I was sent a mailer by the Official Yellow Pages asking me to check a box to keep my listing. It read "not an invoice" and also read "do not send payment" so I thought it was for the free listing I have in my local yellow pages. Weeks later someone from the company called me and told me that it was only 399 to have my listing. I tried to say I wasn't interested and they were very pushy on the phone. When I finally grew weary of the salestalk, $3.99 didn't sound so bad so I agreed. I was then billed for $399!
I refused to pay the invoice as I felt I had been scammed. When I spoke to them by phone to report a mistake, they said they had a tape of my original agreement and written mailer and that I had to pay or it would go to collections and ruin my credit report. When I heard the tape recording the amount they told me was very unclear and sounded like 399 (as in $3.99) when they were actually meaning $399 dollars. I tried to get them to let my account go and they refused. I asked to speak with a supervisor and he refused to clear my account. Feeling very pressured I finally agreed to an electronic settlement payment for $200.
Last month I viewed my account online and noticed two electronic payments to the Official Yellow Pages for $200 each, one of which I did not authorize.
I called them and was on hold for 30 minutes before hanging up. I then called Thompson Hill Publishing and told them my situation. They put me though to a man called Adam Stevenson who heard my plea and apologized for the double withdrawl. He told me he would take care of it. Two weeks later my account still had not been credited and I am very upset about the entire scam. I do hope there is a class action suit against the two affiliate companies.
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