Coach in ND
Member
- Mar 19, 2001
- 212
- 0
KTM Drops dealer over DOMAIN Name KTM.COM
KTM Drops dealer over DOMAIN Name KTM.COM
- Thread starter Coach in ND
- Start date
KTM had the opportunity to purchase the domain and chose not to. The dealership bought the name and made something out of it. Other dealers got jealous and complained. KTM demanded the dealership give them the domain name without proper compensation. When they refused KTM decided to pull their dealership agreement to try and force them to give up the name. Pretty lame if you ask me.
Larry
Larry
Coach in ND
Member
- Mar 19, 2001
- 212
- 0
- Thread starter
- #7
I love my KTM, but unless thing turns out good, it will be my last!!!!
Buckholz did you actually read the thread and the letter from the owners of Cycle Hutt? If so and you still feel KTM has handled this well I hope you don't do any type for corporate image or ethical business practice counselling. :think:
Enduro_Nut
~SPONSOR~
- Feb 7, 2002
- 1,155
- 0
To all KTM guys/gals: this could be your future...switch over to the other side...GasGas ;) !
Coach in ND
Member
- Mar 19, 2001
- 212
- 0
- Thread starter
- #11
GG may just be my first choice. Anybody know of a good sight to get info on the new '04 MX line???
FritoBandito
Member
- Sep 18, 2001
- 147
- 0
If KTM wants the domain, they should ATLEAST buy it for the amount cycle hutt bought it for, but now it's worth alot more than that.
We race the ND MX circuit, and Cycle Hutt has done the most for MX in our state. We have voted them Dealer of the Year for the last two years.
I hope this will be picked up by the national news networks. It would be a good story about corperations screwing the little guy.
We race the ND MX circuit, and Cycle Hutt has done the most for MX in our state. We have voted them Dealer of the Year for the last two years.
I hope this will be picked up by the national news networks. It would be a good story about corperations screwing the little guy.
FritoBandito
Member
- Sep 18, 2001
- 147
- 0
Here is what the Cycle Hutt had to say:
First I want to say, thank you for the support and God Bless you all. On April 25th, the weekend of Steve Drewlo’s wedding, at 4 pm central time we received a fax from corporate KTM terminating our dealer agreement. Right after receiving the termination fax we received another fax from KTM stating that they had filed suit with ICANN - since we were no longer a KTM dealer, we had no right to any of the “KTM” domain names that we owned and used. The reasons KTM sited for terminating our dealer agreement were and are completely false. One individual at KTM used certain circumstances to manipulate the true facts, thus terminating our dealer agreement. If Rod Bush had bothered to pick up the phone and call us he would have found out the truth.
We are suing KTM for breach of contract, among other things. We are confident that we will prevail due to the facts in this case. We will let a jury decide. We received no written or verbal notice that anything was wrong with the way we conducted our business, or that KTM felt there was a problem. Not once did any KTM representative tell us or give us written documentation that our dealership was in violation of anything and that it stood to be terminated. We were shocked when we received the faxes. The same day that we received the faxes, KTM invoiced and shipped us over $6,000 in parts. Does that sound like KTM thought there was a problem. Not in my opinion. We have always gone out of our way to be more than accommodating to corporate KTM, other KTM dealers and the many KTM customers. In my opinion, it’s obvious they terminated our dealer agreement to get ktm.com and by using lame excuses and lies to terminate our dealer agreement - the truth will prevail in the end!
It’s amazing what you find out when you talk to other dealers. KTM sold us many items at a lesser price, which we passed the savings along to our customers. These same items where never offer to all of the other dealers We have the invoices to back it up. We were not aware of this until recently when we spoke to some of the other KTM dealers and found out that they were not offered the same deals as us. If I was them, I would be upset. I would be filing a class action lawsuit. If you offer to one you have to offer to all. In my opinion, corporate KTM was using us as a clearinghouse when it was convenient to them, thus upsetting other dealers.
