Val
PFG, Picture Framing God
We have 2 different phone books here. One is a "local" Carson area book,a smaller one which is used by most of the local folks. The other one is the big fat Reno and vicinity book. I have an ad in the smaller one, and a listing in bold type in the bigger one, and I get a fair amount of inquiring phone calls from both.
I've been in the process of re-designing the ad for the smaller book, and have been quite happy with the rep who's been in our area for many years.
About a month ago I got a telephone call from a woman who didn't speak very clear English, asking to confirm my information for the "Official Yellow Pages" phone book. Everything was to stay the same. We waded through the language barrier. Another call came later that day to confirm that the information from the first call was correct: business name, address and phone number, that's all. It wascorrect, and they said I would be receiving the invoice for it in a few days. A couple of weeks later I got another call from "The Official Yellow Pages" asking me how I felt about the service I got on the phone from their representatives, and I told her I was pretty frustrated at the language barrier problem, but we got through it and I thought everything was okay now. She said she would note my "concern".
Then when I was paying my monthly invoices I realized I've been paying month-by-month for the Reno yellow pages listing already, to Verizon. I thought the invoice they were talking about would be the one I already get on a monthly basis, and that the original call was merely an update.
THEN, I get in the mail an invoice for $399 from "The Official Yellow Pages", to be paid to Thompson Hill Publishing, with the yellow fingers-walking logo and the whole bit. I called the customer service # and asked why I was getting that invoice when I already got one monthly, and for less than $399 divided by 12 months. I was told the other one, the one I've been paying every month, was a bogus one, and I should stop paying it and pay theirs instead, one lump sum now, and that the $399 was for a 2-year ad, "you get a better deal that way". I said if that was the case, please send me a hard copy of the phone book in the mail so I could see proof that theirs was the "real one". She said they don't send them out. I said I won't pay anything until I receive that book, She hung up on me.
When my local phone book rep came back in I showed him the invoice and he said he had a file full of copies of invoices from that company to other businesses, and THAT one is the bogus one, and I should ignore it!!
So...I get a call this morning from The Official lady again, telling me that she would reduce it to one year and amend the bill to $299 if I would pay it immediately. I mentioned mailing me the book again, and she said IT isn't a book, it's an on-line listing. So I said, in that case, CANCEL IT! She said it's too late to cancel it, the order has already been submitted and it's already online and cannot be cancelled. I said send me the amended invoice, I want to see this. So she faxed me the amended invoice for $299.
I just went online to www.theofficialyellowpages.com, listed on the amended invoice, and I'll be darned if I can find my business on there anywhere. Not under picture framing, or custom picture framing, or art or art gallery. Where else would it be?? And what would I be paying for??
Have I been had?? And am I truly responsible for paying that thing when I "authorized it" (she said) over the phone to a broken-english person calling merely to confirm my information and some other stuff which I got frustrated with and couldn't understand? Customer service person says if I don't pay it, it will be turned over to a collection account. My trusted local book man says he sees this all the time, and his advice is to ignore it and eventually they will drop it and go away, and next year I'll know better. I don't want to get a ding against my good credit, but I don't want to get *****ed either!
Anyone had dealings with "The Official Yellow Pages" and if so, what did you do about it? I need some advice here. Thanks
I've been in the process of re-designing the ad for the smaller book, and have been quite happy with the rep who's been in our area for many years.
About a month ago I got a telephone call from a woman who didn't speak very clear English, asking to confirm my information for the "Official Yellow Pages" phone book. Everything was to stay the same. We waded through the language barrier. Another call came later that day to confirm that the information from the first call was correct: business name, address and phone number, that's all. It wascorrect, and they said I would be receiving the invoice for it in a few days. A couple of weeks later I got another call from "The Official Yellow Pages" asking me how I felt about the service I got on the phone from their representatives, and I told her I was pretty frustrated at the language barrier problem, but we got through it and I thought everything was okay now. She said she would note my "concern".
Then when I was paying my monthly invoices I realized I've been paying month-by-month for the Reno yellow pages listing already, to Verizon. I thought the invoice they were talking about would be the one I already get on a monthly basis, and that the original call was merely an update.
THEN, I get in the mail an invoice for $399 from "The Official Yellow Pages", to be paid to Thompson Hill Publishing, with the yellow fingers-walking logo and the whole bit. I called the customer service # and asked why I was getting that invoice when I already got one monthly, and for less than $399 divided by 12 months. I was told the other one, the one I've been paying every month, was a bogus one, and I should stop paying it and pay theirs instead, one lump sum now, and that the $399 was for a 2-year ad, "you get a better deal that way". I said if that was the case, please send me a hard copy of the phone book in the mail so I could see proof that theirs was the "real one". She said they don't send them out. I said I won't pay anything until I receive that book, She hung up on me.
When my local phone book rep came back in I showed him the invoice and he said he had a file full of copies of invoices from that company to other businesses, and THAT one is the bogus one, and I should ignore it!!
So...I get a call this morning from The Official lady again, telling me that she would reduce it to one year and amend the bill to $299 if I would pay it immediately. I mentioned mailing me the book again, and she said IT isn't a book, it's an on-line listing. So I said, in that case, CANCEL IT! She said it's too late to cancel it, the order has already been submitted and it's already online and cannot be cancelled. I said send me the amended invoice, I want to see this. So she faxed me the amended invoice for $299.
I just went online to www.theofficialyellowpages.com, listed on the amended invoice, and I'll be darned if I can find my business on there anywhere. Not under picture framing, or custom picture framing, or art or art gallery. Where else would it be?? And what would I be paying for??
Have I been had?? And am I truly responsible for paying that thing when I "authorized it" (she said) over the phone to a broken-english person calling merely to confirm my information and some other stuff which I got frustrated with and couldn't understand? Customer service person says if I don't pay it, it will be turned over to a collection account. My trusted local book man says he sees this all the time, and his advice is to ignore it and eventually they will drop it and go away, and next year I'll know better. I don't want to get a ding against my good credit, but I don't want to get *****ed either!
Anyone had dealings with "The Official Yellow Pages" and if so, what did you do about it? I need some advice here. Thanks
