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US-Yellow Pages review: US yellow pages sending me bills for advertisement I was scamed into 32

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2:35 pm EDT
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I got a new 800 number for my business. I received a "Listing Order Form" to review my company information. I updated my information, signed the form thinking this was the customary FREE service I received previously with my other business number. Today I received a bill from US-Yellow National Yellow Pages for $225.00 with a xerox copy of the form I updated and signed for a free listing. After doing some internet searches, I discovered there were many complaints of this scam from others in regards to this company in Jersey City, New Jersey. Since I was tricked into thinking this was for the legitimate yellow pages and I signed a document for what I thought was the FREE listing, am I obligated to pay this invoice? From the other complaints I have read about this company, many have refused to pay and received threatening phone calls from this company as well as collection agencies. Can this company put a negative mark on my credit?

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32 comments
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jstarks
, US
Jan 15, 2020 12:21 am EST

I am also glad that I found this site because in Illinois it use to be free to put your company in the white or yellow pages. I assumed this was still happening until we received a bill for $396.00 and I'm trying to figure out for what? So, now that I know this is a scam and I wish I knew who was doing this, I am ready to report this scam to the BBB. I will do a follow-up with trying to call to see what and who I get on the phone. We get a bill every month for $396.00 from Yellow Pages United PO Box 50038 Jacksonville, Florida [protected]. There was another lady that said she signed and I also signed thinking this was just for confirmation, I didn't know I would be harassed. I'm surprise no one has put a number on here that can be used that will give positive results to cancel? If someone has a number I could use please post.

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ManCD
, US
Sep 03, 2019 4:05 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I just open a business and I have received a bill for 274 dollars with US Yellow Pages. I did not sign up anything with them at all. Yet, on the bill, it indicates I requested the service. This is filthy scam criminals. I will hand over to the police department and report to BBB as well.

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Digital Droning
, US
Nov 13, 2017 3:32 pm EST

I received the card as well asking I update the information of my new company, which didn't disclose any service I was purchasing. I signed the card thinking it was a service for accuracy of business information. Wow what a scam.. I received a bill for $396.00 to be paid annually. I immediately looked this up, and found this site. I then called yellow pages united, pressed #2 for customer service. Then proceeded to say. "I'm not sure what I have been roped into but I received a bill for $396.00 that I will not be paying" short pause by the man, then he tells me "Ok your order has been canceled". End of call. Hopefully this will be it and it will have been that easy.

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plamb
, US
Aug 01, 2017 4:55 pm EDT

Scams like this make it difficult for legitimate businesses! Makes it hard to trust anyone, now-a-days. I, too, fell for this "free" service. I tried calling to cancel but they are closed. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt and will try again, tomorrow, not too early, not too late, and not during their company-wide lunch hour!

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bontempfeline
, US
Jul 19, 2017 2:33 pm EDT

This is still going on. Do not pay the bill. Tell them you'll contact BBB if they do not delete account. July 19, 2017

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Bryan Ausinheiler
, US
Mar 10, 2017 1:17 am EST

I received a mailer from US-yellow, signed it and make an account online thinking it was free like all other similar services. I received bills but never gave them much thought as I assumed it was for some upgrade to service. Then I received an e-mail from Us-yellow regarding my non-payment and highlighting bullet point #14 in the fine print that stated the fee for the service. A useless service by the way, as no internet traffic has come of it and one I never would have signed up for a >$200 a year. I have contacted a lawyer. Has anyone else pursued legal help for this scam?

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Kerry Brogan Yockey
, US
Aug 12, 2017 1:30 pm EDT

i have had this same thing happen to me! I have called on friday to dispute these the charges they say on an approved listing SIGNED BY ME. it was explained to me that it would be a FREE ad? I asked to have a copy sent to me via email ... now its saturday and I have not seen it yet. My bill is over $4000 ! If I cannot get this balance removed, , , , I WILL BE GETTING A LAYWER!

