Travelled 50 miles to an open show today, went to fetch the show catalogue only to be told I hadn't registered for any classes.  I was absolutely mortified, I asked them to triple check my entry and they said no, I wasnt registered , in fact no other dogs of our breed had registered at all and as I wasnt in the catalouge there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.  They didnt take my name, address or offer any sort of attempt to find out if anything had gone wrong their end.

So we got back home and I checked my bank account and sure enough, the money for the classes was taken out a few weeks ago.

Although I am unhappy that they have made a mistake, I would probably accept it if they were the slightest bit bothered about it but they couldnt have cared less.

Has this happened to anyone before and if so, who is the best person at the relevant society to get in touch with about it.  Obviously I will be attempting to recoup my entry fees.

Oh dear the Show Secretary, should have checked the entry forms & if yours wasn't there, should have allowed you to complete & pay again for the classes & then allow you to compete.

When the marked catalogues go to the Kennel Club, the missing entry(ies) are noted & the KC then contact you to prove you sent in the entry form. This should be the Proof of Posting from the Post Office, although in your case a copy of the cheque might be acceptable.

It is not the Show Management's decision to allow you to compete, it is the Kennel Club's & the decision is made after the show.

I would get the cheque from your bank & in the mean time contact the KC & report the matter to them, the show management need a kick up the a**e from the KC as they have to know the correct procedure for non receipt of entries(irrespective of whether or not the cheque has been cashed BTW)

Thanks for the reply moonmaiden.  I really should have made more of a fuss when I was at the show but I was just gobsmacked, I had spent hours the day before getting our dog ready for the show , been up early in the morning walking/feeding all the other dogs then to be told I wasnt registered and there was nothing they could do just stunned me and we drove off immediately.

I think in future I will take bank statements/cheque stubs to shows as further proof just to see if this helps.  Reading what you say though, proper procedures should be in place for things like this.  Im just glad it wasnt a championship show the other side of England!

I will contact the KC tommorow, request a copy of the cheque and also fire off a letter of complaint to the Open Show secretary. 

Just our luck we wouldve been the only dog in our breed so I missed out on a cheeky "Best of Breed" award!  Lol!

The best is when you send off your entry get a free proof of posting at the post office, staple it to the cover of your schedule, then you have it with you at the show.  DO not let the secretary keep it, just show it, The KC may need to see it at a later date

I'm a show secretary of two shows & have entered my dogs at shows & not had the entries received as well, I always got a Proof of Posting from the Post Office & have spend a good amount of time instructing other show secretaries in how to deal with non receipt of entries & have even had to show them the KC regs that cover this ! Something that they should know backwards. You don't even have to take the POP with you ! I always did a photocopy & ensured it was attached to the new entry form.

Did you get a proof of posting ?

Champ show secretaries would know what to do BTW :-)

Being used to cat shows, I always enter open dog shows the way I'd enter a cat show. I enclose a stamped self addressed post card giving the name of the show, the name of the dogs entered and the classes entered, and then leave a blank space for the show sec to sign or stamp it. They always send it back and I have proof of it having been received and accepted (I add this too, "Received and accepted, signed or stamped" I write). I've only ever had to use it once but then it was very useful.

Having been a Secretary of an All Breeds Society for many years I know it can sometimes feel like a thankless task, BUT there is NO excuse for the treatment handed out by this society. The Kennel Club run Seminars for Secretary's to give them all the relevant information as well as it being printed in a £1.50 booklet. It is the Committees resposibility to ensure their Secretary is doing the correct procedure, any club with a new Officer the Chairman at least should give guidance.
Another regular problem is when a puppy is not entered in the puppy class(maybe the owner has litter siblings & can only handle one in puppy class) but is in Junior or Novice.  If it is not beaten by another puppy in the class then it can challenge for Best Puppy against the winner of the Puppy Class, it has happened that 3pups were newly entered in Novice and none were placed, then all 3 can challenge.
A while ago one of my members told the Steward she had a puppy in Novice & understood she could challenge- the Steward said"I don't know" & went to ask the judge, who said "I don't know" they then went to the Secretary who said...wait for it..."I don't know" At which point the handler stood her full 5ft. and told them that her trainer said she could and it was in the KCrules so she would be challenging. In the end she beat her own Puppy (sister to the one in Novice) with a volunteer handling the second one.

Lazarus this happened to me in May this year, we travelled 2hrs got to an Open show to find our entries weren't in the catalogue etc.

