USAT's $9 day use extortion

Let's see, those $30 are a real hardship after spending a couple thousand on bikes and bike gear. So
hard to eke out those extra $30.

Just wondering, did you vote in the last USAT election? When people outright attack USAT, I always
wonder if they have tried working with their USAT rep or even talking with someone from the Exec
Board. And I mean talking with them, not just posting flame bait on some newsgroup.

Cathy

(Jason O'Rourke) said:

Rather than suffer through more Cyldesdale harping that will change nothing, why haven't we kicked
around our favorite whipping boy, the USAT?

With the day use fee at $9 now (annual upped to 30), the sanctioning fee is now up to 25% of the
cost of some of the cheaper triathlons I've entered. It's nearly half the cost of typical 5/10ks.
What the hell are the costs that justify such a big chunk of the entry fee going to them? Even for
the $100 events it's a big hidden cost, along with the Active.com fee.

I let my membership expire, and I'll be looking towards non USAT sanctioned events this year.
There's no need for me to be covered in the offseason anyhow. If I find I want to do a bunch in the
summer, I'll reup. Just like with the increase to 7, it seems aimed at promoting annual membership.
Here's hoping TriCal gets the idea of going inhouse, just as they did with registrations.

jkmsg said:

The annual fee (or one time use fee) is simular to a tax... no one likes them but everyone likes
the benefits (whether the benefits are direct or indirect).

That's debatable. So far, all I've seen is useless features - benefits are defined by the
beneficiary.

Cathy Corning said:

Let's see, those $30 are a real hardship after spending a couple thousand on bikes and bike gear.
So hard to eke out those extra $30.

Who spends a couple thousand on bikes? Certainly not me! If you're so flush, send some cash my way.

Quoted message said:

Just wondering, did you vote in the last USAT election?

No, but I did the one before that, before I walked away from membership.

Quoted message said:

When people outright attack USAT, I always wonder if they have tried working with their USAT rep
or even talking with someone from the Exec Board. And I mean talking with them, not just posting
flame bait on some newsgroup.

We've all conversed with R. Plotecia here. So far his promises haven't come to fruition.
Furthermore, why should I have to deal with them? Why can't I do triathlons without kissing their
ring? When you choose to buy a Ford, do you have to first try to work with GM to get what you want?
The only conversation they should need is my dollars going to the competition, i.e. non-sanctioned
races. As the vendor, it is their job to come to the consumer to find out what is desired, and not
charge the consumer $30 for their ear.

Cathy Corning said:

Let's see, those $30 are a real hardship after spending a couple thousand on bikes and bike gear.
So hard to eke out those extra $30.

Do you know how many different $30 organizations I belong to? Times have changed and those that
aren't producing get to go.

Quoted message said:

Just wondering, did you vote in the last USAT election? When people outright attack USAT, I always
wonder if they have tried working with their USAT rep or even talking with someone from the Exec
Board. And I mean talking with them, not just posting flame bait on some newsgroup.

I talked with one to get my name off their financials marketing surveys.
--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

Jason O'Rourke said:

There's quite a few around these parts. I could probably do a full season without justifying a $30
annual, even at $9/pop. So this year, I might just do that.

If I read the context here correctly, am I to understand that USAT has brokered a deal where only
sanctioned races will have access to active.com registration services? If that is the case, can
anyone say "restraint of trade?"

Maybe it's time to find a new sport.

[email hidden] (Jason O'Rourke) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

jkmsg said:

The annual fee (or one time use fee) is simular to a tax... no one likes them but everyone likes
the benefits (whether the benefits are direct or indirect).

So you're saying RDs are all Democrats?

No - hmmm....actually, I don't understand your reference.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yep, that evil USAT is worthless. So worthless (in fact) that a majority of Triathlons are USAT
sanctioned. So, best of luck in finding non-USAT sanctioned events. There out there, but you
might want to also get a passport.

There's quite a few around these parts. I could probably do a full season without justifying a $30
annual, even at $9/pop. So this year, I might just do that.

That's good.

Quoted message said:

Slowtwitch suggests that even without the increase, USAT is likely to run seriously in the black
this year. Hope they build up that war chest, because races are pricing themselves out of the
market, relying on the current excess demand. USAT's $9 is part of that. Alternatives are
appearing - hell one of them posts here frequently.

