New Race Date, A Day After Consumer Justice Story On Complaints
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McKinney (CBSDFW.COM) - The Color Fun Fest 5k has announced a new race date, one day after our Consumer Justice report on the lack of communication from the company.
According to the company, 12,000 people have signed up for the neon-themed race first scheduled for April 2015 at Myers Park in McKinney.
The April race was moved to October 10, moved again to October 24, 2015 and then cancelled due to rain.
Customers contacted CBS11 about the lack of communication and refunds from race organizers for the last three months.
Jonathan Ray of Plano told CBS11 he didn't think the race would ever happen.
"It's a waste of money," said Ray.
After not receiving a response from the company, Consumer Justice investigator Cristin Severance went to their Richardson office where she found a "notice of lockout" letter on the door for failure to pay rent. The letter was shown during the 5 p.m. newscast.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Color Fun Fest announced a new race date on its Facebook page for May 28, 2016.
The company sent CBS11 a release that said in part:
Color Fun Fest McKinney has had multiple event reschedules. These were due to inclement weather that did not allow for a safe environment to host a Color Fun Fest. In addition, the venue would not allow for the event to happen due to the amount of rain, which subsequently flooded out the course and parking lots. The decisions to postpone the events were heavily thought thru, with the safety of the participants being the primary focus. To ensure that the rain does not cause any potential problems with the new event, Color Fun Fest has altered its festival, parking, and course layout within the venue to allow the event to take place despite rain.
Color Fun Fest's refund policy allows for refunds when an event is cancelled. However, in the case of a reschedule in which a new date is secured, there are no refunds. These terms and conditions are listed during the sign up process, in which the participant is not able to continue the sign up process without initialing they acknowledge that there are no refunds. While we understand that this may cause frustration among participants, they still have the option to transfer their ticket to somebody else free of charge.
The company has an F rating with the BBB and 45 complaints during the last year.
It has also been at the center of complaints in the past for cancelling or rescheduled races across the country.
The Color Fun Fest 5k in Houston in September was moved to a venue an hour away while a race in Stockton, California was moved in February to Easter Sunday.
Tuesday evening, Color Fun Fest CEO Jamie Leibert reached CBS11 by phone.
He said the contracts for the May event were signed and his 45 successful races are proof it's going to happen.
"We dedicate our lives to this. My entire team put their heart in everything we do," said Leibert.
Leibert also said Tuesday evening they were no longer locked out of the office and they were up to date on rent.
However, when CBS11 went back that night to check, the same "failure to pay notice" and lockout device were still there.
Several upset customers have started a Color Fun Fest 5k Class Action Facebook page and filed complaints with the attorney general's office.
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