Deep Dixie Dive Clubs and Groups Forum - BEWARE What you post and read there

[Hetland]

There is a sub-forum in Deep Dixie Divers ( Deep Dixie Dive Clubs and Groups ) that allows folks from different clubs to get together and plan events or just chat about club-specific issues.

This is a pretty cool idea, but one of the sub-sub-forums there is managed by a dive shop owner. I won't name names, or dive shops, but I will warn you to be careful what you read in those sub-forums, because one of them has been HEAVILY edited by the shop owner. Posts by other SB members are being CHANGED so that critical or neutral comments are now complementary of the shop in question. As a result, NOTHING you read in that particular sub-forum is trustworthy.

I have asked the mods to simply delete these modified threads, but the request was not granted.

If you have a question about Deep Dixie Diving, please post it on the main forum.

 

[joe8mofo]

Can you PM me the sub-sub forum name?

 

[Hetland]

Can you PM me the sub-sub forum name?

Offending sub-forum has been removed by mods. This thread can now be ignored (like most of my posts)

 

[DocCarl]

Apparently, the 'West Florida Dive Club' sub-forum has been either re-instated or was not removed. The thread "Pensacola diving advice" is still present in this sub-form. The first post made by user "Evensplit" has still been edited by user / forum moderator WFDC_Scuba. The user WFDC_Scuba is still the proprietor of Bay Breeze Dive Center in Gulf Breeze, Florida. The contents of the edit in question are summed up as follows:

'Evensplit' responded to the OP's question, presumably by including contact information for the dive shop that 'Evensplit' is affiliated with. WFDC_Scuba then removed the contact information for this business, and instead inserted contact information for his own dive shop, including a statement that 'his' business was the best in the area. This edit was not declared as such. In fact, the only way to determine that any edit was made to Evensplit's post is by noticing the 'edited by' timestamp at the bottom.

Effectively, the owner of Bay Breeze Dive Center in Gulf Breeze, FL effectively impersonated the owner of another business in the area. The intent was to profit from increased business stemming from this impersonation, while simultaneously causing harm (through lost sales) to Evensplit's business.

When this blatant disregard for business ethics was pointed out by other members of the forum, WFDC_Scuba openly admitted to abusing his abilities as a moderator in order to cause personal gain, claiming that Evensplit "gets what he deserves" and that "my ethics are just fine".


Disclaimer:
I am in no way affiliated with Bay Breeze Dive Center in Gulf Breeze, FL, nor am I in ANY way affiliated with any dive shop in the greater Pensacola area. I have no vested interest in the success or failure of any business venture in the Pensacola area.

PERSONAL OPINION:
I strongly disagree with the obvious disregard for freedom of speech and unethical business practices exemplified by the owner of Bay Breeze Dive Center in Gulf Breeze, FL. It is my opinion that anyone that would outright impersonate a competitor in such a way obviously lacks the ability to run a successful business on it's own merits. Although I frequently drive by Bay Breeze Dive Center in Gulf Breeze, FL on a very regular basis and have done business with them in the past, I will boycott this business from this point on and recommend that others do the same.

 

[Hetland]

Okay, so I logged out of my account, and the offending group IS still active. When I log in to ScubaBoard, it doesn't show up, so the problem was "fixed" for me by making the group invisible, and inaccessible. I guess what I don't know can't hurt me

 

[gcarter]

IMHO, whether the other shop "owns" and controls the forum or not, this is pretty sketchy. Forum moderation and business ethics should not be on a schoolyard tit for tat basis, even if the forum mod feels he was slighted by the other poster in the past. Throws the whole board into disrepute.

I would not personally patronize that shop.

 

[DocCarl]

Okay, so I logged out of my account, and the offending group IS still active. When I log in to ScubaBoard, it doesn't show up, so the problem was "fixed" for me by making the group invisible, and inaccessible. I guess what I don't know can't hurt me

Seriously? I didn't know they could do that.

That's some 300 level douchbaggetry, right there. . .




*edited to add quote, in order to clarify my post*

 

[jasonb751]

My posts critical about his business practices were deleted also. I won't tell people to boycott his business, but what I will do is try to point people to either MBT, Dive Shack, or Dive Pros.

 

[Hetland]

Seriously? I didn't know they could do that.

This has been going on a while, and I had given up on any official movement from ScubaBoard. There's not much traffic in that forum, so it was a (mostly) non-issue for me.

Recently, there were some critical posts there (not by me) and, once again, they were edited or deleted by the sub-forum moderator.

Not long after that, a SB mod contacted me asking for my side of the story (I had not made any effort to complain to the mods, because I didn't expect a change in policies). I told the mod what I knew, and pointed to posts or threads that I found problematic. I also told them that I really didn't expect much action on the issue because of past policies. I asked, that if nothing else was done, that SB please at least remove my previous posts from that forum so that they couldn't be modified at later dates to say something I didn't say.

Apparently that didn't happen, and I was just banned from the sub-forum.

Let me make this clear: I don't work for a dive shop. I vocally support the shops I like, but I don't get any pay, or benefit, or discount for doing this. I talk up the shops that work hard for my money, and treat me (and others) fairly. I make every effort to not speak ill of any shop I don't like. Instead, I simply stand mute on shops I avoid, or shops I have no personal experience with. This thread isn't about any particular shop. It's about a sub-forum on Scubaboard where you can't trust the words that are posted there.

I have no public opinion about any shops that may be involved. Everyone here is a big boy or girl, and they can talk to shop personnel for a few minutes, and make up their own minds. If I tell you "shop A" is better than "shop B" then my advice is worth what you paid for it, but I don't want "shop c" coming in and making recommendations for me. That is almost a deal-breaker for me.

ScubaBoard is a truly awesome resource. I love it. I wouldn't be half the diver I am today if it were not for what I had learned here, and I certainly would have wasted many thousands of dollars learning certain lessons the hard way were it not for what I've picked up here. I plan to continue my participation with ScubaBoard, I still learn things here, and hopefully I'll be able to pass on some of what I have learned over the years to new divers starting out. I'll just be doing that outside of certain sub-forums that will remain nameless

 

[chrisc]

I had the same issue over a year ago (granted I've been deployed for a year). The WFDC took over 2 years of dues with nothing in as promised.