I have recently had a rather unfortunate situation with a swimming company which, whilst concluded now, has raised some questions for me that may be of some interest to other swimmers.
I have set myself a target of swimming the three longest lakes in the Lake District before I’m 50. 2014 was Coniston via the excellent Chill Swim event and last year was Ullswater’s turn. However, I struggled to find an event and then looked for a company to provide safety cover for a solo attempt. I did eventually find one but sadly they let me down on the day, not turning up and not having any contingency in place. So, all trained up, suited and nervous I was left standing by the lake for two hours (out of mobile range as it turned out). Alternative dates could not be arranged so I requested a refund. There then (sadly) followed a series of calls and emails culminating in me having to threatening taking the matter through the small claims process at the county court. It is all now concluded to my satisfaction, however, while in negotiation with the company I was told I had a ‘no refund contract,’ that this was ‘standard practice for channel swims’ and when I questioned how this superseded the normal statutory consumer rights I was told ‘it’s all in the contract’. I sought advice; well, I looked it up on the internet and spoke with Citizens Advice Bureau which led me to conclude that, contract or no, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies and a refund should have been offered.
The whole process led me to wonder if this is standard practice for long distance swims and if any other swimmers have experienced a similar situation? Is there any advice that may be useful to provide to swimmers to assist them with choosing such companies? Perhaps companies or those thinking of setting up a company to deliver these services should know?