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Sltimp
, US
Aug 25, 2016 9:48 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Well I fell for it!
I recently started working at a new location as the Office Manager. Unaware of most of what is coming in or going out. I received the notice to "Update" our information for the Yellow Pages. I signed the document assuming it was a free update of our business information. Wrong. I received a bill for $260.00 due on receipt. I called customer service and spoke to a nice lady and told her that I was under the assumption it was a courtesy update. She cleared the account to zero and gave me a confirmation number. I also had her check and make sure we had never done any business with them. We hadn't. So here is to hoping nobody else falls for it!

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Angie Hins
, US
Feb 24, 2016 12:12 pm EST

I work for a school district and they sent one of these Listing Order Forms to one of our buildings. Allegedly someone signed and returned it. And then they started sending invoices. I called customer service and asked for a manager. I told him that I was receiving invoices for a product we never ordered or authorized. He said they have a signature. I said we do all our purchasing by purchase order signed by our Business Director so unless he could produce that, we didn't agree to buy anything. I told him I knew this was a scam, he claimed it wasn't. I told him it's all over the internet and the BBB that this "business" is fraudulent and I wanted the billings to stop. He offered to reduce my amount to the price of the first publication (approx $450). I said I wasn't paying ANYTHING. So he asked me if I was refusing to pay. I said, "That is correct." He then zeroed out my balance and closed my "account" giving me a confirmation number. He wondered how he got a signed Listing Offer, and I said, "Well, when you send stuff to random addresses, sometimes you get stuff back. I have no idea who did that." He said it wasn't a random address, that they PURCHASED that information from a data company. I told him I wanted our schools removed from the solicitation list. He said he would do that. It's the law of averages. They buy a list and send out mass mailing figuring they will hook at least a few. Of those, many pay because they either don't realize it's a scam or they are afraid not to. Fraud by mail is a federal offense. Turn these folks in to the Attorney General in every state.

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Red Hazard
, US
Jun 25, 2015 1:51 pm EDT

Our previous manager apparently signed their deceptive form. However, we researched the 3 Yellow Books distributed in this area and we confirmed that our listings (in small print) are free. We are an American Legion post and have "Googled" our name and everywhere we appear is not related to this scamming outfit. So just what service are they billing us for? Absolutely nothing. We have found a use for their bills however. We sometimes have a shortage of toilet paper so we crinkle their bills several times for softness and leave it on the toilet tank top for emergencies.

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Long Island332
Oyster Bay, US
Mar 19, 2015 2:17 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I too received the letter from Us-yellow pages thinking it was the usual free ad in the yellow pages/ white pages.
Complete scam and mis representation! I did sign it with the checked box of list as shown no changes required.
I called and they were supposed to send a fax with a copy of my signature, never happened and I was never given the option to terminate.
Called again and they finally provided me with the signature, as you can imagine, after 19 years of business and never advertizing with them, I was frustrated.
They decreased my bill 458.00 but I am now involving an attny!

I am so glad to have found that I am not the only one in this situations.

Long Island

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California machine shop
, US
Mar 12, 2014 1:46 pm EDT

Same annoyance here. I just called their customer service and told them that I wanted to "discontinue receiving any billing" from them. Though it's not a call I should have had to make in the first place, it was easily handled. I was given a confirmation number that the "account" had been closed.

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cozmo
Greensburg, US
Oct 11, 2011 9:34 pm EDT

Ok so I have been getting these bills for over a year and a half now now showing balance of $1182.00 and I just called telling them they need to stop sending me bills. They say they have a card that my wife signed which she may have and if she did it was not signed thinking this was anything other than the normal Yellow Pages free ad. The lady was very nice and canceled my account and took account balance to zero.

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Omargmrz
dallas, US
Aug 31, 2011 6:44 pm EDT

yellow pages soxs i use to had only for 1 year and i never authoize to renew automatic and the charge me 2 times a year $ 295 my boss she is upset with me cause the charge to much..and call them and try the cancel it and the say the never had a order to cancell it i try 2 more time and the dont want cancel ..don use anymore the internet is free and yellow pages is past to history...mi name is omar ...

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mint0x
Bumsville, US
Jul 19, 2011 10:26 pm EDT

They will either send you a letter and try to get you to sign it, or they will call you (and record you) and try to get you to say "yes" to their offer.
If you get a letter don't sign it, just rip it up. If they call you, tell them you are aware that this is a "scam" and you are not interested and hang up.
They may send you a fake bill but if you did not agree to or sign anything you are fine. The burden of proof is on them to show that you requested their "service".

