Should There Be Refunds on Cancelled Tournaments?

Now, we might be able to make some money with that! There are many who would pay to see that done; and probably many more who would pay me even more to put my clothes back on.

But seriously, I believe it would remove any misunderstandings if they had a clear policy on refunds, etc. I don't believe the teams should bear the full burden of cancelled games.

 

I recommend...

If I was the sanctioning body, such as NC NSA, I would buy an event cancellation insurance policy at the beginning of the year for the full season of NC NSA SOftball. In the event of a rainout or cancellation, the insurance policy would pay the fixed cost of the cancelled tournament.

More importantly, the paying customer would get all of their money back. The cost is spread out among the tournament entry fees for all of the teams playing in every NC NSA tournament. Even if they had to change their tournament entry fee to cover the insurance cost, it would be minimal.

With this structure, every team gets their entry fee back in the event of a cancellation - CUSTOMERS REMAIN HAPPY.

 

There you go!! If that kind of insurance is available that seems to be a perfect solution.

 

There is no difference in softball between greed and livelyhood. If there were this thread would be a mute point, and the rules Coach Phreak stated above regarding team refunds would have been implimented long ago. But it's just like everything else. There are those who will work with you without you asking and do it the right way, and those who get ticked off because you had to remind them of their personal responsibilty (and they don't like it.)

 

What tournament is being discussed in this thread?

 

The intent was to discuss the pros and cons of any cancelled tournament's refund policy or lack thereof.

 

If I were in the situation as a tourney guy, I'd pay the folks who were trying to help me make a good thing work even when it didn't go so good, I'd eat the deposit on the rent of the fields, I'd kick a few bucks to the umps who agreed to be at the fields all night long while they could have worked their regular jobs, and then I'd take ZERO for me and ALL my time so that when the whining starts about a team refund, I could look those folks in their face and say........here is your share, period.

Do you want to go to bat with the rest of us and take a chance on the weather, etc. or do you want the Directors to jack the price up on all the tourneys?

Do you want to ride in the wagon or get out and help pull it?

Fishman

Props. ChaCha

 

If there is a clear understanding at the time of entry fee that the entry fee is non-refundable I agree with you. Then, anyone who pays the fee has nothing to whine about because they knew up front.

Personally, I think $375 to $500 entry fees should be subject to some kind of refund. Otherwise, that becomes a pretty hefty donation.

Directors, umpires, etc., do what they do for the money. Coaches, assistants, etc. are the ones who donate their time. Parents, players, coaches are the ones who raise the money for the team fees. They're the ones pulling the wagon.

Clarification: I'm talking about directors that run tournaments as a business; not organizations, etc., that run tournaments for fundraisers, for example.

 

Let me add this...

I can see break even, but lets be fair and not put anyone in the hole. You get two/three days of bad weather prior to a tourney I doubt anything is going to happen. But say everything gets set up to go, and THEN the weather changes for the worst. Point being on the cancellations, kick the umps a few bucks and split what costs there maybe between teams, take nothing for myself the director, "....so that when the whining starts about a team refund, I could look those folks in their face and say........here is your share, period..." And.....when bad weather is approaching on a Sunday and you know you're going to get rained out anyway, do us all a big favor and cancel the tournament for that day or stop taking our money at the gate. It's an insult when you go to a tournament on a Sunday and you know the weather is coming, but you have to drive there anyway, pay the gate fee, and then wait for the weather to hit so they can tell you to go home. Softball has become such a business it's clouded peoples minds.