Beware Of Buying A Boat On Ebay

[AidanLincs]

The website isn't a scam (obviously the boat auction thing is) - he's never asked for money or suggested that he possesses secret knowledge of what mortals would wont to wot. I don't know why it's subscription-only, and I think that's silly given the small size of the target market and the general helpfulness of the people in the [narrow]boating community. He has, if you will forgive me, no USP (Unique Selling Point). Now I feel dirty and need to shower again.

 

I found his blog and signed up when I first started thinking about living aboard, and I've had three emails. Since then, I've found other sources of information (such as CWDF) which are more comprehensive and seemingly more up to date. I wouldn't recommend his blog to someone just starting to think about narrowboats, but not because I think it's suspicious; it's just not as good as other sources.

Edited February 6, 2012 by AidanLincs

[carlt]

That was my take on it Ian. The author of the Living On A Narrowboat web site appears to be genuine. He spends his time writing up articles from his own experiences of narrowboating and canals for anyone who wants to read them. There is no subscription fee or hidden charges on his site, you just have to sign up to agree to receive emails from him.

There are loads of vanity blogs out there that I can read without divulging personal details to, some of them useful most of them twaddle.

 

Why would I want to sign up to one that demands personal details and an agreement that he can spam me?

[RLWP]

<snip>

 

He spends his time writing up articles from his own experiences

 

<snip>

 

But does he? Last time you posted about him I checked out one of his articles (which is now locked down), did a google search on a few of his sentences and found exactly the same stuff on this forum. Not the same information, exactly the same sentences.

 

Someone cut and pasted those sentences

 

Richard

[Lady Muck]

There are loads of vanity blogs out there that I can read without divulging personal details to, some of them useful most of them twaddle.

 

Why would I want to sign up to one that demands personal details and an agreement that he can spam me?

 

I wouldnt call it a scam, no, where is anyone getting ripped off? but he may be collecting email addresses, yes.

 

Same as this blog we added mail chimp and an enquiry form to the Pirate Castle website, neither of us are mad on using either, mainly because if you have a system set up like that you spend 90% of your time dealing with formspam (bots signing up by filling in the forms)', but its what they requested and we do get lots of genuine enquiries, so be it.

 

When people ask us to do them a website, they often ask for a form and a mailer and we always try to put them off as its a big pain to manage, I don't think this guy is any different to anyone else. There isn't usually an ulterior motive, just a case of, 'I want one of them!'

 

Sign up if you want to, don't if you don't want to, I dont think the site crew needs to delete this thread, I'd say its well moderated by itself!

Edited February 6, 2012 by Lady Muck

[carlt]

I wouldnt call it a scam, no, where is anyone getting ripped off? but he may be collecting email addresses, yes.

 

There isn't usually an ulterior motive, just a case of, 'I want one of them!'

 

He is planning on charging for access a later date,,,

[AidanLincs]

He is planning on charging for access a later date,,,

 

He hasn't taken any payment details, so he can't suddenly start debiting bank accounts. If he starts charging then people will find that they can no longer log in without paying. At which point they will stop, I would imagine. I think someone said elsewhere that the threat of an imminent paywall has been around for over a year, so he's probably not that serious about it. Or it's an idea he was toying with at one point, and has simply forgotten that the text is there.

 

I still think that the site, and its author, are harmless.

 

(btw, very useful free service if you don't want to give out your own email address when signing up to this sort of thing: http://www.spamdecoy.net)

[Lady Muck]

He is planning on charging for access a later date,,,

Well good luck to him, even Murdoch is struggling with the paywalls for his sites!

[carlt]

Yep, same here, I agree. Try as I might I can see no harm in this guy. He's trying to warn other, perhaps more novice boaters of the potential pitfalls out there.

I see it as pointless, rather than harmless.

 

He is cut and pasting material that is already out there and you are plugging his blog in a place which is a far superior source of information (and doesn't demand personal information or permission to spam, in order to browse it).

[AidanLincs]

(and doesn't demand personal information or permission to spam, in order to browse it).

 

Hmm. To be fair, the only personal information that he requests is your email address and your first name, which is not much different to the requirements for signing up to CWDF, although as you say, you don't need to sign up to read CWDF.

 

I don't think that the amount of personal information being asked for is unreasonable. I do think that CWDF is a better place for information.

 

Harmless AND pointless?

[carlt]

 

I really can't see your argument. As for plugging him? That's just my nature. Always happy to share and help others as many of my posts on here show.

Why are you looking for an argument?

 

I am merely expressing an opinion.

