Newsclips

Hey, that’s my name!

When Jamie Cain founded her Akron computer firm in 1995, she wanted to convey her company’s mission in her business name. So she went to great lengths to secure the identity that Internet companies are now clamoring to call their own.

If you’ve driven near the intersection of Arlington Road and I-77, you’ve likely seen her building’s 50-foot-high, 10 feet by 16 feet sign touting the company name: Dot.Com Technologies Inc.

“We’re a computer consulting company that does all the really complicated stuff in back-end Internet development, so I picked out Dot.Com Technologies and acquired first-use rights on April 4, 1995. But today, it’s an ongoing battle with other companies trying to say they’re ‘Dot.Com,’” she says, explaining that although the trademark remains unassigned, her attorney assures her that it’s her baby, due to her first-rights claim.

Unfortunately, Cain was too late to seize the same moniker for her Web site. So she settled for DTIServices.com. On the up side, she says the business name has boosted the value of her company.

Misplaced priorities?

When a patient recently attempted to schedule minor surgery recommended by her doctor, the appointment clerk expressed surprise that the procedure was being scheduled before the insurance company approved payment. The patient was, in turn, amazed that anyone would wait to see what insurance would pay — or even care if it did.

Hugh McLaughlin, D.O., of Cuyahoga Falls Family Practice, explains that managed care insurance has changed everything.

“It’s a whole different scene than five years ago. Today, many patients get so frustrated because their insurance won’t pay for certain procedures, and if it’s not covered, they’ll go without the procedure even though they know their medical condition will worsen.”

But there’s a twist, says McLaughlin.

“Often, these are the same patients who will argue about a $10 co-pay and show up in my office three months later with a $6,000 breast implant paid for out of pocket!”

Personal calls on company time?

Why would a business owner enlist the help of a private investigator?

Besides rounding up the usual suspects in cases such as embezzlement and missing inventory, Design Safety Investigations Inc. in Fairlawn gets some strange calls from CEOs. Company president Joe Forgach and his partner Andy Kasarda recently closed a case that involved some very personal calls on company time.

Alarmed at outrageous charges on his firm’s monthly telephone bills, a CEO asked Forgach to solve the mystery.

“It sounded like someone was going to porno sites on the Internet and billing it through the Internet Service Provider. Turned out, an employee was disconnecting the computer from its dedicated service line and putting a phone in its place to make calls to a porno establishment,” Forgach reveals.

Rather than providing a credit card number to pay the 900 number fees, the employee had the charges reversed.