Am I being completely out of line here?...(very wordy)

I know there are registration sites that will only do their own race information entry -- meaning they put up the ionfo on their site, and the RD can't do anything about it. Of course, they could contact the online entry company and request that the info be changed, but that can take... weeks. Seriously.

So while you didn't do anything wrong, most likely neither did he, and he's getting burned by some one else's mistake (and you get caught in the middle).

He's offered what he can -- applying the funds to a later race OF HIS. Take it or leave it.

Agree.  I don't think a refund is in order, but I do think he could have been a little nicer in his tone.  And IMO, I don't think you responding to his tone by giving some tone of your own in your last email to him did you any favors.

That being said, the other post above is probably right.  If you used your credit card, you can dispute the charge by calling the bank/credit card company.  In the world of credit cards, the customer has the absolute highest level of protection.  My guess is that Active.com will be forced to refund your money.  Now...it's up to Active.com whether or not they want to request the money paid to "Mark the RD" back.  My guess is since that it was their mistake...they won't.  All parties should be satisfied, and the one who made the error is on the hook.  At least that's the way I believe it will play out.

I agree 100%...And I'm usually pretty level headed. I was a little taken by his reply as I thought that I was being very polite. I run a business as well and couldn't imagine responding to someone like this who was obviously wronged whether it was my fault or not. I guess I needed a little venting. Hell, I guess I'm still venting ....

Mark should have contacted Active.com and gotten it taken care of (at the very least tried).  Especially in a world with the Internet, it is all about customer service.   Do the race as a training day, and make sure you let all your tri buddies know if they have a choice they should pick another company. Just by posting this, I know myself and likely many others will be very wary of doing any events put on by this company.

And don't be surprised if, at some point in the not-too-distant future, you have significantly fewer local races to choose from.

You may have some recourse if you paid by credit card and dispute the charge with Visa or Mastercard saying that the information on the website was misleading at the time the registration was made.  They will then pursue a chargeback on your behalf and you are out of it.

However, choose your battles, because if you go this route you may not be able to ever register for race with this producer again.

I thought about this, and have decided that I'm just gonna let it go. I did, however, respond to his e-mail in a polite, but "I'm right, you're a jerk" kind of way...Of course he had no response to reason. I'm afraid if I ruffle too many feathers he could be a complete d**k and my registration could magically get "lost" on race day. Also, as I mentioned to him, I'm doing the Bartlett Lake OLY which unfortunately is also his event...Don't want to risk off the director for my first OLY distance...

You apparently missed my point entirely -- if you start a trial-by-internet frenzy and rally the community to boycott events, don't be surprised if the events, or maybe even an entire race company (with all their events), disappear.

We're not that big of a community, racers and RDs, so let's try to help each other out. There's (or should be) a symbiotic relationship here.

This is exactly right...Which is why I got so bummed when this guy had his "I know you got screwed, but I don't care" attitude. The other events that he so graciously offered to transfer me to were all of equal or shorter distances. Whatever, part of being a newbie is figuring out who you want to do races with and who you don't. I'll have fun doing it no matter what and move on...

I agree with you, to an extent.  I think that 'helping each other out' ends when the RD treats customers like this. I'm a pretty forgiving guy, but a small business owner should realize this too and use a polite tone with his customers.  To me the most upsetting part isn't that he isn't willing to give a refund - its the way he told the OP.  I would never sign up for another event of his.  If this means his events and race company disappear, then obviously I wasn't the only one slighted by his poor business practices.

Just my 2 cents. Races are expensive (for racers and organizers) but that is all the more reason for his information to be correct.

Just because an event is there does not mean they deserve success and the support of the community.  They also need to earn it and treat their athletes properly.  If that means some smaller races die, it would probably mean that more than one person was unhappy.

Really poor customer service.

Admit the error.  Fix the error.  Thank the customer for finding the error.  Offer full refund or transfer to another event (with difference) and you've probably just created a customer for life (or at least a happy camper).  Don't and you've got people on a message board discussing the situation.

Given the circumstances, however, I'd just run two more miles at the end of the event to meet my own goals. 

Remember:  Illegitimi non carborundum