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This happened a few years ago too, which caused the Cowboys to pull their designation as "Official Travel Partner". Apparently, she has not learned her lesson:
Is Maximum Sports Connection just the ticket? Not hardly, clients say
Posted Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
BY BARRY SHLACHTER, SANDRA BAKER AND JIM FUQUAY
Star-Telegram Staff Writers
Has Ronni Sokol this time bitten off more than she can chew?
Readers of this column may recall several instances where Sokol's Maximum Sports Connection sold travel packages for Dallas Cowboys games but, angry customers told us, failed to deliver promised hotels and sometimes tickets.
Maximum lost its designation as the Cowboys' "official fan tour partner." And it earned an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau -- 25 consumer complaints in three years. The BBB website says Maximum made only one "good faith" attempt to settle a complaint.
But Sokol has remained in business and even sold scores of ticket-tailgate party combo deals for the Dec. 16 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, an exciting game that Dallas won in overtime. But dozens of Sokol's customers from as far afield as Canada, Mexico, Tennessee and Pennsylvania would only hear about it secondhand.
Sokol did not return our call seeking her side of the story. But an employee, Chelsea Brown, assured us the refunds would be made by Wednesday.
Among the piqued clients were two lawmen, a detective with a sheriff's department in South Texas and a police officer from eastern Pennsylvania.
One, Eduardo Lopez of Eagle Pass, was promised a refund in 72 hours. The other, Kerry Vincent of Pennsylvania, received an email saying he'll get his money back in five to seven business days, which means today or Wednesday.
Doubting if they'll ever see anything, both want to see Sokol prosecuted; Vincent said he has contacted Arlington police and the Texas Attorney General's office.
Before leaving Mechanicsburg, Pa., with a police colleague and their wives, Vincent told us that he was assured by Maximum that their tickets were waiting for them at a tailgate party. They weren't. A relative ended up buying four more tickets for them over the Internet.
The tailgate turned so ugly that Vincent called over an Arlington police officer to quell the situation, he said.
Vincent photographed a signup sheet of those requesting refunds and is trying to organize them into pressuring authorities to take action against Sokol. He said he believes Sokol might have misdirected tens of thousands of dollars.
"In Pennsylvania, we call that 'theft by deception,'" the police officer told us in a call. "I worked a boatload of overtime to pay for this."
Among victims is Richard Harris, a West Point graduate who is an administrator at a Houston charter school. Harris also vows to see action taken.
Lopez had arranged a busload of 55 Cowboys fans, including 15 from northern Mexico.
"She ripped me off for $13,500" that he says the contingent sent to Sokol's firm, including 51 who paid at least $250 each for a ticket and pre- and post-game tailgate parties. Four free tickets were promised as a bonus.
Instead of tickets, Lopez said, the group was offered eventual refunds or standing-room-only "Party Passes" that cost Maximum $29.
If his experience is anything like that of fans who tried to attend a Cowboys-Redskins game in 2010, it might be a long wait.
"Three of seven of my clients still haven't gotten refunds," said Bettye McKenzie, a travel agent from Greenbelt, Md.
Lt. Col. Kyle Stokes is another.
An Army officer based in South Korea and daughter of former Cowboys player Sim Stokes, she, too, has gotten zip.
"I'm out $600," Stokes said in a call from Seoul. "I had flown in from Korea to D.C. and then found out Ronni Sokol did not have the tickets I paid for.
"She told lie after lie. When I asked about the refund, she'd say, 'It's in the mail.' But she would never give me a tracking number. I think she should be jailed. It's a scam."
Stay tuned.
Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/1...nection-just.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
Is Maximum Sports Connection just the ticket? Not hardly, clients say
Posted Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
BY BARRY SHLACHTER, SANDRA BAKER AND JIM FUQUAY
Star-Telegram Staff Writers
Has Ronni Sokol this time bitten off more than she can chew?
Readers of this column may recall several instances where Sokol's Maximum Sports Connection sold travel packages for Dallas Cowboys games but, angry customers told us, failed to deliver promised hotels and sometimes tickets.
Maximum lost its designation as the Cowboys' "official fan tour partner." And it earned an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau -- 25 consumer complaints in three years. The BBB website says Maximum made only one "good faith" attempt to settle a complaint.
But Sokol has remained in business and even sold scores of ticket-tailgate party combo deals for the Dec. 16 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, an exciting game that Dallas won in overtime. But dozens of Sokol's customers from as far afield as Canada, Mexico, Tennessee and Pennsylvania would only hear about it secondhand.
Sokol did not return our call seeking her side of the story. But an employee, Chelsea Brown, assured us the refunds would be made by Wednesday.
Among the piqued clients were two lawmen, a detective with a sheriff's department in South Texas and a police officer from eastern Pennsylvania.
One, Eduardo Lopez of Eagle Pass, was promised a refund in 72 hours. The other, Kerry Vincent of Pennsylvania, received an email saying he'll get his money back in five to seven business days, which means today or Wednesday.
Doubting if they'll ever see anything, both want to see Sokol prosecuted; Vincent said he has contacted Arlington police and the Texas Attorney General's office.
Before leaving Mechanicsburg, Pa., with a police colleague and their wives, Vincent told us that he was assured by Maximum that their tickets were waiting for them at a tailgate party. They weren't. A relative ended up buying four more tickets for them over the Internet.
The tailgate turned so ugly that Vincent called over an Arlington police officer to quell the situation, he said.
Vincent photographed a signup sheet of those requesting refunds and is trying to organize them into pressuring authorities to take action against Sokol. He said he believes Sokol might have misdirected tens of thousands of dollars.
"In Pennsylvania, we call that 'theft by deception,'" the police officer told us in a call. "I worked a boatload of overtime to pay for this."
Among victims is Richard Harris, a West Point graduate who is an administrator at a Houston charter school. Harris also vows to see action taken.
Lopez had arranged a busload of 55 Cowboys fans, including 15 from northern Mexico.
"She ripped me off for $13,500" that he says the contingent sent to Sokol's firm, including 51 who paid at least $250 each for a ticket and pre- and post-game tailgate parties. Four free tickets were promised as a bonus.
Instead of tickets, Lopez said, the group was offered eventual refunds or standing-room-only "Party Passes" that cost Maximum $29.
If his experience is anything like that of fans who tried to attend a Cowboys-Redskins game in 2010, it might be a long wait.
"Three of seven of my clients still haven't gotten refunds," said Bettye McKenzie, a travel agent from Greenbelt, Md.
Lt. Col. Kyle Stokes is another.
An Army officer based in South Korea and daughter of former Cowboys player Sim Stokes, she, too, has gotten zip.
"I'm out $600," Stokes said in a call from Seoul. "I had flown in from Korea to D.C. and then found out Ronni Sokol did not have the tickets I paid for.
"She told lie after lie. When I asked about the refund, she'd say, 'It's in the mail.' But she would never give me a tracking number. I think she should be jailed. It's a scam."
Stay tuned.
Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/1...nection-just.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
