ComplaintsforIRONMAN World Headquarters

• Initial Complaint

  01/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Long story short - I thought my wife registered both of us a few months back for the 10K race in *****, **, on 1/15/2023. You can check her registration and race completion (***********************) from several months back. Unfortunately, ***** did not register me, and I was unaware until we drove to ******* from ****** on 1/14/2023. I then asked her to register me online; however, she inadvertently registered me for the **** race, not the 2023 race. Upon arriving at the Expo, I was told that I could not get a refund as that was against company policy and that the good news is that I'm registered at the lowest price point for next year's race. They then tried to get me to pay $200 to register for the 10K the next day (ouch, that's expensive, and I refused). I can't imagine that a company has a no-refund policy, especially when I tried to cancel the same day and the race is a year away. We are human and make mistakes. I doubt the success or failure of this company depends on my $85 race fee for ****. I reached out to the company asking for a refund but they refused "because I didn't buy the refund insurance."

• Initial Complaint

  01/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I withdrew from an Ironman race last fall and am due a $75 partial refund. Ironman send me an email on 9/14/22 stating that I would receive my refund within **** weeks. When I did not receive my refund within this time frame, I send 2 follow up emails requesting my refund. They did not respond to either email. Here is the email that I received on 9/14/22:Hi ***, Thank you for your email. Per your request, I have withdrawn you from 2022 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN **** World Championship presented by ********************** and have processed a partial refund in the amount of $75.00 USD via wire transfer. ?Please note this may take between **** weeks to process. ?? Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to assist. Best of luck on your upcoming events and hope to see you at an IRONMAN **** World Championship in the future! Best Wishes, ***** ****************

• Initial Complaint

  01/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  12/21/22 Both my spouse and I are registered for the RocknRoll ********* In February. This was a deferred race since we were registered for the ******** one and it got cancelled. My spouse has heart failure and two othe heart issues and trying to get meds regulated. They put ** in this race and we prefer the ********* one as we cannot fly from *******. ********* we can drive and walk the flat race. He can't have the elevation change etc yet. Maybe in a year or so. I simply asked since it was originally cancelled then we got put into ********* if they could defer ** to ********* for this April. *** replied back that day at 3:16pm EST saying no refunds deferrals and they will NOT mail us anything if we no show. We are not even asking for the $ back but a deferral to a race we can drive too. *********************** ***************************** and ************** **************************

• Initial Complaint

  10/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  February 10,2021, I registered for the 2021 Ironman **** *******. The admission fee was $364. Due to covid restrictions in my area and my own discomfort for racing during this time I was unable to travel to the race. I was only given an option to defer my race to the following year and no option for a refund. A refund should have been mandatory since the world was in a pandemic and most areas were locked down. In addition to the lockdowns, having the race was not in accordance with the *** guidelines at the time. I deferred to the same race for 2022, Ironman **** August, but shortly before the race I had a moderate covid infection and ended up with heart issues preventing me from racing. I immediately contacted the race director to ask how I could defer to the following year's race as my doctor advised. The race director told me I could not defer as I had deferred the year prior even though Ironman's own policy states otherwise (https://www.ironman.com/covid-options-north-america). The race director was apathetic with my health issues or the fact that if I had raced, I could have had very serious heart complications. I asked him to escalate the case 3 times through email, but he would not. He told me in his opinion the matter was closed and stopped responding to my emails. Based on this I feel that Ironman is not respecting the health crisis or the health of their customers. I believe I should be given a refund, credit, or deferral. I paid for a slot in a race that I was unable to race in. I did not ask for a refund; I asked for a deferral and was told no. Taking a person's money and not giving them what they paid for in any other situation is stealing. They do not allow you to sell your spot, as many races do, or give you any way to recoup your money. They also do not have any contact information for customer service on their website. The only person you can talk with is the race director who is clearly not trained to handle customer service issues of this nature.

