Do you have a horror story about dealing with The Scouting News?

Boycott the Scouting News

The Boycott has put a serious dent in The Scouting Nazi’s online scam, “The Scouting News,” but he’s still doing the same things he’s always done when it comes to dissatisfied customers – he threatens them and their children.  The latest horror story was brought to our attention by Kimberly who graciously gave us permission to share it you verbatim.  Do you have a story about Benny’s antics that can help other parents and their children avoid similar heartache?  Post a comment and let us know if we have your permission to repost it for everyone on our front page.

Here’s Kimberly’s nightmare:

I subscribed to TSN last summer (June 2011) when an article was posted about my son (he’s a U16 AAA player). I felt like the fee was pretty extreme, however like other parents, wanted to see comments about my son as he’s worked extremely hard over the past few years to move forward with his hockey goals.

I only went onto the site once or twice and sent an email on August 17, 2011 requesting to cancel the subscription – of course, there’s only an email address, no phone number to contact. Yesterday (November 16, 2011) I was charged again for the subscription and promptly called the billing company, 2CO.com; they sent a message to TSN requesting to cancel and also requesting a refund for me, which after many more emails to TSN yesterday, was denied. I sent a final email to this PIG requesting the refund and calling his business practices “deplorable” and this is the response I received:

Subject line: Torin F••••••
From:
The Scouting News
To: Kimberly F******
Hello:
It is hard to work with and do business with problematic parents who send emails of the nature you are sending. I am shocked. I cancelled the order. No request to cancel has ever been received from you. I really take offence to you calling our business practices deplorable. I would be pleased to print your comments on the record for publication on our site if you feel wronged by us. I always felt your son Torin was a talented player – we’ve always had nice things to say about him and frankly I am shocked by your tone.

This will be my last email to you. I cannot respond to your emails anymore as (1) You are threatening legal action and (2) You have also threatened a charge-back.I will be more than pleased to discuss the matter with your bank when they call us regarding the charge-back. I plan to inform your bank on our policies.

If you would like me to publish your comments I would be more than pleased to accept your feedback.

Now, keep in mind this is a billing issue – and has nothing to do with my son or anything that’s been posted about my son. However he has the balls to not only reference my son in the subject line of the email, but also talk about him as if he even knows what type of player he is.  And yes, I can read between the lines in this email – I can clearly see that this PIG will post defamatory comments about me and my son, and potentially blacklist my son if I pursue this refund any further. HE’S A PIG, plain and simple. As is true with my son and all hockey players – these kids have worked their asses off to get to the level they have achieved and the mere thought of this bully thinking he has the power to destroy that dream sickens me to no end.

This website needs to go away, forever; and this “Benny”, Scouting Nazi, PIG, Bully, whatever name he chooses to go by, etc. needs to be run out of youth sports entirely. Please keep this blog going and spreading the word about this horrible person.”

Block The Scouting News on Twitter

If  you’re active on Twitter, you should know that The Scouting News is trolling there as well as on Facebook.  Two Twitter Profiles for you to unfollow and add to your blocked list so they can’t copy your tweets and use them against you and your children:

• @haitinhlscout, aka “Truman Dumel”
• @hockeyscouting, aka “The Scouting News”

Both of these accounts display The Scouting “News” url in their profiles, so don’t let them view your personal information and don’t follow them back.

Soup Nazi’s Cousin

Besides the manipulative, threatening, coercive, behavior of The Scouting News against innocent children, this blog has never mentioned the other original source of inspiration behind the name choice.  When the Boycott began, Seinfeld was still producing new episodes.  One of his most popular and enduring creations was the “Soup Nazi.”  The character had  a product that was popular, and he mercilessly withheld it from anyone who dared to offend his delicate sensibilities.  As anyone who knows about Benny will attest, there is a comically tragic side to his egomania.  Understandably he resents being called a Nazi, and he doesn’t see the parallels of his own propaganda and persecution which were mainstays of the Third Reich.  He also apparently, never watched Seinfeld or is utterly unable to laugh at himself.  There are a couple of longer clips that can’t be embedded, but you can see them here.  The second is hillarious- “Soup Nazi – The Revenge.”  If Elaine were a hockey mom, she would definitely Boycott The Scouting News

 

 

And the Beat Goes On

We may never be able to shut The Scouting News down permanently, but as long as the Boycott is alive and Benny keeps leeching parents and kids, we know that we’re having an impact.  Over 25,000 visitors have checked out the boycott and we’ve seen their internet traffic and subscriptions take a dizzying dive.  The hockey world has become wise, and the Scouting Nazi has branched out into other sports in search of unsuspecting parents to prey upon their pride.  Pass on the word to parents with children in other sports – no one is safe.   Leave your stories and comments here as a warning to others.  Cancel your subscription, don’t renew, and don’t let these guys bully you.

