Possible conflict of interest Nick Gromicko

Contents of this post are the opinion of Joe Barnett.

I’m not sure if I should be upset or not. I may have a personal problem but I wanted to weigh in on a domain name issue today. I had a customer misunderstand my web address and typed it in pleural rather than singular…inspections…
Turns out Nick Gromicko owns the web address and bought it the same year I went into business and became an INTERNACHI member.

My web address is BumblebeeHomeInspection.com

Nick bought the pleural of this and has built black hat links to other competitors

Should I feel violated?
Nick says he bought this for another inspection company in another state.

You might check your own website versions.

I will post some screenshots and Nick’s reply when I can get to a desktop.

Nope. No “black hat links to other competitors.” In fact, the domain has never been linked to anywhere. We registered it for a member many years ago and he never used it. Check WHOIS feature of Domain Names, Web Hosting and Online Marketing Services | Network Solutions to confirm.

Furthermore, of the many thousands of domain names we’ve registered, we’ve only registered a handful of home inspection company domain names.

Furthermore, none of them, including this “never liked” one, was registered for anyone in your state of Texas. Company names are specific to states (in other words, two members in two different states can have the exact same company name). I know of at least 8 Bumble Bee inspection companies.

so if its not being used and you have a member crying foul (me) why dont you sell the domain so that it can benefit a member (me). You bought it for a member and he did not use it and I can definately use it.

I already offered to forward it to your website for free. Will that work or do you want to buy it? If I sell it, the buyer can just donate the money to my registered charity: Cozy Coats for Kids – Kids Choose. We Deliver.

you are in control of that price. How much is it?

BUT Nick, Cozy coats for kids is Internachi too, Money from one pocket to another. How much?

Time for a little quiz everyone. Post your answers:

Q: If I register a company name, no one else can use the same name in ________

A: my market area. But they can use it outside of my market area.
B: my town. But they can use it outside of my town.
C: my county. But they can use it outside of my county.
D: my state. But they can use it outside of my state.
E. my country. But they can use it outside of my country.
F. No one else in the world can use my company name.

Post your answer.

kids, this is not a business name issue it is a URL issue. The World Wide Web. So how much nick?

He already said he would give it to you for free. What else do you want?
Cheers

That sounds like a magnanimous offer!

The question is what is it worth to you for peace of mind? I would expect Nick would not try to gouge you.

I’m just trying to get a number.

Seems like “free” is not a fair price. So why not offer him a $1. I bet he would take it. Last I heard he was hard up for cash.

Nope. I’d be moving money from your pocket to a coat manufacturer who sells us custom coats at cost, which in turn are shipped to children in need. We run the charity at zero overhead. Every penny donated is spent on coats for kids. Then on top of that, Inspector Outlet donates all the packing and shipping. And then lastly, your inspection business website gets permanently displayed at Donors – Cozy Coats for Kids

D

Why don’t you try playing the little quiz and see if it gets you anywhere.
Ungratefulness is not working.

Why not just offer up $50 to Nick’s pet charity. You get to deduct it, you get listed as a donor, the money goes to a real charity and you get that peace of mind?

What a Win Win Win situation! I don’t understand how anyone could argue with that?

And considering you went on a public forum and accused me of being a black hatter, buying up domain names similar to members’ URLs who recently joined to create a back link farm… how about something more than $50? Most coat drives are just big piles of used coats that poor children dig through to try to find something that fits. Cozy Coats for Kids allows each child to order the exact coat they want, the sex, the size, the style and the color. We then ship it right to them. It’s a new coat, the one they picked out, it’s theirs! This year I’m buying a commercial sewing machine and adding a little tag with their name on it. We’re also going to start supplying hats and gloves.

That is a reasonable request! Why not have an online auction for the URL now and see how much it will fetch? Then the OP will have an answer to his question of “how much” and he can buy it from the auction winner.