As the Opinion Turns

Yet another episode in our never ending tail of corruption and espionage starring Alden Rowing and the inimitable Mr. Ryan Jarvis, President and owner of Alden Rowing and Big Bear Kayaks

As the story opens, Urs Wunderli receives an email from another rowing equipment vendor who shall remain anonymous for reasons of sanity:

[SQUEEEEEEL, Boing boing]: "You've got mail!"

-----Original Message-----
From: [name withheld] [mailto:address removed to protect the innocent]
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2005 1:59 PM
To: Info@RowVirusBoats.com
Subject: re: epinions


Hi Folks,

[name withheld] here. I know you have had issues with Alden - I have as
well. I was searching on-line and found this on epinions.com. Thought it
might interest you that Ryan Jarvis owns a company called 'Big Bear Kayaks'.

Take care,

[name withheld]

Attached copy from Epinions web site:

Don't Buy This Boat
by bigbear03,Nov 18 '04
Pros: The only pro involved with this boat was the fact it was cheap.
Cons: Too many cons for me, please read the body of my review.

I purchased a Virus Turbo II and was very disappointed. The sliding rigger application is a joke and is not real sculling. Having spent my life sculling and teaching sculling I was very disappointed in the performance of this boat. Sculling is sliding seat rowing. NOT Sliding Rigger rowing. The feel and performance that I got when using this shell didn't feel anything like regular rowing or sculling and I saw no real growth in my cardiovascular performance during the few months I used this boat. I also found the Virus to be very tippy and unstable. I have since sold it and purchased an Alden Horizon. Which I would highly recommend. This boat is a true sculling boat with unbelievable feel and responsiveness for the price. If there is any debate in your mind about whether to buy a Virus or an Alden go with the Alden Horizon, it's just a better boat.

[yes this is an actual email with no modifications other than the obvious name omission]

Link to actual Epinions page.

Maybe we could learn more about this bigbear03 on Epinions.

Web of Trust
bigbear03 trusts: none yet
bigbear03 is trusted by: none yet

A bit telling perhaps?

This was the only product he thought was worth reviewing. Chicanery is a tiring job after all! Good thing his own boat performed so well for him or he couldn't have given it such a great plug in this review! It's unfortunate for him that others don't seem to share his high opinion of Alden's boats. In fairness, we should look at what others say about Virus Boats. OH! Sorry Ryan! Better luck next time...

What was Mr. Jarvis up to when he wrote this review? Only he and God know for sure, but it would appear he was trying to smear the reputation of his competitor [gasp!!!!]! What was the outcome? When somebody searches for "alden horizon review" on Google what do you think they get? Oooohhhhh! The page with his Turbo II review, showing all the previous (and positive) reviews before it, is the very first result [D'oh!]. We're so sorry Ryan!

SO...

Now Mr Jarvis has moved to third parties to spread his web of deceit and chicanery! Where will it end? Stay tuned for the next episode of As the Opinion Turns!

PS: Just in case you didn't know that Alden Rowing owned Big Bear Kayaks

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