Soccer club's no-refund policy upsets parent For me, life in New Jersey has been epitomized by the classic small hometown feeling that is frequently envied as a way of life. Unfortunately, the illusion was shattered recently by a cold and unbending attitude of a youth soccer club in Howell. On Feb. 10 Imailed a registration form and two checks to the Howell Soccer Club, one check for registration purposes and a postdated check for a volunteer fee (in the event we didn't fulfill our obligations as the parents of a 9-yearold boy wanting to play soccer). OnMarch 9 I sent an e-mail to the soccer club informing them of our regrets, but our son would be unable to participate in the spring 2008 season due to unforeseen circumstances. The response we received via e-mail was, "Please read your registration form, there are no refunds for registration as stated on the document. We will be happy to return your volunteer check." I responded with the following points: "I can certainly understand if a child's family notified you that he/she could not participate on a team once the season began, but it is cold and unreasonable to refuse to return a check at a point in time when open enrollment is still in progress and we hadn't received a confirmation or team assignment … I would think you would show some good will in this matter … " Their response was a cut and paste of the original response. [In a final e-mail] I went on to state that compared to other organizations, the position of the Howell Soccer Club was devoid of any compassion or reasonableness that you would expect in a "small town." I am frustrated by the club's refusal to refund, despite the fact that our son's withdrawal was done early enough to not impact negatively upon their ability to field teams. This is not the way to treat people. I told them I could have just stopped payment on the check instead of engaging them in a series of e-mails, but that would have been dishonorable on my part. The scary thing about their concrete no-refund policy is that I think they would have been steadfast in their refusal even if we were parents who lost a child due to tragic circumstances. To this e-mail, we have not even received a response. Need I say more … Michael Shernicoff Freehold Township