What's wrong with this picture? Amigastore?

Hi folks,

So we've got this earnest Amiga dealer out there that has
been recommended to me by many users...

https://amigastore.eu/

The other day I wanted to check out their offerings and
typed in the wrong URL.

So I'm wondering....

WHAT SPECIES OF WEASEL WOULD DO THIS ???

http://amigastore.com/

or what about this....

http://amigastore.net/

This really appears as one of the lowest examples of
sleazy behavior exhibited in our little community.

Please click those links. I'd suggest Amigastore was
abused.

Tell me whether the linked business is one that should
be patronized by our community?

It would be nice to see this sleaziness driven out.

Thanks,

PJS

Yeah, that's a pity. This is happening for a long time now and shows that amigakit doesn't care for fair playing, and doesn't care for the community. These kind of practices are, at least, shameful.

- Is their right to do it? Sure.
- Is it fair? Nope.
- Do they show their kindness and care? Hell no.

That's why I stopped buying anything from them long time ago. And I will keep it this way.

@pjs

They pulled this crap with other retailers, too. In fact there was a new dealer setting up in the UK which was named 'AmigaPassion' -- and Matthew didn't like that. So he started buying up domains with the same name, and eventually the new player gave up and renamed their business to 'RetroPassion' instead.

https://forum.amiga.org/index.php?topic=75106.msg851940#msg851940

Then there are the A1200.net cases. Unbelievable conduct on the part of AmigaKit. They actually trademarked 'A1200' while partnering with the A1200.net guys, who did the design. And didn't tell them. You can see the story here:

https://forum.amiga.org/index.php?topic=74555.msg848444#msg848444

Right now they're trying to bully the 'Amiga Addict' magazine team over their trying to trademark their own magazine's name and logo. It's outrageous.

https://twitter.com/amigamagazine/status/1407452211722981386

One of these instances would be bad enough. Two shows a pattern. But combined with ignoring customers, non-communication with partners, legal nonsense, misrepresentation of inventory, and attempts to weasel around with PR-speak, people have had enough. There was even a #BoycottAmigaKit hashtag on Twitter.

I've met Matthew, and he seems a good guy. I just don't understand this behavior. People have brought it up in good faith, trying to get across that it's counter-productive. I guess in the end the only way we can get the bullying to stop is by working with other dealers going forward until he gets the message. I don't want to do that, but I don't think we have a choice.

-- eliyahu

@eliyahu

Yes, many of us know Matty in person. I don't think he
dares act in person like he does while hiding on the
internet. The consequences would be more.. umm.. tangible.

I used to make excuses for him and his behavior. "It's
a small company, they're short handed and have no money".

But Matty's abuse of customers, losing people's hardware,
failing to answer problems, nickel'n'dime-ing folks
exceeds anything excusable. It's his mindset

We've told him time and time again, IN PERSON, to take
care of customers. I've done so. You have. Trevor has
done so. Matty has ignored it all.

MattyOS is the poster child of the Matty approach.
Overwriting 35 years of development with his naked,
half-baked power grab.

His behavior is not an "accident" of circumstance but
a reflection of Matty's persona.

Anyone feeding him dollars, pounds or euro's feeds the
behavior. Do NOT feed the weasel.

PJS

Wait a minute. So if I type amigastore.eu a little wrong I wind up at AmigaKit? That is a shameful play. I'm starting to think this company is not so much serving the Amiga community as preying on it.

AmigaKit, you've just about torn your drawers with a growing number of us. I've done you a kindness, I feel, by not fussing in public about past problems between you and me as a customer, and I even returned to the fold by doing a bit of business with you this year. But, now I wonder what I was thinking by lifting my own quiet boycott. AmigaStore.eu is a wonderful business to do business with. I will be careful how I type it when placing future orders!

And, my advice on another forum is worth repeating: Leave Amiga Addict alone. You'll only damage your reputation more if you pursue this kind of stuff.

My enthusiasm for AmigaOS4 for better or worse is tied to my ehthusiasm for the companies and personalities behind it. At this point in time, I am not particularly enthusiastic about anybody. But this particular bit of business is stirring me to comment in pubilic.

Sorry, everyone, for the negativity, especially on Amigans.net. This place has always been about enjoying the marchines and the OS and the software. I don't mean to spoil that.

I know it is very tempting and the easy option to get the pitch forks out before actually doing any research, however I expected some due diligence from the years of personal interaction with many of you.

ASB Computer rebranded their business as AmigaStore.EU in 2016.

AmigaKit started trading in 2004. Our domains that we own such as Amigastore.co.uk and Amigastore.com have been registered some 12 years before this so ASB Computer cannot claim exclusivity. They replicated everything about our business even down to the product descriptions. AmigaStore.net was registered for two reasons: to stop another new retailer starting up and diluting our name and to reinforce our name in the community.

AmigaKit is more than just a store. The retail division of AmigaKit has been branded since day one as “the Amiga Store”, “your Amiga Store”, “Amiga Kit Amiga Store” predating ASB Computers more recent rebranding. On note that there are no complaints from you on this behalf.

I am currently just moved house so have no internet yet and living out of boxes etc. I will send some emails this week to everyone here that has expressed concerns.