• Initial Complaint

  10/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I sign up for a race in Cozumel ****** that due to health issues I was not able to participate in two occasions 2021 and 2022. I requested to signup for the race for 2023 and pay the difference but the organization denied my request. This is not the first time they have done this I have lost my money on a previous race in ********** in 2017. This organization have very tyrannical policies with very little consideration to athletes and their well being and mostly focus on their profits.

• Initial Complaint

  10/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  1. 8/29/22- emailed ******************************** to ask about a transfer...received an email regarding process.2. 8/29/22-emailed ******************************** to formally ask about a transfer of a race (within the written guidelines)3. 9/8/22-emailed ******************************** asking about the time frame of the transfer since I did not hear back from them 4. 10/15/22 forwarded original message regarding my transfer.5. 10/15/22 received response from a ***** from athletic services asking about email. I forwarded correspondences 6. 10/18/22- received another email saying that I did not let Ironman know about my transfer in time (checked the athlete guide and I am not on the participant list)7. 10/18/22 sent email showing all the correspondence and haven't heard back.

• Initial Complaint

  10/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  My wife initially requested a refund for 2 VIP experiences for Ironman ******* on July 11, 2022. The 2 VIP passes were originally purchased on July 1, 2019 for ********** **** race 2019 that was cancelled. She then deferred them to 2021 and then deferred them to ******* 2022.*****, Manager VIP Experience at Ironman, indicated on August 23, 2022 that since our original purchase for VIP Passes had been deferred twice and because the original purchase was made more than 18 months ago, Ironman was not able to process a refund but would instead have to issue these refunds as a check.We confirmed the address for the check, but we haven't received a check and Ironman has stopped responding to our emails. We tried calling during the 4 hours a week that their phone lines are open, but that wasn't helpful either.It's starting to seem like this whole organization is a scam, and I am beginning to consider taking legal action.

• Initial Complaint

  09/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I am filing a complaint on behalf of the island residents of ****** County. Ironman has changed its event schedule and the news was not officially released as a public announcement so that all islanders on the west side, could prepare for race days. On race days, we must request time off work (roads are closed), we can't get to and from our airport, we must rearrange our lives at costs to us. (Ironman does not compensate businesses that have to close, people who have to take off work, or people who are unfortunate enough have purchased a ticket to *********** airport and will be stranded there or can't get to their flights due to racers using our only access route to the airport). I'm attaching a copy of the letter I sent to Ironman **** ******************************* on 09/06/22. I have received no response from them. In the meantime, ******** Airlines has agreed to waive my change fee, so I am working on that with them. They rebooked me, but then had to cancel that rebooking and I have to rebook another time. (BBB complaint #********).Thank you for intervening and helping us islanders to get a response from the Ironman.

• Initial Complaint

  07/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Ironman is a very disappointing company to work with. I would not recommend them to anyone. I signed up for an Ironman race in 2020. The race was cancelled due to Covid. Ironman requested they retain my payment and provide me with a credit, which I agreed to as I understood that Covid was not their fault. I delayed my entry for a year later then 2022. Unfortunately, I am injured and unable to race this year - I requested to defer my race to 2023 when I would be healthy enough to compete. Ironman refused to consider moving my entry to next year and my entire entrance fee is forfeit - so I've essentially paid Ironman for nothing. I am disappointed that I didn't demand my money back in 2020; rather than doing Ironman a favor by allowing them to retain my entrance fee. I will never use this brand again and will talk to members of my triathlon team to do the same. It's a shame but there are many other long distance race brands out there that I would recommend instead of Ironman. I would normally be requesting a deferment to next year, but am so frustrated with the service Ironman provided, that I am requesting a refund.

• Initial Complaint

  06/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I placed an order totalling $100.98 and their website told me I had achieved free shipping. I was given a coupon, that I did not ask but gladly accepted. Their website states free shipping over $100 subtotal so when I was assessed shipping thought it was an error and reached out for them to fix the totals with a refund. They then send me to a separate webpage where they have a different definition of subtotal than the rest of the world apparently. This is very bait and switch especially after they told me I had it per my order. When I reached out they were unwilling to fix the charges ($14.99 credit) OR offer anything as compensation. It was a blanket denial.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