Commentary: The Trouble With Refunds
 

Successful event organizing takes commitment on both sides of the transaction. And why should it be any different? https://www.offshoreonly.com/article...e-with-refunds.

From the OSO home page.

Does this happen often? Is normally the same people? Just an idea if its a common problem they may want to do like the airlines. Offer a optional extra insurance fee that allows people to cancel. Things do come up in life that are unforeseen last minute.

I had booked my spot on the Run for the Cure year before last, and obviously once i got my boat back from the Florida painter I couldn't go. the run filled up quickly and there was a waiting list for spots. I offered to raffle my spot off and all the proceeds to go to the charity, but the event organizers already had the list of waiters so they gave the option to the next person. I never even asked for anything back, the charity was worth it and every little bit helps.

It happens enough (and has been particularly rough for one organizer this year who is in the process of tightening up the registration process) so that it's a recurring topic of discussion in the American Poker Run Organization Group.

You solution isn't horrible, but most of these organizers handle one to three events per year and—in my view—and an trip-insurance-style refund system would be too much to set up and administrate. But I will forward your suggestion to the group.

For the record, I never buy trip insurance. And I travel a lot. :)

I also never buy trip insurance. But I also know I had the option and didn't take it so shame on me if I cant make it.

If refunds are offered, the rest of the runners will end up paying for with increased entry fees. Also if you allow refunds, many will check the weather report and if bad will say they can not make it and demand a refund.

Padraig

In my experience, the entry fee is the small percentage of the overall trip. (although I know there are some big entry fees out there).

I say no refunds. It's a charitable event !

...if you really think you can win big money at a poker run / fun run, I'd guess you probably play the lottery too. Good luck with that. The winner is the charity.

We have all seen this scenario. Weather takes a dump the night before a run and people drop out due to wind, rain, overcast, etc.. Its not fair to the organizers to have to issue a refund, cancel stop reservations, etc. Its not their fault you aren't able to make the run. There has to be a black and white line drawn which is real simple. Sign up for a run and pay in full, no exceptions no refunds. Get a commitment by participants, the organizers made a commitment. Having deposits with refunds will only cause issues and will eventually shut runs down. This isn't WalMart or Paypal, these are runs for charity.

Just because a person has a big fancy boat doesn't preclude them from being cheap and he's going to take the tax deduction if he goes or stays home.

Refund policies can affect the customers actions . If you refund everyone then people sign up to hold a place without committing to the event. It can breed a lot of cancellations and leave a lot of expenses for the organizer.

Then there are the managing of expectations. When you here there will be 100 boats and only 50 show up the one that show up will be disappointed.


​​​​​​I am sure it is a decent amount of money when you have several others in a boat. It's natural for people to be one sided and want the money back. But a no refund policy is reasonable when you look at it from the organizers perspective

Would be nice if it was tax deductible. Unfortunately, it's not in my situation.

Great responses here. And a worthy topic, even if I wasn't an organizer.

I signed up for Lake Lanier for three straight years before I got a boat on the chance I MIGHT have one for the event. Always got in early and had a good slip reservation. Then I gave the slip to someone else that registered but had a less desirable slip. Never even thought about asking for a refund on the entry or the slip and was happy to make the donation.

all of this plus the time issue. most of us have day jobs. the poke run is not a income for us its a love and passion for the boats, people a charity. we had 375-8ish hands in 2018. if we have to go dig up all the info and everything else with a refund it becomes even more time. that's a valuable thing when planning a run.

I agree that there should be no refunds. I think the flip side to that is, majority of us, other than the "chosen few" are all blue collar guys, business owners etc. Hell, every year i have a list of runs we are hitting, but i always tend to never register until a week or two prior. Some of these event entry fees are getting a bit out of hand, so the thought of alot of us holding up over a grand for idk, 6 months ahead not knowing if we will sell, break, or have biz go up or down, have life come up, is the total flip side. I LOVED how Tony at Elite Poker Runs did a hefty early bird registration discount. I am curious to see how many people took advantage of that offering. Though like i said, its a total flip side, if we WERE available for a discount, i would imagine there would be higher boat counts.. Maybe an available refund option up until a month before the run would be the happy medium? Though i know many organizers use the entries for cash flow for the cost of the run put on because it isnt free, so at some point, either before or after, it would have to come out of the organizers pocket.. Certainly a rock and a hard place situation because boat counts are what we all want!

I cant get past the fact you they pay an average of 1500 bucks for 20 baseball game tickets for a basement dweller team.
But I will agree that for events such as runs and show and such there should be no refunds.

Never forget that "fan" is short for "fanatic," meaning common sense and logic go out the window.

On the other hand, the Giants won three world championships in four years (2010, 2012, 2014) so my loyalty was well-earned.

Plus, the seats are really freaking good. :)

My buddy is not rich but has season dolphins tickets for about $14,000 a year (for 8 home games plus a couple pre-season!). Dolphins have sucked for years and I always joke he could have a better car (Chevy Equinox is his ride now) and a boat for what he spends on tickets after just a few years. He groans about the undefeated season and how the seats are so good he would hate to lose them now.

I can go to any game I want using Stubhub. Sure I will pay more but I get to pick the game and don't have the annual commitment. Billionaire sports team owners and millionaire players surely don't need my money!

How people spend their discretionary income is—for me—beyond irrelevant. Your money, your choice and I have no business judging it. :) But I have to believe that. I'm a San Francisco Giants fan.

Your solution, though, is a good one. Rather than asking the organizing body to adjust to your needs, schedule uncertainty and budget, you go event by event. Sounds like a reasonable solution to me.

But I have news for you: The billionaire owners and millionaire athletes still appreciate your financial support—that is the way most people enjoy most sports events, by the way, as most fans do not have season tickets—even one game at a time. :) That, too, is part of their revenue model.

Not to take the thread of course but....
We have the Orioles, what used to be a great team with players like Robinson, Palmer, Dempsey.... When they moved to Camden Yards and the ambulance chasing lawyer bought the team they are nothing more then a tourist trap. Go to a game and the visiting team gets more cheers then the home team. We get 1st row behind home plate next to the visitors dugout tickets a couple times a year given to us. We would take the kids when they were little because all the players would give them balls and autographs. Now we mostly turn them down unless the kids that are now adults want to take their friends but even that don't happen to often.
As for the Ravens. They started the kneeling BS in England and being a bit of a history buff it pissed me off that a team would do this in England when they play in sight of where FS Key wrote his little poem while a certain country was at war with us (which all happened outside of my bedroom window).
So I'm kind of done with Pro sports...but…..I am starting to like Hockey again though.....