Our company recently received faxes from a company identifying themselves as the "Public Yellow Pages." The company is claiming that we are past due for a charge of $599.99 (plus other "interest charges" and "administration fees") for an online listing on their website.
A representative from the "Public Yellow Pages" company called our company several months ago and spoke with me. At the time, I was a new employee with the authority to confirm company information but NOT to approve any charges.
Over the phone, the Public Yellow Pages rep. Told me that they were "renewing the company's Public Yellow Pages listing and wanted to confirm the information." At this point, I assumed this was a free listing that the company had already arranged. The Public Yellow Pages rep. Then hurried through our basic information, such as phone number and address. I continued to answer "Yes" each time to confirm the information was correct.
The representative then informed me that there was a $500 charge and would I like it billed later or pay now. When I heard this, I said "no" that we did not want the service if it cost that amount and that I was not authorized to make such a decision, only authorized to approve the basic company information. At this point, the representative rushed off the line and did not address the issue of the incorrect charges.
Last week, after months of no invoices, phone calls, e-mails or other word of the incident, the "Public Yellow Pages" faxed an invoice claiming that we were past due on charges that now totaled $677.41 and that failure to pay would result in the issue being turned over to collections, which would affect the company's credit score for seven years.
At this point, the representative spoke at length with our owner, who informed them that no one at the company had ever received an invoice (which they claimed 3 had been mailed) and that the I was not authorized to approve such a transaction over the phone.
The Public Yellow Pages rep. Then offered few options to resolve the issue. The two options were: 1) Don't pay and be turned over to collections or 2) Pay a new "discounted" amount and be put on the company's "no call" list.
After the owner and I listened to the recording of the "original" phone call, we began to question the authenticity of the recording. I also noted that the recording ended abruptly just before I remember arguing with the representative about the charges. When I asked the rep. About the rest of the call, he said that's all they are legally required to record.
We told them that our lawyer would be in touch. The company has continued to call and fax invoices concerning the issue. After searching online, we discovered that many other people had been "scammed" by this same company.
We are NOT paying the "debt" and will report the issue to the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org) and the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc. Gov). I hope these people are stopped soon!
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