More French Run places vacant

I've had two more drop-outs due to illness. If anyone's interested,
email me at chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

Depart Friday next (so you'll need to take a day off work), return
Sunday.

 

Gah, shoulda kept my powder dry ...

MInd you, I might not have a MOT'd, Insured & Working bike at this
rate ..

Nothing like a bit of time pressure

P.

 

Nothing like a bit of time pressure

biker boy....

 

emailed

 

Presumably TOG's dropouts are single rooms and ferry included.

 

I thought you'd put it back under TOG's umbrella hence the post this
morning which caused my resolve to break.

 

He can have yours if he wants. In fact, there are plenty. We've just
lost two couples, but no ferries booked on either.

 

Christ, it's already been hard enough to convince myself another couple
of thousand miles on the CBR is nothing. I'll have the silver haired
lotharios place then, but if he complains I fart too much or snore too
loudly he's only himself to blame,

 

blimey, credit crunch hits French Run...

 

Illness on the part of Pete Wood, unfortunately. So he can't go and
obviously can't take his SO. If she doesn't go the SO of someone else
doesn't want to go either, and so (don't ask me why) her bloke is
abandoning instead of just leaving her at home.

It's things like this - not the illness, but the simple mind-changing[1]
- that are making me think I might knock it on the head next year.

[1] Yes, I know that can be read two ways.

 

Hang on. It's Champ's SO's place you're taking, innit? Champ himself is
coming?

 

Understandable, though it would be a terrible shame.

 

I hope you don't. You would always expect the odd drop-out, but they
tend to be few in number and aren't exactly going to spoil the fun.

It does, however, vindicate your insistance on full money up front in
advance.

 

Be a shame if you do knock it on the head.

--


Nige,

Honda VTR1000 SOLD!
BMW K1200S
Range Rover Vogue
Aprilia RSV Mille

 

The problem is that the drop-outs bring the total of attendees down
below that needed for the second free place giveaway. I'm quite happy
to help arrange replacements from a reserve list, but I *am* unwilling
to refund the money because in the future every other bugger will
think: "Oh, well, it doesn't matter if I cancel 'cos I can always get
my money back off TOG..."

I'm equally unwilling to keep it because it's a few hundred quid and
this is not supposed to be a profit-making venture.

So I've come to what I think is a perfect solution. The drop-outs
forfeit their money in full. And that goes to funding two free places
instead of the usual one, plus a quantity of booze for all those who
have made it. I'll work out the details, but it'll be some bottles of
free wine on every table, or maybe some bubbly, or a 'whip' behind the
bar, or brandies & coffees, or a combination of the above.

Comments? Can anyone think of a better solution?

 

I can understand that it can get a bit fraught! FWIW, I've been hoping
that my recent back/sciatica problems and a touch of TOG-itis[1]
recently wouldn't cause me to pull out at the last minute[2].

And even if I had, I would have just forfeited the money unless someone
could have been found to buy the place off me as it's me and only me
that could make that call.

As it is, I'll be there but probably a but stiff and/or sore after the
4-5 hours in the saddle!

No, but if people drop out, what can you do? You're not planning to
profit, are you?

Works for me!

[1] I've been to neither St Peter nor St Giles recently, so how that
happened I'm not sure.
[2] Ooh-err! And which reminds me of "And the Vatican's entry into the
Eurovision song contest, 'I Can't Get No Contraception' has had to make
a last minute withdrawal."

 

They've already paid, haven't they? And it was made clear that fees were
non-refundable? So why not just tell anyone who wants to pull out that
it's their sole responsibility to find a substitute or lose their money?
No reason it should be your problem.

 

Absolutely. To be avoided at all costs. The money has got to be
non-returnable. Period.

Presumably people can claim from their travel insurance if their
reasons for cancelling meet the terms. That was certainly our
intention last year after binning the bike, had zymurgy not stepped
into the breach.

I wouldn't quarrel with you keeping it - you weren't looking for it.
But ...

this indeed sounds like the perfect solution.

Nope!

 

That's good news. F rolled the dice for the last time today to get
someone to cover her kid, and got no result, so she definitely can't
come.

yeah, I think Donald meant "The place Champ is flogging"

I'd email Donald to confirm everything, but he doesn't appear to have
a valid email address anywhere in his posts.

TOG: do I need to do anything to arrange this swap? Or do I just
collect the money from Donald?

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Scraggy

Yep.

I was very pleasantly surprised to get a refund of the hotel after my
binnage. I wasn't expecting it at all.

TOG's proposed solution seems perfect to me.

And I also think it would be a great shame if he stopped organising the
runs.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

I have already made the greatest contribution to the fight against climate
change that I can make: I have decided not to breed. Now quit bugging me and
go and talk to the Catholics.