Erik
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- Joined
- Mar 17, 2006
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- 2,661
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- Enschede, Netherlands, Netherlands
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- 2005AKKE01
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Do you think people should get their money back if they cancel? To me this attitude is pure selfishness.
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Giving back half of the money if people cancel soon enough is a very good compromise. Compare this to similar stuff: Concert tickets, flights, holidays, etc. You would never get your money back after you got a spot.
I disagree, plus I don't agree it's a good comparison. Speedcubing, where a big part of the competitors is under 18, is definitely not the same as a concert or booking a flight. And yes, if a competitor wants to come and wants to unregister a month before the competition I think it's fair to give him back all the money. Sometimes competitions are announced only a few weeks on forehand, switching competitions is not possible without loss of money now.
No, this is the past. The registration of German Open for example was open all the way until the competition. Another benefit of this system.
So you might end up with a waiting list of lets say 30 people, all paying lets say 10 euros and have to trust you in giving it back? I trust you on this, but if I don't know the organizer personally I think twice before putting the money out there. (this adds up to the threshold doyle4761 was talking about)
Well, to my mind this is a terrible idea, because it splits all competitors into 2 classes without having a real benefit. No benefit because:
- white sheeps are supposed to come any pay anyway, so they can just pay beforehand. The only difference is, when a white sheep doesn't show up (and thus turns into a black sheep, yay...)
- for black sheeps and newcomers there is no difference.
Having a 'risk list' in combination with the possibility to pay at the venue (those who pay in advance get a discount) would be an excellent way to better calculate the risk of some people not coming. The discount system is being used for years and years now in chess without any problems: those who don't like online or pre-payment can just pay at the venue. Key is that at registration you say which way you want to pay.
Competitors who frequently cancel or not come should/can be punished by the WCA anyway, if a risklist would exist and be maintained in combination with automatic punishments for those misbehaving there wouldn't be a problem in the first place.