- Joined
- Jan 4, 2001
- Messages
- 10,324
Dear Members,
It has come to my attention that my name is being smeared by two gentlemen, named Daniel Lopez (original owner of CigarLive) and by Jon Caputo (new owner of CigarLive and several other forums).
I am no fan of drama, nor do I wish to stir the pot. I am obligated to clear the air, provide the FACTS and clear my name from these two less than professional individuals. The allegations they claim against me are nothing but nonsense and lies. I am going to post all of the facts, including all emails I received from Jon Caputo herein.
Below is a transcript of a thread that was posted today on CIGARLIVE – 10/7/2008 – Please read it in its entirety.
Post 280 / BagFullofPings wrote:
As a businessman, I know business is business.
Congratulations Daniel. You have done an amazing job. Thank you!!
With that said, I'm going to straddle the fence. I just never know which way I will jump. I apologize if this has already been posted.
This is from CP:
Dear Members,
Things are changing in the online cigar community, and I feel it's necessary that I fill you in on what's going on, and our stance on this recent development.
( Full text posted - edited to save space )
I wish the other forums a lot of success, however buy-outs rarely ever go smoothly for the members.
I will post more information as it becomes available.
Yours Truly,
Rod
CigarPass - The ONE and ONLY
Post 281 / joncaputo wrote:
He is sour grapes. He came to ME and wanted ME to buy his site. I told him not interested. So now he is running around posting that stuff everywhere and trying to play it off as if he is a shining star.
My suggestion: ignore him. Lets concentrate on what we have here.
Post 282 / joncaputo wrote:
Oh and FYI - before the owner of CP gets all high and mighty and starts making up falsehoods you guys should read this thread to see how a highly respected cigar company was maligned on his very forum
http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/inde...howtopic=43212"]http://www.cigarpass....howtopic=43212[/url]
Post 283/ LkyLindy wrote:
Hey Jon-
Care to gives us the "game plan" yet??
Post 284 / poriggity wrote:
Daniel,
Thanks for all that you have done for this place, and how well you ran it. Everything was seamless and smooth under your ownership, so thank you for all you did.
Jon,
I will hold off on my congratulations until I see where this place heads in the near future. I hope it will remain the same, but for some reason I have my doubts, and I think its all about to change DRASTICALLY. I do have one question for you.. Answer it, or don't, its your call.
Why did you need to buy up SOOO many cigar forums/websites in order to further promote your "hobby" of cigar smoking? Is one not enough?
Scott
Post 285 / LkyLindy wrote:
Scott-
Don't be Naive Bro--This IS a business situation not a hobby
Post 286
Poriggity wrote:
I understand the business end of it completely, but doing a quick google search on Jon Caputo came up with some interesting things, and for some reason, I just have my doubts as to whether this forum will still be here a month from now.
Post 287/ zion698 wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asher
How did he know to approach you? Do you have any documentation of this?
Your first post huh? It's already getting weird.
Post 288/ zion698 wrote:
Guess he ran off.
Post 289 / Dun killin time wrote:
Originally Posted by Asher
How did he know to approach you? Do you have any documentation of this?
why was Asher all of a sudden baned? why was his post deleted?
Post 290: / Stogie wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by zion698
Guess he ran off.
It was a guy from another board that came on just to start problems. He has been banned because he has been on the other sites doing that all day.
Post 291/ zion698 wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dun killin time
Originally Posted by Asher
How did he know to approach you? Do you have any documentation of this?
why was Asher all of a sudden baned? why was his post deleted?
He was obivously an outside trying to stir the pot. This is Cigar Live business ... we can deal with it. No outside influence needed.
Post 292/ Stogie wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by zion698
He was obivously an outside trying to stir the pot. This is Cigar Live business ... we can deal with it. No outside influence needed.
Yeah first post! Straight to this topic.
Post 293/ Dun killin time wrote:
well, the question is already out there....
so...
"How did he know to approach you?
Post 294 / jam wrote:
we have been beating this down , I know this was and is daniels pride and joy and he is not gonna let know no one run CL to the ground with all the hard work and time he has into i don't think daniel is gonna make drastic changes with out telling us when the time comes, daniel always treated all of us like family and i don't think he is the type to pack his bags and leave. So i would say give him the chance and the time to be the leader he has always been.
Post 295 / Bagfullofpings wrote:
Most likely, the owner has only received a partial payment. The fact he is still here shows there was retention clause. He knows what is going on. To be honest, I don't care...again business is business. Just be honest about it!!!
This crap happens in my industry all the time.
Please prove me wrong.
Post 296 / jam wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by BagfullofPings
Most likely, the owner has only received a partial payment. The fact he is still here shows there was retention clause. He knows what is going on. To be honest, I don't care...again business is business. Just be honest about it!!!
