US Open Registration Fee Refund?

[MasterCole]

Does anybody know what happens if you register for, pay the fee for, and then later withdraw from, US Open? Do you get any of your money back?

[gbr]

Here are the details:
https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-robotics-competition/RE-VRC-18-5190.html#tab-refund

All requests for refunds must be made in writing via email. Full refunds will be granted to requests made prior to 1/1/2019. Refunds of $300 will be issued to teams requesting a refund after 12/31/18 and prior to 2/1/2019. $100 refunds will be issued to teams requesting a refund prior to 3/20/2019. No refunds will be issued after 3/19/2019. (In rare cases where the wrong event was registered for AND CREATE is notified within 48 hours of registration, a full refund might be granted after 12/31/18.)

[B-Kinney]

@gbr

Here are the details:
CREATE U.S. Open Robotics Championship - VRC HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION : Robot Events

All requests for refunds must be made in writing via email. Full refunds will be granted to requests made prior to 1/1/2019. Refunds of $300 will be issued to teams requesting a refund after 12/31/18 and prior to 2/1/2019. $100 refunds will be issued to teams requesting a refund prior to 3/20/2019. No refunds will be issued after 3/19/2019. (In rare cases where the wrong event was registered for AND CREATE is notified within 48 hours of registration, a full refund might be granted after 12/31/18.)

This answer was given right when I was typing my answer (from the same page)!

In short, it depends on when you ask. Based on the dates, I’d expect most teams who cancel because they want to go to Worlds instead would be able to get $100 back, unless you qualify for Worlds before the end of January.

[gbr]

I was curious, so I checked. The only State Championship prior to January 31st in North America is Hawaii.

[Got_a_Screw_Loose]

@B-Kinney

This answer was given right when I was typing my answer (from the same page)!

In short, it depends on when you ask. Based on the dates, I’d expect most teams who cancel because they want to go to Worlds instead would be able to get $100 back, unless you qualify for Worlds before the end of January.

That’s kind of harsh. I guess the US Open wants to solidify their teams, minimizing withdrawals. This coupled with the retraction of Skills qualifying for Worlds seems to spell trouble for the teams that are on the verge of going to Worlds, but aren’t sure.

[MasterCole]

That’s about the fix we’re in right now. If things continue as they are, we could win design award at state, but we have to get there first, and even then there’s no guarantee.

[jjd]

In case you are qualified for both, it’s probably easier to do both if you’re in driving distance of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Especially if $295 to $495 that won’t be refunded based on when you qualify for Worlds.

[536Mentor]

I think that any concerns that you have about the way that the US Open does things should be addressed to the organizers of the event, the CREATE Foundation.

[Gear_Geeks]

I wish the US Open would realize that teams can’t go to both US Open and Worlds if they are able to qualify for both and that most teams would prioritize Worlds over the US Open. We registered for the US Open one year then, suprisingly, qualified for Worlds. So we were out our entire registration fee minus $100.

As pointed out previously, there are plenty of teams that want to go to the US Open. Why not allow for refunds if a replacement team moved up from the waiting list. I think the US Open could still sell out if it allowed for full refunds and moved teams from the waiting list.

[B-Kinney]

@Gear Geeks

As pointed out previously, there are plenty of teams that want to go to the US Open. Why not allow for refunds if a replacement team moved up from the waiting list. I think the US Open could still sell out if it allowed for full refunds and moved teams from the waiting list.

I think that would be a great idea. Maybe only provide the refund if a team on the waiting list agreed to sign up, and give a team who commits to signing up priority over a team who doesn’t commit.

[jjd]

I wonder what is the rate of drops and replacements they have across the various US Open deadlines.

[RoboticsRocksMySocks]

We’re uncertain about attending the US Open this year.

It’s less than two weeks left to get a full $600 refund from [email protected] before Dec 31st. That’s four months away, kind of crazy when you consider you can get a full refund for Worlds about 40 days before it a happens (just over a month).

I’d hate to only get 1/2 of our registration or less back ($300 or less) if we send the email after Dec 31st depending on when we send the email. Too bad the refund schedule starts 1/3 of a year ahead of the actual event. Makes the decision difficult.