The Villeages At Lone Oak ripoff free gifts offered if you take the tour and listen to sales pitch Lone Oak Texas
My wife entered a drawing for a red pickup at the Dallas Home Show. The next week we received a call offering gifts of a cruise and 2 vacations if we would tour The Villages at Lone Oak. We were also told that we would receive $40 in reimbursement for gasoline.
The tour was of lots being developed, but far from finished. We were shown a lot away from the water of Lake Tawakoni. Purchase price was said to be $55,000. In addition, there would be development fees and annual association dues. The price seemed pretty steep for an undeveloped lot that was not ready to build on in a development with no paved streets, close to a golf course that hasn't been built, etc. Since we hadn't really even known what was being presented before we got there, we were not ready to make a purchase and told them so.
For our time we received:
1) A Gas Coupon, Inc. booklet with a $10 coupon in it. It was stamped with the sponsor "The Villages at Lone Oak" with the issue date stamped on it upside down. A form had to be mailed in to activate the coupon 21 days before using the coupon. Why was the date upside down? See next item.
2) We received a folder for Infinity Incentive Group about the cruise we are to recieve. It included a form that had to be filled in and sent in to activate it as well. It was also stamped with the date upside down. I mailed in the form. Today I received the form back in the mail with a letter saying that it could not be processed because it lacked an issue date. It suggested that I have the sponsor re-issue the form. Of course, the sponsor is fifty miles away. What do you think will happen if I mail in the gas coupon for reimbursement with the date intentionally stamped upside down? Infinity Incentive Group has already been reported on the Rip-off Report Site.
3) We also received a folder for "The Endless Escape" program providing two adults with 2 vacations. This package is provided by Spirit Incentives. It required a $100 deposit that, of course would be later refunded upon completing all the travel. After reading the rules, I decided to hold off. I'm glad I did because this company has numberous entries on this site.
Will "The Villages at Lone Oak" fullfill all of their promises? I'm not investing any more time or money to find out.
John
McKinney, Texas
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Blaine
Dallas,Texas,
U.S.A.
The Villages at Lone Oak: Redux
#3Consumer Comment
Sat, February 07, 2009
I am an owner of property at The Villages at Lone Oak. I purchased a couple years ago. Was contacted through similar marketing, after filling out a card at a local show or sports event. My wife and I purchased an interior (non-golf course) lot in this development at that time.
Both the development company and the marketing company have changed hands at this point. We had similar experiences with the old marketing company where we won a $250 drawing and it took months and months to receive the check. It wasn't a scam. Nobody ever acted shady. The old company just seemed stretched thin and slow to act. They always answered or returned phone calls. They were always willing to give me updated information, etc.
At this point, 9 holes of the very beautiful golf course have been completed and much of the utility hook-ups have been connected to the lots. This has taken a delay due to the change in company hands. As a personal investment (though legally nobody should propose this property as an investment tool... that's just my own personal strategy), we have watched this property mature and do exactly what we figured it would. We recently re-financed the loan and upgraded to a golf course lot on one of the existing fairways. There is much talk of a sister property in the area... but we'll see how it goes.
The new marketing company has been much more responsive and accomplished our upgrades with haste. As for the value assertions in this original complaint, the price of these lots is actually a very good deal at $55,000 compared to other lake-centric properties in further stages of development (spelled: a much more difficult speculation) like White Bluffs (3x the price) and a couple others. We choose to see this property as having another 5 years to maturity, but their is nothing here to be considered as a rip-off if your expectations are realistic. Though, this is just one consumer's opinion.
John
McKinney,Texas,
U.S.A.
Gifts Issue Resolved
#3Author of original report
Mon, September 04, 2006
On August 31st a representative of the company developing The Villages at Lone Oak called. He offered to replace the incorrectly stamped cruise offer and to send a $100 debit card for gas. These items arrived by FedEx two days later.
They have honored what they offered!!!