday and would dress down on the weekends. These were the pioneer days of online gaming and the dress code isn’t nearly as professional as it is today with the suits which BOS executives started wearing in 2001.

Shaun seemed to be a regular guy but would be a victim of power. In the early days he would occasionally be seen with the staff out having a drink or carousing at one of the local casinos. I enjoyed being around him although we did have our occasional run in. He was good about picking up checks and for years I harbored a lot of hatred towards Shaun for saying some vicious things to me in lieu of my mother’s eventual death as a reason to not pay me. I assume he was just ordered to do so by the dictatorial cousin, while others tell me he bragged about fucking me over. I’ll still punch him in the mouth if I ever see him before I act cordial.

The sales room was where the personalities resided; Guys that could talk. There were two women that worked in the sales room. The rest of the women that walked through were there to flirt with the men with money. The sales guys were making around $400 - $600 per week based on a grueling six day work schedule which was a good 2-5x more than what the hard working customer service girls were making. The girls from customer service worked real hard on landing a guy in sales that could take them out for a hot meal and night on the town. Heck even Navy Squirrel Roy got lucky from the customer service girls although he would eventually be demoted to customer service himself.

I really liked the sales guys. The sales manager, Big George was a real joy; A big guy with a colorful past where he was a sales manager for a large Arizona car dealership prior to taking time off to relax in Costa Rica. I could see where George had been successful with sales in the past. He made sure you were comfortable from the get go and was very approachable yet knew when and how to take a stand if you were not taking care of your responsibilities. George would come out and socialize every now and then but for the most part he relegated his social life outside of the office to hosting some of the best damn barbecues in Costa Rica along with his blond girlfriend, Lorraine. To this day I make my hamburgers with chopped onion grilled right in the meat!

Lorraine was an extremely sociable stateside transplant to Costa Rica. She didn’t care much for Costa Rica, as I heard her curse the culture more than a few times and longed for her life back in Texas but stood alongside George. She occasionally worked in the sales office lending support to an office that needed more people, especially over the weekend when thousands of calls would be coming in one after another. She appeared to be around 40 and a beautiful woman. Although very classy Lorraine could have a rough Texas edge to her if someone got on her bad side. I was the victim of the bad side once but mostly I enjoyed her stares and verbal lashings as just an onlooker.

George was around 50. Some say he was in his mid-50’s while he claimed late 40’s. Anyway I would go to the gym with George on most mornings and he was probably in better physical shape than anyone at BOS. I would also see him routinely running with his golden Labrador Jake through the smoggy streets of Costa Rica which means he had to have some decent lungs to run in that thick nasty inner city air. He certainly knew his way around a grill and enjoyed sports just as much as myself. That is probably why we got along so well plus he had a great sense of humor and was the first to call Navy Squirrel Roy on his bullshit.