Pony Club "organisers" moan...

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kizzywiz

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Have entered a Pony Club ODE in a couple of weeks time, unfortunately pony has to have a scan on leg the Monday before, & its unlikely she'll be able to go. Entries close this Friday, telephone organiser tonight & very politely explain why I need to withdraw, the cheque has not yet been cashed, so I asked could she tear it up as we are before close of entries, & they have a wait list. She tells me I need to provide a vets certificate, WTF!!! I then check with the bank, no cheque has not been cashed, politely call back & ask again for it not to be presented, she tells me "someone else" is dealing with the entries, highly unlikely as this person is the entries secretary, I ask could she call them & ask them not to cash the cheque, she says "she'll try". I understand that rules are rules, but this does seem a bit extreme as we are well before close of entries, the cheque hasn't even been cashed & they can fill my space, may as well not have bothered to be polite & do the right thing. Definately no more pony club events EVER for me!!! Rant over...
 
Oh dear, it is obvious that you are geniune, but sadly others may have 'tried it on' so they have to treat everyone as not genuine .... I do feel for you, but hopefully they will tear your cheque up
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if its well before close of entries they should just tear it up... however, not all places are nice. I have lost approx £200 in entry fees over past year...
 
But if it's before the closing date and there is a waiting list, what does it matter if it is genuine or not. They can fill the space so why not just tear up the cheque.
 
If it is well before close, why not cancel the cheque and write them a polite note explaining you have done so, to save them the trouble. Assure them that you will write them another cheque if they fail to fill your place (which you know won't happen)
That way you have been polite, saved the money, and can compete another day as it is not the entire pony club who are out to get you, it is just one person who is being a bit of a jobsworth.
 
Because she is an extremely unhelpful person thats why, in the hour between the 2 phone calls, she could very easily have called the person dealing with the cheques, in the 2nd call I asked her to do this & call me back, guess what, nothing!!! I know the assistant DC well, so left a message with her daughter asking her to call in the morning, sorry but £30 is a lot to waste, when it won't leave the Pony Club out of pocket at all.
 
In the hour between the two phone calls she probably had a lot of other things to do. Is she employed to work for the pony club? If not then she has a living to earn/family to support and in that hour, while it may have been very important to you, it is unlikely that it was a priority for her. I do find the attitude of some competitors quite astonishing, rather than complaining think about how these people give up their time so that you can compete. May I ask how many times you have offered to steward or act as runner for this PC?
 
While I fully appreciate that she has a life away from the Pony Club, she has taken on the role of Secretary, & should therefore offer a pleasant & efficient service. Its great that she has given up her time, but the competitors do pay to compete, it isn't free, & events do of course need competitors & their money to support their events & clubs, who in turn should offer a degree of professionalism. If she were busy, of course thats fine, but she could have put a time scale on my query, such as "I'm busy right now, but I'll call so & so tomorrow", I have helped out on plenty of occasions including arranging for my company to donate prizes, which the day before collection they rang me & asked for the cash instead so they could buy prizes of their choice, very polite! Please bear in mind that I was trying to do the right thing,giving plenty of notice, no cheque had been cashed, no times allocated, nothing has been done on my behalf except the opening of an envelope. Oh, & I always say thankyou before I go home too!!
 
In your original post you felt that she could have easily rung the person dealing with this within the hour, no I agree competitions would not happen without competitors, but I must ask who you think benefits from the competitions, the volunteer organisors or the competitors? I'm sure the prizes were appreciated, but the level of commitment needed to put on even a modest show is massive and the 'consumerist approach' of the customer is always right worries me when this is not a business and so many competitors treat the officials as if the officials should be grateful for the competitors being there.
 
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YG-in our PC case they tend to make a profit from these events therefore benefitting....

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true, but not always the case, I suspect first aid fees are still going upwards not downwards. If the entries secretary is lucky, she might even get the branch to contribute to her phone bill.... but I doubt it.

have to agree, the entry money should come back. Maybe just give her a call in a few days, its quite possible that it was a bad day to call. Last time I cancelled a cheque because some muppet lost it, I got charged £10... maybe I should change banks?!
 
I dont know of any events where they dont aim to make a profit, may just be over here though! and a pretty decent bit of money anyway.
 
Sorry, didn't mean they don't aim to here, just that things don't always come off as they had hoped. I can remember a few branch ODEs in the past that ended up costing money.

Doesn't sound like the one in question here will be losing money though, a wait list sounds like they're doing ok.
 
Thanks everyone, have spoken to the Assistant DC today who is a friend, she was planning on approaching the DC to see what can be done, she seemed to think there was a good chance of the cheque being destroyed, as apparently the earliest they are cashed is 2 days before the event. If its cashed, will look in to the vet certificate option.
 
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