No refunds for WEG spectators [H&H VIP]
No refunds will be issued despite complaints flooding in following the cross-country at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG), according to organisers.
Four-hour traffic jams that led to some people walking up to 11km to reach the Haras du Pin venue, long queues for loos and food (shown above), and thick mud led to anger about the organisation of WEG (news, 4 September).
Many H&H readers have been demanding refunds, but organisers told H&H that despite the issues, which they “sincerely regret”, this is not on the cards.
“We have no plans to reimburse people, but we have a dedicated email address to which people can send their complaints,” a WEG spokesman said.
“We are very proud to have hosted WEG, and pulled out all the stops to rapidly rectify the problems encountered during the opening days [such as extra food outlets at the D’Ornano Stadium].”
One H&H reader who volunteered as a fence judge on cross-country day, told H&H that although the sport was “amazing”, she was “disheartened” by the issues that “plagued the event”.
“I am used to FEI events here in the UK, where you can speak to technical delegates if you have a query — I don’t know where they all were,” she said. “I had scores of people at my fences asking me questions as they said they struggled to get answers from any other officials at the event.”
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H&H reader Celia Clarke said “overall organisation was terrible” and called on the FEI to take action.
“It is surely the FEI which, as the awarding body, is responsible for setting the quality and performance criteria for the host country to meet. That must be the source of the problem,” she said. “One can only hope that the FEI learns from this fiasco.”
An FEI spokesman told H&H they are “fully aware there have been issues”. “However, there will always be problem areas with an event of this magnitude,” she added.
“There have been some challenges, including unbelievably unseasonable weather that no-one could have predicted, but the organising committee has worked incredibly hard to resolve the issues and we can celebrate two weeks of amazing sport.”
➤ For complaints email: public@normandie2014.com
Originally published on Thursday 11 September in H&H magazine
A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.