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kmacattack's Profile
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Member Since:Saturday, February 19, 2011
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1. yellowbook.com  Saturday, February 19, 2011 @ 5:47:00 PM
I used to advertise with yellowbook. I believe that they added a year to my contract without my permission.
The prior year, they left me out of the book completely and I still ended up paying about 85 percent of the bill (about $700) for a few small listings, no display ads at all. I was told that my ads ran on their website, and the web cost about 85 percent versus about 15 percent for the printed version.
When this year's book arrived, I was surprised to find that it was no longer a full sized book (8 1/2 by 11") but had changed to a "mini" version, about as thick, but the residential listings had been eliminated altogether. The print quality of the books I received were of very poor quality, looking like the printers were run with not enough ink. After receiving several bills (which began appearing well before the books were delivered) I was contacted by Yellow book collections department. My wife has Alzheimer's Disease, and when I supposedly contracted for the ad for this year, I was in the process of closing my business location, because I am my wife's caregiver, and have little time to devote to my business. I have read numerous complaints on "ripoff.com" which were identical to mine, including customers who said that yellowbook forged their signature to contracts. I'm not sure about this, but I have no recollection of signing a contract. When their collection agent called me, I told him that I had closed my location, I wasn't happy that I hadn't been told that the book size was being reduced, and that residential listings were being eliminated. I came to an agreement with the rep to go ahead and settle the bill IN FULL at that time by paying in full for the print directory ad, even though I felt that it was an inferior product compared to what I had purchased in past years, and again, even though I didn't remember signing a contract. I've since received a copy which is signed, but I'm not sure that my signature wasn't forged, as others have complained on ripoff. They had copies of a couple of past contracts that I DID sign, so it would be pretty easy to forge a signature. The rep told me that if I paid for the cost of the PRINT DIRECTORY at that time (about $230), he could immediately cancel the web advertisement, pull my name off of the internet, and I would be PAID IN FULL. I paid with a credit card on that day with the ABSOLUTE PROMISE THAT I WOULD OWE NOT ONE PENNY MORE. Since that time, I have received numerous threatening letters and phone calls from Yellow book, the last call about 2 weeks ago. The rep was absolutely the most rude person I have ever talked to. Yellow book posted my payment to the web portion of my bill, as opposed to the printed directory as I WAS PROMISED. The rep told me that he didn't care what I may have been told, I needed to read my contract. He said they had the right to change the directory without notifying me, even if the product was inferior in quality to past editions. He said that they would sue me if I didn't pay the bill in full and that he was recording our conversation. I asked him to send me a copy of the conversation from that day, and also from a few months prior when I WAS PROMISED THAT I WOULD OWE NOT ONE PENNY MORE. He also told me that even though I may have been promised that my bill would be marked paid in full that it didn't matter, the collection rep did not have the authority to make such a promise. If that is the way they do business on a regular basis, and I just read a few complaints from former EMPLOYEES that tend to verify that this is STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE at Yellow Book, then they need to be investigated by the Department of Justice. I tried to file a complaint with the state Attorney General's office about 2 weeks ago, but found that they had moved to another office building. Due to my wife's Alzheimer's Disease, I'm limited to the amount of time that I can spend outside the house, but I may be able to file with the Attorney General's office online, and possibly the Department of Justice, Department of Consumer Affairs, etc. In short, Yellow Book SUCKS. I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THEM AGAIN, and I would not recommend any other business to do so either.
kmacattack
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