General > General Technical Chat
Companies that hide their address... why?
rodcastler:
I work for one of the largest tech companies in the world that has been around for more than four decades and is currently one of the leaders in the industry. The street address is nowhere visible on the website and that doesn't make the company it any less legit.
I also run a small business of my own, from home, and I don't publish my address anywhere on that website either because well, it's my home.
Back to the large company scenario, it makes no sense to publish a street address on the website. What for? Customer support is performed 100% digitally, so is product delivery, contract signing, payments, product development and so on. Plus, in the past 2 years we've been reducing office space everywhere towards a home office model so yes: you will find plenty of physical addresses on the web or some legal document but it will be of no use to our customers, at all.
We live in a world where your website IS your address. I can relate to the fact that for many of us a street address provides a certain sense of security, but to me that is merely a psychological matter, and I can anticipate the generations that come after us will not even think of this.
ebastler:
In the European Union, EU directive 2000/31/EC makes it a legal requirement that contact information and address are provided on any website which offers "information society services". Member states have to put appropriate national legislation in place, e.g. in Germany the "Telemediengesetz" (TMG).
That strange term "information society services" is defined broadly and includes e.g. online shops, online product catalogs, and other information offerings which serve a commercial purpose (and are typically, but not necessarily, offered for a charge). So there should not be much debate whether a EU-based commercial website makes the company's address available.
james_s:
--- Quote from: mendip_discovery on May 06, 2023, 06:22:14 am ---I get a mix of issues, part of it is my works fault. At times my paperwork will have the address for the head office where the accounts are done. I need to find the site they have in Wilton and that is all I have. At times I am doing a different onsite each day so I don't have the head space to be planning and working out these issues until the night before or the morning of the job. Going to the main website and they don't list the addresses of the other sites just makes it tougher.
I have an address on my paperwork when you put the address into google maps I get the rough area that the firm is located but they could be anywhere on that industrial site or postcode area so I might not be on the right road so takes time to find them. Even worse when it's a company that has a different company in the building as they are doing a Trading As type thing.
--- End quote ---
That sounds like a problem with the company you work for rather than the companies you are visiting. If they are going to send you out to a customer site, it is their duty to make sure they have a correct and concise address included in the paperwork you get, along with any specific instructions for locating or gaining access. You should not be expected to rely on public internet sources to find your destination.
james_s:
--- Quote from: ebastler on May 06, 2023, 12:45:19 pm ---In the European Union, EU directive 2000/31/EC makes it a legal requirement that contact information and address are provided on any website which offers "information society services". Member states have to put appropriate national legislation in place, e.g. in Germany the "Telemediengesetz" (TMG).
That strange term "information society services" is defined broadly and includes e.g. online shops, online product catalogs, and other information offerings which serve a commercial purpose (and are typically, but not necessarily, offered for a charge). So there should not be much debate whether a EU-based commercial website makes the company's address available.
--- End quote ---
That's bizarre, and people actually operate home based businesses under those rules? There is no way I would do that, my home address is private, there is absolutely no reason for it to be publicly posted. Here standard practice for home based businesses is to use a PO box for all physical correspondence.
james_s:
--- Quote from: JPortici on May 06, 2023, 07:52:46 am ---If you don't know the address, or the address is not legit you can't send the police in case of a scam. Been there.
--- End quote ---
If it's a registered business the authorities are able to get the physical address of the owner.
If it's a scam business they could just as easily list a fake address. Say you look on their site and it shows an address, you look that up on google and it's a nondescript business park a few hundred miles away, how do you know it's legit? Are you going to drive there and check it out before you do business? After you get scammed, maybe the authorities drop by and it turns out it's just an empty building, or occupied by some other business, what good did that do? Having a reasonable looking address doesn't mean the company is legit.
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