An Open Letter to Albert Martino of Hot Igloo Internet Marketing and Web Design

Dear Albert,

Hi, I’m Amber. I’m one of the directors of Hot Igloo Productions Ltd: we’re an internet marketing and web design business, which was incorporated in 2004 and has been trading ever since. I’m basically a silent parter (or I have been until now) so you probably won’t recognise my name, but my husband/business partner, Terry Miaoulis, has been in touch with you via email and on Facebook, so you may well know his.

Even if you don’t recognise our names, though, I’m sure you’ll recognise the name of our business: Hot Igloo. Sound familiar at all? It should do, because you launched your own rival business two months ago, using exactly the same name. You’re called Hot Igloo? So are we! You offer web design and SEO services? So do we!  Here’s our logo:

And here’s yours:

Do you see the problem here? You’ve essentially duplicated our brand. Two businesses, both using exactly the same name, both using igloos as their logo, both trading in exactly the same industry, and targeting exactly the same customers? That’s going to get confusing for people, don’t you think? You may well argue that you’re based in America, while we’re in the UK, but let’s get real: we’re both running Internet-based businesses and trading online. And now we’re doing it using the same brand.

Albert, you claim to be an Internet marketing and Search Engine Optimization specialist. I assume that means you’re familiar with Google? The search engine? You can type a business name into it, and it will magically provide you with a list of any other businesses using that name? You know it? Good. As a SEO expert who is familiar with the workings of the Internet, then, I’m sure you ran a quick Google search when you were choosing your business name this June. (Did I mention we registered ours in 2004, a full seven years before you?) And when you did, I’m sure you noticed that the very first result for “Hot Igloo” was our company. Our website design and SEO company.

What did you think when you saw that, Albert? Did you think, “Oh, drat! There already IS a web design company called Hot Igloo! What a coincidence! I better come up with another name, instead, one that is truly my own!” Or did you just think, “Whatever, I’m just going to use the name anyway, who cares if there’s another company which has been using that name in the same sector as me, for the past seven years?” Because, from where I’m standing, the latter option seems to be the one you went with.

Albert, this message is currently displayed in giant letters on your homepage:

 “We take great pride in delivering fresh and original internet marketing solutions.”

If you GENUINELY take pride in being fresh and original  – in fact, if you have any kind of professional pride AT ALL – please reconsider your choice of business name. Please try to put yourself in our position, and imagine how you would feel if, seven years down the line, another website design firm started up using YOUR name. Please, do the right thing. And if you’re not prepared to do the right thing, please at least have the decency to speak to us about this: we are not unreasonable people, but your actions are threatening our business and livelihood, and we have to take that seriously.

Albert, you have completely ignored all of the messages we’ve sent you, including the one Terry left on your Facebook page,  so you don’t seem to want to talk to us.

Our message on Albert Martino’s Facebook page: ignored

You also deleted the follow-up message Terry posted on Saturday:

Finally, you blocked our Hot Igloo ID from commenting on your page.

Albert, up until yesterday, we were trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume that you perhaps hadn’t received any of our messages. But your recent actions tells us that you HAVE received our messages, and are willfully ignoring/deleting them. This is very disappointing, because we would have much preferred to have tried to resolve this amicably, than to call you out in public.  Your refusal to talk to us, however, leaves us with little option but to make this issue public, as we need to make sure that our own clients, and prospective clients, are aware of the fact that there are now two “Hot Igloo web design” companies out there, so they’re not confused. We’re particularly concerned that people might think that any statements YOU make online using our business name have come from US. Our business is seven years old, after all: there are a lot of people out there who will see the name “Hot Igloo” and assume that it is us. This works the other way too, of course: if you really are a professional businessman, I’m sure you will not want your clients being confused in this way either.

In closing, I’d just like to say that you are not the first person to try to copy us, and I don’t expect you’ll be the last.  Back in May, in fact,  someone copied our shoe blog, Shoeperwoman, in much the same way that you have copied the Hot Igloo brand. We took legal action which resulted in the domain being transferred to us and the site shut down: prior to this, the copycat site was deleted by three separate web hosts (all of whom agreed that it was engaged in something lawyers call “passing off”), and its Twitter and Facebook accounts were closed down by the respective social networks. There is absolutely no difference between what you are doing to us, and what that other “Shoeper-Woman” site tried to do, and we would ask you to please consider what you will do to your reputation by continuing to use someone else’s brand in this way.

