New Balance Nationals STILL charges 90 dollar if rejected from meet

If you look at the registration page, it says in bold "Note that there are no refunds for entries paid not meeting entry standards."

http://www.headcountreg.com/meet/673

They want to make sure that people are not entering who do not meet the entry standard. They don't want people wasting their time.

Note that the qualifying time is 14:40 for a 5000 or 9:12 for a 3200. 157 people have gotten sub 9:12 already.

It was clear and they told you beforehand that you would not get the refund. It's too bad for you but you were warned.

Considering there were no services offered, I find charging 90 dollars for doing nothing, a bit of a desperation on capitalization on making an extra buck. To note, that was NOT the case last year.

Is this a serious post? How could anyone be so stupid and lazy? You work 30 hours per week - $90 shouldn't be an issue. If it is, then work more. Problem solved.

I'm not even going to address why you still attempted to register when they clearly stated the entry standards and their refund policy.

Last year, people got in with slower marks. And runners listing times slower than the qualifying meet got into the meet.

I understand making money, but this is the first meet I have come across for doing so in this manner.

At least they disclosed to you the warning beforehand - in bold. They did not try to hide it.

You took a risk and lost.

Some people with slower seed times may have gotten in but you did not. Remember that your seed time was 20-30 seconds (I am guessing) slower than the entry standard. Even if it was 21 seconds and they took people with 14 seconds off the 3200 mark, that is 535 sub 9:26 3200 marks

Pretty ridiculous but there it is in bold. I'd contact your bank or your parents credit card company, if one of those were used. It may get you your $90 back.

This sounds like a typical run of the mill scam.

The problem new balance is causing, is at other meets like footlocker regionals, close to a 1000 kids total are NO WHERE near the actual qualifying mark to be in the championship race, yet they are.

It seems like they're a little more invested in the dollars, than actually building up a legitimate reputation amongst the running community.

Sleazy New Balance, shake my head.

I agree they should return the entry fee, and would file a dispute.

Someone saying they're going to rob someone, and then doing it, doesn't mean that it's right.

This is a complete guess because I don't know the exact reason behind it.

They probably reach capacity in all of their events and I wouldn't be surprised if a number of people try to sign up with times that are not that close, especially if they live near the site. Because of that, if they had to refund for everyone, that would cost them people's time and money to do. They are willing to do it for some (those who are under the entry standard), but they need to have a cut off somewhere.

My sentiments now wrote:

This sounds like a typical run of the mill scam.

The problem new balance is causing, is at other meets like footlocker regionals, close to a 1000 kids total are NO WHERE near the actual qualifying mark to be in the championship race, yet they are.

It seems like they're a little more invested in the dollars, than actually building up a legitimate reputation amongst the running community.

Sleazy New Balance, shake my head.

Yeah, but the thing with Footlockers is that everyone gets to run the race, be it the open, invitational, of race of champions race. 95% of the kids that run at Regionals know they don't have a chance of going to Nationals.

New Balance sponsors the meet, but it's the NSAF (National Scholastic Athletic Foundation) that runs it ~ as well as other meets like Great American. The name makes it sound like a great charitable organization. In truth, it's just one guy's moneymaker. Nothing about this policy surprises me.

My sentiments now wrote:

This sounds like a typical run of the mill scam.

The problem new balance is causing, is at other meets like footlocker regionals, close to a 1000 kids total are NO WHERE near the actual qualifying mark to be in the championship race, yet they are.

It seems like they're a little more invested in the dollars, than actually building up a legitimate reputation amongst the running community.

Sleazy New Balance, shake my head.

What's tough for NB is that the entry fee is being run through a third-party credit processing company. I doubt that NB has your money sitting in their account.

Following the meet the processing company will send the funds to NB and it is only then that they would receive your cash. It's at least a $90 burden to handle all of the athlete inquiries for refunds and to get those paid out. It's a lot easier to make their refund policy clear.

They should use a service that does not allow you to enter without a qualifying mark. This would cut down on some of the unauthorized registrations like yours.

Most surprising of all is that they are charging $90. That seems extraordinarily high.

Did you pay with a credit card?

Notify the credit card company that you are disputing the charge.

Entitled much?

So, you want to enter a mark outside the qualifying standard, hope that you get into the meet and then, when you don't, you want your money back even though you were told that you won't get your money back?

Then dispute the charge with your bank and come on a message board and whine about it because you aren't fast enough to make the race.

I suppose they should just trust everyone tells the truth when they enter and let everyone into the meet? Or if you enter a bogus mark and they catch it, they should refund your money?

Maybe you should get your money back if you don't win?

Or, here is a RADICAL idea, run the entry standard, choose whether you want to spend the money to enter the National High School Championship and then, if you do, register and run the meet.

And--here is the Radical part--if you don't run the standard, you train harder next season and achieve your goals.

I assume you (and your friend) both late entered?

Because the entry fee is $45 through June 2 - after that there is a $50 late fee per event.

I could sort of understand someone entering without meeting the guidelines if you were entering before June 2. It is a pretty punitive late fee, and if you had a meet lined up where you thought you would make the standard, you might take the risk that you are wasting your money in order to cut your entry fee by more than half in the event you do get in. NOTE THE PHRASE "TAKE THE RISK" - it is an explicit gamble on your future performance.

But why on Earth would you late enter without meeting the entry guidelines? And why would your friend late enter in two events? Unless you are in a position where $95 just doesn't matter to you, and/or you value the miniscule chance of getting to run more than $95. (I once did this for the USATF 10k when I missed the standard by four seconds. And by "I" I actually mean the money was not coming out of my pocket. I did not get in; the school didn't get their money back.)

But this is what it says on the meet webpage (all caps and bold in the original):

ENTRY FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

THERE IS NO REFUND FOR ENTRIES RECEIVED NOT MEETING ENTRY GUIDELINES.

PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT ATHLETES MEET THE ENTRY GUIDELINES BEFORE THE ENTRY FEES HAVE BEEN PAID.

IF ACCEPTED INTO THE MEET (MEANING THE ENTRY GUIDELINES HAVE BEEN MET), THERE IS NO NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE. IF REJECTED, A REJECTION NOTICE WILL BE SENT. IN SUCH CASE, ENTRY FEES ARE NOT REFUNDABLE.

It says three times in four paragraphs that entry fees are not refundable, and says in three different ways that if you enter without meeting the entry guidelines you won't get your money back. You can disagree with that policy, but you can't possibly say it is unclear. I don't think there is any chance a credit card company is going to give your money back.

Guys, the NSAF are the ones making money here. They charge New Balance to be the sponsor. They treat it like many big road races now. If you enter a Rock N Roll event or a big marathon or Penn relays you don't get a refund. Yes I know its High School but ultimately they have lots of kids that have no problem paying. The New Balance part is making the meet fun. I was there last year and while some of the gear they sold was expensive and sold out quickly it was also pretty cool and the party was lots of fun. I think its expensive to charge $90 but they are putting on a first class event.

Out of curiosity, does your time need to be backed up by a result or can you submit and time you want? Could you have just seeded yourself at 14:35?

Also, 5k xc and 5k track are two different events. You can't compare times.

Why do track/xc meets get to charge money for No services provided? Bold print or not, what other businesses can say "pay in full first, then we might give you what you paid for"?

There is no way actual processing costs exceed $50.

According to the website: