We started receiving bills from Data Direct not knowing who they were. The first invoice ($200) we paid without questioning, but the second I called to find out who they were and what we were paying for. They said it was a business listing. I said we never asked for one, so cancel whatever they thought we had signed up for and that we're not paying any more bills. They said that the service had been requested by someone who I knew had not been a part of our organization for over 4 years. They also said that they would go ahead and cancel.
A few days later we got a bill for $399 to terminate our contract. I called back and informed them that we had no intention of paying for the cancellation of a service we did not request, and that they don't have a real product anyway.
In response, they mailed out a crappy handmade CD with a printed sticker label that any 10 year old could put together. It wasn't even shrink wrapped, and the jewel case jacket was obviously printed on a home ink jet printer and cut by hand. Nothing legit about it.
At this point, I went to the RCMP and showed them everything. They said they had a fair bit of info on Data Direct and that it would be best to ship the CD back and not pay any invoices. They also phoned Data Direct who claimed they had a recording of our secretary asking for the CD to be sent.
The officer had told Data Direct that it was the RCMP calling in regard to our account, which resulted in me getting a phone call from Data Direct threatening to press charges for impersonating an RCMP officer, basically just trying to intimidate me. I informed them that I had gone to the RCMP and that it really had been the police calling. After that he got very polite on the phone and gave me instructions on returning the CD and cancelling their "service".
We mailed the CD back, but still continue to get invoices and phone calls from Data Direct.
We have filed a complaint with the RCMP, our bank and the credit bureau, so if on the off chance they are actually stupid enough to send a collections agency after us, we will have good documentation to fight it.
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