Blue Angel Staff Changes

[Mike]

I know of some scenarios where the employee is entitled to this information but I wouldn't think Jeanie's role would have warranted such ownership. YMMV.

In the US I can't think of any circumstances where an employee would own his employers customer information.

It seems clear to me and especially based on Eva's post, to easily read between the lines that she's been poached by a past employee looking for a free jumpstart to their new business off the hard work of another.

I do wonder what is going through Jorge's mind right now, as he was set to leave and is now staying..

He's probably planning what he's going to spend his new raise on.

 

[Christi]

I do wonder what is going through Jorge's mind right now, as he was set to leave and is now staying. I wish him all the best whatever happens.

That's an easy one! he is a smart guy! He has over 10 years working at Blue Angel, and through the ownership changes. He has a very good, steady, KNOWN income there. He has a really good thing, is treated well and he knows it! He has a loyal client base, but most of who are just as loyal to BA as they are to him and are not going to move to a new shop that is a start-up.

 

[DandyDon]

In the US I can't think of any circumstances where an employee would own his employers customer information.

I think it is common for a hairdresser to try to contact regular customers when s/he changes shops or starts one. I even saw a FB post the other day about a friend going to a different restaurant because their favorite waitress was off.

I did not mind Jeanie emailing me about their new start up. I just wasn't interested.

This is a lot about nothing to me. I'm surprised at all this.

 

[islanddream]

I think it is common for a hairdresser to try to contact regular customers when s/he changes shops or starts one. I even saw a FB post the other day about a friend going to a different restaurant because their favorite waitress was off.

I did not mind Jeanie emailing me about their new start up. I just wasn't interested.

This is a lot about nothing to me. I'm surprised at all this.

Many hairdressers rent their stations and have their own clients. So when they change locations, they let their customers know where they've gone. This has happen many times with my hairdresser....I just keep following her all over the place.

I, too, received the announcement from Jeanie. If she "poached" the list from The Blue Angel, I believe that's terribly unethical. She probably had all of our email addresses on her home computer and decided to create a mailing list to promote the new business. Easy to do....not the best business practice!

 

[judydivescoz]

I have been out diving with Steve Belmont, the owner a few times. He lives in Alaska and has a house in Cozumel. He seemed to be a nice guy, he was checking out dive shops for sale while I was on the island in February. He was a long time customer at Blue Angel, diving with them most every day he was on the island. I would imagine that the relationships he developed over the years with BA employees helped him starting his own dive shop. Starting up a new dive shop is tough. I wish them all the best of luck.
fWIW, the business would own the mailing list in this case. It is a valuable asset of the business. If it was taken without permission, it is stealing.

 

[Mike]

Hair dressers typically are not employees, they are independent contractors who pay booth rental. Businesses owners who shoulder the extra financial burdens of employing employees instead of independent contractors are entitled to the benefits such as the employee/employer relationship that allows them to own their customer information. In large companies that customer information may be valued at millions of dollars, it's definitely valuable. Just ask the poacher if they thought it was valuable? I'd think they'd agree based on they thought it was valuable enough to base their first marketing effort on it to jump start their business. If I was Eva I'd be pissed. Being a business owner, no matter what our current chief here in the US thinks, I did build that, I know what it means to work 80 hour weeks for years to create something while your employees go home at the end of the day and leave work and worries behind them, for a small business owner there is no such thing. What comes around definitely goes around. I think the whole Jorge thing shows that pretty well. The new business already lost one of the primary assets it was banking on already. Sounds like karma to me.

 

[DandyDon]

As much talk as I have seen here about DMs depending on tips for most of their income, I don't see a big difference in a DM following and a hairdresser following - except I really don't care who my DM is generally. I do my own thing mostly. My favorite Roatan DM was in prison last time I was there but it didn't affect my trip at all. All the times I dived at BA, I never asked for a particular DM, or anywhere else.

My barber I might follow somewhere else, maybe - if I liked the new shop, but she's family friend, etc.

 

[scubawife]

I haven't dived with Blue Angel, but I really like the changes that have been made to the property and their restaurant is great! Over the years I've heard nothing but positive comments about their dive shop.

I did check out the new shop's site, just out of curiosity. Hmmm, go to the "Hotel & Dive Packages" page, click the links for the hotels and look at the URL you get taken to... blueangeldiveandtravel.com... Why do that? Why not have your packages on the same URL as your shop, just build another page on your site. Starting a new business anywhere is a big gamble, and in a place like Cozumel's diving community, I would think you want to put your best foot forward and be on good terms with other shops and the divers you're trying to get as clients. There's always new people going to Cozumel, new divers. They'll get business, it just sounds like not too much of it will be coming from their current email list. Maybe she thought that since you all had contact with her, that it was ok for her to use your email?


And not specifically to this shop, just with dive shop websites in general, pay attention to where you're located and what YOUR underwater world looks like. Why so many Caribbean shops use stock images of South Pacific or SE Asia diving, is something I never quite get. There has to be some brand new traveling diver who sees those images and shows up thinking that's what they'll be seeing.:vintagediver:

 

[judydivescoz]

Don you are missing the point. The DMs, and the reservation people are simply employees of the company. Blue Angel develops and maintains the web page, pays for it and maintains the property. The mailing list is an asset of the business just like the physical propery. Taking that information without permission is no different than taking equipment belonging to the bususness and not returning it. A hairdresser usually rents a chair in a shop, she/he is self employed. Most likely the hairdresser had an agreement with the shop owner that would have allowed contact with only her/his clients should they move. I can't imagine that it was the same situation at BA.

 

[Mike]

As much talk as I have seen here about DMs depending on tips for most of their income, I don't see a big difference in a DM following and a hairdresser following - except I really don't care who my DM is generally. I do my own thing mostly. My favorite Roatan DM was in prison last time I was there but it didn't affect my trip at all. All the times I dived at BA, I never asked for a particular DM, or anywhere else.

My barber I might follow somewhere else, maybe - if I liked the new shop, but she's family friend, etc.

It's fine for you to follow an employee who goes and works somewhere else. It's not fine for that employee to steal his employers hard earned proprietary customer contact list.