“Will They Be Returning Our Entry Fees?”

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86 – November/December, 2024

By Caroline Coile

No. That’s the general answer given for the cancelled all-breed shows in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. And as much as these clubs probably wish they could, they probably can’t. Here’s why:

First, they don’t have to. On every premium list is this notice: “Entry fees shall not be refunded … if because of riots, wars, strikes, civil disturbances, national emergencies, health emergencies, and the dictates of law enforcement or of the owner(s) of the grounds and/or facilities or other acts beyond the control of the management, it is impossible to open or to complete the event, no refund of entry fee will be made. Extreme weather conditions, such as, but not limited to snow storms, hurricanes, lightning, extreme heat, heavy rains, or other circumstances including, but not limited to, the condition of the facilities or grounds and/or the ingress and egress from the grounds…”

Second, the club probably can’t afford to. They, too, have signed agreements and paid deposits to the venue, the caterers, the test companies and others that often say no refunds in the cases of certain events such as the ones AKC specifies. They may still have to pay for judges who bought airline tickets and can’t reschedule. But mostly, they still have to pay the superintendent—and the superintendent has a similar clause that says the club is still responsible for a certain percentage of the fee depending on how much work the super has already done.

If a show is cancelled before a premium list is printed a club may owe for the typesetting of the document, but if no other work had been done that could be it. If, however, the show is cancelled after the premium list has been printed and mailed, the entries have closed, a judging schedule produced, ribbons created, and the judges’ books, armbands, and catalogs have been printed, that’s going to cost the club much more. To do this they pay salaried employees, plus upkeep and overhead for facilities, trucks and equipment.

Click here to read the complete article
86 – November/December, 2024

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Posted by AnthonyA on Nov 11 2024. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.