This crap happens in my industry all the time.
Please prove me wrong.
Leave it alone Daniel is to smart for that you said it {Most likely, the owner has only received a partial payment.} because no one is gonna mess with Daniels hard work and time invested
Post 297 / wunderdawg wrote:
Cmon guys. This board is not about Daniel, or Jon, it is about the members. That is why I joined. I didn't join because of Daniel, I didn't even know he started this thing for several weeks. I joined because of the fine people here, and it kills me to see us turning on each other. I believe Daniel has us and this board in his best interest. I believe that as many have said before, that this board is as good as it is because of the members in it, not because of who runs it. I see no reason to borrow trouble. I, like many of you are members of other boards, but, like you, spend more time here than anywhere else. Why? Because it's the best damn board out there.
Post 298 / BagfullofPings wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by joncaputo
Oh and FYI - before the owner of CP gets all high and mighty and starts making up falsehoods you guys should read this thread to see how a highly respected cigar company was maligned on his very forum
http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/inde...howtopic=43212"]http://www.cigarpass....howtopic=43212[/url]
What is your point? This site has brand specific sections. Tatuaje is not one of them.
Post 299 / joncaputo wrote:
Point is hes a jerk.
Post 300 / Stogie wrote:
Jerk and not worth the effort.
PS - ROD if you can hear this, I guess I will PASS on having you on this site. Go talk BS where you feel the need to. You can take your ecommerce site link off of our list of recommended sites for sure. It seems that Rod hates the members of CigarLive anyway. Too bad he has to get his friends to come over here to try to start a mess for him. You can tell when someone signs up just to post in this thread after little or no activity. Pretty easy to see through.
Post 301 / Bagfullofpings wrote:
To make things clear, Rod/ Cigar Pass has nothing to do with this.
I have made some legitimate inquiries. My inquires are my own!!
I would like to know about the new vision of Cigar Live.
I have never tried to belittle the two of you, I would just like some transparency.
Post 302 / Stogie wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by BagfullofPings
To make things clear, Rod/ Cigar Pass has nothing to do with this.
I have made some legitimate inquiries. My inquires are my own!!
I would like to know about the new vision of Cigar Live.
I have never tried to belittle the two of you, I would just like some transparency.
I understand and thank you.
Ok I will start a new thread about this and close this one. We had a phone conference of most of the moderators and we discuss alot of the details of moving forward. Since it is time to move forward then this thread will be closed. Plenty of time has been spent on this thread and now we want to focus on the answers to alot of the Frequently Asked Questions that we discussed tonight in the meeting. New thread will be in this same Site Info section.
Thread Locked
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
There you have it - Jon and Daniel both attacking me and both making false accusations. Let me set the record straight...
Jon Caputo emailed me through the CP contact form originally. I had never heard of the guy before, nor would I even know how to contact him. Here is his first email to me:
Jon and Daniel both referred to me as a "Jerk" on CigarLive today....
Jon/Daniel - I'm sorry you feel that I'm a jerk. I haven't done anything to warrant such a title, though you are entitled to your opions. I'm not "sour" about you not purchasing CP, actually, quite the contrary, seems you're "sour" Jon since I wouldn't sell it to you.
Daniel - I don't hate you nor do I hate your members. Hate is a VERY strong word, and I assure you I have zero hatred for you or your community. I don't understand why you would say such a thing. Obviously you have some web talent, and I give you kudos for that. I just don't understand why you would label me as a hater, or even call me a jerk. I offered your members at CigarLive very good deals on cigar accessories; if I hated you or them, I would not have done that. Several of your members are also members at CP - now why would I hate my own members? I tried logging into your site the other day, and you scrambled/changed my password, like you have done to MANY of your members who also post at CigarPass. Affiliation with CigarPass warrants a ban? I don't get it...
I emailed you politely asking why you banned me, and you never responded - typical Daniel fashion - commit action then hide.
When you first started CigarLive, you literally copied a ton of copyrighted information from CigarPass and used it to your benefit at CigarLive. You also used our name "CigarPass" on your site (meta tags, etc) to gain traffic from us - stealing traffic actually... I sent you many polite and professional emails asking you to please remove the name "cigarpass" from your meta tags and you ignored me. I also requested that you please remove the copyrighted information you stole from me, and again you ignored me. It's sad it takes a legal action threat to motivate you to do the right thing...pathetic.
There you go, all of the facts are on the table. If John outright lies and makes false accusations against me, how can you trust him with your site? How can the members trust him? Not for me to decide, I'm only interested in doing what's best for CP.
Best,
Rod
It has come to my attention that my name is being smeared by two gentlemen, named Daniel Lopez (original owner of CigarLive) and by Jon Caputo (new owner of CigarLive and several other forums).