Please get in touch to discuss this: you have our details. (If you don’t, feel free to Google “Hot Igloo”. It’s the first result.)

Amber & Terry
Hot Igloo Productions Ltd.

UPDATE: Monday, August 22nd:
Albert Martino has now deleted all of the comments from his Facebook wall and blocked us from commenting, before changing his page settings to block the entire UK.  world except America. He is obviously prepared to go to great lengths to avoid having to speak to us, which is a shame, because if Albert genuinely believes that he hasn’t done anything wrong, then he should have no reason to fear speaking to us. And if he has nothing to hide, then there should be no reason to block most of the world from his page.

Note to Forever Amber readers: I’m really sorry to once again be publishing something like this here, and I had really hoped I wouldn’t have to write this. Obviously we would have preferred to have been able to resolve this issue privately and amicably but Albert Martino has ignored our emails, deleted our messages from his Facebook page, and blocked us from commenting altogether. I’ve written this post, because although Albert can stop me commenting on his Facebook, he can’t prevent me from talking about this issue elsewhere on the Internet, and he can’t prevent YOU from talking about it either. To be blunt: we will go out of business if people continue to copy us like this – we just cannot hope to continue if all of our time and money is being spent trying to prevent people like Albert Martino from duplicating our brand. As always, we’re grateful for any support our readers can give us.

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COMMENTS
  • Oh Amber not again!

    Fingers crossed this is resolved quickly!

    August 21, 2011
    • Anonymous!

      Just for your information since you don’t really seem to know what you’re talking about with the exception of creating tons of drama over something perfectly legal, since you’re in a different country you really don’t have a leg to stand on. Just thought you should know! 😀

      November 23, 2012
  • We’re right here with you Amber and Terry. The beauty of the internet is that we CAN call out the McNaughtys and spread the message as far as humanly possible that a business is breaking the law.

    Deleting a few Facebook messages doesn’t change a thing. I mean, all it took was hitting Print Screen!

    Please don’t feel sorry that you have to mention something like this, I am sure all of your readers want to see the business you have built up succeed, and anyone who tries to undermine yours and Terry’s incredibly hard work should not be let off easily.

    August 21, 2011
      • Anonymous!

        Also it’s not really proof that he’s done something wrong, it’s proof you’re trying to smear his company on completely unstable ground.

        November 23, 2012
  • jules

    How stressful all this must be for you and Terry…

    I can’t even imagine having to go through something like this, but you will always have my support no matter what.

    I’ll be praying that things work out for you.
    xx

    August 21, 2011
  • Stephen

    Unbelievable. All this copy-catting is really starting to make my blood boil now (so I can only imagine how you guys feel). Wishing this guy very bad karma….

    August 21, 2011
  • KON

    Gosh, I’m surprised, how many attempts you start, to get in contact with somebody, who definitely doesn’t intent to answer or react in any way or the other. If it would be me having to deal with such persons, I would have gone verbally berserk…

    I hope, you can get rid of him without aging für years.

    Best wishes from the continent.

    August 21, 2011
  • Wow. I’m so sorry you are bothered by copycats again! I really wonder why so many people target you. I hope Mr. Martino is re-thinking his business name! Is there any chance he had a design firm come up with this and they were the ones copying? What a mess!

    Relatable Style

    August 21, 2011
  • maz aka MallyMon

    Oh, no, I can’t believe it! How absolutely awful. And how awful that this person won’t even communicate with you. But then, that’s what usually happens, I guess. Good luck!! Please don’t worry about blogging again about it, I just wish people would stop doing this kind of thing. The more these copycats are publicised the better! Good luck!! Again. 🙂 x

    August 21, 2011
  • Abby

    All the best Amber!!! My wishes are with you!!! Hope everything will be sorted out. It is very distressing to see that you have to face this after Lin Shuideng. Again, all the best. Be strong girl!!

