Temecula Cowpool

Gary Stein is a liar and a cheat and a no good rotten person who will lie his way out of any situation with excuse after excuse, broken promise after broken promise, poor pitiful me stories, blaming others and the list goes on and on, don’t ever, ever, ever, do business with him, through Temecula Cowpool or his wife’s horse riding business or whatever the case maybe. Do your research and take our advice, don’t go near this scumbag! He robbed not only our money but over a year of our lives! I am normally a very forgiving person, patient and kind, but Gary took advantage of my kindness and lied so much I lost track! I gave him so many chances and stood up for him, even gave him advice when others were attacking him. I learned the hard way that not all people are honest and good. Don’t make the same mistake I did!

Before reading this review. Please do a thorough search on Gary Stein, Temecula Cow Pool, and Circle T Ranch. He and his family as well as his wife Ashley Stein are thieves. They sat back and lived off the money provided and paid for by people thinking they were going to get good grass fed beef. Gary & Ashley Stein as well as her parents who own Circle T Ranch all should be put in jail for what they have done. Gary has lied many times over and over. He sold shares in Cows that he never owned and continue to take grazing fees for cows he never had. Even till this day he is continuing to take peoples money with no intentions of ever providing them meat. Please do not give this man, his wife or her family any money. They are all living off our hard earned income while producing nothing. He is a con artist. Please do the google searches for yourself. Gary Stein Hemet, Ashley Stein, Circle T Ranch and Temecula Cowpool.

I would give zero stars if I could. Bought into a cowshare last summer with meat promised by March. I also bought 3 chickens in May. It’s June 16^th and now I am fighting for a refund. Gary Stein who owns this has scammed a lot of people out of money selling these shares for cows and pigs. Do NOT do business with this man!

No stars this is a scam operator!!! DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS PERSON! Unilocal should remove him!!!

Was promised my ½ cow last February but still nothing. I would advise anyone thinking of doing business with Gary to think again. Tons of feedback on the Web about him.

Absolutely do not trust this person. I, along with many others, were scammed out of money. They do not have what they say they have. They cannot deliver what they say they can deliver. People are out anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. This is a SCAM.

I used Circle T Ranch for their CSA (Temecula CowPool). I cannot begin to explain the frustration, anxiety and stress this Cowpool has caused me. I’m only posting my review today as I have received a full refund on my ¼ share. The refund was paid back in parts and to receive each payment took multiple emails for each one. People are now being told that refunds will not even be given. Gary really needs to hire an assistant if he continues CSA. Also, there needs to be more transparency. I asked multiple questions that were never answered. I was never told what herd I was in (even though I asked multiple times). I questioned why the butcher fee went from $ 108 to $ 160…I understand it was an estimate, but that’s a big jump. The only explanation I received was that the $ 108 was an estimate. I’m very happy that I asked for a refund when I did as I am sure the refund requests are rolling in now that the shares are 50−60lbs. vs. the 167lbs. presented in the Facebook ads to bring us in. To go from $ 2.73lb. (1^st. herd) to over $ 10lb. is just crazy. I understand that we are buying a share of a cow and not the meat per se but showing 167lbs. on his advirtisements is VERY misleading to say the least. Before buying into anything Gary is selling I suggest you do a search on Temecula Cow Pool Buyers on Facebook and Temecula Cowpool Discussions.

I was very hopeful that this would be a great experience when I signed up for the Cowpool in August. Timelines were pushed back a bit at first, but I’m a reasonable person, so I understood that happens in life sometimes. What the last straw was, however, is when I paid my butcher fee on ³⁄₁₆ (note that it was $ 160 was much higher than the original estimate but again, I am reasonable and understood that some things may have changed so I paid it) I was told on ³⁄₁₇ via email that my cow had been butchered and it would be ready in 14 – 21 days. I still have not received my meat and the date promised continues to be pushed back. I just don’t know what happened to my cow that was butchered on 3÷17… Unfortunately my story is not an isolated incident, many others still have never received their meat shares and the very few who have said the quality and quantity was much less than expected. Buyer beware!

We bought into the cowpool in late June 2014. We were supposed to receive our meat in January, but we were told that it would be pushed back a bit which wasn’t a problem. We even paid an extra month of grazing, which again, I didn’t mind. Finally March rolls around and we still didn’t have our meat or a potential butcher date so we asked for a refund. Gary said that we would receive our full refund in 2 – 3 weeks as he was refunding us little by little. Refunds were supposed to be given every couple of days, but if we didn’t remind him we wouldn’t get a refund. Anyways, we received a good portion of our money back, but are still owed. I tried to be patient and wait it out, but the lack of communication is what did me in, not to mention the lies. We also felt his marketing was deceptive. He advertised ¼ cow would yield approximately 167 lbs at $ 2.73 a lbs… I thought it was a good deal and we were sold. It wasn’t until a few people started getting their meat and only getting 60 – 70 lbs. Gary was first stand offish saying we bought a share of cow… not meat. Okay, then he started saying that the cows weren’t weighing much at time of butcher so they weren’t yielding much. Then he started saying that the weight we were quoted was a sample weight and a hanging weight. Nowhere in the contract or diagrams did it mention hanging weight. The bottom line is that Gary can’t even keep his stories straight. I have told him that I would lay off of him if he would just tell the truth… that lasted a day. He has never raised cows before and this business is unplanned and not thought out. I do not recommend buying into this disaster. Take your money to the fair and buy a hardworking kid’s cow that has way more experience raising livestock than Gary.