Hyannis Marathon/half Canceled, No Refunds & No Reschedule

You signed up for the race knowing there was a chance it would be canceled and there would be no refunds. Quit your whining.

Did you pay with a credit card? If so, call your issuer and dispute the charge. It's likely they'll reverse the charge, but active.com will still have to pay the credit card fee.

Down, boy, down!

It seems reasonable to me to not issue a refund. The organizers have to spend money to create an event regardless if the event actually takes place or not when such event is weather dependent in New England in WINTER! The event was canceled due to circumstances outside of anyone's control and therefore the no-refund is justified. If the organizers decided not to go forward with the event due to a reason within their control maybe I could see your outrage.. but that is not the case here. The insane winter we have been having here in Massachusetts should be enough evidence to warrant such a decision, no? I don't believe the organization should be responsible for losing money on an event they did everything in their power to offer you. They made it VERY clear to you upon registration that no refunds would be issued. Why are you angry that they upheld their terms and conditions?!?

Wow a lot of people coming to defend them right away. Probably the BAE on a PR front.

Got the cancelation email...sucks..but its winter. My main gripe is the guy didn't even say sorry he ended the email "cheers" like a prick.

They could hold this in the spring and just use the same medals and shirts..transfer some of the costs. For the people that say it was clearly stated...it wasn't clearly state just in the waiver... Who reads those closely? Probably only the nerds on these boards.

Sorry to hear.

Did they say if they were ordered to cancel by local police? Think I read Martha Vineyard was cancelled the other week too

I wouldn't expect a refund. Like others posted, most of the cost to put on the race cant be recovered. But they could offer a better % toward 2016 if not the whole thing. Other races have. Manchester NH even took on NYC runners the other year just for good publicity. The thing to keep in mind is Eastern Mass has getting hammered this month the roads just are not safe to put on race.

There is the Amherst MA 10 miler Sunday as part of USATF New England Grand Prix. tough course and good competition.

Yes, there is a no refund policy for most big races now so there's not much anyone can do. But races can only get away with this because people let them do, i.e., assuming there won't be a cancellation and entering. Other businesses also have to spend money to create whatever product they're selling and generally have to take the loss if they can't deliver. Maybe it''s time for runners to drum up a little outrage about this.

Chargeback your credit card, easiest way to solve this problem. The only thing these people take seriously is money out of their pocket. No use whining or fussing with customer service, just dispute the charge and be done with it.

dumb wrote:

Chargeback your credit card, easiest way to solve this problem. The only thing these people take seriously is money out of their pocket. No use whining or fussing with customer service, just dispute the charge and be done with it.

That's what I would do.

I work planning conferences and I could not fathom not refunding our customers if we had to cancel for any reason. We have had to refund for 300+ people conferences and eat (no pun intended) the breakfast and lunch charges because of weather.

This Paulie seems real low class. I think he may be the same guy that told my friend to go to the back of the starting line because he didn't look like a "real runner" at their other race in Somerville. My friend placed 15th and first in his age class.

ekw wrote:

It seems reasonable to me to not issue a refund. The organizers have to spend money to create an event regardless if the event actually takes place or not when such event is weather dependent in New England in WINTER!

This is why the event should have an insurance policy to pay out the refund if a cancellation is necessary.

What are the huge costs that they *can't* recoup? They don't have to pay for police detail. I doubt they get a bunch of banana's a week in advance...so they have an inventory of granola bars and water that they can use at one of their other races. T-shirts & medals are the only thing I can think of where it is a sunk cost...

Sorry, but eff that race.

MEANWHILE...I just noticed that the Amherst 10-miler is offering a discount:

http://www.fivecollegerealtors10miler.com/hyannis-transfer-option.html

There is a reason that Amherst has been around so long, and based on the Grand Prix selection process this year - it isn't because people are fan of driving out to Amherst to run on a hilly course...

It has long been the norm in road racing that cancellation due to typical "force majeure" circumstances meant no refund. Remember that race fees usually make up about half the budget for a race with sponsorship making up the rest. By the time a RD finds out that an event will need to be cancelled, lots of money has already been sunk into advertising, t-shirts and other costs that cannot be recovered due to cancellation. If RDs had to refund everyone every time there was a weather event that forced cancellation, events would go broke as soon as there was a cancellation.

So you are mad because you can't run in a race where the times will be incredibly slow, and all runners are wet, cold and miserable?

I ran in that race about ten years ago. It was cold, wet and miserable.

My time was embarrassing slow. I was not happy at any split, and lived to regret racing it, because any time I compare times to running buddies they always bring up that race, and that time. They conveniently forget to mention the conditions, but that's the way men are. We bust balls.

So, I'd not look a gift horse in the mouth and move on. Half marathons are a dime a dozen.

If your really set on racing and you have the time and $$ you have the Gassperilla half on the 22nd in Tampa.

It seems like it would be advantageous for these events to have cancellation insurance.

Im going to call Visa and they will get my money back which they say because they are not providing services that should have been rendered.

i wrote:

What are the huge costs that they *can't* recoup? They don't have to pay for police detail. I doubt they get a bunch of banana's a week in advance...so they have an inventory of granola bars and water that they can use at one of their other races. T-shirts & medals are the only thing I can think of where it is a sunk cost....

Insurance is a big one, advertising, any permit fees, etc. Can't get that money back.

Now it's possible (in some states) to get event cancellation insurance. Problem is that's not cheap, so that means getting it would push up the entry fee even more.

Sucks that it happened, but giving refunds would mean the event director likely would go bankrupt the first cancellation if the event is of any size.

brian44 wrote:

Im going to call Visa and they will get my money back which they say because they are not providing services that should have been rendered.

They can't render services due to weather. The disclaimer you agreed to speaks to this. Visa is NOT in a position to change the prevailing terms of purchase.

* * *

WAIVER: In consideration of my acceptance of this entry I intend to be legally bound, hereby for myself, my heirs, executors and administrators waive and release any and all claims for personal damage I may have against the city or town that the event is being held in, organizers, B.A. Event Promotions , sponsors of the race, and I attest and verify that I am physically fit and sufficiently trained for this event. I also understand that there are no refunds regardless of the circumstances including a cancellation due to poor weather directed by town officials.

* * *