    August 21, 2011
  • Not again!!! wish you luck, hope this guy gives up before you have to spend your time and money on another copycat.

    August 21, 2011
  • Hi Amber
    You guys obviously do good work – otherwise there would be no point in copying you and stealing your reputation. I hope your message gets out to everyone!
    Cheers
    N

    August 21, 2011
  • This is really really bad and I hope you can get it sorted as quickly as possible. For what it’s worth I’ll put a link on my site, though it doesn’t have a great number of readers. It might help you out somehow though.

    August 21, 2011
  • David

    No evidence to suggest he deliberately copied you in any way. Besides, the presence of another Hot Igloo, halfway across the world won’t affect your business in any way, particularly given that Google returns local results first anyway.

    Of course you could just go on his facebook page and get all your mates to berate him. Hopefully he’ll not lose so much business that he has to let staff go, directly impacting the lives of people who have nothing to do with the origins of this situation.

    If he was taking business away from you and benefitting from it then I’d understand, however you appear to be just another small, web design “agency” who for some reason seems to think that [Edited to remove personal information.] Honesty eh?

    August 21, 2011

    • No evidence to suggest he deliberately copied you in any way.

      It’s irrelevant whether it was deliberate or not: he is knowingly using another company’s brand and refusing to enter into a dialogue with them about it, despite repeated requests.

      the presence of another Hot Igloo, halfway across the world won’t affect your business in any way,

      We found out about this because a client typed our name into Facebook, found Albert’s page, and contacted us to ask about it. This suggests that there IS the possibility of two identical brands causing confusion. We’re an internet business, and we don’t only deal with clients in our local area: in fact, we have many clients in the US, so yes, this could affect our business. Also, this person is making comments using our business name: it could be damaging to our reputation if, for instance, he makes comments we don’t agree with.


      Of course you could just go on his facebook page and get all your mates to berate him.

      Or he could just have responded to any one of the various messages we’ve sent him over the course of the past week, requesting a private conversation, and all of this would have been avoided. We haven’t asked anyone to berate him.

      Hopefully he’ll not lose so much business that he has to let staff go, directly impacting the lives of people who have nothing to do with the origins of this situation.

      And hopefully we won’t lose so much business that we’ll lose our home. I doubt he will be losing too much business out of a brand he started a few weeks ago vs a site with the same name we have been running for several years. The very fact that you have chosen to focus on Albert’s potential loss of business rather than ours leads me to believe that, for whatever reason, you have a biased opinion on this matter. Again, if Albert is worried about losing business, then it might have been better for him not to have ignored our repeated requests for a conversation. We’ve made it very clear that we wanted to resolve this privately: Albert refuses to speak to us, deletes our messages and blocks us. In fact, YOU seem much more concerned about the potential damage to his reputation than he is: at the time of writing, Albert doesn’t seem to care about this in the slightest.


      If he was taking business away from you and benefitting from it then I’d understand,

      How do you know he isn’t? You seem to think you know a lot about this issue, including information we haven’t made public. This makes me wonder who you really are, and what your actual agenda is.


      you appear to be just another small, web design “agency” …

      I had to remove a portion of your comment as Amber does not post her exact location on her blog for privacy reasons. This part of your comment doesn’t actually have anything to do with the issue of a rival firm appropriating our brand, it;s just an attempt to be snide and take cheap shots at our business. Totally impartial observer, are you?


      Honesty eh?

      This from someone using a fake email address to support someone who is trading under another company’s name. I’m sure you have your reasons to want to defend this kind of behaviour, “David”, but we use our real identities here so it’s a shame you feel the need to hide behind fake names, and, again, makes it seem like you have some other agenda to pursue.

      August 21, 2011
      • Zoe

        Bravo Terry, Bravo

        August 22, 2011
      • Ana

        Great response Terry! And “David”, regarding your comment : I can’t imagine hat n a globalized world that we leave nowadays you still think that using somebody else name would be ok because they are not in the same country! That’s the most absurd thing I ever heard!

        August 23, 2011
      • G.G.

        SNAP SNAP. Hope you’re good at tennis, David, cos you just got SERVED.

        August 24, 2011
    • Cameron

      Hello reality check coming up for David, the evidence is plain for all to see, if Mr Martino is as he purports to be a “Search Engine Optimization specialist” then the first thing he should have done was Google the name because that’s what specialists do. Nobody likes to find themselves in situations like this but Mr Martino should at least speak to the people involved after all he’s not the only person with staff to consider.

      August 21, 2011
  • My God, you must have the worst copy-cat luck ever?!? I hope this gets resolved soon. I feel so so bad for you cause this must ben so frustrating and discouraging. I hope you, Amber & Terry ( & a shout out to Rubinman.) know that you’ve got people who support you and wellwishers and it’s not just a bunch of assholes out there on the net. BTW do you have a trademark for HotIgloo? I sure hope this is one of the last problems like this you have to face, seems so unfair! You should be spending your time writing creative perfect posts like you always do and not have to worry about people stealing from you!

    August 22, 2011
  • I hope this gets sorted out Amber, the last thing you guys need is ANOTHER person ‘caughty doing a mcnaughty!’ As someone else who makes a living from their online business I can completely understand your frustration. Ps, only just catching up on the blogs after a few weeks and am now becoming highly obsessed with the idea of going to San Francisco thanks to you! Looks like you had an amazing time. Becky x

    August 22, 2011
  • Claire

    I don’t have anything useful to add, just to say I’m so sorry that this has happened again.

    I wish you luck getting the site shut down quickly with minimum fuss. People don’t seem to appreciate that in a small business there is very little time, and something like this can easily steal all of your time.

    And David….seriously!???

    August 22, 2011
      • KON

        Please, don’t say something so depressing (though I truly understand your frustration). Other peoples jobs shouldn’t weight more than your own. It’s just ridiculous what he wrote, like hell, this is business – not “we better be nice and all of us can play together”.
        The only thing I could suggest would be to do something really exemplary, so others think twice before ripping you off.

        But pleeeeaaaase, keep your spirit up, it would be depressing to know, that internet is such a threat to small businesses, that there is no option but to give up.

        August 22, 2011
      • Abby

        It is sad Amber. But your strength and will to fight send a message to any other copycats that you will not let someone else take what is yours. It is an inspiration to other bloggers who might face this sort of outrageousness.
        As for the rant, glad to hear one if it helps take a load off your mind.
        Love and Hugs
        Abby

        August 23, 2011
  • What I can’t understand is why anyone would *want* for their business to have the same name as another one. I mean, I understand that it means there is the potential to poach business but surely the drawbacks of people confusing the businesses far outweigh any (totally shady) positives.

    I’m so sorry you and Terry are having to fight this again. I can’t begin to imagine how dispiriting it must be to have to work as hard at deflecting attacks like this as you do at your actual business x

    August 22, 2011
  • Again? You’d think people would learn by now. And I consider it pathetic and irresponsible that people cannot take TWO SECONDS to google a site name before they use it. If they don’t even have the common sense to do that, I’d hate to see how they run their business.

    August 22, 2011
  • Zoe

    I’m sitting here wondering what this guy THOUGHT would happen. If he googled Hot Igloo before hand and still chose that company name, did he think he wouldn’t be found out? And once you contacted him, what does he think he will accomplish by ignoring you? Unless he’s three he should know that ignoring a problem generally doesn’t make it go away.

    August 22, 2011
  • Itzel

    Some people don’t think about the consequences of what they do, it’d be so easy for him to just chance the name. I hope this doesn’t take too much energy and time from you. Someone I went to uni with was well known for being a plagiarist, she always denied it but we knew she preferred to take the easy way. She even stole my dog’s name (a name I made up) and I was soooo cross, I told everyone about her latest theft, I can only imagine how you feel.

    August 22, 2011
  • I hope this wraps itself up more quickly than the last debacle did. I guess you have such good ideas people just can’t help jumping on the band wagon and quite literally stealing stuff. Good luck, Laura x

    August 22, 2011
  • Lindsay

    Nice one Terry for putting Albert eh sorry ‘David’ straight 🙂

    August 22, 2011
    • 😉

      August 22, 2011
  • Jaynie

    I don’t comment very often, but I do read, and I am flabbergasted by the sheer volume of people who so desperately want to be you that they sabotage your business to live in its shadows. What I really wanted to say, though, was that I am constantly impressed by the grace and maturity you (and Terry — and Rubin?) show in dealing with these people, even though they are so obviously in the wrong. You would be totally justified in throwing the biggest temper tantrum ever at finding another thief, but instead you try to deal with the situation privately, allowing the copycat several chances to fess up and back out. It’s really wonderful to see.

    I hope you can get this sorted quickly — you know you’ve got tons of readers, both regular commenters and not, behind you.

    August 22, 2011
  • jc

    A quick look at Mr Martino’s site tells you he is no professional, his forward thinking does not seem to go further than his nose. This is a prime example of how not to go about marketing anything. Rule one being find an original name.Something like “Honest Dave” might be worth a try, oh no some joker already has that one, its just the facts he is missing.

    August 22, 2011
  • Emma

    Either he has blocked me, or the Facebook page is gone!

    I am so sorry this has happened to you guys. I bet I am not the only person who thinks “David” is part of this copycat company.

    Please don’t lose hope, I love your blog and would hate everything to be ruined for you.

    August 22, 2011
      • Mona

        Maybe because if you google “Thinkhouse” it brings up an Irish PR agency and another internet marketing firm in Long Island, NY? Good luck with this, I am sorry you have to deal with this – again.

        August 22, 2011
      • Hi Amber,
        Just to let you know that I’m in Australia and can’t see that page either. Perhaps someone in the US can let you know if it’s visible there.

        August 23, 2011
  • Ruth

    So sorry to hear this is happening to you again! I really hope it gets resolved quickly, you dont deserve this stress. You have been very reasonable so far, it must be hard. Good luck, I dont have much I can say but just wanted to offer my support!

    August 22, 2011
  • maz aka MallyMon

    Is this any good? http://hotigloo.net/contact.html
    Just wondering if people could message this person via this contact form. It’s all really sickening. Why can’t all these copycats just invent their own brand names? It’s not difficult to do. Good luck, once more! 🙂 x

    August 23, 2011
      • I’m in Serbia, and can see his FB page. If you need info on what’s going on, feel free to contact me. Not much, but still. Also, now that I’ve seen the aforementioned page, I’m not at all surprised by his actions. I mean, one of his posts is a link to a logo of a random company, which he basically says is sh*t, so that he can point out how important good branding is. One, if it’s so important, you would think he’d come up with an original name and logo himself. Two, his idea of advertising is slagging off other people’s logos. Classy!

        August 24, 2011
          • They’re still there! Maybe Al has now decided to avoid FB altogether. Or maybe he’s too busy coming up with another company name to steal!

            August 24, 2011
            • Zoe

              I don’t believe he’s posted for a few days. Maybe he is going AWOL

              August 24, 2011
  • Delaney

    It appears that they have blocked all commenting, as I’m in the US and there’s no option. I’m so sorry that this keeps happening to you! I’ve been reading your blogs for a while (I was searching for prom dresses in my junior year of high school, and stumbled upon a hilarious Fashion Police Ugly Prom Dress post), and I’ve only commented once or twice, but I want to voice my support. Keep fighting the good fight! Or as long as you can, anyway. Before you either collapse from exhaustion or run out of money…People are so thoughtless!

    August 23, 2011
  • Laura Maggie

    Another silent reader popping in. I just wanted to say that even though I don’t comment on your posts, I read every one of your blogs daily and I have laughed myself silly over some of the posts; and thought about others for hours afterwards.

    So even though I can’t help you directly in any way, I can say that I admire your work and I admire you and I hope this will sort itself out somehow. I would feel sincerely sad if you had to close any of your blogs.

    August 23, 2011
  • Emily I.

