Remaining Dirty Girl participants to get refunds, AG's office says

CHARLESTON – West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on Thursday said his office has secured an agreement to refund the remainder of the people who had signed up for last month's abruptly cancelled Dirty Girl Mud Run.

Morrisey's office secured the deal with 100 LLC to provide registration refunds to about 700 people who planned to participate in the 2014 Charleston Dirty Girl Mud Run, which was canceled a few days before the July 26 event.

“With this announcement, we believe that everyone who signed up for the race will receive a refund,”  Morrisey said. “When the race was canceled and the organizers said they would not provide refunds, our office was flooded with calls and complaints from angry consumers.

"We immediately launched an investigation, and we are proud to say that between this agreement and a similar agreement previously reached with Eventbrite, our Office was able to obtain more than $200,000 in refunds for race participants.”

Eventbrite is a third-party contractor who handled online registration for the race. On July 25, one day before the race, Eventbrite agreed to refund money to participants who registered on Eventbrite’s site. About 2,100 people registered through the company’s online ticket portal. The remaining 700 participants registered directly with 100 LLC, which at the time owned the Dirty Girl Mud Run brand.

This 100 LLC agreement does not apply to Human Movement Management, a Colorado-based company contracted by 100 LLC to produce and manage the Charleston event.

“We are happy to have been able to secure refunds for race participants, and we hope situations like this do not happen again,” Morrisey said. “This race was not canceled due to weather or circumstances beyond the organizers’ control, therefore participants were entitled to be reimbursed.”

Per the agreement, 100 LLC agreed to provide the Attorney General’s Office with a list of race participants who registered directly to the company or entity other than Eventbrite, as well as the money consumers paid for registration, within 10 days. 100 LLC will then begin to reimburse those registrants with all reimbursements completed by 90 days.

“100 LLC will update our office every 10 days as to how many of the registrants have been reimbursed,” Morrisey said. “Additionally, 100 LLC has promised to notify our office three months before announcing or hosting an event in West Virginia.”

The Assurance of Discontinuance does not preclude or prohibit either 100 LLC or the State of West Virginia from seeking additional legal remedies and civil penalties from other entities, including Human Movement Management.