I asked the show sec if i could enter, and it was allowed so i paid for the fees there and then, the show secretary was really helpful but did say if i didn't have proof of postage to send to her my entries would be invalid.  Luckily i had a recorded delivery slip because we went on to win RBPIS.  The next day i sent proof to her and she sent it on to the KC etc etc. 

I much prefer to enter online because at least you get almost immediate proof of entry.

Happened to me once, most annoying! And we didn't have any proof of entry either. :-( I did send SAE's like Marianne for a while but have got out of the habit again, it's not happened again since (fingers crossed!)

Proof of posting is NOT for the Society, ONLY the KC can require you to provide it. The KC are the only ones that can disqualify. If the Society have lost your entry once, why send them your proof of posting?(could that not go astray too)

> Proof of posting is NOT for the Society, ONLY the KC can require you to provide it. The KC are the only ones that can disqualify. If the Society have lost your entry once, why send them your proof of posting?(could that not go astray too)

I did not advise sending the POP to the Show management, I only ever took the copy I had made.

this has happened to me once years ago ..ever since for open shows I always send a self addressed postcard in with the entry then I ring the secretary a few days before the show to check I am entered as I was so dissapointed and angry to go to the trouble of preparing my dogs and having the hassle of finding out if I can show...  as it spoils the whole day.
There has been one show where I checked and was told the entry hadnt been recieved (I hadnt rec my postcard) but was told I could still attend and go through the rigmarole with the kennel club that MM has explained ..I didnt bother attending that show but around 6 m later recieved an envelope from Belfast (doh) with all my paperwork inside it had been lost (the show was in Manchester so explain that one ) LOL

Roni~

>Proof of posting is NOT for the Society, ONLY the KC can require you to provide it. The KC are the only ones that can disqualify. If the Society have lost your entry once, why send them your proof of posting?(could that not go astray too)<

I realised it was for the KC but the society wanted copies for their records as well.  I obliged as due to the win we had i wanted everything above board, i didn't want anything to go wrong and be disqualified for the best result we'd ever had :-) To be doubly sure i sent proof by Special Delivery this time, plus it may not be the society thats lost the entry it could also be lost in the post couldn't it.

this is why i ALWAYS send a SAE postcard with my entry form which they sign and send back as its proof you entered so they have to let you in the classes ( i always write which dogs have entered which classes on the back also so they sign it as a record of my entry form.

So.. panicking here (being new to all this showing business... one more thing for me to have nightmares about!!).  Can I just check - you send a SAE postcard only for open shows?  Presumably you get passes and things from champ shows, so you'll know in advance if anything has gone wrong?  Got my first few entry forms all filled out, just deciding which classes to enter... Never thought about proof of entering!

i do it mainly for open show as i enter on-line for most champ shows.
If i enter a champ show or open show by post then i
always take them to the post office and ask for a proof of posting which is free as these can be used as proof that you have entered also.

Thank you :-D  Maybe I'll just enter online whenever possible then... it'll give me one less thing to worry about!

Just to add to the sensible advice above re: Proof of Postings.
When you've filled out your paper entry for a show also fill out a P.O.P. ( ask Post Office for a big wadge of them) ONE for each show so that you can......
Attach said P.O.P. to the front cover of each schedule and, as someone earlier said, always take this with you to a show.
In the event of your entry not getting to the Hon Sec. just wave the proof at the Sec and enter your class...dont let anyone stop you. It can be sorted out with the KC later.
You will be perfectly within your rights and acting fully within he KC rules.

Thanks everyone for all your kind messages and PMs.  We will most certainly send a SAE postcard with every open show entry from now on.  We are lucky in this case I suppose in that they have cashed the cheque so at least we have proof so that we can get our money back.  Just a shame it ruined the day for us :(   But you live and learn and its things like this that just reinforce the need to get things like proof of entry.

> We will most certainly send a SAE postcard with every open show entry from now on.

Just for clarity, as others will take advice from this, surely an SAE is not an approved Kennel Club proof of entry? Whilst it may prove that the Society received the entry, if it was somehow lost between there and the printers, or just omitted from the catalogue, would you not still be stuck when answering to the Kennel Club?

It has always been my understanding that a Proof of Posting is the accepted method, so that is what I always use (beggared if I'm getting Rough Collies ready for a show and driving however far to find I'm not entered!), but would be interested to hear if I'm wrong.

M.

> surely an SAE is not an approved Kennel Club proof of entry? Whilst it may prove that the Society received the entry

No you are quite right.
A Post Office Proof of Posting is what KC ask for. If the entry is lost in the post so your return card will never reach you. A P.O.P. will still be valid and, as neither would be your fault, you will still be able to show your dogs.

I just assumed that I'm on someone's ignore list :-)