Ridecamp: [RC] Refunds and RM Risks

Bette,

Good that you could choose on your horse's behalf without feeling too 
out of shape.

Rides have different refund policies, nothing mandated by AERC, only 
that a refund policy must be stated on the ride entry, IIRC.

If the footing was deemed safe for starters, then it comes down to 
the refund policy.

Mine happens to be that "horses that don't pass the check in can get 
a full refund via mail after the event.  No-shows (people who don't 
call and withdraw) receive no refund.  Those who enter last minute, 
plan to pay at the ride and no-show generate negative karma.  Riders 
who don't complete get a certificate for $10 redeemable for part of 
next year's ride entry."

Riders that pull out en masse can insure that a ride never happens 
again.  (Last year, 22 people withdrew in the few days before my 
ride, mostly due to lameness--horses, people, trucks.  150 starters 
left, so not a disaster, just a bit of an admin hassle).

In the El Nino year of 97-98, 2 ride managers had torrential rains at 
their rides.  Each handled it differently.  At the first, the trail 
was still safe to ride.  Attrition made the number of starters only 
41.  The RM lost her shirt; the people had pulled out before the 
vet-in.  9" of rain in two days.

The second ride was too slick to even let riders start.  The RM chose 
to offer three options--1) to hang out at the resort, go to some 
talks offered by a couple of speakers and enjoy the ride banquet, get 
awards drawn out of a hat for the "Fantasy 25 and Fantasy 50".  2) 
get a coupon for free entry at a future ride, or 3) get a refund.

A fair amount of us opted for the Fantasy ride, and enjoyed 
ourselves, including in the hot pool.

This kept the RM from going under, not that she didn't take quite a 
loss, just not as catastrophic.

If you don't think I live in terror that something like that could 
happen to my ride, only in my case, due to excessive heat--makes me 
wonder how the rides that don't have pre-entry handle that monetary 
risk.

In the case of a huge amount of withdrawals the day before a ride, 
I'd still have to pay the fee for the facility- $1200, pay for my 
vets (who took the time off to travel there, 4 x 350), thousands of 
dollars worth of awards ($3K last year), porta pottie fees, 
insurance, food for volunteers and riders, etc.

Lynne
Rem-member Me & Celesteele

> Hi Steph
> You're right, there does not seem to be any consistencies here. 
> Linda and I went to a ride (name escapes me here) and were NOT 
> prepared for rain. We arrived late--- in the dark--- paid our fees 
> and went to bed, only to be awakened by gentle rain--- not cold and 
> not severe. We had no rain gear for us nor the horses and thought we 
> might cause more of a commotion by trying to get them back in the 
> trailer--- the damage was already done (they were soaked).
> The ground was VERY slick and since this was to be their first rides 
> for both of them, we decided it would be better not to risk a bad 
> experience, first time out.
> We asked---- noooooo refunds. Oh well--- got to meet some nice folk, anyway.
> Bette
>
> Steph Teeter wrote:
>
> > Ok... I'm going to stick my neck out on this issue. I believe that this
> > falls within the 'jurisdiction' of the ride manager, not AERC rules. AERC
> > does not address this in its rules.

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