Many of you have met me in person and I have sponsored many community events for over 15 years. I would hope you would like to hear about my viewpoint without name calling. My investment over a decade and half in the community seems to count for zero.

@mbrantley

I appreciate your more considered tone.

I can assure you we are not going after Amiga Addict. We have an existing mark in Class 16 and the form filed just affords additional time to examine their application. Unfortunately their application was spotted last minute and there were two choices: let it go through without getting advice or use the form to extend the application process by an additional month.

If the application had been spotted sooner then the additional time would not be needed.

@pjs

Your advice on getting more staff has been taken on board: Ross has joined us last month. He is a really nice guy, has learned and picked up the work well so far and is proving to be a great addition to the team. He will make a big difference to our customers.

@eliyahu

You use the word “bully” and “bullying” without consider who is being affected by actions of others and why a counter defence needs to be enacted. Are you privy to all facts before grabbing your pitch fork and assaulting social media ?

It is ironic that this thread with its name calling and half truths reflects the concept of bullying.

Maybe I should not respond at all because an inconvenient facts are not a popular consensus?

Interesting, you make it sound like ASB/Amigastore has done the same
thing you have been doing for a many years...

Laying legal claims of ownership to things you did not create... Did
Amigakit create the "Amiga"? No. Create the 1200? 4000? No. Create
the boing ball? No.

And yet you have played legal games to lay claims to all those and then
attacked and deprived others who also wanted to relate to OUR shared
Amiga history.

AFAIK, that kind of agressiveness hasn't been demonstrated by any other
Amiga retailer that has borrowed Amiga for their branding.

Now you claim an exclusive connection to Amiga history because you played
the legal card first, without any shred of additional validity?

"The Amiga Store"

heh

And, yes, a lawyer might agree with your name game, but is it ethical?
That's your defense? Standing with the ethics of lawyers? Sounds about
right.

What's next? Going after more "Amiga" names? "Ami" prefixes? Attacking
more people/things that predate your existence? How dare people use their
C= A3000's with Amiga badges on them without AmigaKit licensing!?

PJS

@amigakit

Quote:
I am sorry, but I don't believe any of what you say and your "good" intentions. And the reason is pretty simple.

I guess you filled the TM7A form online, right? Which took you 10 - 15 minutes to do it. If you wanted to be fine with Amiga Addict guys you would spent 5 mins, instantly after the TM7A submit button, to inform them on what you did and why. It is pretty simple. A simple and fast email, like "Guys, don't freak out. I did that for that reason and I will call you tomorrow to find a solution".

But as much as I understand, they didn't get any contact by you or anyone from your stuff. If they did they would know what this is about, before they post something on social networks.

Anything else is just endless discussions and hopeless movements to save whatever it is possible to be saved.

The worst thing that you might not realize is that a big part of the community and the people that met you in person, are persuaded that it is possible AmigaKit, and you personally, to behave like that. They do not trust you. And some of them said that they expected something like that or it doesn't surprise them.

Also, you wrote above about the AmigaStore, but you didn't say a word about AmigaPassion/RetroPassion? Why?

Quote:

And about AmigaStore, you said it yourself. They branded themselves as Amigastore, they didn't just registered some domains that were not used. AmigaKit was never branded as AmigaStore. Noone knew AmigaKit as AmigaStore. So, whatever you write above remain just excuses.

@pjs
Quote:

Let me echo and add here "Created A1200 cases, like the sticker at the bottom claims?" .... NO NO NO NO....

@amigakit

Quote:
I am aware of the facts as presented and the pattern of behavior towards anyone remotely operating in the same space as AmigaKit. And I'm not 'assaulting' social media, I'm giving my opinion. One that I reached after much time, and much saddness. You can't imagine how disappointed I am here. Seriously.

Quote:
I think you need to step back for a moment and consider something here. Presumably you are taking these actions because you feel you are defending your business. Fair enough. How's that working for you? Look at the near-universal reaction of revulsion over your actions in the case of Amiga Addict, of the A1200 cases, of the retropassion folks and ask yourself if maybe this behavior is self-defeating? How many people have decided to never again order from your business?

I *want* to see AmigaKit succeed. I want to see A-EON succeed. I want to see *you* succeed. Your success is indicative of a healthy, growing Amiga platform. But I can't justify your behavior here. It insults my sense of fair play at minimum.

When I started as an Amiga enthusiast, I knew all about AmigaKit. It was the main retailer for a good reason. I also knew about others, but I had no interest in giving them my custom; AmigaKit had the selection and the background. And I had met you at AmiWest and really liked you guys. But as time has gone on, I've used other retailers -- not because they had 'Amiga' in their name or a particular domain name, but because they answered emails promptly. They didn't list things as in-stock when they weren't. They didn't nickel-and-dime people. And they didn't keep machines sent in for repair from my friends with virtually no communication for months.

The response to this action on the trademark issue is happening because it's just one in a chain of events, and people have had enough. I genuinely hope that you'll see what's going on here, reverse course, and keep and grow your customer base the right way: through stellar service. If you can't do that, and you continue to use legal threats against others in this tiny community, you're going to get a backlash. Not because we want to start handing out pitchforks, but because consumers get to make a choice about who they do business with and recommend that choice to others. No one gets a pass because they've been around a long-enough time.

-- eliyahu