Not! The Return of Hy-mac!

[Jeremy Rowland]

There has been a rumour circulating since around 2006 that Hy-mac will be making a return and will be selling a new range of 360 degree machines.
I wish to dispel this rumour and inform you all of the truths about what I have learned of this so called return. When I was first became aware of this rumour I suspected that it could not be true and when I contacted Richard Gould of Hymac Parts & Service back in 2006 he confirmed that there was no plans to re-start any production or to import and re-badge any machines as Hy-mac machinery so I duly dismissed this as little more than wishful thinking.
The only information that I had been made aware of regarding this so called return of Hy-mac was a rather spurious website which was far from complete and really gave no indication of any substantial plan to produce or import machinery furthermore and more importantly it was NOT related in any way to the real Hy-mac company with which we are all familiar.
Now I had thought that was the end of all this rumour until I sat down with Richard Gould to complete the calendar that Hy-mac Parts & Service produced and sold in 2009.
Before I proceed any further I am sure that you all recognise a few simple laws of this land and not just this land but international law too, now just imagine for one minute a hypothetical view that you had decided to set up a company to manufacture bulldozers for example, and you decided to call this company Caterpillar? What do you think would happen? Yes you got it okay Caterpillar would sue you for naming your company after their name and product. You see this is why manufacturers register their branding and trade marks to stop any Tom, Dick or Harry from cashing in on their good name.
Now for the real juicy gossip it may come as a surprise to you that one company who did NOT bother to register its trading name was Hy-mac!!
Not long after Richard Gould posted adverts in Classic Plant & Machinery magazine for the 2009 calendar he got a telephone call from somebody who claimed that they had registered the Hy-mac name and demanded that Richard used their “new” Hy-mac logo on the calendar and also to link it to their website.
Now when Richard phoned me about this I told him that there was no way in which this person could “muscle in” on the calendar, and I told Richard to tell this person to f**k off in no uncertain terms. I know that Richard contacted his solicitor about this issue and was reliably informed that because Richard had been using that trading name for the last 15 years or so there was no way in which he could be taken to court by the person claiming to have the registered Hy-mac trade name and logo’s.
Okay you may wonder why I have suddenly decided to break cover on this story now? Well I was looking at this spurious website only this last Saturday and was rather surprised to see Tony Flints reconditioned Hy-mac 580C advertised for sale on that site amongst a lot of other equipment. Here is the real issue; that machine has been sold for well over one month now, it was advertised on that site without Tony Flint’s knowledge and I have spoken to him about this, also my photographs of that machine have been used for possible commercial gain without my permission. Furthermore the site has been set up in a way to delude any who may visit that they represent the real Hy-mac company which they certainly do not, they even use Hy-mac’s old London address?
Right then the crux of the matter is very simple somebody (and although I know the location of this person I do not actually know who they are) has registered the Hy-mac name and logo’s with the intention of importing machines from the far east and then putting the Hy-mac name on them with the intention of fooling potential customers that they are the real Hy-mac company, make no mistakes they are NOT the real company.
This so far appears to be a very poorly bodged exercise to say the least on their behalf and to be fair it will not have much chance of succeeding; modern companies like JCB and the other big names manufacture and sell machines on a much larger scale than the original Hy-mac company could ever of hoped for. Indeed Hy-mac in its death throes tried to cut costs by having machines manufactured overseas that lead to even worse quality issues. This new venture has also set off on the wrong foot by trying to fool people by insulting their intelligence, and that is not good a thing people aren’t stupid.
Just try phoning the number on their website, it simply diverts you to somebody’s mobile how unprofessional is that then? If you wish to visit this site then simply go to www.hymac.com and just for fun have a look at page two of the excavator stock list!

[martyn williams]

The mind boggles
Martyn

[Holger]

Interesting!
Here you can see the person who registered the domain:
http://domains.whois.com

[Nick Drew]

Always thought it was a con

Interesting read Jeremy ...thanks for posting

Nick

[Holger]

Spreading the word:
http://www.maskinisten.net/viewtopic.php?p=244482#244482

[stui]

Always thought it was a con

Interesting read Jeremy ...thanks for posting

Nick

your right they are scams,heard of a few plant dealers getting caught out,usually the price is to good to be true,but they end up sending a cheque over and never see any machinery

[newjcb123uk]

Glad you broke the story Jeremy - I have also had issues relating to hassle from this firm - various phone calls demanding a share of royalities from the sale of Hymac models - Have you ever??? Incidently surely on a technical note the name this bloke has registed is
HY-MAC as in hy dash mac - What about the un hyphened version, simply Hymac - surely thats still the property of the last remaining owners - John Kennedy and Frigico? When it comes to legals a full stop can make all the difference.

[Martyn Henley]

Interesting read Jeremy .. had to have little grin looking in the gallery section and seeing that 370C all done up to look modern ..

So Richard got contacted as well ... well i know he could not put up with that sort of nonsense, and i remember you telling me about this last year Chris

Martyn

[Jeremy Rowland]

Glad you broke the story Jeremy - I have also had issues relating to hassle from this firm - various phone calls demanding a share of royalities from the sale of Hymac models - Have you ever??? Incidently surely on a technical note the name this bloke has registed is
HY-MAC as in hy dash mac - What about the un hyphened version, simply Hymac - surely thats still the property of the last remaining owners - John Kennedy and Frigico? When it comes to legals a full stop can make all the difference.

Thanks guys!! There are a few more bits to add here firstly Chris I am so glad that you pointed out the difference with the name Hymac and Hy-mac now I have it on good authority that this guy has registered all of these trade marks and the cost ain't cheap either.
Obviously all of Hymac's former owners never bothered to register any of the trade names for this company or else our mysterious friend here is telling porky pies?

Incidently he also demanded a cut from any money made on the Hymac calendar, you really cannot believe what a nerve some folk have can you?

I suspect but cannot prove that this guy may be a small time used machine dealer with bigger ideas, either that or he is a big time fraud?
I think if he had threatened me I would of asked to see evidence of his registration of the Hymac name before telling him to **** off

Jeremy

[Jeremy Rowland]

Well just a quick update here to say that I spoke to Tony Flint this afternoon and Tony had phoned the contact number listed on the bogus site to pose as an interested party in purchasing the 580C that he had re-conditioned.
It will not surprise you to learn that there was no answer which inmany ways is a real shame because I would love to hear what the reply would of been.
Perhaps Tony will get a call from the site owner asking how much he wants for the 580C
I would be very surprised if there is any real plant for sale on that site at all?
I have now identified the person behind this Hymac scam site but will not be naming and shaming at this time.
I wonder why somebody would go to all of the expense to do what this person has done and try and scam things, it just does not make any real sense.
Incidently here is the link to the proper Hymac site:

http://www.hymac-parts.co.uk/

Jeremy