Portable Farms in Escondido, CA

[Paul Westberg]

anyone have any dealings with this outfit? I noticed that their was a talk done by them on the events page. they are close by where I am but I am put off by the fact that their website alarms my virus protection system when I log on. Anybody know anything about them??

[Averan]

All I know is that you won't get much information out of them unless you purchase one of the licenses.  They also seem to spend most of their time in Panama.

[Paul Westberg]

OK, that helps. Licenses for what? Thanks for the reply.

Averan said:

All I know is that you won't get much information out of them unless you purchase one of the licenses.  They also seem to spend most of their time in Panama.

[Averan]

They sell licenses to use their aquaponic system plans.

[Sylvia Bernstein]

You might want to check out this thread in here, Paul - http://aquaponicscommunity.com/group/thegoodthebadandtheugly/forum/...

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Sylvia,

Looks like you've saved another one. When will people learn that "what goes around comes around"!

Sylvia Bernstein said:

You might want to check out this thread in here, Paul - http://aquaponicscommunity.com/group/thegoodthebadandtheugly/forum/...

[Paul Westberg]

Thanks again to everyone who monitors and comments on this discussion. As with healthcare, if you create a bad name it will follow you around like a stray dog. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when my virus alert went off and I appreciate all the comments here that vindicated that response. Sadly, this individual is right here in my backyard and will probably continue his behaviour until one of the many California state boards shut him down. I was fortunate in that I was only looking for references and have not any business dealings with him. AMEN!

Now has anyone had any luck with crazycrays.com? They are also here locally but I can't seem to find a # and their website appears down. The physical address is good and there appears to be a business on site. (behind fences) Thanks!

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Paul,

I'm not sure why you're asking but i do know this, anyone out there with some basic knowledge(most AP'ers on this site) of Aquaponics and different designs can present a good enough sales pitch. What they can't sell is experience and only god knows if they have any themselves. You can open a box and successfully build and get running a system in no time. What happens when the plants develop spots or start wilting or fish start dying or acting skittish or beds start clogging and overflowing or.............etc. Even if we get tech support from these people, we will never become truly independent, we will always have to depend, we will never know for ourselves. Believe me no one can sell us the experience we need, we get it from practice, from learning from each other, right here on this site!

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Well said, Harold, and Paul you are a smart man for checking these things!  As someone who is involved in aquaponics professionally it depresses me how many "aqua-shysters" there are out there.  I've even seen a few who start a consulting and systems build website the same month they join this site and describe themselves as a Newbie!  And the worse part is that many of them seem to be very good at search engine optimization and web marketing so they manage to get this great Google ranking (I'm thinking of one shyster in particular) because they are so good at playing that game...and yet we have had several people come to us after buying their educational materials (was that a clue?) telling us how bad they are and what a crook he is.  Just because someone is on page 1 of Google doesn't mean they are credible!  Buyer beware!  Ask around just like Paul is doing!

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Sylvia,

I've always admired your sincerity and your efforts here on this site and as a business person.There are others here as well like Nate and TC who are genuinely interested in helping others in whatever way necessary to help them with Aquaponics, whether with education or hardware items. The world is filled with other types of people who draw a line between assisting others and getting business from them. Guess which side of the line they eventually end up on?

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Thanks for that, Harold.  I'm not sure what your question means, though.  Are you talking about a different line than the one between assisting others and getting business from them?  And I actually think that a good, honest business person will do both...sincerely help people and do business with them...which is another way of helping, really.  My problem is with the hype and dishonestly that I perceive in some who claim to run an aquaponics business, and either don't know what they are doing or are only running an internet marketing scam.

[Averan]

Good point Sylvia.  Business is not evil or bad or unfair, but there are evil, bad and unfair people doing business!  Those folks tend to use up their customers and are forced to constantly find new victims.  Others, like yourself, are fair and honest in their transactions and their business exchanges are fair and equitable which gives the customer what they need and want, building long term relationships that support both the business owner and the customer (commerce creating community).  In biology, this is akin to the difference between parasitic relationships and symbiotic relationships.  The former is only beneficial to one party, while the latter is good for everyone involved...and very often also good for those not directly involved!

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Sylvia,

I'm sure you started up with the intention of helping others educating them about AP and this naturally grew into assisting them with hardware items etc. Your genuine intention of helping is what I'm referring to. These "aqua-shysters" are simply greedy people with driven self interest and have absolutely no concern for others whatsoever, they couldn't care less how many people they have to hurt to satisfy themselves. I especially like the good bad and the ugly, attempting to protect people from these scams. So we are both saying the same thing. Personally i consider myself very fortunate to be guided to this site and to have met a great bunch of caring people, which is a very rare thing in this world today!