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Race cancellations and consumer rights
plazzy
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You train like a demon for the guts of a year, to be met with an excuse of a cancellation days/hours/minutes before the race starts, with little or no chance of getting you money back. And if you do, it's discretionary or partial.
If they were goods or a service, there would be no qualms or quibbles, so at what point did a race become exempt from basic consumer rights?
Sickens me to the core. Runners are complete mugs sometimes. I'm going to open a race insurance company.
BTW; this applies to some and not all, my tar brush is in it's pot.
Rant over.
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Comments
Are you sure theres nothing in the small print you agreed to when signing up that lets them get out like this?
That posts reads as if last minurte cancellations are far more common than they actually are
I think in 15 years of running I have only ever had 1 event cancelled at short notice, and that was last January due to the snow...
You will have to tell us the race and explain the circumstances because every situation is different. There is no standard answer to this. It is as Dave says, very rare and it has never happened to me so I would be out of pocket paying for insurance.
and to be fair to the club (Helsby AC) those of us who turned up on the Wednesday night after to hand back our chips were given a nice bidon with the route on it
The problem is if the race organisers have already paid for road closures etc they will still need to honour that payment etc.
One race which was cancelled due to snow, they offered the finishers t-shirt and £3 off the next race. Another which was cancelled due to flooding, they took all entries and deferred them to the following year. All circumstances are different, but I agree it is SO frustrating when a race is cancelled at short notice. It is usually for your own safety x x
But once it was because the bottles of water didn't turn up. Did people get their money back for that one? the Sheffireld Half I think.
I know the company that organise the event stepped down. Not sure if people got their money back or not.
Sheffield Half Marathon Press Statement Monday, 7th Apr 2014 - 2:21pm
Organisers of the Sheffield Half Marathon have started a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of the 2014 event.
The investigation will carefully examine all the key issues, including lack of water delivery, which informed the committee’s decision to cancel the race.
The race organisers will also be looking into the communication at the start line which appeared to leave some runners completing the race unaware that it had been cancelled. However every effort will be made to ensure that the event’s 10 official charities still benefit from the thousands of pounds raised by runners’ fundraising.
Margaret Lilley, chairperson of the organising committee, said: “Our internal investigation into the situation will specifically focus on the circumstances which contributed to our suppliers failing to deliver the water bowsers as expected.
“The requirements for an official race dictate that there is an appropriate amount of water available at every three mile interval on the course.
“At previous events we have always taken delivery of the water on the morning of the race and our suppliers have proven very reliable in this respect. However, this was not the case for the 2014 event and ultimately it was the key factor informing our decision to cancel the race.
“To compound the situation it appears that many runners did not fully hear the announcement we made at the start line cancelling the event. As a result many of the participants proceeded to run the course. So, once they had set off, our number one priority was to ensure their safety along the length of the route.
“We are extremely grateful to runners for the patience they have shown so far. Indeed as part of our investigation, we will take on board any comments and questions we receive.
“The outcome and findings from our investigation will be made publicly available in due course.
“After many months of planning and hard work by our team of volunteers to put on an event with the ultimate aim of raising vital funds for local charities, it was incredibly disappointing to cancel the event.
“Our committee is a not-for-profit group of volunteers, who are 100 per cent committed to the local community through the delivery of an event that raises money for charity – and one of the only races left where all money goes to charity.
“In the 33 years of running the event, we have brought significant financial benefit to the local economy and businesses by increasing the footfall of people into Sheffield for this popular event.
“Once again, we apologise to all the runners, their families and friends and anyone else who has supported the event. We are committed to carrying out a thorough and comprehensive investigation examining all the key issues including water delivery, communications issues and refunds for runners.
“The Sheffield Half Marathon has been a key Sheffield sporting institution for 33 years over and we’re hopeful the event will return in 2015.”
Refunds were offered:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-27678183
Committee did step down
http://www.sheffieldmarathon.com/
Unfair contract terms are unenforceable in consumer contracts so I am sure that you could get your money back by the strict letter of the law. But if you pay say £20, you're not going to go to court are you? If you've paid £200 to enter an ultra run then maybe you would.
It also amazes me how many race organisers say that they will not be liable for injury. If the injury is caused by their negligence, they are liable and it is actually a criminal offence to exclude liability for personal injury or death caused by your negligence, not merely an unfair term. But it's in most race entry forms.