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Doris day
Walnut Grove, US
Mar 22, 2011 5:09 pm EDT

To all whom it concerns I was contacted on 2/4/2011 by a man who said he was calling to renew my ad with US Yellow Pages . He proceeded to say that my 2010 account was due in the amount of $750.00 and he wanted to know how i Wished to pay for it. We got into a back in forth disagreement of which i had kow idea who aor what he was talking about he had become demanding and rude and stated i going to let you talkto someone else this time it was a young lady who asked a line of yes and no questions in when i began to ask her question he said she could not answer any of my questions so the man got back on the phone and said i told you not to ask her anything when she's finished i give you a number to call to ask your questiond. In the mean time i will cancel your account. A few day later i recieves a form in the mail for US Yellow Pages for renewal information of which I have not interest., Next a collector from a company called National Credit Recovery is hounding and threating legal action and to damage my credit if I don't pay and to my unknowly the caller recorded the convercation with the lady on the phone and say this is a phone authorizing them to open this account. I am in the process of file complaints with every agency i can to expose this scam . If anyone can be of assistance port a reply.

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Interior Designer
Orange, US
Mar 01, 2011 8:56 pm EST

To all parties concerned, I called the number listed by this company US-Yellow and informed them that if our company was not removed I would be turning them into the fraud department for investigation. The bill they attempted to charge us was $ 1, 182.00. This company used the same emblem as the local yellow pages to deceive individual companies into believing they are the local yellow pages. Here is the number I called to have them cancel. I received a confirmation number after letting them know I have researched their companies fraudulent behavior and have documented several complaints on line. Only time will tell if this has been corrected. Best of luck to you all. Here is the link to the US department of Fraud Investigation: https://tips.fbi.gov/
US-Yellow- AKA
Global Directories, Inc.
PO Box 41308
Jacksonville, FL 32203
Phone: [protected]
Fax: [protected]

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Receptionist1
Chicago, US
Dec 09, 2010 1:42 pm EST

This similar thing JUST happened to me yesterday! Except instead of sending me something where I signed it, they played back for me a recording of the last 3 minutes of a phone call with one of their telemarketers where in I "agreed" to the service. But what they didn't record was the previous 25 minute conversation where I kept telling the telemarketer I didn't want to sign up for anything I was going to be billed for, which he assured me I wasn't. He said that to be billed I had to activate my account, and I'd receive a letter telling me how to do so, and only then, after activation, would my company be billed. I got the letter telling me how to activate the account: it was dated November 24th, and stated that we were going to be billed for our account and the services it provides on December 2nd and to call and cancel if we did not want to be billed. I got this letter DECEMBER 8TH!

Why I spent so much time on the phone with the telemarketer in the first place is a mystery to me. But I think I did because they mascarade as a legitimate company, and as simply a receptionist at my business, I didn't want to mess up relationships with established vedors. So when they told me we already had a listing with them, and they were just calling to update our "complimentary profile" I agreed.

After complaining, the very rude billing woman asked if I would like to hear the recording in where I agreed to be billed for the service. In the recording, you can hear that I agree that my job title is "Administrator." My job title is not administrator, and this is just more proof that they didn't bother to record the previous 25 minute conversation, because I had previously protested multiple times that I was not an administrator. I told her this, and that also if they had recorded the rest of the conversation, not just the last three minute confirmation of the information and agreement, they would have heard me protest to getting billed multiple times and his assurance that I would not be billed. Her reply? "Well, we didn't record that part of the conversation, so according to me, that conversation doesn't exist. It never happened." I was infuriated. All the more proof this is not a legitimate company. I finally got her to approve a refund of the billing, and she said it would be credited back to us. Finally. I just need to call and confirm that for sure!

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Nickfitness
, US
Nov 20, 2010 1:34 am EST

This complaint is completely valid. US Yellow Pages is clearly attempting to scam people into signing up for their expensive listing program that appears to be free. We opened a business in Southern California in January of 2010 and received mail from "US Yellow Pages". At the top right of the form it said, in bold letters, "THIS IS NOT A BILL". There was a perforated attachment at the bottom of the form that instructed us to fill out our listing information "AT NO ADDITIONAL COST". On the perforated attachment, there was not a single dollar sign or price listing for *anything*.