Remember, the Boycott has nothing to do with content.  If the Scouting News wants to say that children are washed-up as Bantams or phenoms at  12-years-old, the merit of their argument does not concern the Boycott.  In fact, the Boycott supports the right of the Scouting News and any business to express itself, however ridiculous or pedantic we may find the content.  The Boycott continues for one reason only. Benny (aka Ron Holmes, aka The Scouting Nazi) has in the past targeted the children of parents who questioned his business model, complained about his service or disagreed publicly with him without apology.  He went so far as to call the coaches of these children and spread rumors and lies about their parents in a misguided attempt to protect the so-called reputation of his business.  He marginalized children and their parents, attempted to frighten and threaten them with power which he does not and has never had.  Pay this guy $200, shut your mouth, and even if your child is an average player, he’ll get a nice article written about him every year. Stop paying, disagree, or correct any of their questionable content, and you become a victim of stalking, slander, and defamation.

Scouting News Scam

Benny and the Scouting News count on the false belief of parents that children are selected for the best opportunities based on their parents’ behavior rather than their own talent and effort.  Parents who believe this are reluctant to challenge a self-professed expert.  Parents and players who have been through the system, however, will tell you that the Scouting News has no value other than personal entertainment.  Don’t Boycott the Scouting News because their articles are plagiarized or culled from submissions of middle-school children themselves.  Don’t Boycott the Scouting News because it’s filled with misspellings and poor grammar.  Don’t Boycott the Scouting News because it plainly lacks the veracity it claims to prove year after year.

Boycott the Scouting News because the person who runs it preys on the pride of parents, steals their money, and marginalizes them and their children if they raise so much as an eyebrow in disagreement.  Every cent you give them pays for childish vendettas and attempts at blacklisting.  Such behavior is contrary to everything good parents are hoping to gain for their children in competitive sports.

Protect Your Children from The Scouting News

Ok, so you still have a subscription to The Scouting News for some reason and haven’t decided to join the Boycott yet?  What will it take?  Answer the poll and let’s see.  If you don’t have a subscription, don’t buy one and don’t renew!  Read the posts and comments in this blog to find out why every parent should protect children from the predatory, manipulative practices of The Scouting News.

Predatory Scouting News Uses Facebook to Lure Kids

If sending emails to kids asking them to provide personal details about themselves and their hockey exploits weren’t bad enough, now the Scouting Nazi aka “Benny” is trolling the internet playground, Facebook, for more victims.  No legitimate hockey scouting program would EVER stoop to asking teenagers to be their primary source of information.  But The Scouting News blabs  “Please enter your contact info below in the comment box.  Benny (owner of the Scouting News) will be doing featured articles on all who participate in this group. You can also invite your other hockey buddies aswell. This will mainly be a discussion board for top level hockey prospects.”

Predatory Page

So they’re going to be doing featured articles on “all who participate”?  Every parent who wants to put an end to the parasitic practices of a man who attempts to blacklist and marginalize kids should log on to facebook and join the Scouting News group to prove their claims false.  If Benny keeps his word and writes an article about an old fat dad simply because he joined the group, it proves further that the rag is garbage.  If he doesn’t write an article, it proves further that he’s a liar and a pathological predator.  Don’t forget to “invite your other hockey buddies.”   Sheesh.

NHL Central Scouting Proves Point

The NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Rankings were released yesterday, and there were a few players listed who have been suspiciously absent from The Scouting News pages over the years.  How is it that a service which claims to know everything worth knowing about competitive youth hockey could perennially overlook any player good enough to be considered for the NHL draft by Central Scouting itself?  The answers are easy: 1) The Scouting News is not remotely related to any legitimate scouting or ranking organization; 2) The Scouting News purposely and systematically attempts to blacklist players whose parents have had disagreements with The Scouting News in the past.

No reputable scouting organization is perfect and depending on how deep you look, no two of them produce exactly the same ranking list.  These organizations may agree on the top 10, 25 or 30 players in a given year, but beyond that there is a lot of movement.  It’s one thing to leave a player off because you honestly don’t think he has the right stuff, but when every other leading (ie. legitimate) scout has a player ranked high enough to be drafted by the NHL and he’s missing from your list, well… let’s just say you’ve got a chip on your shoulder that completely undermines your integrity and credibility

Think about it, friends.  You’ve seen all of the claims the News makes about its predictions.  They scream about the accuracy and track record of knowing who will make it to the next level.  Every year they swindle more impressionable young families into paying to view  what they think will be objective or flattering articles about their player.  What they get is poorly worded, mispelled compilations of self-promotion submitted by players and parents themselves or gleaned and rehashed from myriad other web sites.  If that’s all there were to it, however, this Boycott would not exist.  If they want to peddle a poor product and people want to pay for it, we’d say “caveat emptor” and leave it at that.   The Scouting News crosses the line by aggressively marginalizing players of parents who so much as question their content.  By subscribing to The Scouting News, you are tacitly funding the attempted blacklisting of parents and the isolation of their innocent children from a game they love.  Is your ego really so enormous that it must be fed by a publication utterly lacking in integrity regardless of the cost to others?