Corporate KTM knows that we paid $80,000 for www.ktm.com they made us send them a copy of the wire transfer. Their first offer was $6,000, and then $10,000, to date their offer of $60,000 is still unacceptable. www.ktm.com became available for sale in September of 2001. We purchased it in August of 2002. We had great success with www.ktmmotorcycles.com. I contacted our sales rep before we purchased it. It was apparent to me that corporate KTM didn’t want it or it wasn’t important to them. We never bought it with the intentions of selling it to KTM. Our plan was and is to use it as a tool to build our business. In our 2000 business plan that we submitted to KTM it stated that we would use the Internet as a tool to generate business worldwide. KTM approved our dealership based on that business plan. At our dealer orientation I asked what KTM’s plan was for the Internet and was told that the Internet was a passing phase, that KTM’s main focus was to build superior race bikes and to help KTM dealers build their dealerships, since the dealer orientation in 2000 we still have not been told anything different.
The company that owned ktm.com before we did is a Korean Telephone Mobile company. KTM could not take it from them because the Korean Telephone Mobile Company had every right to use it. KTM’s trademark only covers the sale of motorcycles, thus a Korean Telephone Mobile company can own it and KTM could not have taken it away. As with any other business that does not sell motorcycles and uses the three letters of the alphabet in their name.
My husband Justin spent many years working at the South Pole to save enough money to open his own dealership. He’s not a famous racer nor is anyone in his family. He’s a typical dirtbiker mechanic; he rides on Sundays after church. He’s been riding KTM’s since 1993. He still bought and rode a KTM after KTM almost when bankrupt in 1992. He had faith in the product and company. Justin’s main goal with the dealership was to stock parts because he knows first hand what its like not to be able to ride on a weekend because you have to order the part. Thus we became a successful dealer stocking KTM parts and practically growing ourselves out of business.
Over the past 2-½ years we have dealt with many wonderful people at KTM, I feel the worker bees at KTM are not the problem and it’s a shame they will suffer also. Its apparent that certain people at KTM have forgotten where KTM has come from and who got them to where they are today - the KTM customer and the many small KTM dealers who stuck with them. KTM is spending so much time and money trying to be like the top 4, that they have forgotten that they are the “Jaguar” of dirtbikes and they need to take care of their customers and their dealers to be successful. They have forgotten that the people purchased their bike because of quality not because it won a major supercross event. They have forgotten who their customers are.
When we do the printout of sales we can tell where all the parts are being sold and shipped. I’ll tell you one thing, we sell very few parts to the state of Texas - that because Texas has great supporting KTM dealer. Chip Munn is superior. There are a lot of good KTM dealers who take care of their customers and we don't sell parts to them. We know that we are very strong in the state of North Dakota. In the past 2-½ years we have sold over 100 bikes to North Dakota people. What the hell are we suppose to tell all these people that we converted to orange? we too are a local KTM dealer that was taking care of our local customers.
At one time, if Rod Bush would have called and said look, we really need to have control of KTM.com, its causing problems with other dealers, etc. etc. We will reimburse you for what you have into it. Thank you for getting it for us. Thank you for not letting a porn site (ie.www.ktmgirls.com) snatch it up, blah, blah. We probably would have turned it over with no problem. But from the beginning, in my opinion, how they have handled it is disgusting! Very soon you all will be able to read the ICANN case at www.icann.org and I know you will also be disgusted.
KTM thinks it has deep pockets and more $$ then we do. The one thing they haven't counted on is that, we will not stop fighting them. I don't care if I live in a card board box. What they have done to my husband, his dream, the boys that work for us and the many customers we support is wrong and I will fight them with every ounce of energy I have. You see KTM we don't live in a fancy house or drive fancy cars, we don't need to impress our friends with fancy things. We like Macaroni and cheese, we will not roll over - we live in America where truth, justice and God prevailes.
I could go on and on. We appreciate all the support that we have read here on KTMtalk.com – God Bless you all. We are blessed to have great employees who are willing to hang in there for the long haul. We believe that God is good and he will take care of us through this. I know Pat can appreciate what we are going through since they came after him at one time too. You all do a great job of supporting the KTM brand and corporate should be proud of the fact that they have so many devoted KTM owners who care. Lets hope they only will listen to you. Thank you again for your support.
Tammy Bohn
Cycle Hutt
First I want to say, thank you for the support and God Bless you all. On April 25th, the weekend of Steve Drewlo’s wedding, at 4 pm central time we received a fax from corporate KTM terminating our dealer agreement. Right after receiving the termination fax we received another fax from KTM stating that they had filed suit with ICANN - since we were no longer a KTM dealer, we had no right to any of the “KTM” domain names that we owned and used. The reasons KTM sited for terminating our dealer agreement were and are completely false. One individual at KTM used certain circumstances to manipulate the true facts, thus terminating our dealer agreement. If Rod Bush had bothered to pick up the phone and call us he would have found out the truth.
