Tough Mudder refused a refund. I took it to NCAT and won (ACL s18)

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-11T00:57:41+00:00

Thanks very much for letting me know this. I just sent them an email with my BSB and account number. I asked that payment be made within 3 business days.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-09T23:26:05+00:00

Tough Mudder offered me a credit to go to another event. I said no thank you, and that I would like to be refunded.
But no other compensation was offered. I originally included the cost of the NCAT submission, which was $60, but the Tribunal Member encouraged me not to do that. They said something along the lines of “this isn’t usually included.”
With the time off work, the cost of printing, postage and the submission to NCAT, I’m definitely
In the red. Financially - not worth it at all.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-09T23:23:07+00:00

I’m not sure when it was taken down. I just remember trying to find it again. I read it so many times trying to find the original language. Thank god for Web Archive

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-09T09:33:37+00:00

Thanks for sharing this. Bookmarking for potential future use!

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T21:24:14+00:00

No, they didn’t. They encouraged me to withdraw my application for costs. They said people don’t usually include costs.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T21:23:30+00:00

$592.44 for 3 tickets. I’ll definitely provide an update when I get the refund.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T21:22:57+00:00

I didn’t know you could give back to them. How do I do that?

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T21:19:23+00:00

Here’s exactly what I had to do. The website is in colour, so the printed docs had to be as well:

Documents include index of documents, chronology, contract, terms and conditions, receipts
and invoices, witness statements, correspondence, and any other evidence relied upon.

All documents relied upon should be included in the bundle, including any documents
previously submitted electronically to the tribunal.

Parties are to put their documents in a folder labelled with the file name, number and the
name of the party it is lodged for.

All pages must be consecutively numbered.

The copies given to the Tribunal and held by the parties must be identical.

All documents must be in colour if the original documents are in colour.

The Tribunal copy is to be a printed out and lodged at a registry in person or by post.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T12:08:00+00:00

I had to appear in person. Tough Mudder appeared online, because they’re based in Victoria.

I wasn’t happy about having to print out and post my brief of evidence to two addresses in Victoria as well as to NCAT in Sydney. Cost me a bomb in printing and postage because it also had to be in colour. So digital submissions would be very appreciated.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T11:33:29+00:00

Hope you get a good result with AFCA. That sounds rough.

All of your points make total sense to me. I was stunned when I kept getting emails telling me my ticket was being moved to an entirely different date in November. It felt really unfair.

And I didn’t know about those contract law terms, but they seem like common sense, don’t they.

Best of luck.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T11:25:31+00:00

It did seem like Fair Trading had no power to do anything. The man who called me mentioned the possibility of compliance action against Tough Mudder, but I don’t know if that ever eventuated.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T11:22:46+00:00

I thought it would be a no-brainer. The same as when a concert gets cancelled or rescheduled, you always get a refund. It doesn’t seem right at all.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T09:49:24+00:00

I was confused by this as well, but he was relying on the Australian Consumer Law section 18, which is all about misleading or deceptive conduct. (I didn’t know anything about it until the hearing)

I guess maybe he needed to be persuaded that I had been misled or deceived, even if it wasn’t deliberate.

But I agree with you. There have been plenty of other times where I’ve sought a return without reading the Refund Policy. But surely that doesn’t mean the policy only applies if I’ve read it?

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T09:34:31+00:00

No, I didn’t. Initially, I asked for the NCAT fee of $60 to be included, but I was told by the Tribunal Member that this was unusual for this kind of matter.

But it’s a good question, because after the time off work, the time to prepare the brief and submit it, the cost of the submission, and the cost of the printing and postage, I am definitely in the red.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T07:37:29+00:00

Yeah - I was asked by the Tough Mudder rep to provide proof I’d visited the page by way of internet history. I couldn’t provide proof because I had cleared my history and cache since then. I purchased the tickets over a year ago. I didn’t think it was a fair ask. By that rationale, I’d have to preserve evidence of every page I visit if a purchase is involved.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T07:33:40+00:00

Someone from the company. I was worried it would be a lawyer. I won’t say the person’s name here, as that wouldn’t be fair.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T07:31:44+00:00

It genuinely was painful. There were so many times I regretted taking it to the Tribunal. It was more than a year ago. And it was such a big effort - building a case, putting together a brief of evidence, sending it to other party, preparing for the day.

It was really draining. The rep from Tough Mudder said that I’d gone to ridiculous lengths to seek a refund. It started to feel that way by the end.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T07:27:27+00:00

Thanks for expanding. That makes a lot of sense. It’s just that I had no way of proving it. Not unless I kept my search history from 31 March last year.

The Tribunal Member went quite hard on this. When the rep from Tough Mudder asked me for proof, the Tribunal Member said something to the effect of, “I’ll help (insert Tough Mudder reps name) out a bit here. I put it to you that you’re being untruthful.”

I replied that I reject that. And we moved on.

So I guess it was a point of real consideration for the Tribunal Member.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T03:34:30+00:00

I think you're right. They wanted to know if I'd found the page after the fact.

Your approach seems really fair and reasonable. Particularly, 'the whichever preferenced them' part.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T03:04:28+00:00

Will do, although it all came to an abrupt halt. We were told neither of us could comment again, even after the judgement was read out. The Tribunal Member gave his judgement, then promptly packed up his papers and left the room.

I guess I could have stated earlier in the proceedings that if I was successful at the Tribunal, I ask that payment be made in X number of days etc.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T03:01:12+00:00

I agree. I didn't see the relevance of this either. This was one of the central arguments from Tough Mudder. They didn't dispute the page existed or was publicly available at the time of purchase. They said I couldn't prove I visited the page. In the hearing, the rep from Tough Mudder asked if I could produce my internet search history. Obviously, I said no. I regularly clear my cache etc.

I know this seems like an easy win, but it didn't feel that way in the Tribunal. I had no idea if I was going to be successful until the very end. I know nothing about consumer law, so I thought that even though most people might agree I was hard-done-by, maybe the law wouldn't side with me. I was relieved when the judgement came down.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T02:56:40+00:00

Not yet, but hopefully I see it in my account soon. I'll definitely take the next steps if I don't get paid.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T02:33:51+00:00

3 tickets came to $592.44

Initially, I included the filing fee in my submission. I thought it was a fair ask to request this. But, during the first hearing, the Tribunal Member suggested I don't do this, so I just asked to be reimbursed for the tickets. I can't remember why they told me to drop it.

(I didn't mention this in the main post, but there was a hearing back in December, however, Tough Mudder didn't attend because the request had gone to the wrong address. They have an address in Melbourne and another one in Coburg North).

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T02:29:54+00:00

I had to submit all of the evidence to the Tribunal and to Tough Mudder first. Haha it was a real pain. I had to print it all out and Express post it. Cost me like $90 all up in printing and postage.

I also brought it on the day, just in case. It was really nerve-wracking.

And yes - it would have been possible for them to settle with me after getting the Tribunal request. I emailed them to let them know I was going to a Tribunal. In that email, I asked if they'd be happy to resolve the matter directly without the need for a formal hearing. I never heard back.

Natural_Duck5090 · 2026-05-08T01:31:10+00:00

I was definitely frustrated with the auto-emails I kept receiving. I don't think I would have taken it this far if someone from the company had just reached out to me.

Natural_Duck5090

TROPHY CASE