[Ansteorra] Refunds (Was: Re: Paying for events with Credit Cards)

[James Crouchet]

Others have pointed out some of the twists of ACCEPS and refunds but I want 
to look at the whole idea of refunds a bit deeper. I ask that those of you 
following this thread consider another point of view.

If you preregister for an event and then cannot attend, you should get a 
refund, right? It is just a matter of basic fairness; you did not get the 
event admission for which you paid so you should get your money back.

As an attendee that seems obvious. However as a recent event steward I can 
say that it is not that simple. At KWAR we had a cut off date for 
requesting a refund, a couple of weeks before the event. Why? Because 
based on preregistrations we needed to print booklets, burn CDs, rent 
vans, order tee shirts, buy (or beg) food and schedule the use of the 
rooms we were renting. We could not go to our printer the day before the 
event and ask to return 20 of the booklets they printed for us, return our 
burned CDs to the computer store or tell the tee shirt printer we only 
needed some of the tee shirts they printed. Nor did I or my staff have the 
time at that point to run around trying to return things, re-do our 
schedule (which was already printed in the booklet) or argue with the van 
rental people. We were all BUSY.

We had already used the money to pay the event expenses so any refund would 
have meant that Bryn Gwlad, as the hosting group, paid for that person's 
last minute decision not to attend. Fortunately, ACCEPS allowed us to set 
our own refund policy so we avoided that.

Your prepaid reservation tells the hosting group to go ahead and get ready 
for your visit, spend the money and prep the site. Things happen and 
sometimes you just can't make it. Still, there may be a price to pay. If 
the group has not already spent money getting ready for you then they 
should consider giving you a refund. But if, like KWAR, there are 
significant expenses to be paid before the event, that SCA branch should 
not be expected to cover the costs of your difficulties.

So, if you cannot get a refund, why not always wait and pay at the door? 
Events often offer incentives to prepay. These include lower fees (which 
reflect their lower financial risk on pre-paid reservations), special 
feasts, activities or merchandise that is ONLY available with prepaid 
reservations. Faster, easier checkin. An event could even require pre-paid 
reservations -- that has been the case in other kingdoms for years. When 
you accept those incentives you may also assume some or all of the 
financial risk. You get a bonus for taking that risk. Over the course of a 
year or two those bonuses probably add up to more than the cost of that 
one event you might schedule and then not be able to attend.

There is another reason to pre-pay. It makes life better for the sponsoring 
branch. Less financial risk, easier gate shifts and a better idea of how 
much toilet paper to buy. Less chance that branch will badly over plan or 
under plan for an event. That means less wasted money and energy overall 
in the SCA, and thus more of each to apply to the fun stuff.

BTW, when our tee shirt company failed to print names on the backs of some 
of the KWAR tee shirts as ordered, we did refund the $5 charge for 
customizing the shirts. We also did not pay that $5 to the tee shirt 
company so it was a wash.

Doré