‘My Old Boss Demanded I Put Domain Names on My Personal Credit Card. I Said No Problem, Then Quit.’ : Employee Sets Petty Terms When Company Begs for Domain Names They Forced Employee to Put On His Personal Credit Card

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    Font - Posted by u/ExtremeConditions 6 hours ago Put that on my personal credit card. Okay. LOC In 2000 I was hired by a company in the construction industry. In 2002 they asked me to help start a new division of the company. 'They' are the owners and the general manager. The general manager made it known he
  • 02
    Font - had a bug up his butt for me after my first year. Intermittent little digs, flippant attitude, demeaning, etc. Cut to after we get the new division up and running and I request being able to start a web presence, ownership is all over the endeavor while the general manager brushes me off and says, "It's your division, do what you want."
  • 03
    Font - My division functioned with a separate business name. As I'm purchasing the domain name, my thoughts turned to the mothership and how it has zero web presence. Checked out and lined up the actual two business names and several close permutations so they would be somewhat secure in knowing their
  • 04
    Font - business names couldn't be taken out from under them. I go to the general manager and ask for a check from the main company to pay for the domain names and he, again, brushes me off, saying, "It's your division (his favorite line), do what you want. You've got a credit card! Expense it like anything else!!" I did start to ask, 'Are you sure you want me to put it on my personal... and was curtly cut off.
  • 05
    Font - By 2004 my division was running at a %44 profit margin which netted $750,000.00 USD a year. In the first six months of its existence, I'd already paid back the build out, training, machines, equipment, all the startup/setup... that is how successful this division was. The general
  • 06
    Font - manager became jealous of my achievements and tried to seize control over operations citing he was the general manager of the entire company whereas prior, it was my division to do what I wanted. Each horn in by him, I'd deflect and defend my division. By 2005 I'd had enough and ended up quitting as I heard he
  • 07
    Font - was preparing to fire me to fully seize the shiny penny as his own and take all the credit. I planned ahead, saved money, quit, and took six months off; it was a spring to fall extravaganza of doing whatever the heck I chose. Good times. Good fricken times.
  • 08
    Font - About a year later, I can't remember exactly how long, a charge appeared on my credit card for my former company's domain names; being for several, the amount stood out like a sore thumb. I called and verified the charge and who/what it was for and in my conversation with a very nice person, they said, "Yes, Mister X, all of these names are registered to you."
  • 09
    Font - About three years after I'd left the old company, my phone rings and guess what number pops up on the screen? Oh, yeah, I let that go to voice mail. The message was from the bookkeeper asking if I could return their call. Next day, here they try again but straight to voice mail they go. After a week of messages that were now pleading me to call them back, I return the bookkeepers call.
  • 10
    Font - Well, the cat came out of the bag and the main company finally decided to build out a web presence and had shelled out a ton of money to do so. Think, online catalog, interactive webpage, all the things we expect now, but were 'high tech' then and were just coming into functional
  • 11
    Font - reality. Lo and behold, when they went to get their beautiful dot com up and functioning, their exact name was taken as well as a string of similar ones they could have used had I not snatched them up.
  • 12
    Font - The bookkeeper asked me to release the names to them. I indicated that would be very easy to do. It's a simple matter of signing them off, no? They agreed as their anxious web builder had prepped them for the chat with me. I said I'd be happy to turn the keys to the kingdom over to them, but I wanted a few things...
  • 13
    Font - -Reimbursed for all expenses up until that point for owning the domain names. -A finder's fee... that p ed them off, but what can I say, I was yelled at to put their domain names on my personal credit card.
  • 14
    Font - -And the general manager himself would have to hand deliver the check. That third line item was a sticking point, but dear mister manager was forced to bend the knee. I mean, I certainly wasn't going to budge.
  • 15
    Font - General manager shows up at the appointed place, hands me the check, and barks at me about returning THEIR DOMAIN NAMES TO THEM TODAY. He did this so loudly people in the coffee shop we met at turned and stared. I laughed and said, "After the check clears, sure, yeah."
  • 16
    Font - He balked and insisted I immediately transfer the names to them as I was holding up, "...the entire show." As I left, I smiled and said, "You're to blame here. You yelled at me to put the domain names on my credit card." He was absolutely fuming at this point. "Besides, I love taking your advice to 'do what I want,' remember? And I am.
  • 17
    Font - StormBeyond Time +2. 5 hr. ago Play greedy stupid games... Good on you, OP. Getting nasty GM to hand over the check was more than worth the price-gouging you could have done.
  • 18
    Font - Epsilon92 5 hr. ago Man if only they had someone as capable as you on the books they might not have had to shell out. Oh well Vote Reply Share
  • 19
    Font - DarthKiwiChris • edited 52 min. ago +1 - 2 hr. ago The moment he barked at you, you should have ripped the cheque in half and said, "go reissue this like a good boy and try again with politeness.. If we do this a 3rd time, the price goes up"
  • 20
    Font - gozba +1 • 29 min. ago I knew a guy who, quick of mind before the internet really took off, claimed the domain of his employers name (a big airport). Then when the company wanted a presence on the internet, he handed over the domain. Later he kicked himself for it, telling he should have sold it to them.
  • 21
    Font - vmBob 15 min. ago It's the businesses fault for letting you in the first place, but you absolutely should have used a corporate identity to register those even if the bill was going to a personal cc. If they had decided to sue you instead of paying you, they would have won.

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