I received a post card from Yellow Pages Directories. It was sent to my home address, not my business address. I needed to correct this as I thought it was from my AT&T service and did not want the wrong address posted on-line. It also said (FREE) for describing the first four lines of data on the card. I know that the phone company won't change critical data on their bills, so that is why I signed the card as the authorized agent of my company. I put my company mailing sticker on the card and signed/dated the card. I noted that there was a comment on the bottom of the card that stated "I agree to the terms and conditions on the back". I did not see a box to check or where I would note that I agreed.
I continued to receive mail from them, but assumed it was junk mail, knowing that I did not agree to anything. I received a call from a collection agent this week, a London Dawson, with a law firm Greenburg, Grant and RIchards out of Houston TX (866) 778-1922, ext 1154. He said that he represented OnLine Yellow Pages.com and my bill was in collections for $298 plus 10% interest, accruing monthly and threatened action if I refused to pay. I told him that I did not enter into any agreement, but only attempted to correct the address they had on file, which was also on the internet because that was a residential address, etc. He said that this company was a reputable firm and was in business for over 30 years and was not a scam operation, etc. He told me to not call them directly, after I told them I needed to see the proof that I agreed to enter into a contract to advertise for a year with two billings of $298 each for the next 6 months. I also asked him how people would fine my company on his service using a simple Google search, if indeed it has a priority registration with Google, etc. He told me that I had to put in their URL to find them. I told him that I had a web site already, and that I did not need their service.
I called the company. They faxed me the card I signed. Courtney (EE ID #733) said that it went to collections on 7/26 and that I had no recourse but to pay the bill. He said he would take three payments of $99.33 and cancel the order for the next billing cycle. He told me that I AUTOMATICALLY entered into contract with them when I signed the card and returned it, regardless of my intentions to only change the address they had on file for me.
I then started searching the internet for this company, and found NOTHING because they are so obscure and so many other companies have conducted similar scams via phone, internet and through the mail.in fact I almost got hooked on another one this week that was just trying to VERIFY INFORMATION and then they called to confirm I was in contract! This was one where I listened to a scripted message this lady begged me to hear, that took almost ten minutes to read off and which I said during her message that I did not want to buy anything so she could not fix the recording. I'm so glad I did this!
So if anyone is preparing to file a class action suit against this company, I am more that willing to participate. I am sending a long letter explaining the facts to them, certified mail. I might pay the bill in protest and take them to small claims court because I know they are not going to send an attorney or representative. They didn't even send me a DUNS notice or call me after 60 days. They just sent the alleged bill to collections after 90 days. Who does that? Scammers do.
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