IBA help and/ or thoughts?

[TC Rides]

I did a SS1000 the day after Thanksgiving, 2006. I prepared all the paperwork and submitted with all the witness signatures and receipts and map and pictures and everything by mail the first week of December, 2006. The check that I included for the paperwork and patch and stuff cleared my bank in February, 2007. Two weeks ago (about September 5th) I sent them a polite email asking them about the situation. I have heard nothing from the IBA.
I realize that the IBA is run by volunteers, and that it is a non for profit, but I would think that 10 months would be sufficient time complete this and return the completed paperwork to me.

Any thoughts or ideas on what I should do at this point?

[cyko47]

TC, If you go to the IBA forum you'll see that you're not alone. I think I saw that certs are now coming out for August 06. The fact that your check was cashed probably means you're in. There has been a change in the help that verifies the paper work and they are now getting back up to speed. Keep in mind 2004 membership numbers were in the 19000's I saw one the other day in the 30000's. I'll bet your stuff will be along pretty soon.
                                                                   Twigg

[UFO]

They are really backed up from what I can tell.  But (IMO) they shouldn't be cashing checks until they've processed your paperwork.

Reminds me of my Remus exhaust order recently.  They didn't charge my card until the I confirmed to them that the exhaust actually arrived at my door.  I've never had that happen before.    In other words, don't take people's money until your give them something in return.

[jwhite518]

I expect the reason they are cashing the checks early is that most banks consider a check more than six months old to be stale dated, and will not pay it. They are avoiding a bunch of financial hassle and service charges. If they accepted CC numbers, they could just run the number when they get around to your packet.

Just a guess, but I used to work in a bank.

[jude]

Kneebone is/has restaffed to get the backlog taken care of.  Things should start to move faster, especially since the IBR is now over.  I can't begin to imagine the resources that sucked up.  

[TC Rides]

You know, I think pretty highly of the IBA. But if it takes them a year to process paperwork, the wrong people are running the place.
I work in the financial industry and if there ever was a smooth running organization, this is it.
I realize with the IBA that they are staffed by part time volunteers, and that they take their positions seriously. Realistically though, they are hurting themselves with this kind of backlog and they people that they provide service to. I would thin an efficiency consultant would have a good time rearranging their organization.
Again, I think pretty highly of the IBA.

[RowdyRed94]

The rants have all been made and acknowledged. Let it go.

[jwhite518]

I don't think the IBA has to worry about "hurting themselves" due to lousy customer service on certificates. Their core constituency is the people who are already LD enthusiasts -- folks who have multiple certs, run rallies, go to IBA social events. That crowd doesn't give a hoot about slow turnaround on certs. It's the first timers who get anxious about it. I don't think the IBA is worried about gaining more members. It's not a money making organization.

Just my opinion, I'm not Mike Kneebone.

[Bubwheat]

...snip It's not a money making organization.

The certification fees seem to be not insubstantial, so I'm curious, does the IBA put out a financial statement?  

[UFO]

The rants have all been made and acknowledged. Let it go.

I don't see anyone ranting here.

[jude]

The certification fees seem to be not insubstantial, so I'm curious, does the IBA put out a financial statement?  

This blurb would prolly negate the need for statements and reporting, but that's just a guess on my part.  I can't see them filing a 501(c)...  But, who knows?  

The Iron Butt Association (IBA) does not have membership in the traditional sense. We do not have yearly dues, formal meetings or a monthly newsletter. The IBA is a little more loose knit organization than most clubs. Generally speaking there are several ways to earn membership. The most notable is to be a finisher of the Iron Butt Rally or a successful finisher of one of the other rides we sponsor, such as the Saddle Sore 1000. Rally workers and supporters are also granted membership status.

[Specter]

Expect the Cert. pace to pick up again shortly. The Iron Butt Rally is over, and things can get back to normal. I think they've caught up to July '06 applications at this point.

From what I understand there were some problems with the verification staff, resulting in a lot of  re-evaluations of applications, causing a backlog. It is a high priority of the IBA to get this fixed, but the quality and integrity of the certification will not be compromised to do it.

Patiently waiting for my BBG filed October 9, 2006 (check cashed)

[BlaSTr]

I did a SS1000 the day after Thanksgiving, 2006. I prepared all the paperwork and submitted with all the witness signatures and receipts and map and pictures and everything by mail the first week of December, 2006. The check that I included for the paperwork and patch and stuff cleared my bank in February, 2007. Two weeks ago (about September 5th) I sent them a polite email asking them about the situation. I have heard nothing from the IBA.
I realize that the IBA is run by volunteers, and that it is a non for profit, but I would think that 10 months would be sufficient time complete this and return the completed paperwork to me.

Any thoughts or ideas on what I should do at this point?

From what I can glean from the ironbutt.org site, getting your check cashed is a big step to getting your certificate and recognition. It usually means you've passed the documentation test/verification and are now in the bigger queue for reverification and signatures.

And yes, they had the loss of a number of experienced and trusted volunteer evaluators. That has been corrected but the slow down has been the IBR which takes up a lot of staff time. Things should be speeding up (probably from snail to tortoise), but they are speeding up.

Finally, they have been inundated with applications. It's become far more popular than even they imagined, imho. They're getting great press (just check out the BMW sites, as well as this one) and that only adds more applications to the process.

Doug