Question about race deferral

Some races are just VERY stubborn and won't refund for any reason.  I had military training pop up at the last minute and Boulder 5430 refused to give me my money back....for MILITARY reasons...which is usually the golden ticket out of things!

About the only ammo you might be able to come up with is if you can find their refund policy (or lack thereof) on the race website.  If they don't have a publicized policy you might have a leg to stand on.

At the end of the day if they do have a published policy all you can do is ask and if they say no, they say no.  It stinks.  I've lost several race entry fees thanks to the military.  Some races just won't refund your money for anything.

Yeah this is my advice also. I would also keep calling to see if you get a hold of somebody that actually cares about your situation.

As a race promoter and participant. It's a hard battle. How many days before the event did you call? 

If it was close to an event - than more than likely the race organization has already done a lot toward getting your materials prepared. If it was months out - then I feel like they probably haven't done much specific to you...but there would be certain fees that wouldn't be able to be refunded. Online processing fee (this would be up to the online registration service) which may or may not include a credit card processing fee. 

However - on the flip side - they may just have a black and white refund policy. A no exceptions, no refunds type thing.

Definitely look for a posted refund policy. They usually talk about that during the registration process. Did it warn that there were no refunds?? Not sure why events do this with plenty of time before a race...but there are a lot of events that just say no refunds, no transfers, etc.

Good luck!

I googled the race and this was on their FAQ:

 http://www.fort2base.com/runners/faq.html

I crashed the week before the Philly Tri and broke my collar bone. I was set to do the combo challenge; sprint on Sat., Oly on Sunday. I emailed the RD and asked for a deferral. He said they don't defer. I replied "OK, thanks anyway."

I went to the expo and picked up both packets and got all my swag.

That's life.

ETA - refunds would be a nightmare to manage. Too many people would simply bail on the race if they knew they'd get their money back. Deferral would be better, but if they don't, they don't.

I was on a waiting list once and I got into the race.  I told the RD I would do it.  Next day I lose my job.  race entry was $300 and flight would been about $400 to $500 so I asked and they said they would because of the situation.   It was less than 24 hours than I said yes.  Though looking back I kinda wished I would have still done the race then.  I not been ready to do it since.

I can understand most races.  That race has an early bird discount which I gather they would be less likely to to do a deferral. 

It sucks but when I got mono I missed 2 marathons and a half marathon.  It sucks but its the nature of the beast.  Sad thing for me was I already had mono when I signed up for one.  I just did not know it.