Priced out the market? - ...well, maybe only for the poor or frugal (God, I do love capitalism).
Sometimes it would be nice to see fewer entries. As I see it, fewer entries increases my probability
of placing (wishfull self-serving statement). Undoubtedly, that is and has not been the case...
triathlon growth has been exceptional. Which in turn, is good for the sport long term. I think (and,
I could be wrong) it's only wishful thinking on your part that non-USAT alternatives will dominate
the future direction of trithlons. (IMHO) I doubt that will be the case since USAT has it's big
organizational foot in the door way.

Joe Moya

Quoted message said:

Alternatives are appearing - hell one of them posts here frequently.

Hello!!!

Jason, did you get your USAT membership directory, or just the spam and junk mail that was generated
from the membership list they gathered? What? No membership directory? How could that be? That was
what we were told the whole impetus for the membership directory creation was?

How many times were you called to complete your membership information? I received three, and each
time I told them I didn't want to be in their f***ing membership directory and if I was I'd sue
them. Three calls!

That was the final straw for my USAT membership.

Schwingding

jkmsg said:

entries. As I see it, fewer entries increases my probability of placing (wishfull self-serving
statement). Undoubtedly, that is and has not been the case... triathlon growth has been
exceptional. Which in turn, is good for the sport long term.

Why? Why is growth automatically good? How long have curling, synchronized swimming, and dressage
been around? I don't see their enthusiasts weeping over the lack of growth. They're happy with a
stable sport with limited penetration of the population. Why must everything grow? Bigger is not
always better, especially when it comes to cultural phenomena, which always seem to be ruined by
mainstream discovery. Bring in the lemmings, and they will use their numbers to change things for
the worse, every time.

Jaeger said:

Quoted message said:

Alternatives are appearing - hell one of them posts here frequently.

Hello!!!

You da man!!!

Question: In the "famous last words" department, didn't a certain regular poster here make loud
pronouncements about how, upon his ascendancy to the USAT presidency, things would be different, and
more ethical? This little squeeze play, trying to coerce rather than entice membership, has me
recalling Slick Willie's promises to create "the most ethical administration in recent history."
Yeah, right. This whole thing smacks of Les MacDonald.

Brian Wagner said:

If I read the context here correctly, am I to understand that USAT has brokered a deal where only
sanctioned races will have access to active.com registration services? If that is the case, can
anyone say "restraint of trade?"

I don't believe so, Brian. I just alluded to that many RDs are using active to do their registration
and billing, which adds more of a fee than it used to. So you can take a $60 race, but after USAT
and active get their action, it might be 73 or so. Those rising fees gave Trical the motivation to
do it all on their own. I imagine the investment paid for itself on the first day of use - the day
WF and Alcatraz opened.

So are $13 in add on fees going to kill an event? No. People suffer the same when buying airfare, or
tires (!). But it certainly pushes me away from events I know less about. There are lots of
overpriced sprint and olympic races out there now, and then there are lots of small, established
events that are a much better value. And of course, almost every weekend I can do a 5 or 10k for
$15-25, and I don't have to commit to it more than a week in advance, or less. We're back to the
problem of 4 month lead times, coupled with no refunds. For $9/30, I'd want the USAT to be working
to improve these issues. That would be serving me as a member.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

Jaeger said:

Quoted message said:

Alternatives are appearing - hell one of them posts here frequently.

Hello!!!

Unfortunately, your races are 2500 miles away from me. But your success can serve as an inspiration
for others. Any failures will serve as valuable lessons learned. At least you're willing to give new
notions a try.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

jkmsg said:

No.. but you do have to buy insurance (in most states), pay taxes and license plates. Your analogy
is not correct.

Yes, it is. Non-sanctioned races comply with applicable civil and statutory law, just like both Ford
and GM do.

Quoted message said:

Oh so naive, the vendor's job is to sell what the consumers are willing to buy (you know the
"lemming" thing - you said it yourself)... the vendor's seem to doing quite fine without having to
find out what the consumer wants.

Do they? Then why the coercive marketing? If USAT membership is such a huge benefit to the consumer,
then why try using the day fee to coerce membership? If I do 4 races paying the day fee, I receive
LESS benefit than a member does, but I pay more. If membership is such a truly great thing, why
can't it sell itself without such an arrangement?

Quoted message said:

I guess, by economic definition... they must be providing what MOST of the consumer's want or they
would have no consumer.

They have precious few consumers who actively decide membership is of benefit to them. Most simply
do it because, with the coercive day fee, it's the lesser of two evils.

Quoted message said:

Triathlete's pay USAT fees because they "want to" or "have to" - end of story.

When it's "have to" that's not giving consumers what they want, it's holding something they
need hostage.