We opened our fitness center in January... and being a gym, we are extremely busy at that time of year. Rifling through mail/junk mail, as a new business, it is pretty easy to mistake this form as a free listing for a new business... and that is precisely what happened to me. I broke off the perforated attachment, filled out our address, mailed it back to them, and then a few months later a bill for hundreds of dollars showed up in the mail. Furious... I notified my accountant that I had been duped and hoped that she would be able to handle these people. We had a similiar situation with a scamming fire inspection company.

My accountant was then e-mailed a photocopy of the perforated attachment I had signed with nothing mentioning payments... by this time the US Yellow Pages was claiming that we owed somewhere around $600-$700. Researching further, we discovered that the original form [not the perforated section] they had mailed us has fine print on it that basically requires a magnifiying glass to decipher the ridiculous pricing for a marketing format that is completely dated. No one uses phone books anymore. Who in the world would pay that amount of cash for a yellow pages listing!? I do not know. That would be like trying to start a payphone business right now or something.

The good news here is that the company will (and may even be required to) waive everything, if requested. Call their customer service line, let them know you were scammed and did not have a microscope on had with legal counsel standing by when you filled out the seemingly harmless perforated attachment that mentions nothing about pricing. They will zero out your past due balance and give you a confirmation number regarding cancelling your "subscription".

REXS earlier link was very helpful about the Florida Attorney General's desicion regarding this type of thing. I'm amazed that these people are a legal business, they should not be able to operate in this fashion. What scammers.

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Kase
Bloomington, US
Nov 18, 2010 6:43 pm EST

Our business receives a "listing order form" from US-YELLOW Yellow Pages yearly (maybe more often). It states, "This is not a bill" in the upper right-hand corner and has a place for a signature on the lower portion, which is to be returned in the enclosed envelope, addressed to their Mail Processing Center at PO Box 41069 in Jacksonville, FL. The outer envelope says "Important Document Enclosed" so it appears to be an invoice. People from YP call repeatedly throughout the year, wanting to confirm our business information for a free listing or to update our supposed "current listing." One year, they sent us a bill, but the employee who spoke with the solicitor said he didn't order or approve anything. I started telling them when they call, "we're not interested; goodbye" and then hanging up immediately.

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ADuncan
Orange, US
Oct 11, 2010 2:12 pm EDT

Hello all,
I am an interior designer and I too recieved this bogus invoice from US-Yellow ( Yellow Pages) for a bill totaling $ 788.00 . I am turning them into the Orange County Police Dept. for Fraud investigation in California. I am also sending them a letter notifying them of this. Please do the same. I have tried to contact this company and when placed on hold it conviently hangs up. The company address is: USY PO. Box 3110, Jersey City, NJ [protected]. Please send any information to your local police dept. and put an end to this unscrupulous company.

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Jerks Beware
st louis, US
Sep 04, 2010 3:14 pm EDT

HERE'S HOW YOU HANDLE THESE JERKS:

One: Train all employees who answer your phone to never confirm anything with anyone. I have all these calls transferred to me. I tell my staff to only have conversations with actual customers.

Two: I take the scam calls out on a phone in the garage where I have an air horn can. After confirming that it is indeed one of these little jerks on the other line, i give 'em a blast from the air can right in the speaker. Talk about reaching out and touching someone! That really gives them something to think about and make me feel great!

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sam1432
, IN
Aug 16, 2010 2:22 pm EDT

Hey This is Pandey . I am From Asia the yellow pages call u r getting from Asia in Mumbai So Do Not Answer any question whatever they ask you and never use word "Yes" on any marketing calls if you will not use word "Yes" they cant bill you they will force you to say "Yes" And The money part they are telling very fast so better you dont answer any call just hang up the call on their face.. The company who is running this Yellow Pages Scam the company detail is
company Web Add is www.globale-services.com
company address is --------Ashok House, Chakravarti Ashok Road, Kandivali (E), Mumbai 400 101, INDIA
Ph: +91-022- [protected] Email: hr@globale-services.com from this company you are getting scam calls of yellow pages just soo this company forward this information to all the Americans so they can save their money Thank You For Reading Have a Nice Day

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McHenry Detective Agenmcy
Anchorage, US
Aug 06, 2010 1:53 pm EDT

I have received, for years bills from US-Yellow Yellow Pages with an address of PO Box 41308 Jacksonville, FL [protected]. I have never subscribed with this company. Never paid any of the bills and have written the Postal authorities twice regarding this scam. Never a reply, just keep getting the bills, have one now for $975.00. Isn't America great! Just bill people for services and the authorities in this country do nothing!

