WIN A BEACH HOUSE
IN
YACHATS, OREGON
Last update, December 25, 2008
Win-this-home contest will be closed as of December
31, 2008.
All entry fees will have been refunded prior to that date. At
this time only 10
refunds remain to be mailed and they will go out this weekend.
The corporation
founded to own and administer the contest will be dissolved on 12/31/08.
The
web site will remain viable for several more months as a communication
venue. The mailing address, PO Box 245, Yachats, OR 97498 will remain
open for another several months.
I wish to thank all those who entered
and offered support during the contest period. My special thanks to the
3 judges and those friends that provided assistance and advise with the
media program during the contest.
I have had more than several inquiries
regarding trying to do this type of contest to whom I have sent an attachment
of an essay of my tribulations developing and running the contest. The
closing line is the advice, “don’t
do it”.
I lost a lot of money, slept very little and
worked very hard while adding tons of stress to my life.
The upside was
that during all the weekly open houses we held for over 6 months we met
hundreds of wonderful people that got the first chance in their life
to come together as couples and families to write their essays about
a dream. I’m just sad that I could not make that dream
come true. It wasn’t because of a lack of effort and desire.
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to us all. Thanks
again.
Ray Sinclair
Update for Sunday, November 8, 2008.
Please see the preceding update for instructions on refunds.
Sorry
that there was a gap in the updates late last month. My computer crashed
in the worst way in between backups and getting it back up and restoring
data has been a real challenge.
To compound the problems I suffered
a “stroke” in my left eye and
have lost all sight there. That little “speed bump” took
all my focus for about a week.
The refund requests still trickle in and
the checks go out as quickly as I can get the minimum date to verify
the entrant validity. I still am getting the occasional false request
for refunds. I realize that some folks do not understand the need for
some verification of identity
prior to refunds but it is a valid request from the contest for your
ID.
Ray
Update for Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Refund instructions, once again.
To receive your refund(s) the following are required:
1. Send an SASE. The first SASE you sent with your entry
was for your entry confirmation and entry #. It was mailed back to you
with that info unless you choose to be notified via email.
2. Enclose your entry #. If you have lost your entry
# please send; (A) a copy of your cancelled check, front and back, (B)
the date your check cleared the bank or the date you wrote the check.
3. If you have had a name or address change, give the data that
accompanied your entry. If you have email add your email address.
The
reason for this information is to prevent false refund requests being
paid. Yes, there have been more than a few of these so far.
Where to send the above:
MAIL TO: win-this-home.com,
PO Box 245, Yachats, OR 97498
Any additional questions click on the “contact “ on
the top of the home page of the web site and send an email.
Some time
ago I had posted a notice that the refunds would be terminated at the
end of October. Not so. The refunds will continue until the end of 2008.
I had hoped to have this process completed earlier but alas, tis not
happening.
Sorry for the lapse in updates to the site.
Thanks, Ray
Update for Wednesday, October 8, 2008
***** REFUNDS *****REFUNDS *****
There are still over 150 entrants that have not sent in their SASE with
entry #
for their refund(s).
Please see the simple instructions in previous updates to get your
refund.
I must have some of the info listed with your SASE to avoid false claims.
I have had more than several, some of which I have had to turn over to
the postal department as this is mail fraud.
Please get your SASE in the mail and lets get this refund process finished.
I just returned from being out of town for 5 days and only had 8 refund
requests waiting at the PO.
At this time there are NO refunds to be processed.
What’s going on with the Yachats house??
It is now a vacation rental that will sleep 10.
See VRBO.com, listing # 200752 or seanikvacationrentals.com under “sea
X cape."
The winter storms will soon be rolling in and what a great time
to be in Yachats.
There are two homes across the street that turn their flood lights
on at night and what a show Mother Nature puts on with the waves on
the rocks.
Update for Saturday, September 27, 2008
Where are all the SASEs for refunds???
I have zero requests waiting processing as of today. I still
get emails from people demanding their refunds without ever reading the
web site to find out how to get their $$ returned. I will not
be sending any refunds out without a request. There MUST be
some type of identification and verification of the entrant for a refund.
I
have already had several cases of persons attempting to get multiple
refunds or just plain fraudulent ploys for refunds.
As previously stated,
I need is a SASE with your entry # and name of the entrant. Should you not be
able to locate your entry # all I need is your name, the date of entry/date
the check cleared the bank, your address and email address is also helpful. There
is no need to send both. There is no need to send a copy of the
check or of your entry.
Please check the FAQ page for previous info regarding refunds.
I
must keep some elementary security in the refund process. Please remember,
I did not read most of the entries so sending a copy
of the entry does not offer any assistance in providing identification.
The
last batch of refund requests were all great. Every one had either the
entry # or the required information. I was finished in record time with
the refunds.
I will be out of town next week at my granddaughters wedding
in Seattle (on my 75th birthday, what a gift), so get those SASEs in.
Thank
you all for the assistance in this matter. Ray
Update for Friday, September 19, 2008
Refunds!!! There are 262 unclaimed refunds awaiting a SASE with an
entry # to be returned to contest entrants.
At this date I have NO unresolved
issues with refunds. There are NO refunds waiting for checks or to be
mailed.
I have been able to locate entry #s for most people that do not remember
/lost/misplaced theirs. When the balance gets down this low it’s
far easier to locate a # when I am given some reasonable data, date of
the check/address/email address.
I would like this issue to be concluded
ASAP folks.
Our local carrier for DSL has been down? for over 2 ½ days
and I have not been able to get the web site updated or respond to email.
This
will be posted as soon as the problems are resolved.
Thank you, Ray
September
12, 2008
Where are those refund requests (with entry # and SASE)????
I have counted all the remaining refunds and the exact # is 262, not
about 150.
Please get your refund requests ans SASE in now!!!!
I would like to wrap this task up before October. It’s
your money!!!!
At this time there are no unresolved refunds in the problem
file. All refund requests received to date have been
refunded.
I will impose a cut off by the end of October with the
$$ unclaimed going to either My Sisters
Place in Newport or South
Lincoln Resource of Waldport. Both
of these are the charities we feel make a real impact in the South
of Lincoln County for people that have a real need.
The refund period will have been open for over 100 days after posting
notice to the web site.
No monies will be retained by myself, or the contest entity.
If you have not received your refund within two weeks of mailing there
is a problem in that; 1) you did not include your entry # or a copy of
your cancelled check, 2) you did not include a SASE (that means you put
a stamp on the envelope), 3) the name(s) on the refund request do not
match the entry name(s).
I have previously asked for these simple directions
to be followed for refunds but there seem to be some small number of
folks that take issue with my unreasonable “demands” for
their refund. If someone approaches you on the street and asks for their
$200 you might have some reservations and questions also.
I have repeatedly
used the words please and would
you in giving directions for refunds. If you construe
this as a demand, I apologize for the misunderstanding.
Originally I asked
for the refund request (demands) to come in by first in first out (FIFO)
but that request was ignored and the mail came from all quarters. We
have worked our way through this morass and there are only about 20
unprocessed requests at this time.
If you are having some special problem
with the refund issue contact me via the web site.
The Yachats House..
Please check out
the rental opportunity on the Yachats house at
www.seanikvacationrentals.com.
We have expanded the capacity of the sleeping
accommodations at the house to 10 plus a fold out couch and two futons
for kids. It is still a “pet
friendly” house with a dog yard and completely fenced in rear yard.
The hot tub is in top shape and available. There is parking for 7-8 cars
with boat storage and one garage. Check us out!!
Thanks for all those
of you that have had good words regarding the contest.
Ray
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