LEL Brevet cards and refunds?

[pompey phill]

Hello all,
just wondering if anyone else is having as much fun as I am trying to get a refund of my entry fee, or what ever it is I'm due back from the "organisation" that ran the LEL.  I've had dates and excuses for months now and still nothing.  I've been informed that it will be sent out with the Brevet cards. so has any one got their cards back yet ??  I was told that the "organisation" where waiting for the cards to be sent back to them before they could be sent out ??
sorry for the rant but I think I've been pretty patient with the "organisers" but it has worn thin now.

  

[postie]

hope to get my card back before the next LEL,well thats the bet i have placed with ladbrooks.

[MSeries]

I can't make out the postmark but the envelope my 2005 card came to me in bears a Christmas stamp and I think it came back after Christmas.

[Redlight]

you kept the envelope??

[MSeries]

you kept the envelope??

Yes, to keep the card and medal together.

[Redlight]

You're impressively well-organised. The only thing I have ever kept was my PBP finisher's "medal/plaque", last seen when we moved into this house three years ago ... I think it's somewhere in the loft 

[Fidgetbuzz]

I understand that Mel got the completed brevet cards either just before or at the AGM in late November.
I believe that she was not prepared to hand over the envelopes to others to allow quick dispatch of brevets to all finishers.
Minor query in my mind - as to whether she has mislaid the envelopes - but all being well she will get round to the task of marrying cards and envelopes one day.
Long communication delays do seem to be par for the course sadly.

[pompey phill]

my enquiry is about a refund though.
as to why that can't be posted out regardless of the Brevet cards, is what I'm finding hard to come to terms with.

Oh well I'm sure it will be forthcoming at some point ? ? ? ?

[Fidgetbuzz]

Maybe the event made a loss despite the AUK subsidy - and that there is no money in the LEL pot - so a refund comes from her own pocket - hence the delay

[Redlight]

I believe that she was not prepared to hand over the envelopes to others to allow quick dispatch of brevets to all finishers.

This lack of trust in anyone else seems to have been a recurring theme with LEL organisation. Let's hope that the next one has a proper management structure. I'm sure Mel worked her butt off but you can' organise an event like that on your own, and it showed.

[DanialW]

This lack of trust in anyone else seems to have been a recurring theme with LEL organisation. Let's hope that the next one has a proper management structure. I'm sure Mel worked her butt off but you can' organise an event like that on your own, and it showed.

It will have. The committee will discuss this (at length, presumably) in February, and commit to a team and an approach. So far, as far as I'm aware, only the interim committee (all bar one of whom are regular posters on here) have put their name in the hat. If anyone else wants to, they'll have to move fast.

I don't think there is anyone on the committee who thinks that LEL can be run by anything other than a team of experienced audaxers.

[DanialW]

The AGM agreed to allow AUK to run the event directly, rather than just having its usual oversight. What happens next is the committee will decide how to run LEL, and who will do it.

There are six members of the interim committee that AUK appointed in September. Three are AUK committee members, namely myself, Keith Harrison/Sue Gatehouse (Keeef) and Sheila Simpson. There are also Fidgetbuzz, JohnH (he of the Mille Cymru) and Mantotea on the committee, with significant input from Ivo, Lynn Hedley and Nigel Hall.

Top of my head, there are also five controllers committed (insofar as you can at this stage), four of whom ran controls in 2009. This is in addition to the three controllers from 2009 who are now on the LEL interim committee.

I have a proper chart somewhere. No doubt you'll all get to see it one day soon.

[Hummers]

All very interesting chaps but does not help Pompey Phill with his OP.

H

[MSeries]

All very interesting chaps but does not help Pompey Phill with his OP.

H

To answer P Phils question. No. I am not having as much fun as he is. I am not trying to get a refund.

Is that better ?

[Hummers]

All very interesting chaps but does not help Pompey Phill with his OP.

H

To answer P Phils question. No. I am not having as much fun as he is. I am not trying to get a refund.

Is that better ?

No, not really and not particularly helpful.

H

[Fidgetbuzz]

I'm not sure that PP should expect a refund - if I enter an event and call off - I do not expect a refund.
Now maybe LEL in view of magnitude is different - but I suspect that Mel is looking at a break even at best on the event - and so will be trying to avoid paying refunds of either deposits or full entry fees to all those who didnt ride.

I would have thought that the only way to get a refund if it is due - would be to keep pressuring Mel so much that she finally makes a payment just to stop the hassle.While applying any pressure that PP can - he might like to add that all his mates are still waiting for their brevet cards.

[frankly frankie]

Is that what this is about?
AUK Reg 5.4 "... Entry fees are not refundable."

If OTOH its a partial refund for no photo or somesuch, if that happens it would make sense to enclose it with the brevet card.

[Weirdy Biker]

Before we go off on one about refunds, I believe PP had a medical reason for withdrawing.  So maybe a bit of sensitivity is needed.

[frankly frankie]

But that is all factored into the entry fee.
Entries were solicited a long way in advance of the event.  This means that there would always be a significant number of non-starters among those entries, for all sorts of good reasons.  Recognising that from the outset may have shaved £20 off the entry fee that was charged.  Most good Organisers instinctively do this, in a smaller way.

[Hummers]

I'm not sure that PP should expect a refund - if I enter an event and call off - I do not expect a refund.

In the LEL FAQ:

Full refunds are at the organisers discretion and are subject to a cancellation fee of 20%.  Contact me ASAP if you want to withdraw from LEL.

As I understand it, Phil has been told by the organiser that he should expect a refund and that this will be sent out when the Brevet cards go out. Hence the reason for this thread.

The reasons why he qualifies for a refund and whether or not he should have expected it are completely irrelevant IMHO. He has been told he will get a refund and expects the organiser to make good with the promise.

H

[Fidgetbuzz]

So we are back to the brevet card position, as PP has been told he is getting a refund. Still think that the event is at break even at best - so this could be a factor.

I know that Keith and Sue offered to do the matching of cards and envelopes about a week before the AGM -- I would have gone along and helped as well. Mel declined to hand the envelopes over - I have no idea why.

Can we offer her any help now - or do we just sit and wait - and if she never gets round to it - then we never get our brevet cards back

[Ivo]

E-Mailing Mel won't help untill her computer is repaired.

[Andy vidler]

Thought it was only me who had not received Brevet card. Only way i got any joy out of organiser was to write official complaint to CTC secretary, and that was just to get my entry confirmed.

[MSeries]

Thought it was only me who had not received Brevet card. Only way i got any joy out of organiser was to write official complaint to CTC secretary, and that was just to get my entry confirmed.

WHo is the CTC secretary ? What does this have to do with the CTC ?

[Andy vidler]

Maybe my mistake! But i wrote to Shiela Simpson and Kieth Benton managed to pry my entry time and number from Mel.