Quoted message said:

Based on the increasing sell out of triathlon's (USAT sanctioned included) and no competing lower
cost organization having been formed,

Except that there is - Brad Jaeger has created an alternate insurance cooperative for RD's, with
much success. Many other regions have non-sanctioned races that offer consumers a better value.
There was a time when people thought IBM had the computer market all wrapped up, too.

Spyder said:

What does the nine dollar fee cover? Is it suplemental insurance for the individual? Or does it a
liability policy for the RD? I know some venues and government officials want insurance for
obvious liability reasons, so the seemingly outrageous cost is most likely a result of our overly
litigous society, and not some grand plan of USAT to control the world.

USAT provides insurance to the RD, but if it costs $9 per participant, then they're losing money on
members. Claims haven't risen sharply. This is just a way for them to coerce people into becoming
members, so they can claim to represent triathletes all over the country. It's sort of like the AARP
telling Congress they speak for millions of people, when, in reality, those people just joined to
get the hotel and rental car discounts.

Just before we shut-down the Triathletes-uk list I asked why the British Triathlon Association
license, International Endorsement(for racing abroad) had gone up from 6 UK Pounds 9.20 USD to 8 UK
Pounds 12.27 US Dillars for 2003.

We were told that the international endorsement covered the cost of the delta between the UK
liability insurance that the foreign liability insurance. Sadly USAT won't accept this anyway and we
get to pay the USAT day license as well. I was told offline that the insurance didn't cost anymore
and the international endorsement was just a levy on those racing abroad. Stiffed and shafted...

++Mark.

"Spyder" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Jason O'Rourke) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Cathy Corning said:

Let's see, those $30 are a real hardship after spending a couple thousand on bikes and bike
gear. So hard to eke out those extra $30.

Do you know how many different $30 organizations I belong to? Times have changed and those that
aren't producing get to go.

Quoted message said:

Just wondering, did you vote in the last USAT election? When people outright attack USAT, I
always wonder if they have tried working with their USAT rep or even talking with someone from
the Exec Board. And I mean talking with them, not just posting flame bait on some newsgroup.

I talked with one to get my name off their financials marketing surveys.

What does the nine dollar fee cover? Is it suplemental insurance for the individual? Or does it a
liability policy for the RD? I know some venues and government officials want insurance for
obvious liability reasons, so the seemingly outrageous cost is most likely a result of our overly
litigous society, and not some grand plan of USAT to control the world.

Keep Training Spyder

Old Timer said:

Jason, did you get your USAT membership directory, or just the spam and junk mail that was
generated from the membership list they gathered? What? No membership directory? How could that be?
That was what we were told the whole impetus for the membership directory creation was?

I replied to an email marketing survey - one that seemed far more interested in my investment
portfolio than anything related to racing. This was right at the time they were suing those two for
transferring a race number. Got a response inviting me to take myself off the hit list.

And then I let it lapse anyway. I didn't do enough USAT races last year to make the annual, we'll
see this summer.
--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

Jason O'Rourke said:

I don't believe so, Brian.

OK, but from yours and other people's comments, I certainly got that impression.

Quoted message said:

I just alluded to that many RDs are using active to do their registration and billing, which
adds more of a fee than it used to. So you can take a $60 race, but after USAT and active get
their action, it might be 73 or so. Those rising fees gave Trical the motivation to do it all on
their own. I imagine the investment paid for itself on the first day of use - the day WF and
Alcatraz opened.

Thing is, I still have a choice regarding Active.com - I can mail or carry in a registration. There
is no option on the USAT extorted 'tribute.'

Quoted message said:

So are $13 in add on fees going to kill an event? No.

Maybe not in free-spending California. Midwesterners are a little more frugal.

Quoted message said:

People suffer the same when buying airfare, or tires (!).

Not me. <G>

Quoted message said:

But it certainly pushes me away from events I know less about. There are lots of overpriced sprint
and olympic races out there now, and then there are lots of small, established events that are a
much better value. And of course, almost every weekend I can do a 5 or 10k for $15-25, and I don't
have to commit to it more than a week in advance, or less.

Interestingly enough, HFPRacing had no sanctioning last year, high quality, and I along with others
commended them on this. Now, this year, their brochure cites sanctioning for all events - this seems
to suggest some coercion al a what I inferred regarding active.com.

Quoted message said:

We're back to the problem of 4 month lead times, coupled with no refunds. For $9/30, I'd want the
USAT to be working to improve these issues. That would be serving me as a member.