I am no fan of drama, nor do I wish to stir the pot. I am obligated to clear the air, provide the FACTS and clear my name from these two less than professional individuals. The allegations they claim against me are nothing but nonsense and lies. I am going to post all of the facts, including all emails I received from Jon Caputo herein.
Below is a transcript of a thread that was posted today on CIGARLIVE – 10/7/2008 – Please read it in its entirety.
Post 280 / BagFullofPings wrote:
As a businessman, I know business is business.
Congratulations Daniel. You have done an amazing job. Thank you!!
With that said, I'm going to straddle the fence. I just never know which way I will jump. I apologize if this has already been posted.
This is from CP:
Dear Members,
Things are changing in the online cigar community, and I feel it's necessary that I fill you in on what's going on, and our stance on this recent development.
( Full text posted - edited to save space )
I wish the other forums a lot of success, however buy-outs rarely ever go smoothly for the members.
I will post more information as it becomes available.
Yours Truly,
Rod
CigarPass - The ONE and ONLY
Post 281 / joncaputo wrote:
He is sour grapes. He came to ME and wanted ME to buy his site. I told him not interested. So now he is running around posting that stuff everywhere and trying to play it off as if he is a shining star.
My suggestion: ignore him. Lets concentrate on what we have here.
Post 282 / joncaputo wrote:
Oh and FYI - before the owner of CP gets all high and mighty and starts making up falsehoods you guys should read this thread to see how a highly respected cigar company was maligned on his very forum
http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/inde...howtopic=43212"]http://www.cigarpass....howtopic=43212[/url]
Post 283/ LkyLindy wrote:
Hey Jon-
Care to gives us the "game plan" yet??
Post 284 / poriggity wrote:
Daniel,
Thanks for all that you have done for this place, and how well you ran it. Everything was seamless and smooth under your ownership, so thank you for all you did.
Jon,
I will hold off on my congratulations until I see where this place heads in the near future. I hope it will remain the same, but for some reason I have my doubts, and I think its all about to change DRASTICALLY. I do have one question for you.. Answer it, or don't, its your call.
Why did you need to buy up SOOO many cigar forums/websites in order to further promote your "hobby" of cigar smoking? Is one not enough?
Scott
Post 285 / LkyLindy wrote:
Scott-
Don't be Naive Bro--This IS a business situation not a hobby
Post 286
Poriggity wrote:
I understand the business end of it completely, but doing a quick google search on Jon Caputo came up with some interesting things, and for some reason, I just have my doubts as to whether this forum will still be here a month from now.
Post 287/ zion698 wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asher
How did he know to approach you? Do you have any documentation of this?
Your first post huh? It's already getting weird.
Post 288/ zion698 wrote:
Guess he ran off.
Post 289 / Dun killin time wrote:
Originally Posted by Asher
How did he know to approach you? Do you have any documentation of this?
why was Asher all of a sudden baned? why was his post deleted?
Post 290: / Stogie wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by zion698
Guess he ran off.
It was a guy from another board that came on just to start problems. He has been banned because he has been on the other sites doing that all day.
Post 291/ zion698 wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dun killin time
Originally Posted by Asher
How did he know to approach you? Do you have any documentation of this?
why was Asher all of a sudden baned? why was his post deleted?
He was obivously an outside trying to stir the pot. This is Cigar Live business ... we can deal with it. No outside influence needed.
Post 292/ Stogie wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by zion698
He was obivously an outside trying to stir the pot. This is Cigar Live business ... we can deal with it. No outside influence needed.
Yeah first post! Straight to this topic.
Post 293/ Dun killin time wrote:
well, the question is already out there....
so...
"How did he know to approach you?
Post 294 / jam wrote:
we have been beating this down , I know this was and is daniels pride and joy and he is not gonna let know no one run CL to the ground with all the hard work and time he has into i don't think daniel is gonna make drastic changes with out telling us when the time comes, daniel always treated all of us like family and i don't think he is the type to pack his bags and leave. So i would say give him the chance and the time to be the leader he has always been.
Post 295 / Bagfullofpings wrote:
Most likely, the owner has only received a partial payment. The fact he is still here shows there was retention clause. He knows what is going on. To be honest, I don't care...again business is business. Just be honest about it!!!
This crap happens in my industry all the time.
Please prove me wrong.
Post 296 / jam wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by BagfullofPings
Most likely, the owner has only received a partial payment. The fact he is still here shows there was retention clause. He knows what is going on. To be honest, I don't care...again business is business. Just be honest about it!!!
This crap happens in my industry all the time.
Please prove me wrong.