We are suing KTM for breach of contract, among other things. We are confident that we will prevail due to the facts in this case. We will let a jury decide. We received no written or verbal notice that anything was wrong with the way we conducted our business, or that KTM felt there was a problem. Not once did any KTM representative tell us or give us written documentation that our dealership was in violation of anything and that it stood to be terminated. We were shocked when we received the faxes. The same day that we received the faxes, KTM invoiced and shipped us over $6,000 in parts. Does that sound like KTM thought there was a problem. Not in my opinion. We have always gone out of our way to be more than accommodating to corporate KTM, other KTM dealers and the many KTM customers. In my opinion, it’s obvious they terminated our dealer agreement to get ktm.com and by using lame excuses and lies to terminate our dealer agreement - the truth will prevail in the end!
It’s amazing what you find out when you talk to other dealers. KTM sold us many items at a lesser price, which we passed the savings along to our customers. These same items where never offer to all of the other dealers We have the invoices to back it up. We were not aware of this until recently when we spoke to some of the other KTM dealers and found out that they were not offered the same deals as us. If I was them, I would be upset. I would be filing a class action lawsuit. If you offer to one you have to offer to all. In my opinion, corporate KTM was using us as a clearinghouse when it was convenient to them, thus upsetting other dealers.
Corporate KTM knows that we paid $80,000 for www.ktm.com they made us send them a copy of the wire transfer. Their first offer was $6,000, and then $10,000, to date their offer of $60,000 is still unacceptable. www.ktm.com became available for sale in September of 2001. We purchased it in August of 2002. We had great success with www.ktmmotorcycles.com. I contacted our sales rep before we purchased it. It was apparent to me that corporate KTM didn’t want it or it wasn’t important to them. We never bought it with the intentions of selling it to KTM. Our plan was and is to use it as a tool to build our business. In our 2000 business plan that we submitted to KTM it stated that we would use the Internet as a tool to generate business worldwide. KTM approved our dealership based on that business plan. At our dealer orientation I asked what KTM’s plan was for the Internet and was told that the Internet was a passing phase, that KTM’s main focus was to build superior race bikes and to help KTM dealers build their dealerships, since the dealer orientation in 2000 we still have not been told anything different.
The company that owned ktm.com before we did is a Korean Telephone Mobile company. KTM could not take it from them because the Korean Telephone Mobile Company had every right to use it. KTM’s trademark only covers the sale of motorcycles, thus a Korean Telephone Mobile company can own it and KTM could not have taken it away. As with any other business that does not sell motorcycles and uses the three letters of the alphabet in their name.
My husband Justin spent many years working at the South Pole to save enough money to open his own dealership. He’s not a famous racer nor is anyone in his family. He’s a typical dirtbiker mechanic; he rides on Sundays after church. He’s been riding KTM’s since 1993. He still bought and rode a KTM after KTM almost when bankrupt in 1992. He had faith in the product and company. Justin’s main goal with the dealership was to stock parts because he knows first hand what its like not to be able to ride on a weekend because you have to order the part. Thus we became a successful dealer stocking KTM parts and practically growing ourselves out of business.
Over the past 2-½ years we have dealt with many wonderful people at KTM, I feel the worker bees at KTM are not the problem and it’s a shame they will suffer also. Its apparent that certain people at KTM have forgotten where KTM has come from and who got them to where they are today - the KTM customer and the many small KTM dealers who stuck with them. KTM is spending so much time and money trying to be like the top 4, that they have forgotten that they are the “Jaguar” of dirtbikes and they need to take care of their customers and their dealers to be successful. They have forgotten that the people purchased their bike because of quality not because it won a major supercross event. They have forgotten who their customers are.
When we do the printout of sales we can tell where all the parts are being sold and shipped. I’ll tell you one thing, we sell very few parts to the state of Texas - that because Texas has great supporting KTM dealer. Chip Munn is superior. There are a lot of good KTM dealers who take care of their customers and we don't sell parts to them. We know that we are very strong in the state of North Dakota. In the past 2-½ years we have sold over 100 bikes to North Dakota people. What the hell are we suppose to tell all these people that we converted to orange? we too are a local KTM dealer that was taking care of our local customers.
