DDA Directory Distribution Associates - Verizon Yellow Pages
Discriminating/abusive payment practises. Applies payment methods that take advantage of low income workers

Over the past ten years DDA has been employing payment methods which trap low income workers into a never ending cycle of low/below poverty income and take advantage of workers.

DDA is a major distributor of Verizon Phone books. I list Verizons name in this because in some respects they are facilitators of this by using DDA as a cheap distributor of their phone books to save money.

DDA hires individuals as independant contractors to deliver their phone books.
This is a very good system except when abused by companies like DDA

The way it works is DDA implements a daily pay system for its phone book delivery people.

This sounds great at first glance. But as you look further into their system you start to see what occurs.

DDA is known to pay the lowest rate in the industry. Many times paying as low as 8 cents per book when the going rate is 20 to 25 cents to deliver phone books door to door.
This occurs frequently in low income areas such as Worcester, Ma. And Providence, RI.
This isn't relegated to just the poor areas. But the poorer areas do see the lowest of lows in pay rate.

Now here is what happens. They advertise in the local newspapers of the towns they are to deliver which says something like this.
"Help deliver the Verizon phone book. Daily pay."

Now what happens is people who are desperate for money with cars come looking for work.
The managers knowing this hire anyone who shows. This includes mothers with their kids in the car. (They do frown on this but let it go on.) People showing-up in jalopies just waiting to die on the side of the road. People show up in corollas which are in no way designed for phone book delivery.

Most of these newcomers have no idea what the job entails or the actual work needed until they are out doing the job.

Now you have to understand, a delivery route takes about 400 or 500 phone books. Most cars can only hold about 100. Sometimes due to the size of the book a car can only hold about 50 stops of a 400 stop route.

So these poor individuals soon realize that after all the trips they have to make to reload their cars and the gas involved they are making about 25 dollars for a full days work. After lunch they are looking at a 20 dollar take.

Factor in mileage and they really aren't making any money as the wear and tear on their cars will have to be resolved at some point as they have really abused their cars to finish the route.

The real clincher is when they soon realize this they are told they won't be paid unless they finish the delivery. So now they must finish the near no pay delivery just to get even.

Then the poor people or I should say the smart who say forget this and drop the books off and leave are hounded by phone to return the routes. Family members are called and sometimes threats are used like you have our property and are legally required to return it.

Family members are called and called to track down these people relentlessly and threats of calling the police have been used.

So not only does the person who realize he is being taken by DDA, he is further hounded by phone.

DDAs horrible behavior doesn't stop there. They require specific delivery guidelines which further limit the ability to earn any money.

They know the new delivery people don't have a clue to what the job entails so they add stiff delivery guidelines. These include placing by hand the book on the hinge side of the door in a tied bag; marking and timing each delivery; getting signatures from all businesses; walking only on the sidewalk and other specifics.

One of DDAs managers Mary Cook is known for abusing delivery people. She particularly enjoys taking a new delivery persons delivery route and scrutinizing it point by point. These poor souls are made to go back out to a home and move the phone book 1 foot before she gives them their check. I know someone who this happened to!

These are people who are desperate for money and she takes advantage of that.

This brings me to the managers of DDA.

There are basically three managers who run MA.

Mary Cook
Judy Smith
Dave Moomie

Basically, it works like this. If you don't do what they say you get blacklisted.
They have a following of delivery people who follow them around. These delivery people make about 30 or 40 dollars a day after expenses. Which is not great money.

Unfortunately for these delivery people, they can't get out from under. They are paid just enough to keep them going. And since they get paid daily they can keep going.

If you fall out from this group because you refused to do a job because of low pay, you didn't do a job right, you had a disagreement with a manager or and heres the clincher-try to make a lot of money you get outed. Not just your done but they finish the delivery person off by DNRing (Do not re-hire) them.

Not just with them but with the whole company and then try to go beyond their company and bad mouth the person to other companies. They literally try to stop the person from ever delivering books anywhere.

Yes I know, very vindictive.

I said make a lot of money because they know if they have a few who do a lot they have to pay them more because who else can they get. So they highly scrutinize the ones who do a lot with delivery reports. These reports are done regularly.

A trick they use is if someone has a lot of complaints or missed deliveries and is doing a lot of deliveries they DNR them. Remember? Do not Re-hire.

Well a person is going to have more complaints and missed deliveries simply because they are doing more deliveries than the normal person. A trick they used on the biggest delivery person in the company to oust him.

In my opinion it's quite insidious.

See what they want is low income people who are easily controlled and are desperate.

I'll end-off on this note.

In Worcester, MA. This year they were paying 8 cents per book delivered house to house.
I know of a woman who did this out of her car. It took her 3 days to complete a 400 book route. Thats 32 dollars in 3 days. Granted she did it about 4 hours a day. So 3days X 4 hours is 12 hours. 12 divided 36 is 3 dollars an hour. The gas was 10$. So she figured she made 2 dollars an hour.

Need I say more.

Anyone may easily confirm what I am saying by signing-up as an independent contractor with DDA and do some of their routes. Oh! And quit half way through a route and keep the route and see how much you are hounded by phone.

Company: DDA Directory Distribution Associates - Verizon Yellow Pages
Country: USA
State: Missouri
City: Bridgeton
Address: 160 Corporate Woods Court
Phone: 8003251964

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