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| Angry Girl, originally uploaded by jasonippolito. |
I cannot keep silent about the issues anymore and I'm not contented just leaving posts at their Facebook page or in various sites. I need to voice out these issues or I'll probably burst.
Remember I wrote about 7-Eleven Run 800? It was supposed to be my second 5K fun run but it didn't materialize, so far. It was originally slated last August 26, then postponed for October 14, the reason being the inclement weather has delayed works at Cavitex where the marathoners would traverse. The reason is understandable and I was actually gearing for the October 14 schedule, until another announcement was recently released. It was again postponed and re-scheduled to January 20, 2013. I would have let that pass too, except that prior to this recent announcement, there were already a lot of issues that cropped up during the process of distributing the race kits and also the refunds for those who cannot be available on the new date.
Announcements for the schedule of race kit distribution were posted on the site as well as when to claim back the registration fee for those who opted for refunds. Of course, everyone was eager to claim their race kits so they went to the respective 7-Eleven store where they registered. Most of those people were told to just come back as race kits were not yet available. Problem is, the store crews could not give definitive schedules for when the race kits will be available. To those who were fortunate enough to get their race kits, some found out that either the singlet is of the wrong color or the kit has missing items. As for the refunds, they were first coursed through LBC. Another set of new issues in there as reference numbers or names do not match. And so another thread of angry comments ensued.
If I were the race organizer, I would already have hanged myself for shame for these mishaps. If you would visit the Facebook page (I'm not sure if you have to like the page first before you can read the posts), you'll be bombarded by a lot of complaints from registrants. You'll probably chance upon my lengthy posts there as well hehehe. You could say I was one of those irate and very dissatisfied people.
Now I know this is a big event to organize and it's not an easy task at all. My main big issue is how the whole thing is being handled. To me it's important that when you give specific announcements and dates, you have to abide by that or don't announce at all. There is such a thing as being true to your words, and the race organizers are not being that transparent, in my opinion.
The second wave of refunds started last September 24, 2012, and until now, I have no idea if I will get my money back, as well as two other colleagues who registered with me way back the first week of August. In our case, a few days after we registered, the 7-Eleven store closed down for renovations. The store manager is now on invisible, unreachable mode. Where in the world would we get our refunds? Until now no arrangements were made, like forwarding it to a different 7-Eleven store. See how exasperating this is? They were quick to get our registration fees and now, they are making it difficult for us to refund them.
For those who still choose to run this race, I wish you all the best and for the organizers, I sincerely pray that you'll get your acts together for the sake of these runners who choose to stand by your word despite all the issues. As for me, I'll spare myself from all the waiting and stressful things that I and my colleagues have already gone through, trying to get acceptable answers from the organizers. I believed in the cause, and I really love to run, but I have reached the end of the line with this particular one.
I want to be a happy runner, not a grouchy one.