Any Recourse for Missing Gear after Ironman Race (140.6 Santa Rosa in this case)?

Triathlon Forum
1

All:

Hoping to gain some wisdom on how to interact with WTC about an issue over which I had no control, but has cost me a good bit of money and time.

At IM Santa Rosa on May 11, I finished the bike, put my helmet, bike shorts, jersey, and bike shoes in the T2 bag, tied up the bag, and handed it to a volunteer. That was the last I ever saw of it.

I finished the race, went to pick up my gear. They had my morning clothes bag and my T1 bag, but no T2 bag. A couple of volunteers looked around for it, but came up with nothing.

I found a volunteer captain, and he looked around for it as well- nothing.

He asked me to put down my contact information on a sheet that they had, so I did, along with what looked like 2 more pages of people doing the same thing.

I e-mailed race support, detailing what went missing, how it went missing, and a picture of me from the race photogs (so they would know that I wasn’t inventing what gear I had on).

I got a response from Maggie saying, “Thank you for your email, and I greatly apologize for the delayed response. I will double check with our Race Director on the items Lost and Found after the race, however, we do not currently have transition bags for left over from the race. Let me ask around in the meantime and see if there is another place it would be.”

That was nice. So I responded with, “Thank you for your attention to the matter. In the event that my bag cannot be located, what are next steps?”

That was on May 22. No reply.

So on May 29, I followed up with, “Good morning Maggie: It has been a week since my last e-mail and I have not received a response. In the event that you are unable to locate my bag, what are the next steps?” No reply to that one either.

I have sent two other e-mails as standalones, both of which have received “ticket” numbers indicating receipt, but no response to them or to any other ones.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is this sort of inattention common to WTC when they screw up?

2

I had a similar experience with a swimskin at Muncie - “We didn’t find it in lost and found” and then radio silence.

3

Yeah, you won’t get anywhere unless you’re the squeaky wheel. I lost my T1 bag at St. George in 2018, with a brand new Roka Maverick wetsuit, and all I got was a bunch of “my manager is looking into it” type of emails. Although you sign a waiver that basically says you’re screwed, they don’t bring it up, but instead kill you with their delays and silence.
Good luck and keep pushing for resolution or compensation.

4

I had my bike computer stolen from T2 at IM Mallorca. Made a lot of fuss, but was ultimately and politely told ‘tough luck’. (Now garmin always goes into run bag, after bike)

5

I had my bike computer stolen from T2 at IM Mallorca. Made a lot of fuss, but was ultimately and politely told ‘tough luck’. (Now garmin always goes into run bag, after bike)
Guess that only works until your bag is lost (refer to original post).

6

I’ve thankfully never dealt with anything like this but I’m always amazed that in this sport we attract those kind of people…WTF. How do you get your head around making it okay to take other people s***

7

I’m always amazed that in this sport we attract those kind of peopleIt’s not just this sport, they’re everywhere.

8

I’ve thankfully never dealt with anything like this but I’m always amazed that in this sport we attract those kind of people…WTF. How do you get your head around making it okay to take other people s***

It literally could be ***lost, ***not stolen. For example: put in a dumpster by mistake.

9

Remember a few years ago when a woman at Syracuse 70.3 was caught deflating a competitor’s tires? IM should have given her a lifetime ban from their events in a very public and humiliating way. That’s the only kind of deterrent that will work with the common scumbag that sees an easy opportunity to steal something that may have 100s off dollars in value, or otherwise messes with someone’s property. Thievery is too easy in transition.

10

Sorry to say I wouldn’t put anything past some people.

I had all my nutrition taken off my bike in T1 at IM Tempe between swim start and returning to my bike, I guess I should have swum faster & got away before them. SInce then I’ve never left anything easily removed from the bike on it, Garmin, fluids, gels, nowt.

Post race I’ve seen people nab race branded bottles off other peoples bikes as they collect their own gear.

11

I’m always amazed. Maybe because I don’t believe in angels in the hearts of triathletes… But you could easily walk through and grab thousands of dollars of bike computers before anyone noticed. Especially at smaller races that don’t have security.

The last race I did no one noticed when I came back in plain clothes. Packed up all my stuff in a bag, grabbed my bike, and walked out to the parking lot. Would have been nothing to grab as many bike computers as I could and toss them in my bag.

12

Sorry to say I wouldn’t put anything past some people.

I had all my nutrition taken off my bike in T1 at IM Tempe between swim start and returning to my bike, I guess I should have swum faster & got away before them. SInce then I’ve never left anything easily removed from the bike on it, Garmin, fluids, gels, nowt.

Post race I’ve seen people nab race branded bottles off other peoples bikes as they collect their own gear.

now I’m rethinking even leaving my PM pedals on bike in transition overnight