Color Fun Fest promises to give runners money back months after race called off

Color runs are gaining popularity across the country, but some runners in Central Florida were left high and dry because the race they paid and signed up for never happened.

When Color Fun Fest popped out at Kim Burcher online, she not only registered herself, but also signed up a friend as a gift.

“It’s sort of disappointing because it wasn’t just me involved,” said Burcher. “It means she didn’t get a birthday present from me.”

Instead, Burcher got a cancelation email and no refund for her $55.

Two weeks ago, Cliff Jett was still waiting to get his money back.

There are dozens of similar complaints in other cities.

Color Fun Fest has an “F” rating with the Better Business Bureau and the attorney general’s office in Texas, where the company is based, said it has 51 complaints about the business on file.

“It would be nice if they start actually either hosting events they promise or they shut down,” said Burcher.

Color Fun Fest had no contract with the city for the 5K.

In a statement, the company blames a mix-up, saying it’s partly why a general manager was fired.

The company also thanked Channel 9 for pointing out the problems two weeks ago and said it’s reworking its customer service department.

Refunds to more than 1,000 people are already in progress, company officials said.

People who purchased tickets to the Orlando event are also invited to use them to get into Color Fun Fest on Saturday in Tampa.

Statement from a Color Fun Fest, LLC Spokesperson:

Color Fun Fest is a small company that puts on big events, devoted to providing great value to families. It gives all of its profits away.  Since the Fall of 2016 we have replaced and rebuilt our management team and we put on an excellent run in Fort Lauderdale in January. Refunds for the cancelled event in Orlando are being issued as fast as the company can--the goal is to have them all issued over the next 60 days. Ticket holders for Orlando are still invited to the event in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium on February 25th and remember that children 12 and under are always free with advance registration. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate WFTV's pointing out that we need to improve our communication with the public on this --because of this we are reworking our customer service department now too.

IN REFERENCE TO NO CONTRACT BEING SIGNED TO HOLD EVENT IN ORLANDO:

There was a handshake agreement between Color Fun Fest's general manager and the venue, though it is true a final contract was not yet signed. There was indeed a conflict with the schedule of key members of the CFF team who were not aware of the Orlando dates. Once they were made aware they tried to adjust to meet the obligation but could not and the public was alerted immediately. For this mix up and other reasons, the GM was let go shortly after and steps taken to make sure this never happens again.

Refunds are in progress, and began within 90 days of the event.  CFF has been issuing refunds as fast as it can. The offer to honor tickets in Tampa stands. Please do remind people that children 12 and under are free with advance registration. All Orlando refunds should be completed within the next 60 days.

Cox Media Group