OMG! They told us it was too good to be true!

I came across an interesting advertisement which appeared on December 11, 1998 on Page 22 of The New Straits Times! Land at Bandar Golden Valley Golf Resort was offered for sale at half price! And in huge bold type is the heading "1/2 Price Sale, Oh my God", followed by a smaller heading which reads "It's too good to be true!" And those who buy the land with Visa, Master and Amex credit cards will be offered a RM10,000 discount! I wonder how many people were taken in by the advertisement which also offered a Buy-Back Scheme! Well, there is a catch though... they can only sell back the purchase after six months of having built their bungalow! The ad includes an impressive calculation to show that with just a small investment every month, the purchaser stands to gain as much as RM60,000 once their bungalow is built! Now more than 12 years later, they have not even got the land!

The advertisement turns out to be exactly what it is – "Too good to be true!" So they have indeed warned us that the deal is too fantastic to be true. What good is a RM10,000 discount when you have lost more cash than that? But how can the developer get away with all our money without facing any consequences?

And the advertisement prominently stated that the project is a joint development between Yeng Chong Realty Sdn Bhd and Malaysian Building Society Development Sdn Bhd (a susbsidiary of MBSB) .

When the going was good, there was partnership. Then things turned sour, one party is disclaiming partnership. What about the purchasers who have been left in the lurch? Many of them are not well to do and need the money. The last we heard, MBSB was going to call up Yeng Chong to come to some agreement to pay the purchasers. We are still waiting.

The advertisement in the NST on Dec 11, 1998, page 22
For an enlarged image of the ad, go to http://news.google.com