Defections? and new LA dive shop?

[scottfiji]

So I get this strange group email (2 of them) on Tuesday from someone asking me to go on their boat dive for $75. (Email pasted below). No big deal, except I had a hard time making sense of the email, and figuring out who it was from. (The only dive-related companies I've ever given my email out to was scubaboard, cyberdiver, and ocean adventures, and it wasn't from one of them).

Yesterday I get an email from one of my LDS's (OA in venice) (Email pasted below), saying somone had left the dive shop and maybe emailed members. So now I understand where the email came from, although the email still doesn't totally make sense.

Does anyone know details on these people or on the new LA dive shop? I found a web site, n2narcosis.com, I don't know if this web site is new or not. Also, it lists their address in Playa, CA. don't know where that is, there is a playa vista, and a playa del rey, but no Playa, CA as far as I know. Did anyone else get these emails?

Scott
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Original Email:
Hello
Just wanted to invite you to dive with these guys (see picture) and 12 of us so far this Saturday the 23rd. The water is still warm (a whopping 68) and will be for the next month or two and then it’s going to start to drop. I’ve attached the details.

I also started with a brand new, shinny PADI dive center here in LA (not N2Narcosis.com). So if you want to book this trip, call the Sundiver 1800-555-9446 or email me here at nitrogennarcosis@hotmail.com and I’ll book it for you.
Open boat $75 w/ three dives (one of the dives will be at Italian Gardens / Giant Sea Bass) / air fills and food extra.
Boat: www.sundiver.net
Directions to boat: http://www.sundiver.net/directions.htm
Ron and Beth
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(Second email, with picture of sea bass attached)
There's a family of Ten Giant Black Sea Bass (endangered) at Italian Gardens , Catalina Island. Let's go! R
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Email from my LDS (excerpt)
As many of you know, Ron Beltrano is no longer with Ocean Adventures Dive Company. We have heard from some that you have received emails from Ron. OADC did not provide him with our mailing list. You have the option of unsubscribing from our mailing list, and you should have that option with any other mailing list, at any time. We've included a link to our privacy policy below.

 

[wscdive]

I don't know how they treat it in CA but in PA that guy would be in serious trouble if that dive store protected the list by using blind mailings etc and maintained it at the shop. The list would be considered store property and ive seen several lawsuits and criminal prosecutions for theft for using an email list without authorization.(one was a local tanning salon). If the guy is an instructor he could possibly lose his rating also. (i would think it would be ok to maintain a list of his students, but not other customers of the store, but that depends on his contract with the store)

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

Not only that, but it is SPAM!
you should report the post to spamcop.net
and his email server will get blacklisted.
Some mailservers check with these block lists and will
deny connections to these "spammers."

May teach him a few lessons!

 

[Aerodog]

Does anyone know details on these people or on the new LA dive shop?

.....this Saturday the 23rd. .......www.sundiver.net

Well, according to the sundiver website the famous "Open Boat" dive shop is the charter. Weird, they seem to book this boat, and many others in the area and in fact around the world!

 

[hermosadive]

Scott,

I've had my email address poached by former employees of places I've done business with before and recommend you call him direct. Even if you decide to stay on his mailing list, there is an ethics issue with what he is doing. Would he approve of his staff (the whole 2 of them) taking business contacts and starting their own business? I doubt it.

The fact that he doesn't mention the name of the "brand new, shinny PADI dive center.." make me question his business sense as well. I'm going step up and yell...TOOL! :toilet Love his shinny press release. Too bad he can't spell shiny correctly.

 

[ICY ICE]

In our company I have set up every employee with an e-mail account that is used for personal/business.

A second e-mail account is created for filling out information on forms, conventions, training seminars...etc....

The second e-mail account is killed every 2 months from our server, so if (always) the employee or myself end up on a mailing list; it doesn't make a difference, 2 months later the problem is gone.

NOW..........

You can go to www.hotmail.com or www.yahoo.com and get a free e-mail account that you can designate as a potential junk mail account...and use it only for that purpose: Dive shops, scubaboard, Trader Joes etc…


In turn, your primary e-mail account will NEVER be inundated with junk/spam mail.... unless you break your own rule.

Good luck


BTW:

As a business we have submitted 100's of spammers to spamcop, bottom line it not worth the time...many of the companies are fly-by night operations that spamcop and city officials feel not worth pursuing or placing charges on. The only companies they want to prosecute are large corporations that can be humiliated and most important that they have money to let go.

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

Actually Spamcop will report him as a spammer to hotmail. I personally would never deal with any business using a "free email address." If you can't afford a domain name or website, then you won't get my business.

Most spammers operate from Asia and spam on the behalf of their US clients. The purpose of spamcop is to get the server the email came from on a "block" list. Many modern email/Spam filtering systems use these lists to block connections from these servers who are sending the email.

If you only report the spammers and your servers are not setup properly, then yes you are wasting your time. With no block lists or spam filtering you are out of luck!

 

[scubacucamonga]

Actually Spamcop will report him as a spammer to hotmail. I personally would never deal with any business using a "free email address." If you can't afford a domain name or website, then you won't get my business.

Sorry guys, but I have a definite 'no' vote on Spamcop. As an IT professional, fighting everyother week to get 'removed' from Spamcop's blacklist is a royal pain. I have a full time Network Admin that spends a considerable amount of time working on issues related specifically to Spamcop.

Their 'brute force' technology needs a major overhaul before it meets the very commendable objectives that they are attempting to achieve. I assume that the subscriptions they are now receiving will pay for some better programmers to work out the kinks in their system. Until then, we keep throwing our resources at it daily.