HUBBERS BLOG

Yesterday I completed my first proper sprint triathlon (the one last year was done in relay).

My split times were as follows

Swim 750m 00:15:27
Transition One 00:03:21
Cycle 20kms 00:40:32
Transition Two 00:01:21
Run Lap One 00:13:33
Run Lap Two 00:13:22.

Total time 01:27:40

Full results here

The swim was really cold and I got a little lost by the end. When I got to the transition zone for the cycle I couldn’t find my bike. I remembered my race number and started looking at all of the numbers on the racks when the guy standing next to me said “hey aren’t you the bike next to me?” He was right I was standing two meters from my bike and couldn’t see it. Even then the transition took ages because I had forgotten to put my tri-suit on properly before the race so I had put it on then and there with cold weak arms before I could get on my bike

On the cycle I was all over the place and probably wasn’t with-it enough to be on the open road for the first 5kms but after that I really got into it and even overtook a few guys on racing bikes (more overtook me though). Also I finished with a fair bit of gas in the tank so I probably could have gone harder, especially towards the end. The run started like the ride with blood in all the wrong muscles and all sorts of niggling cramps but after a couple of kilometres I felt a lot better and was able to get into a rhythm.

Huge credit to Caroline who drove up to Milton Keynes with me for this madness and posted a thoroughly respectable 148.71 for her first triathlon. Especially when you consider that she only had seven weeks to train for the whole thing!

Advice for triathletes starting out

• Mark your bike with a hydrogen balloon. After a freezing cold swim at race speed you will be disorientated and slow witted
• Get Velcro shoes – laces will no be possible with freezing hands

In 2007 I bought some business cards from Vistaprint. After that purchase clubprem.com and highstreetmax.com started taking money from my visa without my knowledge. Highstreetmax.com and clubprem.com are both owned by Adaptive Affinity. The total amount taken was £252.05. I did some digging on the internet and published my findings in this post http://www.hubbers.com/index.php/i-got-scammed-by-vistaprint-and-adaptive-marketing-and-adaptive-affinity-ltd-and-amazon/.

Well it turns out the honest people at Adaptive Affinity don’t like my blog post so they have threatened me in a nameless and unspecific way. what’s more they have threatened other bloggers with similar letters!

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do?

Adaptive Affinity’s nameless letter is pasted below.

Dear Sirs,

RE: DEFAMATION/LIBELLOUS STATEMENTS – I GOT SCAMMED BY VISTAPRINT, Adaptive
Marketing, Adaptive Affinity Ltd, CLUBPREM.COM, HIGHSTREETMAX.COM and
AMAZON!!!

http://www.hubbers.com/index.php/i-got-scammed-by-vistaprint-and-adaptive-marketing-and-adaptive-affinity-ltd-and-amazon/

http://www.hubbers.com/index.php/category/scams/

We are writing on behalf of Adaptive Affinity Ltd and refer to the webpage listed above. This web page contains a number of allegations regarding Adaptive Affinity and its partners that are inaccurate and defamatory in nature. It is our view the contents of the blog is causing and could continue to cause
serious reputational harm, not only to Adaptive Affinity, but other organisations to which it also refers.

The accusations made on this web page are simply untrue and no proof is offered to validate these claims. Here is a sample list of false and/or inaccurate statements made on this web page which warrant its immediate removal:
1. I did some further investigation…and found that the internet servers hosting http://www.clubprem.com/ and http://www.highstreetmax.com also hosts all of these dodgy websites also owned by Adaptive Marketing.
2. Strangely the call centre that I got through to in Jamaica were more than happy to refund all of my money in less than a week. (Adaptive Affinity’s call centre is in the UK and not in Jamaica).
3. Basically they steal as much money as possible and refund the people who kick up a fuss. I imagine most people ask for a refund at the end.
4. The following domains have been added since I wrote this post in September which means that the scam is alive and well.
5. Today I realized that I too fell victim of such scam and was ripped off by clubprem.com

These are but a few of the statements that have been made and there are many more on the page that are offensive.

The language used on the page, both by you and comments left by third parties is unacceptable and suggest to the ordinary user that the practices of Adaptive Affinity are unethical or at worst illegal. The entire web page in itself is an unfair attack on Adaptive Affinity and its partners. These are legitimate businesses with legitimate business practices.

Although the burden of proof lies with you to prove the truth in these statements made, as proof to you (and not for publication elsewhere) that Adaptive Affinity is a legitimate business we can confirm that less than
one half a percent of the millions of consumers marketed to and the many thousands of members enrolled in Adaptive Affinity’s membership programs complain about their memberships.

Adaptive Affinity has always followed high standards of responsible corporate practice. We regularly undertake quality controls to ensure our respective business practices comply with or exceed industry standards and applicable law. These practices extend throughout the organisation. We rebut the assertions made in this Blog and accordingly we request that it is removed with immediate effect.

As the primary publisher and the person who exercises direct editorial control over what is published we would like to point out that you are responsible for all the posting on your site. This matter can still be resolved without incident if you act very quickly to our satisfaction now. However, if you fail to do so, we reserve all our legal rights and remedies in respect of this matter. We also reserve all our rights and remedies (in respect of all relevant posts) if you are involved with any other posts about us or if there is any other publication made as a result of your posts.

Please respond to this letter by return and in any event within 7 days of the date on which it is sent with full details of the actions and the timeframe you will be taking to urgently rectify this matter. Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated.

Yours faithfully

Adaptive Affinity
Cavendish House,
369 Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware.
HA8 5AW. United Kingdom
t: +44 (0) 8701 432 343
f: +44 (0) 8701 432 344
contact@adaptiveaffinity.com

Update 20 September 2010

Adaptive Affinity have also sent the same letter to my web host in the hope that they will stop hosting my site.