My competitor is cheating. what should I do ?

No Clue · #1 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 03:32 AM

hello.
I'm selling all kind of yard signs, aluminum signs etc. in my website. one of my competitors is cheating by saying that they are part of walmart corporation. since they are using WalMart's name and logo on their website. they are even using walmart's slogan and that little smiley. people think they are affiliated with walmart, while they have no relation with them. even when you call them, they'll confirm that that they are affiliated with walmart. since they started doing that , my business been going down and down and down. people think that they really are part of walmart and they prefer shopping with them rather with me.
so I'm looking for a way to stop them. I've contacted walmart already and I left couple of messages. but they have not returned my calls.
I really don't know what to do.
if any of you could write me a letter so I could print and mail it to walmart's corporate office, that would be highly appreciated. since my writing skills is not as good as most of you in here, that would be a great help to me. please help me if you can.
by the way here is their URL see for yourself: www. walmart signs .com (please ignore the spaces)

RikR · #2 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 07:03 AM

How do you know they do not have an agreement with WalMart to use the name? If they don't, I would feel sure WalMart's lawyers would shut them down. The fact that they have not seems to indicate this is legit.

Sears has done a similar thing for decades with home improvement companies.

jestep · #3 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 11:20 AM

I would notify Walmart. If this something that Walmart does not know about or allow, I can guarantee that walmart will shut them down pretty quickly.

No Clue · #4 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jestep

I would notify Walmart. If this something that Walmart does not know about or allow, I can guarantee that walmart will shut them down pretty quickly.

jestep, I really do appreiciate your help

No Clue · #5 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 01:44 PM

RikR, that wouldn't be possible.
I know their history. I've been watching these people for over a year now. they started with a site called: "a save a lot sign .com". they've been doing good till partners got in fight so one of them had to go. the one who left opened up another website called: "save a lot sign .com" (without the letter "a" at the beginning)
they've been doing business with that name for a while till few months ago they decided to register another domain name called "walmart sign .com". even now if you type save a lot sign .com, you'll be forwarded to another domain name called. anyway. these people are unprofessional. they don't even have SSL installed on their check out page. they claim that they have offices in
Orlando, Florida
Houston, Texas
Nashville, Tennasee
Chattanooga, Tennasee
Little Rock, Akansas
I typed Tennasee and Akansas as it would show in their website. they didn't even do a basic spell check
just call them and ask for their local office in Houston. they'll tell you that it's not open to public and you still have to order through their website. lol
, I checked the list of walmart's partner and I couldn't find their name. they don't even have FAQ, Privacy Policy , Copyright Notice, Terms of Service or anything similar. there are a lot of other things that you can notice.

RikR · #6 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 01:50 PM

Find the right person at WalMart and their legal bulldogs will take care of it.

**brian.mark** · #7 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 05:48 PM

Lawyers are the way to go with this for sure. As soon as Wal-Mart's lawyers get a scent of this, there will be cease and desist as well as a probably lawsuit for trademark infringement. Just keep yourself clean, sit back, and have some fun as those lawyers dig into them. They may need a hint at what to go after, but they love trademark lawsuits as well as cease and desist letters.

You could also contact the Better Business Bureau and inquire about each of their local offices. If they really don't have offices there, an inquiry can get the ball rolling for an investigation by someone higher up. Quite simply if they claim offices there and aren't charging sales tax in those states, the IRS is going to want to talk to them.

You may also want to make sure that the items that your site has that theirs does not (privacy policy, SSL, etc.) really catch the eye of the visitor. Maybe even a helpful push with the SSL stuff and mentioning that you are and not all of your competitors are.

In any event, it sounds like this site has a limited amount of time that it'll be running. Best of luck in the meantime.

Brian.

RikR · #8 (**permalink**) 01-10-2005, 06:00 PM

My wife was featured in a video WalMart showed their stockholders at an annual meeting in Bentonville a few years ago. They flew her out for the meeting so she could speak to the stockholders and she had dinner at Mrs. Walton's home with Mrs. Walton.

I have emailed the info on this web site to a contact we have there. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

No Clue · #9 (**permalink**) 01-11-2005, 05:53 PM

Brian and Rick, thanks a lot for your helps.

this is the email I recieved from walmart.com just a few minutes ago:

Dear Rudy,

Thank you for your recent email. We appreciate you taking the time to
share your thoughts with us.

We are aware of the fact that someone is using our company name, URL or
domain name (Walmart.com) in an inappropriate manner. We have reported
this to our corporate security team and they are working with official
agencies to have the offending account shut down, and the perpetrator
held accountable for his/her actions.

Please rest assured that Wal-Mart Stores and Walmart.com are in no way
responsible for, or involved with this incident. We do not condone this
illegal use of our name or trademarks. We appreciate you bringing this
to our attention and hopefully together we can stop this type of
behavior from occurring in the future.

Sincerely,
Jill

Customer Service at Walmart.com

Chief Blogster · #10 (**permalink**) 01-11-2005, 08:58 PM

That letter is from Cust Service and is form letter. No lawyer is responding to you as it would be none of your business (from a legal perspective).

While somewhat limited relevance, that site has like a 2 million alexa rating ... not really sure if they are taking many sales from anyone.

You have notified WalMart ... you are done. Let them deal with it and move on.

Arhur

No Clue · #11 (**permalink**) 01-12-2005, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blogster

That letter is from Cust Service and is form letter. No lawyer is responding to you as it would be none of your business (from a legal perspective).

what's up wit the attitude? did I say I received this e-mail from a lawyer? no. I said I got it from walmart.com.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blogster

You have notified WalMart ... you are done. Let them deal with it and move on.

as Brian said there are other things that I still have to do such as contacting BBB and IRS about their locations.
while you seems not to be helpful, I'll be appreciated if YOU move on.

No Clue · #12 (**permalink**) 01-14-2005, 01:50 AM

I got an exciting news today. their website is down now.
special thanks to Brian, Rik and jestep for their time and effort. thanks guys.

RikR · #13 (**permalink**) 01-14-2005, 12:17 PM

Excellent!

**brian.mark** · #14 (**permalink**) 01-14-2005, 04:07 PM

Congratulations, and happy selling.

Brian.

rivux · #15 (**permalink**) 01-14-2005, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blogster

While somewhat limited relevance, that site has like a 2 million alexa rating ... not really sure if they are taking many sales from anyone.

Alexa is about as relevant to sales as the color of my boxers are. Please, please people stop quoting Alexa like it actually means something. It makes me want to cry everytime I see someone use Alexa in conversation like it has some meaning. I think what bothers me is that I have such high hope in humanity that when I see someone so obviously duped by the Alexa marketing machine that it makes me weep for all of us.

And congrats on getting the site shutdown, Walmart are about as corporate as corporate gets so I have no doubt that their lawyers would jump on this in seconds.