Hockey is a team sport; which team are you on?  Join the Boycott!  Don’t give another cent to the Scouting Nazi, don’t renew your subscription, and don’t send them any stories or pictures of your children.  Until they post an apology to all hockey parents admitting their practice of blacklisting and marginalization, this Boycott will continue.

The Scouting News Continues to Abuse Moms

a recent comment left by a mom indicates that The Scouting News is continuing its practice of coercion and making threats.  Cancel your subscription now.  Don’t fund this kind of unprofessional, rude, manipulative behavior.

I also had a horrible experience with TSN when I kept getting requests for info on my son (8 in one month) and they never bothered to profile him. When I emailed and asked why, I got an absurd, abusive response from the guy who told me how he could ruin my son’s name. The guy is nuts and REALLY paranoid. He suggested I ask hockey people around the country about his publication and how powerful it is, and when I did, naturally no one thought anything of it. Too bad there isn’t a legit website that isn’t out to make and break our kids

Scouting News Fading Fast

Wow, the Boycott has produced amazing results. In less than a year, you have taken a site ranked fairly high in the category of internet pageviews and completely eliminated it from the internet radar! While the publisher continues to troll for new, unsuspecting players who are enamored of seeing their names on the Web, savvy hockey families have abandoned the troubled rag in droves. Stalwart subscribers whose children have received favorable press continue to ignore the persecutory practices of The Scouting News because, they believe, any positive ally is a good ally. It’s sad that people are willing to sell out their teammates and unable to realize the impact to hundreds if not thousands of younger players coming behind them. Supporting The Scouting News is supporting the hockey politics and blacklisting that is the bain of the very sport. Ask top-level hockey parents what they like least about the sport and one of the things at the top of their lists is “politics.” Why less talented or weaker players get opportunities over better players. That kind of rhetoric is usually attributed to jealously, but the Boycott is showing that; 1) top players get what they earn regardless of what The Scouting News writes; 2) real scouts and coaches apparently don’t read “The News” ; 3) The Scouting News’ Claims of infallibility and superiority are patently false, its promises hollow, and its back-alley blacklisting is busted finally; 4) The Scouting News never truly carried any weight in the scouting community which will survive long after the “News” draws its last breath; and 5) when regular people speak out in unison with their purchasing power and preferences, they can make a difference and begin to depose to false dictators and pretend potentates who would like them to believe they are powerless. You who have joined the Boycott by submitting your comments here and in other internet forums and through private email campaigns have said “enough” to the Scouting Nazi. Until The Scouting News is removed from the internet or until the apology is posted on its front page, rest assured that this Boycott Blog will remain alive in acknowledgment of your support.

Google “Boycott The Scouting News”

Wow, have you Googled “The Scouting News” or “Boycott The Scouting News” lately? We have literally surrounded and out-flanked the lecherous, predatory Ron Holmes, aka “Benny” with our virtual army of parents, players and coaches who reject his practices of preying on kids and posing as a hockey insider who can affect the future of promising prospects. When this boycott started, the publisher of The Scouting News thought he could call coaches and even existing parent-subscribers and influence them to blacklist or socially isolate the children of parents who called his bluff. If this is your first time visiting this site, that may sound like a far-fetched claim, but as you read the articles and comments of parents and coaches contained on this site, you will realize that a critical mass of support for the Boycott was reached last year. Essentially, people were fed up with the deception and manipulation The Scouting News used to suit its perverted purposes. Today, you cannot Google the Scouting News without seeing the Boycott right next to it! Today, the internet reach and pageviews of the Scouting News are at their lowest levels since the insipid rubbish rag debuted.

Wow! Pageviews down 80% over the last 3 months! That’s enormous. Thanks to conscientious adults who value truth and integrity above seeing their children’s names mentioned on a supposed authoritative web site, the Boycott has spread like wildfire. Parents and coaches fed up with a man who spams and floods internet forums with annoying solicited testimonials from deparate, though well-meaning parents and children. Parents and children who have trusted him with their pictures and stories who had been fooled into thinking that the publicity might help them obtain better hockey opportunities have discovered that no reputable coach or scout cares what The Scouting News writes and no reputable journalist would contribute content to a publication so plagued with incompetence and so lacking in integrity. Just look at the teeny tiny lines in the bottom right corner of the traffic graph below. Their stats haven’t been this low since they opened the site. Have you noticed all of the promotions they’ve been offerring lately to get new subscribers? This is why…

That’s a clear indication that people have had enough of The Scouting News. Each year another group of Pee Wees and Bantams will hear the Pied Piper’s tune luring them to send in their pictures, stories, and money. Until the Scouting News apologizes publicly and affirms in writing that it will discontinue its predatory and disparaging polcies, the Boycott will live on, continually tightening its virtual grip until eventually, the Scouting News will realize the futility of continuing its operations.