#1
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Grinduro CA Cancelled
Grinduro in CA has been cancelled with a 20% refund being given to those who registered. That means the event organizer is taking about $185 from each person who registered, despite numerous corporate sponsorships.
This is on the heels of a quagmire at the Canadian Grinduro where many participants were left without water at fill stations in sweltering heat. My recommendation - Skip any Grinduro event if you want to avoid being ripped off. |
#2
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wow that's pretty bad...
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#3
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Was looking at the Canada event as a nice weekend for this year, but honestly, given the registration cost (250CAD), and the route, it wasn't worth it for us, hearing about the mess it become is not surprising, much better organized events that have agreements for private land use at much lower cost.
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#4
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From their website, before people get the pitchforks out:
As a reminder, our refund policy has always stated that Grinduro California may be cancelled without refund in the event of extreme weather or natural disaster, including wildfire and related forest closures. Despite this policy, we would like to instead give you a 20% refund on all Grinduro and Grindurito registration fees, plus a 100% refund on any purchased meal and/or camping packages (minus processing fees). This is consistent with our COVID refund policy, which states that participants would receive a 20% refund should the event be cancelled between 1 and 29 days before its scheduled date due to State Guidelines related to COVID. Although we are forced to cancel because of forest closures, not COVID, we still would like to give 20% back to you. It’s our way of thanking you for understanding and accepting this unfortunate and disappointing situation. We realize you might be disappointed that we aren’t refunding a larger portion of your registration fee. The reason why we cannot issue full refunds is because so much money has already been spent on Grinduro California—nearly $100,000. Some of the largest expenses come months before an event, including non-refundable deposits for venue, catering, live music, tent rentals, porta potties, photographers, timing services, and other event service providers, plus contractor fees, merchandise and equipment purchases, and more. These expenses are incurred by Grinduro California’s regional organizer, the Siskiyou Outdoor Recreation Alliance (SORA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. SORA is responsible for all event finances, and Grinduro California revenue then goes to SORA to support their important work. If additional registration fees were to be refunded, SORA would lose many tens of thousands of dollars, which would be detrimental for the organization. We ask you to please understand that by issuing 20% refunds, we are doing what we can to support you, while also ensuring that SORA is in a great position to host Grinduro California in 2022. |
#5
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That’s all fine, and I was aware of the fine print, but I feel like saying SORA needs the funds is a bit of a cop out. How much of my $185 is going to protect Grinduro’s bottom line? I expected an organization that was all about diversity, inclusion, and “party vibes” to have more integrity when it came to things like this, too.
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#6
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DIY bike adventure is the best deal going these days. |
#7
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Agreed Steve, I was able to build the same route for the Canadian event, which I’ll try and do later in the fall. Also probably a nicer ride with colors changing here
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
#8
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Yeah, it's a bummer but figure if they are treating part of my entry fee as a donation then I can use that on my taxes.
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#9
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They are ripping people off, plain and simple. |
#10
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Yea; that would grind my gears also. An event of this size charging that much for a entrance fee should absolutely have purchased insurance against natural catastrophes. Using people’s money to self insure and not refunding the full $$ is not fair and a poor business decision on the organizers part IMO.
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http://less-than-epic.blogspot.com/ |
#11
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If you paid with credit card…have a charge back issued.
Credit cards protect you from things like that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
#12
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"Ripping people off" is a little harsh and generally uncalled for - ATMO.
If you sign up for an event between June and November anywhere on the west coast or in the inter-mountain west, you need to expect that it may have to be cancelled due to wildfires and/or wildfire smoke. It is what it is. And in these times, you need to understand there is a risk that pandemic rules imposed for rider and supporter / staff safety may prevent the event from happening as well. Again - it is what it is. If you can't write off the registration fee when xyz uncontrollable situation arises, don't sign up in the first place. Last edited by Clean39T; 08-28-2021 at 08:22 PM. |
#13
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#14
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All that said, like with most things, it's all in the fine print. The registration agreement probably included a no refund clause of some kind that allows them to keep the fees, or portion thereof if a natcat event happens, which is what happened here. they could absolutely have purchased insurance to protect themselves and the riders from having to absorb this but they chose not to. that's fine and is what it is. as you guess, likely all of the would-be participants can afford this hit without missing a beat, but it's still not, in my opinion - a good way of running an event. it's all trivial though, wildfires really suck, and there are a lot of people actually suffering, much beyond losing a couple hundo over a reg fee. i freaking love norcal and all that's up there in the remotest of remote areas and i was scared to death as i drove through a couple weeks ago and saw just how tinder box dry everything was as i choked on the smokey air. it sucks.
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http://less-than-epic.blogspot.com/ |
#15
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