 

I don't think a vanity blog that plagiarises other peoples' work, claiming it as his own "experiences" is a good thing, however "harmless".

 

Expecting to sign up and accept spam from him, in order to read what is out there already, with no hoops to jump through, is a valid criticism and that criticism, in my opinion, is no less helpful than you plugging his blog.

[carlt]

Ummmmmmm. Can't think of anything to say really.

Best say nothing then.

[cotswoldsman]

OK, just this once I'll let you be the woman. Was that your last word BTW?

 

Was not going to join this thread to avoid the hassle of a PM. But what does that post mean (rather you answered on this thread than by PM

[john6767]

I said this on another thread about this web site a while ago. The guy writing it works for Calcutt Boats and lives on a boat in the marina. I doubt very much that there is anything sinister about his site. You may not like the plagiarism or the fact the you have to register, but I don't really see there is a scam as such.

[carlt]

OK, just this once I'll let you be the woman. Was that your last word BTW?

Why have you reduced your argument to the absurd?

 

I expressed an opinion about something that you posted, as often happens on a discussion forum, and you wind up typing this nonsense.

 

How strange.

[cotswoldsman]

I gave my password to the moderators so they could read every word in any PM I have ever sent. They also read the ones you sent to me.

 

I guess that must be why I never heard from them.

[matty40s]

Perhaps not John. But they now know that you were just as guilty as anyone of sending PM's behind the scenes whilst at the same time you were accusing me on the forum of doing the same. By giving them my password, it showed that I was more than happy for them to see what I'd written. At the end of the day it's my truth that matters and I knew that I had not written PM's to anyone that were threatening, intimidating or abusive. Thankyou for giving me the opportunity to explain this.

 

thought you had work to do.........

[Chris Pink]

Back to Sylvia; worth noting these scams only work on the greedy. If it looks too good to be true it probably is.

 

So not information I feel the need to sign for.

[cotswoldsman]

Perhaps not John. But they now know that you were just as guilty as anyone of sending PM's behind the scenes whilst at the same time you were accusing me on the forum of doing the same. By giving them my password, it showed that I was more than happy for them to see what I'd written. At the end of the day it's my truth that matters and I knew that I had not written PM's to anyone that were threatening, intimidating or abusive. Thankyou for giving me the opportunity to explain this.

 

Nina I really do not understand....you sent me a PM accusing me of being a stalker and I replied, I then asked if I could publish your original PM on the forum you never replied.........you then accused me of hiding behind an anonymous user name, I replied pointing out that by providing a link to my website I was in fact very public.

 

Perhaps not John. But they now know that you were just as guilty as anyone of sending PM's behind the scenes whilst at the same time you were accusing me on the forum of doing the same.

 

I should just add I never sent you a PM until you sent me the rather insulting one, I think this was at the same time as you were PMing other members.

[Albion]

Isn't this starting to look like a repeat of a previous thread that got closed down? Could we have a little restraint guys and gals please so that it doesn't become a complete repeat. Ta.

Roger

[Lady Muck]

I gave my password to the moderators so they could read every word in any PM I have ever sent. They also read the ones you sent to me.

 

Nina, is this a lame attempt at a troll? Because it's not appreciated. I've not been around very much recently, so I may have missed it but I don't recall you ever doing this.

 

Can you find another hobby that doesn't involve stirring things up on here? Please?

Edited February 6, 2012 by Lady Muck

[cotswoldsman]

It was not insulting, I can prove it if you wish me to. It was a direct and very blunt request for you to leave me alone and stop hijacking my posts. At the same time, you were very vocal on the thread in question that ALL comments should be made on the forum, not behind the scenes using the PM messaging system. Yet, at the same time, you were sending me mocking PM's yourself, not posting them on the forum.

I was happy to give my password to the moderators so they could see everything that had been said. But not only did I do this, I also gave my password to other posters who are on my facebook so they could see as well.

To be frank John, I really am not interested in you or your web site or what you've achieved. I don't know why you PM'd me all of these details about yourself but please can we just now stop it? Likewise, you said that you nothing about me, who I am, what I do, etc, etc.

You don't know it because I don't want you to know. Being a female on the internet, I prefer to keep these details private until at least I know people better.

 

OK my last word on this........you PM me and accused me of being a stalker. You said in another PM that I was hiding behind a user name I pointed out this was incorrect. If you chose not to read my website that is fine and in this case you will be in the majority. I PMed you no details other than pointing out my website if you felt I was hiding. When I mentioned that I was amazed that as someone who works in a shop you had so much time to spend on the internet, you actually sent me all your details, though I have to admit I never followed them up. I have achieved nothing in my life so not sure what those achievements are.

[originalsmoothie]

Hi everyone,

 

Just wanted to clear a few things up. My name is Paul Smith. My site is the subject of this thread.

 

Firstly, it is not a scam. As has been mentioned, I live and work at Calcutt Boats. I moor on one of their marinas and have done for the last couple of years. I started the site when I moved on board because (a) I was bored and ( because I wanted to create a directory of all the narrowboat friendly marinas in aaEngland and Wales because I couldn't find anywhere that listed them all on the web and after experiencing living on the marina here, I was interested to see how others compared.

 

The articles came later when people who visited the site asked me questions about my own experience. I enjoy writing so started answering their questions and then writing those answers into posts on the site. There is no cost to register on the site (nor will there ever be). The reason for the subscription is so that at a later date I can send out newsletters with a tiny bit of advertising in it and at least cover the cost of running the site. The subscription process is VERY carefully monitored by a company called Mailchimp. Their compliance department will close down a users account if there is more than one complaint from every thousand subscribers.

 

I tell most people I talk to what a useful resource this site is. I agree that there is far more information here than there is on my own site. But I haven't *copied* any of the content here. All my articles are written by me. If anyone does see anything that seems to be a copy of information from the forum, please let me know and I will investigate it immediately.

 

And as for the eBay scam... It was as a result of an email from a subscriber of mine who is brand new to boating. She didn't really believe the offer but she just wanted to make sure. What she really wanted to know was how the "seller" was going to make any money from her whent he transaction was going to be covered by eBay's buyer protection scheme. The scam was that the buyer protection scheme only applies to vehicles in the USA, and not in the UK.

 

Just trying to be helpful with my site and earn an honest crust.I haven't posted here before because I didn't want to appear as though I was touting for business. I'm still not. Just wanted to clear up the scam and copying thing.

 

Paul

[AidanLincs]

Hi Paul,

 

There is no cost to register on the site (nor will there ever be).

 

I thought that might be the case. Could I suggest that you revise the last-two-but-one paragraphs of your non-logged-in front page? They very definitely suggest otherwise (I guess that it was an idea you thought about to begin with, abandoned, and then forgot to update the site).

[mayalld]

Hi everyone,

 

Just wanted to clear a few things up. My name is Paul Smith. My site is the subject of this thread.

 

Firstly, it is not a scam. As has been mentioned, I live and work at Calcutt Boats. I moor on one of their marinas and have done for the last couple of years. I started the site when I moved on board because (a) I was bored and ( because I wanted to create a directory of all the narrowboat friendly marinas in aaEngland and Wales because I couldn't find anywhere that listed them all on the web and after experiencing living on the marina here, I was interested to see how others compared.

 

The articles came later when people who visited the site asked me questions about my own experience. I enjoy writing so started answering their questions and then writing those answers into posts on the site. There is no cost to register on the site (nor will there ever be). The reason for the subscription is so that at a later date I can send out newsletters with a tiny bit of advertising in it and at least cover the cost of running the site. The subscription process is VERY carefully monitored by a company called Mailchimp. Their compliance department will close down a users account if there is more than one complaint from every thousand subscribers.

 

I tell most people I talk to what a useful resource this site is. I agree that there is far more information here than there is on my own site. But I haven't *copied* any of the content here. All my articles are written by me. If anyone does see anything that seems to be a copy of information from the forum, please let me know and I will investigate it immediately.

 

And as for the eBay scam... It was as a result of an email from a subscriber of mine who is brand new to boating. She didn't really believe the offer but she just wanted to make sure. What she really wanted to know was how the "seller" was going to make any money from her whent he transaction was going to be covered by eBay's buyer protection scheme. The scam was that the buyer protection scheme only applies to vehicles in the USA, and not in the UK.

 

Just trying to be helpful with my site and earn an honest crust.I haven't posted here before because I didn't want to appear as though I was touting for business. I'm still not. Just wanted to clear up the scam and copying thing.

 

Paul

 

Yet it has been suggested that at least part of the content of your site is lifted verbatim from here.

 

Why on earth would people wish to give their e-mail details to you to read content that isn't even original, particularly now that you've said that it IS your intention to use the addresses that you harvest to send advertisements to people.

[RLWP]

Yet it has been suggested that at least part of the content of your site is lifted verbatim from here.

 

Why on earth would people wish to give their e-mail details to you to read content that isn't even original, particularly now that you've said that it IS your intention to use the addresses that you harvest to send advertisements to people.

 

That isn't quite what I said. As I can't check the dates of the two pieces, I don't know which came first

 

Richard