Leave it alone Daniel is to smart for that you said it {Most likely, the owner has only received a partial payment.} because no one is gonna mess with Daniels hard work and time invested
Post 297 / wunderdawg wrote:
Cmon guys. This board is not about Daniel, or Jon, it is about the members. That is why I joined. I didn't join because of Daniel, I didn't even know he started this thing for several weeks. I joined because of the fine people here, and it kills me to see us turning on each other. I believe Daniel has us and this board in his best interest. I believe that as many have said before, that this board is as good as it is because of the members in it, not because of who runs it. I see no reason to borrow trouble. I, like many of you are members of other boards, but, like you, spend more time here than anywhere else. Why? Because it's the best damn board out there.
Post 298 / BagfullofPings wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by joncaputo
Oh and FYI - before the owner of CP gets all high and mighty and starts making up falsehoods you guys should read this thread to see how a highly respected cigar company was maligned on his very forum
http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/inde...howtopic=43212"]http://www.cigarpass....howtopic=43212[/url]
What is your point? This site has brand specific sections. Tatuaje is not one of them.
Post 299 / joncaputo wrote:
Point is hes a jerk.
Post 300 / Stogie wrote:
Jerk and not worth the effort.
PS - ROD if you can hear this, I guess I will PASS on having you on this site. Go talk BS where you feel the need to. You can take your ecommerce site link off of our list of recommended sites for sure. It seems that Rod hates the members of CigarLive anyway. Too bad he has to get his friends to come over here to try to start a mess for him. You can tell when someone signs up just to post in this thread after little or no activity. Pretty easy to see through.
Post 301 / Bagfullofpings wrote:
To make things clear, Rod/ Cigar Pass has nothing to do with this.
I have made some legitimate inquiries. My inquires are my own!!
I would like to know about the new vision of Cigar Live.
I have never tried to belittle the two of you, I would just like some transparency.
Post 302 / Stogie wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by BagfullofPings
To make things clear, Rod/ Cigar Pass has nothing to do with this.
I have made some legitimate inquiries. My inquires are my own!!
I would like to know about the new vision of Cigar Live.
I have never tried to belittle the two of you, I would just like some transparency.
I understand and thank you.
Ok I will start a new thread about this and close this one. We had a phone conference of most of the moderators and we discuss alot of the details of moving forward. Since it is time to move forward then this thread will be closed. Plenty of time has been spent on this thread and now we want to focus on the answers to alot of the Frequently Asked Questions that we discussed tonight in the meeting. New thread will be in this same Site Info section.
Thread Locked
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
There you have it - Jon and Daniel both attacking me and both making false accusations. Let me set the record straight...
Jon Caputo emailed me through the CP contact form originally. I had never heard of the guy before, nor would I even know how to contact him. Here is his first email to me:
My response to Jon
Jon's response back to me
Another email from Jon - he doesn't take no for an answer
Another email from Jon...
My response to Jon
Response from Jon
Again - I declined Jon's offer, and he sent the following email
There you have it folks - the real facts. I hope this clears my name and the accusations both Jon and Daniel made against me. I never approached Jon asking him to purchase CigarPass - never even heard of the guy. If I wanted to sell CP, I would open it up to more than just one person, why limit myself? Makes no sense...
Jon and Daniel both referred to me as a "Jerk" on CigarLive today....
Jon/Daniel - I'm sorry you feel that I'm a jerk. I haven't done anything to warrant such a title, though you are entitled to your opions. I'm not "sour" about you not purchasing CP, actually, quite the contrary, seems you're "sour" Jon since I wouldn't sell it to you.
Daniel - I don't hate you nor do I hate your members. Hate is a VERY strong word, and I assure you I have zero hatred for you or your community. I don't understand why you would say such a thing. Obviously you have some web talent, and I give you kudos for that. I just don't understand why you would label me as a hater, or even call me a jerk. I offered your members at CigarLive very good deals on cigar accessories; if I hated you or them, I would not have done that. Several of your members are also members at CP - now why would I hate my own members? I tried logging into your site the other day, and you scrambled/changed my password, like you have done to MANY of your members who also post at CigarPass. Affiliation with CigarPass warrants a ban? I don't get it...
I emailed you politely asking why you banned me, and you never responded - typical Daniel fashion - commit action then hide.
When you first started CigarLive, you literally copied a ton of copyrighted information from CigarPass and used it to your benefit at CigarLive. You also used our name "CigarPass" on your site (meta tags, etc) to gain traffic from us - stealing traffic actually... I sent you many polite and professional emails asking you to please remove the name "cigarpass" from your meta tags and you ignored me. I also requested that you please remove the copyrighted information you stole from me, and again you ignored me. It's sad it takes a legal action threat to motivate you to do the right thing...pathetic.
There you go, all of the facts are on the table. If John outright lies and makes false accusations against me, how can you trust him with your site? How can the members trust him? Not for me to decide, I'm only interested in doing what's best for CP.
Best,
Rod
