Interesting. As I've thought about this, I had two spins.
One, call his boss. I did. Idiscussed pulling names from sites without
authorization is a Bad Thing. Cordial treatment, they would discuss it with
him (Arin).
Two, Marketing Opportunity! "Carparts.com Pro Solo Challenge" or fill in
whatever Solo II related competition. They make amends. They get a new and
effective marketing outlet. We get new sponsorship, and maybe a break on
parts prices (okay, maybe not my Porsche). :^) Win, win?
For those tuning in late, Carparts pulled email domains/addresses from SCCA
Regional web sites and then sent an email offering a discount by purchasing
through Carparts.com. Net-etiquette wise a little wrong. BUT, I see an
opportunity(s).
Matt Murray
Westport, CT
mattm@optonline.net
For the ultimate Rally book and information,
go to http://www.goss.com/rally.htm
and type in "MU01" for a ten percent discount.
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Loring" <bloring@tirerack.com>
To: "Team.Net" <autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 5:23 PM
Subject: FW: CarParts.com, I hope this clears things up.
> Below is the complete text of a message I got from Arin Baharian, who sent
> out the original carparts.com "spam." This was in response to my politely
> asking him what the source of his mailing list was. Gosh, that was easy,
> wasn't it?
>
> Arin's message follows:
> ----------
> From: Arin Baharian <arin@carparts.com>
> Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 10:34:50 -0800
> To: "'bloring@tirerack.com'" <bloring@tirerack.com>
> Subject: CarParts.com, I hope this clears things up.
>
> Dear William,
>
> First off let me apologize, I am very sorry that you received the
> E-mail that I sent out twice. I am also very sorry that my letter bothered
> some of the SCCA members. We did NOT purchase any list from the SCCA or
> anyone. All the E-mail addresses that I sent out were very clearly posted
on
> the SCCA regional sites. I compiled the E-mails and tried to offer the
SCCA
> a discount and an Affiliates program offer. As an automotive enthusiast
> myself I always try to do my best by offering discounts, coupons, and
better
> pricing to true Automotive inclined people. The SCCA has been around for a
> long time supporting drivers, Mechanics, and Race Fans. I wanted to offer
> all SCCA members a discount, that's why I sent that E-mails out. I have
> received both good and bad press from this situation. I want to let you
know
> that I have stopped all my send outs. Not all SCCA members received that
> E-mail. I am a firm supporter and fan of the SCCA, and that's why I made
> that offer to their members. I hope that this has helped clear up any
> misconceptions that SCCA and its members might have. I meant to do no harm
> by sending out the offer. feel free to post what I have said in this
letter
> to anyone that wants to know the truth. I have also posted my information
> for anyone that wants to contact me.
>
> Thank You for Your Time.
>
> Arin Baharian
> Arin@carparts.com
> www.CarParts.com
> Affiliates Team
> -------------
> Arin's message ends.
>
> Me again:
>
> I will take Arin's response at face value. I firmly believe that his
> intentions were/are good. I also have no problem at all with his methods.
I
> think he's a sincere individual, trying to offer a good deal to an
> organization that he likes. Targeted marketing happens all the time.
You're
> going to get junk mail, so wouldn't you rather it was junk mail that might
> relate to your interests?? The only reason I can see that carparts.com got
> trashed on this list is because they are not personal friends of "the
powers
> that be."
>
> If anyone here had actually bothered to find out the truth, you might have
> avoided the childish displays that we saw here in the last 48 hours.
>
> All too often, I find myself ashamed to be a part of this mail list. I
stay
> for a few reasons: Occasionally, team.net members have questions relating
to
> The Tire Rack's products that I can answer for them. I also feel that The
> Tire Rack needs a representative here to provide accurate information, and
> to dispel any misinformation relating to products/services that they sell.
> Given this recent display, I see that sticking around is a good idea, no
> matter how distasteful it might be at times.
>
> This is not to say that everyone on team.net is to blame. The vast
majority
> of people on this list are fine and well spoken, or they lurk.
>
> William Loring
>
> **** My comments do _NOT_ represent the opinions of The Tire Rack, they
> are mine, and mine alone. No connection should be made from these
> personal opinions to The Tire Rack. If this letter makes you angry,
> complain to me, not to them.
>
> **** The Tire Rack has their own privacy policy, which you can read at
this
> url: http://www.tirerack.com/about/privacy.html
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