At one time, if Rod Bush would have called and said look, we really need to have control of KTM.com, its causing problems with other dealers, etc. etc. We will reimburse you for what you have into it. Thank you for getting it for us. Thank you for not letting a porn site (ie.www.ktmgirls.com) snatch it up, blah, blah. We probably would have turned it over with no problem. But from the beginning, in my opinion, how they have handled it is disgusting! Very soon you all will be able to read the ICANN case at www.icann.org and I know you will also be disgusted.
KTM thinks it has deep pockets and more $$ then we do. The one thing they haven't counted on is that, we will not stop fighting them. I don't care if I live in a card board box. What they have done to my husband, his dream, the boys that work for us and the many customers we support is wrong and I will fight them with every ounce of energy I have. You see KTM we don't live in a fancy house or drive fancy cars, we don't need to impress our friends with fancy things. We like Macaroni and cheese, we will not roll over - we live in America where truth, justice and God prevailes.
I could go on and on. We appreciate all the support that we have read here on KTMtalk.com – God Bless you all. We are blessed to have great employees who are willing to hang in there for the long haul. We believe that God is good and he will take care of us through this. I know Pat can appreciate what we are going through since they came after him at one time too. You all do a great job of supporting the KTM brand and corporate should be proud of the fact that they have so many devoted KTM owners who care. Lets hope they only will listen to you. Thank you again for your support.
Tammy Bohn
Cycle Hutt
[SELF EDIT]
I will not base my buying decisions on a corporate battle over a URL.
I will not base my buying decisions on a corporate battle over a URL.
Last edited:
beer_stud_76
Mod Ban
- Aug 30, 2002
- 493
- 0
buck -
KTM had 8 months to purchase the name. no one disputes this. cycle hutt paid $80K for it and even wrote to corperate to ask if they were sure that they didn't want it. again, no one, not even KTM disputes this. cycle hutt was even willing to sell the name for what they paid.
maybe all the why's and werefore's aren't known, but use your friggin' head man! connect the dots.
that KTM should own their name is niether here nor there. they're just playing dirty pool. for crying out loud, cycle hutt recieved a $6K shipment the friggin day before they were dropped, cycle hutt has the invoice to prove it. this thing is in court, and KTM has no case. they will lose their ass and a bunch of customers to boot. not even honda would pull something like this.
smarten up man
jeremiah
KTM had 8 months to purchase the name. no one disputes this. cycle hutt paid $80K for it and even wrote to corperate to ask if they were sure that they didn't want it. again, no one, not even KTM disputes this. cycle hutt was even willing to sell the name for what they paid.
maybe all the why's and werefore's aren't known, but use your friggin' head man! connect the dots.
that KTM should own their name is niether here nor there. they're just playing dirty pool. for crying out loud, cycle hutt recieved a $6K shipment the friggin day before they were dropped, cycle hutt has the invoice to prove it. this thing is in court, and KTM has no case. they will lose their ass and a bunch of customers to boot. not even honda would pull something like this.
smarten up man
jeremiah
beer_stud_76
Mod Ban
- Aug 30, 2002
- 493
- 0
i almost forgot. . .
what in the hell does the fact that 50% of the bikes at the ISDE qualifier have to do with this? did anybody even friggin remotely suggest that KTM is building inferior bikes? pull your frigging head out
what in the hell does the fact that 50% of the bikes at the ISDE qualifier have to do with this? did anybody even friggin remotely suggest that KTM is building inferior bikes? pull your frigging head out
This is one side of a long involved story. KTM has not been heard and will not air their business in a rogue forum . This above mentioned forum has a long history of being completely negative. Dont' beleive me ?...then watch what the following 'posts' have will have to say. I know that these guys all use 20-50 different names to answer posts. It is like a feeding frenzy, but there are only a few people with different sign on names that go back and forth posting queries and then answering themselves until everything is completely out of control. The truth is a far distance memory for them all.
Coach in ND
Member
- Mar 19, 2001
- 212
- 0
- Thread starter
- #23
Hey Grunk,
I've seen all the paperwork, they paid $80K for it, don't know how, but they did!!!!!
Coach
I've seen all the paperwork, they paid $80K for it, don't know how, but they did!!!!!
Coach
Tennessee Thumper
Sponsoring Member
- Jan 23, 2000
- 446
- 0
Aren't you the guy that played WR for the Jacksonville Jaguars? :think:
