anybody suggest mymini.com? To me it suggests that once I purchased it, it became mine not under the legal jurisdiction of bmw (lowercase on purpose)...which leads me to another thought: BMW spells it all caps? why not use the project name in all lowercase?

I did not buy my car because of this website, I would buy it regardless...I do agree with all others who stated that this site is a phenomenal witness to everyone's collective enthusiasm...especially Mark's. Kudos to you my man.

 

>> BMW spells it all caps? why not use the project name in all lowercase?

e-mail addresses and URLs are case-insensitive.

Try going to hTtP://GooGLe.cOm/
and see that it works just fine.

 

sorry for the second post...my brain is just now back on-line:

make this a personal site and all members use vendors advertisements in their signature line!

 

I know domain names are case INsensitive...but my point is that the logo is not

 

I like the idea of a legal defense fund for MCO. Time to stop the lawyers from their bully tactics and fight back. They would never be able to win in court, and their marketing dept would not want the press coverage.

 

Better to die on your feet than live on your knees!

Power to the people!

_________________

 

This company(BMW/MINI) is a pain in the a44. I tried to pay off my car online
and the max. payment you can make online is $5000/month. I want no more
financial dealings with this company and I refuse to let them earn interest that
was being paid by me. $5000 paid online yesterday and the balance will be sent
to them on Thursday by certified check. They have actually lost twice....I was
about to purchase a BMW RT1150 and have now decided on the new Yamaha FJR1300 or the Honda ST1300.
I wish my MINI was made in Japan!!!!
I like leakscoolant.com
My '02 leaked twice and my '03 leaked the day I got it.

 

I must congratulate you folks on your constructiveness and civility. What in a name? Choose a new one. This is no big problem, but this isn’t really about a name. This is about integrity, honesty and principles. So….what is the matter with you people? This is a street fight with a big mean bully. Conversation won’t change the outcome. You are going to get your butt whipped bad. Get angry. Get aggressive. Get even. Wade in, bite, kick, gouge, spit … inflict all the damage you can. Get those signs in your windows. Knock a hole in their sales numbers. Fill their lots with unsold cars.

WISH I HAD A HONDA

WISH I HAD A KIA

PROBLEMS TOO NUMEROUS FOR THIS LITTLE SIGN

MINI WILL HAVE A FIX SOMEDAY

TOWING IS FREE * THAT’S ONE GOOD THING

 

I have to say that this is the among the most absurd things a car company with a cult following could possibly do... I was into Jeeps for years, and never ONCE did I hear of a Jeep club, business, or website that used "Jeep" in the name, DBA, or URL ever hear a whisper from the folks at Mopar or DaimlerChrysler. And, I think we can all agree that 'Jeep' is a pretty strong brand.

Personally, I've already written letters to BMWUSA's top brass on this subject, as well as my local dealers.

I wonder if there isn't a way around this by filing for nonprofit and then charging membership dues? How does the BMWCCA and all their chapters get away with using 'BMW' in their name?

I just can't help but think your disclaimer at the bottom of the page makes it very evident that this is an enthusiast's site... IMHO, BMW is shooting themselves in the foot.

Screw BMW.

BMW Customer Relations
1-800-831-1117

Flood them, people. Email, phone, and snail mail...

 

>>I must congratulate you folks on your constructiveness and civility. What in a name? Choose a new one. This is no big problem, but this isn’t really about a name. This is about integrity, honesty and principles. So….what is the matter with you people? This is a street fight with a big mean bully. Conversation won’t change the outcome. You are going to get your butt whipped bad. Get angry. Get aggressive. Get even. Wade in, bite, kick, gouge, spit … inflict all the damage you can. Get those signs in your windows. Knock a hole in their sales numbers. Fill their lots with unsold cars.
>>
>>WISH I HAD A HONDA
>>
>>WISH I HAD A KIA
>>
>>PROBLEMS TOO NUMEROUS FOR THIS LITTLE SIGN
>>
>>MINI WILL HAVE A FIX SOMEDAY
>>
>>TOWING IS FREE * THAT’S ONE GOOD THING
>>

Crowstone has it right, if you want to play bmw/mini at its game you can only hit in one spot, in the hind quarter where that FAT @RSE WALLET IS!!! And sales is what dictates that. A mini that isn't selling is a dollar they aren't making. And what sells cars? Advertising. And what doesn't sell cars? Advertising. bmwna isn't going to change there mind based on what we say on here. You need to get it written where it hurts: the mags, the TV, online, etc. If it isn't reading 'bmw beats down their own enthusiasts because of a name' then bmw is still winning. We've got 9000 members on here plus the support of the other sites and the best that can be done is to rant on here. Get other people outside of here seeing this. Bad press is the winner here. HIT LOW, HIT HARD, and HIT OFTEN!!

I took the liberty of e-mailing a snippit and the link of this thread to:
the Editors at Edmund.com
the Publisher at carconnection.com
the Business dept. at Denverpost.com
the Editor at Suntimes.com

I figure if they can review the positive side of the car, they can review the ugly side of the company.

My website suggestion is:

fanatics-of-vehicles-made-by-law-abusing-self-serving-corporate-robber-barons.biz

and the .biz is just to twist the knife.

_________________

 

What's next, suing us because our license plate has 'MINI' in it?

 

Wow, what a thread

I forgot who wrote this, but I think it's a great suggestion. I'd be more than happy to buy parts from UK dealerships. I doubt that this is practical for the non-do-it-yourselfer (which is probably the vast majority of MINI owners and non-MCO members). Also, from what I can tell BMW doesn't seem to treat its USA MINI dealers particularly well, so it's doubtful that pressure on dealers will make that much difference...but still, these creative ways of thinking will benefit the cause in the long run.

And as for creative, Teldon, I think that http://www.bavarianwomenarefatandhairy.com is one of the best domain names I've heard in a long time. If Mark doesn't jump on it, then I'm sure some **** site will.

 

The one thing that gets me about this is why did they wait so long to do this? Not like this site hasn't already been here for well over a year.....

 

>>The one thing that gets me about this is why did they wait so long to do this? Not like this site hasn't already been here for well over a year.....

Yeah! Lmini is right!!!

 

Ummmmm.....thanks, Michael.

 

I wish there was a way to win, but I think I can be confident in saying that hiring more lawyers isn't going to work. Unfortunately, BMW has a fairly solid case here and if we spend money on lawyers, we're only going to loose.

I think Mark's original tact is the right one. Best to talk with BMW USA and come to a compromise that satisfies them, or drop the words "MINI" and "Cooper" from the site altogether.

I can say that working for Subaru of America, these things come in waves. Subaru tends to take a softer view of enthusiast websites in the interest of promoting the brand and community. At times, we even leverage these groups for marketing purposes. That's why I was surprised that BMW would choose to take such a hard line here.

If we go to court on this, we're going to loose. So, we can band together and ask BMW to drop the cease and desist or we can come up with a new name (or both).

Any thoughts?

 

ok....here's my note to MINI....

Let me just say that I am appalled to be a founder/president of the KCMINIACS after hearing of the actions being taken to Mark Ferguson and the minicooperonline website. I have put up a post on the KCME club website asking all the members to contact your organization and voice their displeasure. I realize that you must take a branding issue stand but the email correspondence between you and Mark Ferguson regarding alternative names for his website borders on the ridiculous. His site has been a great resource for me since I got my MCS in November as well as being useful to YOU in troubleshooting issues that your people can't seem to resolve (stumble). We are using this as a benefit to the MINI community as a whole and for you to just dismantle it because it doesn't fit into your rigid corporate structure makes me extremely angry and I personally feel you're doing a disservice to me and all other owners who are members of MCO.

 

>>I wish there was a way to win, but I think I can be confident in saying that hiring more lawyers isn't going to work. Unfortunately, BMW has a fairly solid case here and if we spend money on lawyers, we're only going to loose.
>>

i think you're right... but i do think its worth a fair fight without lawyers. afterall, goliath lost!
and i would be happy to sport a sticker on my car that says "BMW SUCKS!"

 

>>TOWING IS FREE * THAT’S ONE GOOD THING
>>

i would definitely put that on my car!
speaking of which, i had my car towed for a flat tire, but i asked the guy how many minis hes towed and he said "tons" and i said "really? for what reasons?" and he said "all different kinds, mostly mechanical issues.."
<<<------ look at my # of posts!
_________________

 

>><<<------ look at my # of posts!
>>_________________
666
Give 'em hell Amanda!!!!

 

Thanks to Clover for drafting the petition. The official version is now ready to be signed.

 

Mark, this is really disappointing to read. I really hope that MINIUSA wisens up and calls a halt to this harassment. For what it's worth, I just fired this off to Customer Relations:

If they don't cease and desist, you could always call the board http://www.formerlyMCO.com

Please set up a thread or sticky if you do set up a legal defense fund. I am willing to contribute on principal alone.

 

The law firm of "Mo, Larry, and Curly Attorneys at Large" is not to blame here...they only present to us what BMW/MINI USA wants to pursue. "You are what you do" would fit here and Jack Pitney should be held accountable for the damage that his aggressive legal abuse causes to the value of our cars and clubs. MINI's advertisers promote an image that MINI's actions destroys My car is worth less to me today than yesterday because I cannot trust MINI anymore and therefore anyone else that pays attention to any of these boards will look upon my car in a less enthusiastic manner.

People who buy MINIs USUALLY dislike SUVs but they ALWAYS hate bullies. How can we trust the ones we are hating at this time to treat us any better than the way they are treating Mark and MCO? We can't. So way should anyone who might buy my car trust MINI? They can't. My car and your's is worth less today because a potential buyer now knows for sure that if if isn't in the best financial interest of MINI, MINI won't take care of a problem with their MINI. Example...windshields...there are others but that's enough to make a point.

Make no mistake, MINI is not just trying to change the name of MCO, they want to steal Mark's MINI-motion.com and they are making a point to any commercial interest that has the word MINI or Cooper in it that they want a much larger part of the aftermarket business.

That beautiful princess MINI turned into a mean spirited BMW ogre yesterday and there is nothing that their ad agency can do to repair that damage. If I had designed that campaign....I'd want to behead Jack Pitney and his logo/dilution/infringement team.

I cannot recommend this car to anyone I care about until Jack Pitney works this out in a decent and fair manner. Please do the right thing and do as you promote!

Why not try MINImumCarsOnline.com ?

Mick Keenoy DVM

 

I wanted to send a letter, even before I finished reading all of the posts.


To whom it may concern,


I purchased a 2003 MINI Cooper S on August 1, 2003. Until yesterday, I was proud of the relationship that MINI had with BMW. However, the recent news of how BMWNA is treating various MINI clubs and websites has reversed my opinion.

It is most unfortunate how BMWNA is handling the trademark of the the name MINI and Cooper in web site addresses, specifically with regard to https://www.northamericanmotoring.com . This site has been in existance for over a year, serving the MINI community far better than MINIUSA has done. A large number of documented car purchases can be attributed to the existance of this site and its usefulness to the buying public. MINIUSA has even included links to the website on its own pages and contributed to the site by replying to messages on the discussion forums. This site has established itself as the best resource for MINI owners in North America and is serving BMWNA.

BMWNA and MINIUSA should not require the minicooperonline.com site to change its address. This site is well know where it is and is doing nothing to deminish the MINI name or reputation. There can be no damage done by leaving this resource for owners and potential owners where it is without change.

Thank you for your consideration,

Tom Clayton

San Jose, CA (408) xxx-xxxx

VIN WMWRExxxxxxxxxx

 

I have to agree with the general idea of grassroots efforts to force Mini to back off. It has been done before. Remember the Rear Fog Light issue? Customer Service reps did everything possible to keep people from trying to complain to their bosses about the problem . Eventually their bosses heard and changed their minds when the press started sniffing around.
The same tactic can work again and we have even more members now to get our point across!
Join hands Ladies and Gentlemen. Speak with a collective voice that is both loud and repetitive. Let Mini know your displeasure.