BD - have you ever complained?

[Worried1]

I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who has lodged an official complaint with BD.

In particular I would like to know how quickly they responded and outcome.

PM if you prefer. Thank you.

 

[nokia]

I have but they would not act as I did not video the test so waste of time

 

[Worried1]

Well we have a video and copy if the test but after neatly four months of waiting for a response we chased to be told all documents have been lost... They were sent recorded and we received an initial acknowledgement letter. They have also returned our £25 which we lodged when making our complaint but Luckily we have copies so have resent! I'm just intrigued as to whether anyone else has successfully appealed or are they hoping I will disappear!

 

[Wigglypigs]

Nope but good luck. Please stick to your guns and don't be fobbed off x

 

[nokia]

I registed my horse and as he was imported had to send personal details and guess what they lost it, when I then mentioned data protection,confidentiallity ect it was soon found..I would not be happy anybody could have that its terrible

 

[Worried1]

Bump in case anyone missed it!

 

[Louise_88]

I have heard of people complaining about the way in which a competition was run...BD told them to send a letter in and make it offcial, once they had done this BD then just fowarded the letter to the competition centre and left it up to them to deal with. nothing was done and considering the complaint was about the way in which the competiton venue owner had talked to them and treated them I can't think of anything worse than to do that.

Also i know someone who complained about the fact that someone who was over qualified had won and was constantly winning classes they shouldn't be, including a fairly big chamionship! BD again just said send a letter, although i'm not sure why competiors have to do BD's job?! BE don't expect it and i'm sure if someone had entered the wrong section and had won they would just check someones complaint quickly and efficiently.

Although tbh you do pay alot more for BE membership and competitions so that is probably why they are more effiecient.

 

[Gamebird]

Although tbh you do pay alot more for BE membership and competitions so that is probably why they are more effiecient.

Is this why my BE results are usually online before I've even got home from the event yet 3.5wks later I'm still waiting for my last set of BD results/points to go on my record? It infuriates me .

 

[horseywelsh]

Is this why my BE results are usually online before I've even got home from the event yet 3.5wks later I'm still waiting for my last set of BD results/points to go on my record? It infuriates me .

Isn't that going to change (hopefully!!!!) soon as BD are putting in a new database or something for results which is supposed to be much improved. Find it annoying too. Sorry OP gone off topic.

 

[cptrayes]

I wouldn't dare. I am limited for venues that I am prepared to compete at and they use a small panel of judges repeatedly, so I'd come up against the judge I had complained about (if it was a judge that was the problem) if the centre did not refuse my entries. A method of anonymous complaint is needed, just like it is at BE. I complained about flints and hard stone tracks on the XC at one venue and flints on the dressage warm-up and arenas at another and was told that it was up to the venue what ground preparation they did. The affilitation fees are enormous. What are they for - to pay to send GB teams abroad? I was told by an International rider that it cost over £400,000 to send an equestrian team to the Kentucky WEG a few years ago

 

[DarkHorseB]

Is this why my BE results are usually online before I've even got home from the event yet 3.5wks later I'm still waiting for my last set of BD results/points to go on my record? It infuriates me .

Were those your results the day after the RC champs - if so it is only 2.5 weeks Mine from the week before that only went up on Tuesday or Wednesday this week so 3.5 weeks seems to be the going rate!!

 

[Worried1]

It would appear that they are a law unto themselves...

If they send me a letter with the words "judges decision is final." What is the point of a complaints procedure?

They also removed a post I put on BD and to this day I have no idea why...

 

[Louise_88]

It's 6 weeks since my horse last competed BD and his results still aren't up so I know how you feel Gamebird, it's ridiculous. They are apparently making it that the system is better and even Prelim results will show.

On another note, considering dressage is alot about breeding there is no information about breeding on horses results like you get BE, i think that would be very usefull but again i suppose it comes down to costs etc.

 

[TheoryX1]

Have never done it, but good luck with it and dont be fobbed off.

On the subject of BD results, I did question why my daughters results took weeks to appear and got a whole diatribe on the fact that they had to go to grading etc, etc, etc, in the end I lost the will to live and mentioned the fact that BE seem to manage it within hours of a competition finishing and theirs was a hell of a lot more complicated. Got a very snotty response about how BD did not have BE's budget. Oh dear, I think I upset one of the little mandarins that inhabit the corridors of power at BD.

Hope you get it sorted.

 

[onemoretime]

Please stick to it Worried 1 I remember your case and it should definetly be looked into and you should at least get your entry fee refunded if nothing else. It was a dreadful situation.

 

[Worried1]

I'm not going to le it drop, I'm disgusted at the whole situation, the venue have been incredibly supportive but I feel really let down by BD. In an ideal world I would simply not renew membership which would amount to a total of 4 horses plus 3 ridden by Mr Worried belonging to clients as well as 2 ridden memberships and 5 owner memberships. That amounts to a huge amount for us but in terms of revenue to BD, a mere drop in the ocean! But we have built our reputation and business around dressage!
I feel very disillusioned about a sport I'm passionate about.

