In April I received a call from Tyrone, one of Cedar's salespeople. He wanted to sell me an advertisement in the Alberta Paramedics Newsmagazine, claiming that by placing an ad I would be supporting the magazine. I asked Tyrone to send me some information about the magazine to me via e-mail. But Tyrone insisted that Cedar Publishing was unable to send anything by e-mail and that the only way was to send by fax or mail. I received the information that I asked for, but I told him again that I would not have access to a fax machine. I agreed to have Cedar's team make up an ad for my company, on the condition that they send me the ad proof for my final approval. I had asked to have the ad proof sent to me by e-mail, but Tyrone insisted again that Cedar was unable to use e-mail and therefore could only send it by fax machine or by mail. I told him again that I did not have access to a fax machine, so he told me that they would send it by mail. I understood that they would send me the ad proof so that I could make any revisions if needed and send them a written & signed confirmation. Well, they made the ad, and published it anyway without my final approval. I did not receive the ad proof; Cedar claims they faxed it to me on April 21st, but because the fax number I initially gave him was for that tool store, I never got it. I never received any ad proof in the mail.
Then in June I recevied a printed magazine copy with the ad in it. I called Cedar to inquire why they pursued the ad without my final authorization. I first spoke to the receptionist and she told me that Cedar has a policy to provide a follow up call after the ad proof was sent, which I did not receive. I asked to speak to Cedar's manager, Moe. He was not helpful at all; I told him that I did not receive the ad proof (I would have had them make changes to the ad proof before giving my final authorization). He told me that they didn't need my written confirmation & signature. I then asked to speak to Tyrone but Moe did not allow me to. I also asked him about the company's policy on follow up calls (the fact that I didn't get one) and he told me that this was not true; that Cedar doesn't have such a policy, and that he would be "dealing" with his receptionist.
This company has shady business practices, including publishing ads for businesses without their approval, and stating that they support local organizations such as the Alberta Paramadics, fire fighters, Child Find Alberta, police services, Crimestoppers, etc.
Read a similar article in the Edmonton Sun, published June 9:
Www.edmontonsun.com/news/columnists/andrew_hanon/06/09/14328636
0 comments