Some local fitness enthusiasts are looking for their money after buying tickets to a popular extreme obstacle course event.
A Rugged Maniac event is scheduled for May 28 at Chicopee Ski Hill in Kitchener. But weeks before the event, it was rescheduled at a park in Uxbridge, Ont. more than 150 kilometers away with a new date of September 3, 2022.
“We received a kind of standard email that basically said, ‘Sorry for the inconvenience.’ We’re not issuing refunds to anyone,” said Tara Pedersen of Cambridge.
Pedersen said his gym, Proactive Training Cambridge, had about 100 members planning to go to the race as a team building event.
“Everyone was willing to go. Everyone was ready and excited to go, and they just took the carpet out from under us,” he said.
Pedersen said he felt “very frustrated” and “angry.”
“With 100 participants they would have raised $ 7,000,” he said.
About 100 members of Proactive Training Cambridge signed up to take part in the Rugged Maniac event as a team building activity. (Sent)
Now the gym is organizing its own event.
“We feel cheated that we bought tickets as a group that were told they were staying at a specific place on a specific day,” said Emerson Petri of Proactive Training Cambridge. “That’s why we’re organizing our own ProActive Gauntlet event this Saturday at Dickson Park in Cambridge. We’ve been working hard over the last week to plan and organize our own family outdoor training event that will have several obstacles throughout the day “.
THE COMPANY RESPONDS
CTV News contacted the company, which did not specifically answer whether or not ticket holders can get a refund, but said in an email:
“While we’re excited about our return to Canadian Rugged Maniac events, unforeseen circumstances have led us to find a replacement that has caused many questions,” said Kaitlyn Greenleaf, vice president of marketing, USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures Endurance . “We encourage fans to contact info@ruggedmaniac.com as we work to provide an improved tour and experience on race day!”
The Rugged Maniac website states that all sales are final, unless the event is canceled due to pandemic restrictions and a change of date or location is not a cancellation.
Runners take part in a Rugged Maniac event in Kitchener in 2019. (CTV Kitchener)
“They consider moving it to a different time of year in a completely different place as making changes,” said ticket holder Amanda Desjardine.
A local lawyer said shoppers should make sure to read the fine print before buying anything online.
“Many of us today, with everything very virtual, many of us click without reading it,” said Khaled Wahab of Wahab Law. “This may be the case where many of these buyers did not read the fine print. The fine print says we can change these events.”
CTV News contacted Chicopee Ski Hill but received no response.
In an email sent to one of the ticket holders we spoke to, Rugged Maniac said those with tickets can transfer them to another runner or postpone them to another event this year or next.
Another Rugged Maniac Kitchener event from 2023 is not over yet.