 

[dressagelove]

I'm not going to le it drop, I'm disgusted at the whole situation, the venue have been incredibly supportive but I feel really let down by BD. In an ideal world I would simply not renew membership which would amount to a total of 4 horses plus 3 ridden by Mr Worried belonging to clients as well as 2 ridden memberships and 5 owner memberships. That amounts to a huge amount for us but in terms of revenue to BD, a mere drop in the ocean! But we have built our reputation and business around dressage!
I feel very disillusioned about a sport I'm passionate about.

What is it you are complaining about? I am quite interested in this thread as only recently affiliated to BD and am also finding some major flaws in some of their systems! The results times really are a disgrace!

 

[Worried1]

A judge awarded a 0 for a movement and said no counter canter shown, we have the test in video which shows the horse un counter canter, it breaks and picks it up up immediately. The test overall was very harshly marked, a drop of 16% on the other novice test ridden an hour before. The horse scored less than 50% his average is around 62%. Mr Worried is a good enough rider that if he believed a test was that bad he would have retired!

 

[nokia]

Lol BD are a law unto themselves, the people who handle the calls are so abrubt and unhelpfull..they seem to be in a time warp they need a big shake up !! I think BD will have to buck up its idears if it wants to survive in these tough economic times and become more user friendly

 

[Worried1]

A person I spoke to last week said all the right things so wasn't 'rude' but her tone was patronising and it was perfectly clear that they thought I was a numpty who was clearly wasting their time with trivial matters!

 

[Pasha]

I want to say stick with it and fight it out, but to be honest I think it will just be a waste of time effort and stress for you!

I had a similarly marked test at my last outing, although not that bad - the judge clearly just wasn't paying attention to us - she probably thought I wasn't worthy (only being on an Arab). Really random judging of the whole field to be honest, compared to the other judge that was judging at the same level in the other arena (most of us had done both tests).

When I looked them both up on BD, the consistent judge had ridden to a higher level and for longer (several years)... the random judge only seemed to have a few outings at Novice under her belt! I know it shouldn't matter, but it clearly does and I will not put myself through her judging again! I'd rather lose the entry fee!

 

[Ali16]

We complained about some judging once, but not because we were marked harshly, because the rider missed four whole movements out of an AM test and the judge didn't notice!! I assumed that she would be disqualified but judge gave her 7's for the non existant movements and my client came 2nd out of 12 with a QR (this was a few years ago when you didn't have to jump through hoops to qualify).

We both thought that this was really rather unfair on the other competitors so logged a complaint with video evidence and it was fobbed off so she went and got another QR elsewhere out of principle!

The worst thing about it was that we overheard that same judge saying 'I'm off to Aachen to judge the international next week..!'

BD didn't want to know though...

 

[MiaBella]

A friend complained about a BRC riding test judge (for giving an error of course), send video, test sheet and letter explaining the complaint, letter brief and to the point. BRC responded very quickly, said they upheld the complaint and the judge would be referred for more training.

I think its key when putting in a complaint that you keep it brief, unemotional and to the point. You should expect a response back, if only to say that they are reviewing it and notice of the outcome.

The results thing is just a mess and apparently due to the way that not all centres send in results quickly, but its a poor excuse.

 

[Quadro]

I think the whole lot of them are just as bad tbh, ive complained to BS about a judge who i know other riders have complained about, i was fobbed off and took the judges side about it which i fully expected them to do!
Im some ways i wouldn't bother to complain again as it get you nowhere!!
Q

 

[Keep Trying]

I was at a BD competition and saw that two horses were competing under the same name.

I contacted BD after the event and said that I wasn't making a complaint and it was probably a genuine mistake but that they should know about it.

They weren't interested and said it was up to the venue to deal with.
One of those horses still has all the results for that day under its name now.

 

[onemoretime]

Worried 1 we had this same judge for a BRC Riding test qualifier a couple of years ago and the judging was rather incompetent to say the least. When speaking afterwards to 2 List 3 judges on seperate occassions they both said that this judge was "a bit dappy" and shouldn't really be judging any more. You cant give a 0 if the movement has been performed however badly, I believe you got two 0's both for counter canter didn't you? This really does need looking into otherwise BD will never keep pace with today's demanding standards.

Would it be worthwhile ringing BD and saying that you are thinking of putting a letter into Horse & Hound or BD Magazine highlighting the situation.

 

[Worried1]

I would gladly write to H&h but I'm not sure they'd get involved...

 

[nokia]

Its funny when you go to a comp, a class is full they then see the judge and lots wd, but BD still get paid so does the venue so who cares ?

 

[Worried1]

Well it's been resubmitted so we will see...
It's a sorry state of affairs when people feel like this about a sporting body

 

[onemoretime]

Well done for resubmitting the details, dont give up and yes, it is a sorry state of affairs when a governing body behaves like this.