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hijacking my business
Here’s a strange one…….
I’ve been trading as Graphix Sign & Design now for 10 years. Today I got a call from a domain name registering company regarding my internet domain name. (Mine is http://www.graphixsign.co.uk) Someone had asked them to register http://www.graphixsignanddesign.co.uk & .net & .com. Whilst they ran a check to see if they were available it became apparent to the registration company that the name was my trading name. They told the guy that there was a company already trading as Graphix Sign and Design and asked if he was aware of this. He said he was, he told them he new of me and my company but insisted he wanted to register these domain names for a 10 year period and gave them authorisation to charge his credit card for £600. He refused to tell them his company name. Data protection meant that they were unable to tell me who it was, but they could tell me that he is in the same area as me…….
Anyway, he was desperate to register and have it rushed through. The domain name company were suspicious and called me in case the guy was ‘piggy backing’ as they call it (hijacking business by association). They said they were within their legal right to sell it to him but I would be given preference over him to buy it to stop him. (They did NOT try to hard sell it) They have said to him they will allow the sale only if he puts a disclaimer on his sites to say he isn’t me.
Has anyone else had any problems like this?
Or is it you Robert who’s trying to steal my business and take over the world???? :lol1:Is it anyone out there……. I’ll find out you know…….I am ex C.I.D……..
One point of note….. my turnover ain’t worth hijacking!!!!
Marcella.
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15 Replies
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It’s a con to get you to buy a domain name. That’s all. This bloke is fictional.
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it’s a total wind-up!! 😮
i had the same phone call, a few months ago!! they will do anything to get a few bob!! (commision) 🙄 they got me panicking… oh someones going to get my web address!! 😀 😀
probably more folk onboard have had the same!!
Nik
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That was my first thought when they called, but she never asked me if I wanted to buy the name. She only mentioned once in the conversation that I would be given preference over him. She advised me to check the address in a few days to see if I could get any further details.
If it was a con it backfired. -
I had a similar call yesterday, now who the h*ll wants to register my company name, unlike yours mine is a blokes name 😮 Trevor Lewis Signs. So when this person called I told them politely that they were welcome to it. The bird on the phone went quiet and didn’t know what to say :lol1:
It’s all about scaring you into thinking someone else is trying to muscle in on your patch. DON’T BE FOOLED BY THEM, IT’S A SCAM!!! (chat.) (:) (:)
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The only thing is that there is a local van now running around with the name:
Graphix Sign Design on the side!!!! It appeared a few months ago…… I hope people don’t think it’s me the design is sh*t! -
if they are new marcella, i would make it known “to them” that you are around and have been some time. they may not know being new)
let them know your established in your area etc…
normaly folk starting out want a new name… so may change if you let them know fast enough.. hmmmmm unless they pull on a long brown wig and start calling themself marcella, then you are in bother.. :lol1:the domain thing has been done to us also… think phill at the right signs got same thing done too.. ide not worry about it.
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the internet thing is , as ppl say a scam , registering a “close” domain is useless unless you use the internet as a major marketing tool , IE if the opposing party registers a close name and you hardly use the internet as YOUR marketing tool , its pretty silly.
However a business in your area trading under a name close to you IS!!!! Over here , you arent allowed to trade under a name that is close to an exisiting one especially if you are in the same industry. I would speak to your accountant about it and to a lawyer. We have a few Co’s and claose corporations and we have to submit a trading name to the registrar of Co’s and they do a search to see if it is being used or close to anything allied. I would definately take action against them.
The ramifications of someone stealing your name etc , especially if you have been remiss and not registered it yourself can be pretty dire
We had a case where we supplied another trophy place with goods , they ended up owing me substantial monies. The business was sold and the new owner who happened to be a particularily troublesome shady competitor of mine refused to honour the debt even tho it was fully detailed in the bill of sale.(it was quite a serious amount and he knew full well it was owed etc )
We asked politely many times for him to honor the debt and when we were told to FOAD , I registered his name and the name he was trading under and all variations. (he was a sort of cowboy operator that set up the business without registering it , without paying taxes etc etc)
We then put legal steps in place. We contacted the registrar and informed them that someone was trading under our name , He was forced to change all his stationery , signage etc and his yellow pages ad tel no and business telephone no was re-directed to ourselves till he got his new name in the next years books.
There will be checks in place , for example if you register a name and dont trade under it and try to force someone who is trading under it to desist , you wont succeed , and if you can prove you were trading in that business under that name for some time before the “new” competitor came along , you might have some redress.
The co you mention thats running around with your name on its van is WAY too close to your name for comfort.
If you havent registered yours etc , I would do so ASAP. -
As you say the domain name part doesn’t bother me too much. I don’t do any trade on the net whatsoever so it won’t affect me in that way.
I don’t know how long the local guy has been on the go, he’s not advertising in yellow pages or anything that I’ve came across yet. In fact anyone looking for him is more likely to come across me first.
I’ll keep my eyes peeled and watch for him again and get a note of his telephone number, perhaps give him a ring.As for the long brown wig Robert, he’d need attitude and a big butt to go with it to resemble me! 😀
Marcella
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I notice you’ve registered it now, hope you did’nt pay the £600
Johnny
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No chance!!!!
I registered it for £13!!!!!!! -
I just got a letter from a domain co. registered in the UK trying oto sell me my own domain name for €160.00
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Try http://www.supanames.co.uk and type in any domain name you may want. If it’s available the basic pagckage comes in at £13.99 for a year. It’s cheap and holds your name whether you use it or not.
Marcella.
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Hi
Would have cost you £6.00 for two years inc VAT. You can set a holding page up through this included so you can direct customers to you without a hosting package. 😉
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that’s good to know. I thought £13 was cheap!
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If any of you have bought your domain name and don’t have anything hosted, you may be losing out.
What you can do, is just create what we call a landing page. At the moment, if you don’t have anything there, it probably goes to the hosts landing page and explains that this domain is owned by… etc. Why not create a simple HTML business card to replace that page. HTML can easily be created by MS Word or something similar, then find a bit of free web space. This is usually given free by your ISP (people like AOL or whoever you use) or you can get a free host from companies like http://www.20m.com, but they do stick adverts on your page. Once you have the page loaded onto your free web space, you will then need your domain name to re-direct to your new HTML page.
This is not as good as a full website, but it at least gives you web presence, and personalise your logo, contact and mission statement.
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