    Hello,

    Since you’ve been through this so many times already (sorry!) I know you have legal counsel already, but if you need one in the US I could put you in touch with our son, an attorney in Alabama. I don’t know if this is up his street, but he also writes for several websites, is honest and has very reasonable rates.

    Don’t feel bad about bringing this in the open, I check this site and Fashion Police first thing every morning and you have provided a lot of enjoyment for free, and much better fashion sense than current magazines. There’s no point to registered names, copyright or international law if everyone is going to ignore them.

    August 23, 2011
    • Gary I.

      Emily I. sounds like a very bright, sensitive person. She’s probably very good looking as well. I’ve found that nice qualities often go together.

      I too find your writing and photos very entertaining, sometimes educational, and definitely worthwhile.

      Strangely enough, like Emily I., – wait, that doesn’t sound right. Start again:
      By strange coincidence, I also have a son who is an attorney, also in Alabama, also involved with writing for various websites. What are the odds? Anyway, that’s a legitimate offer of legal assistance in the U.S. if needed.

      TTFN

      August 23, 2011
  • So sorry–fingers crossed for you, and I’ll circulate the information.
    Gits.

    August 23, 2011
  • How does this keep happening to you?! It is so disheartening to think that so many people (and in such a short space of time) have been callous, shady and dishonorable human beings.

    Don’t lose faith and definitely don’t fret about posting about it on here. I will be in the US shortly, and I’ll be more than happy to visit phony Hot Igloo’s page and politely request that Albert gets in touch with you.
    – that is if it isn’t sorted by then and you don’t mind me being a meddling person!
    xx

    August 24, 2011
  • I tried contacting him via the link in the comment above but it didn’t work for me either, but I’m in Europe so that’s probably why.

    Anything we can do to help?

    August 24, 2011
  • Abby

    The homepage of hotigloo.net says ‘We take great pride in delivering fresh and original internet marketing solutions’ Hmm.Interesting.
    I can’t access the facebook page. Don’t tell me he blocked India.

    August 24, 2011
      • Emily I.

        As of right now, your comment and link is up on the faux hotigloo facebook page and has been for 7 hrs. Yeah, when we Americans want original marketing solutions and know how to Google, we obviously turn to someone who takes pride in “smoking dope, making love and loading guns.” Someone who is bright enough to post that information for potential clients, and handles legal disputes by hiding. In a professional mature sort of way. Sign me up! I see his website takes the moral high ground because they (claim to be) green and ride bicycles to work. Wow.
        Since you know he is following this, feel free to edit or not post this at all, I wanted to give you the heads up, not him.

        August 24, 2011
          • Zoe

            Seriously though, what does this guy THINK will happen here? That you will eventually get distracted by a shiny object (or shoe) and forget all about the guy who is stealing your name, image and prospective clients and as such encroaching on your livelihood?

            August 26, 2011
  • e

    Trademark infringement is illegal in the US. If you sue him in the US, you will win. I suggest retaining US counsel (your UK counsel surely has an affiliate or partner in the US).

    August 24, 2011
  • Hi Amber,

    I’m a recurrent visitor to your site and thoroughly enjoy all your content. As a marketing and SEO geek and someone trying to make a presence online i’m astounded and quite angry on your behalf that another company knowingly copied a brand/ company name.
    People like “david” are complete idiots to think that copying a company name is acceptable and will have no impact.
    Furthermore SEO “guru” Albert has to have the brain capacity of a fish to risk setting up a company that already exists elsewhere… it makes no sense from a brand perspective.
    OK i’m ranting now… and will probably rant more.. i’ll tweet this out to get some awareness going for you!

    August 24, 2011
  • Amy

    Don’t know if you’ve tried his Google+ account yet?
    https://plus.google.com/103472312507431692941

    Sorry this keeps happening to both of you. 🙁

    I don’t know if you have done it already, but you might consider a donation fund so we can help pay for lawyers. I’d happily chunk some money your way even just to say thank you for all the entertainment over the years.

    August 25, 2011
    • Zoe

      Oh my god, have you seen his last buzz post? It’s from March so well before this happened I guess, but his Gandhi quote seems perfect for this situation. Provided that Amber is the “you” and he the “they.”