Agreed, but it looks like they'd rather extort the money and say go pound salt.

jkmsg said:

Wow!... that's an easy question. Everything must grow because people die (or become unwilling or
incapacitated). For example, if 10 people started a sport 100 yrs. ago and no one continued the
sport, then it would have no growth. Growth is a necessary evil (It's evil...I tell ya...It's
Eeeee-vil).

Excuse me, but stable intergenerational attrition is not growth. Your hypothetical sport can
continue indefinitely if each of those 10 people finds ONE replacement before leaving the sport.

Quoted message said:

Didn't say bigger was always better... but replacement is crucial for continued existence - also
called propagation.

Replacement != Growth.

Quoted message said:

Every time?

Yes, every stinking time.

Quoted message said:

Now that is a pretty harsh claim... would you say the lemmings that rush out of the burning
theatre are changing things for the worse,

Yes, since some will be trampled. An orderly evacuation is preferable.

Quoted message said:

or the lemmings that rushed out and bought light bulbs when electricity was developed,

Yes; it inevitably led to the development of television, the great brain sapping electronic drug.

Quoted message said:

or perhaps when the lemmings rushed out used their numbers to get a polio vacination ...etc.

They didn't choose to rush out - they were compelled by law to get it.

Quoted message said:

(...uh, you did say every time)? Yep, they were all ruined by mainstream discovery or by the
realization that "fire burns" - yep, CERTAIN things (NOT all things) are not a cultural phenomena

Bingo - polio vaccine and even electric light are not really cultural phenomena. They are
technological changes, not aspects of culture. The Japanese have both, yet their culture is
different from ours.

jkmsg said:

Wrong again... based on your logic (and I use that term VERY loosely) Insurance companies (govt.
taxing and licensing agencies included) would NOT (since it doesn't meet your definition - which
are found only in your own special library) comply with applicable civil and statutory law. That
makes no sense. USAT is an auxilary (some may consider it a leach) necessity to promote
triathlons. If not USAT, then an equivalent (albiet at (maybe) a lesser price). But it would serve
the same purpose - support. The last time I looked GM and Ford don't support each other. They are
competitors... USAT has no big competitor.

You really need to sit down and think this through: USAT is a vendor. Both RD's and participants are
consumers. The goods and services provided by USAT are available without USAT's involvement - USAT
has numerous small competitors, such as Brad Jaeger. USAT seeks a monopoly. If I choose to patronize
only non-sanctioned races because USAT does not meet my needs, I have no more ethical obligation to
pursue a dialogue with USAT than I have an obligation to pursue a dialogue with GM before taking my
business to Ford, or, to make the comparison account for differentials of size, to Maserati. If GM
is losing business to Ford, or to Maserati, then it is incumbent upon them to seek an understanding
of why, at their expense. Similarly, if USAT is losing business to non-sanctioned races, and losing
the business of "sanctioning services" to regional co-ops such as Jaeger's, then it is incumbent
upon USAT to go to the consumers, at USAT's expense, to find out why.

Quoted message said:

that BS, It's not coercive marketing. It's called wholesale purchasing. You must be one of those
consumer types who doesn't want to pony up with the bucks but want first class service/products

Wrong. I don't want most of the "benefits" of membership. I just want to race. I am forced to pay a
premium for a tiny fraction of the services, all because I won't lend my name to their roles to
bolster their legitimacy.

Quoted message said:

Define "precious few"... that is a quantifiable term. I believe that "precious few" is simply
wishful thinking on your part.

Not really. Based on the complaints of USAT officials here about the low response rate at elections,
the lack of use of the USAT travel desk, etc., it's clear the majority join for no other reason than
to save on the day license fee. They don't want to be members, they just want to race for less.

Quoted message said:

What is a "benefit" is a very subject term. What some consider a benefit others may not... so,
don't make it sound like a majority dislike buying the USAT membership. It may be, but no one
knows (including myself)...and specially you.

As outlined above, there is ample evidence that most would rather not join, but do so to
save a buck.

Quoted message said:

Yep, it's called a monopoly

So, you admit it.

Quoted message said:

(or oligopoly at best). It's evil...(I'm beginning to like that word), so get over it...

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing, or as you put it
"get over it."

Quoted message said:

Hostage?... you just made a reference to a competitor... your no hostage.

They have made underhanded efforts to squeeze out competitors.

Quoted message said:

I prefer to think of them as a monopoly (or simular). Many new businesses are monopolies (that's
why they are NEW
- with new technology, products or sevices - it takes time for competitors to come in and feel
the void)

Certainly, and I'm simply promoting the growth of said competition, while you're defending
the monopoly.