      “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”
      — Mahatma Gandhi

      So, he’s done the ignoring. I’m going to guess that “David” was the ridiculing. So the good news is Amber, that according to him you only have one more step before you win!

      August 26, 2011
        • Albertis a fraud…ethics are not part of his DNA..He posted on his sites once that he was sending 5% of all his proceeds to the American Cancer Society….He never sent them money , he used their logo w/o permission and they sent him letters making him stop. Albert once pitched this concept on my web sites..to say to donate to a charity and keep the money..he obvious was serious cause he did it after I fired him for being a LOSER.

          May 3, 2012
  • Amy

    Ack, chuck! Not chunk. :p

    August 25, 2011
  • Rachel

    Hi Amber.

    Please don’t stop posting this stuff on your blog. I think it’s really important that people know just how many copycats are out there. If nothing else, it might stop a few people who would otherwise copy a blog like yours.

    August 26, 2011
  • As per most of your previous commenter (ie: Not David), I heartily agree with them all. Go you guys! Just so you know you have supporters all other the world. If you started a fund, I could send you some Aussie dollars, they are worth more than american ones at the moment anyway! 🙂 Good luck, and remember to hug your dog…. and your husband.

    August 27, 2011
  • Hmm. If there is one good thing to come out of all this carry on it is that you and Terry are going to be able to host a set of seminars re Online Brand Protection 101 at a Bloggers Conference. Not a bad idea actually – get everyone to put in a donation to hear you guys speak and the proceeds could go into a trust fund for fighting McNaughties.

    August 27, 2011
  • I can’t believe I haven’t commented on this post yet! Sorry for that! I hope there will come an end to all the people trying to copy your business and name. I can only imagine how hard this must be for you and Terry, but you know you can always count on your readers for support! We love you 😉

    And what I really don’t understand: why is it so hard for people to invent their own business name instead of just taking someone elses???

    August 27, 2011
  • Sammi

    Amber, I am so sorry that this is happening yet again.

    I checked the reviews on his facebook and yours is still there. as well as this new one that I just left for you. I really hope Albert will pay attention now and that this gets resolved as soon as possible.

    I can’t even give this one star. Maybe you would get more positive reviews if you didn’t sit here and pretend that you came before Amber. Her life is based off of HER Hot Igloo brand. She can lose EVERYTHING if you continue to rip her off like this. Would it really be so hard to simply change your name to something else because of this conflict? I’m sure if you actually decided to simply talk with Amber and Terry a compromise would easily be reached. The fact that you sit here and continue to just ignore everything they try to do just makes your reputation go down the drain. The world knows this problem and a google search of your name just comes up with amber’s post of how you rip her off and then refuse to even acknowledge her existence. Have fun with people seeing this review and then never wanting anything to do with your company.

    August 29, 2011
  • Zoe

    Amber, the Think House/Imposter Hot Igloo page no longer exists. Did you have something to do with that or did he cut and run?

    September 9, 2011
    • Yes, we filed a DMCA with Facebook and they’ve removed the page 🙂 This is really good news for us, because it means that Facebook agreed that what Albert was doing was wrong: it’s not easy to get Facebook to remove a page, so the fact that they were willing to do it says a lot about how Albert’s other web hosts might act.

      It’s sad that it had to come to this, though, because it means that Albert has now lost all of the followers he had on that page, and all of the posts he put onto it. If he’d just agreed to speak to us about this, that wouldn’t have happened, because we’d have worked something out with and allowed him time to rebrand, so there would’ve been minimal impact on him. But as it is, it’s been over a month now since we first tried to contact him, and we’ve yet to hear a word from him, which leaves us no option but to go down this route.

      September 10, 2011
      • Zoe

        Well, I hope this is the end of this mess. It is sad it ended this way but honestly, he only has himself to blame.

        September 10, 2011
  • https://www.facebook.com/hotiglooSEO albert is still on face book

    May 3, 2012
  • Anonymous!

    Ahh I see how you keep the truth from getting out that what you’re fighting against is completely legal, you screen your comments. Clever!

    November 23, 2012

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