McHenry Detective Agency
Anchorage, AK

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mendtool2020
Bonney Lake, US
Apr 20, 2010 12:01 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have been receiving several phone calls a day from this company asking to update my information. For three weeks I have been receiving three or more calls per day, which is 45 calls received from them, and every time I said I was not interested, please stop calling. Finally, yesterday I had asked for their legal department because I am tired of these calls. I think it is time that the consumer puts their foot down a file a class action law suite to settle this once and for all. How can any company remain in business that scam the customers and get away with it?

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AHPC
Annapolis, US
Apr 13, 2010 3:09 pm EDT

The same thing happened to me. I foolishly thought it was a free listing, because I wanted something simple. I was billed for a 1/2 page ad. I am so grateful for this post. I was nervous about calling to cancel, for fear there would be someone trying to talk me into something I didn't want. The woman who answered was perfectly pleasant and took care of it right away stating she zeroed out my balance. Phew, that was easy. Hope that's the last I hear from them.

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rexs
Las Vegas, US
Jan 28, 2010 5:35 pm EST

How are you doing? I am sorry that you are not happy with yellow pages. I was looking online and found a website that your business can have a FREE ebillboard. Just go to seekshallfind.com. I was talking to my friend Mike and he has a ebillboard and he is happy with his ebillboard.

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test123
, US
Dec 24, 2009 3:53 pm EST

Response by NLN above worked for me too, though I had to call twice to get it done. The first operator told me to look at the online copy of the invoice so that I could see that, yes indeed, in the fine print, it mentions $195 quarter charge, and that he could only stop future charges. I called back a few days later and got a different operator- when I mentioned it was a big mistake, he easily zeroed out the account and gave me a confirmation number of the account closing.

In further research in the meantime, I had discovered this:
http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/B3678D76BAC9FC63852575B000475760

It is the Florida AG press release from May 2009 where they pursued US-Yellow Pages to a settlement, where the company acknowledge their devious tactics and had to revise their solicitation, as well as "continue its present refund and cancellation policies". Feel free to mention this AG press release if the operator gives you a hard time (although your request will work better if you were 'signed up' prior to May 2009 I think).

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Joe Trevison
Erie, US
Oct 20, 2009 12:39 pm EDT

I got letter from I never order or replied. They send me a biil for $1060.00. I just ripped it up.

SPG Consultants
SPG Consultants
MTL, CA
Oct 02, 2009 8:27 am EDT

These Telemarketing companies are getting your company's profile from online, they are compiled by lead brokers also known as the "Chum of the ###". These lead brokers sit on the internet and gather business profiles then turn around and sell them to many different telemarketing offices for an exaggerated price.

Your contact us page on your website should have the bare minimum on how to contact you. A full contact name is opening the door to how these telemarketing companies are getting in touch with you and your money.

Example of a bad contact listing on a website:

D&R Towing
1234 Cherry Land Drive
Spring Dale, Florida 98698
e-mail : dandrtowing@hotmail.com
Business: [protected] Fax: [protected] cell: [protected]
Contact: Dennis Flick

As you can see, for a website to have this information posted, your website has now arranged for your business to be receiving these types of collection calls. Keep it simple by following these simple instructions:

- Make up a phony name as a contact on your website . This is to see where the call are coming from.
- Try to set up your contact us page so that the client has to leave their information with you . Example: your company's main email address, not your personal one.If you do not have one, create one just for this reason. There are many choices of email carriers available. Ex: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo etc.

This is one of many pointers SPG Consultants can help you with when dealing with collection harassment.

While the government is bailing out the Automotive Industry and while the banks are fighting to get more money from the Federal Government, we as simple business owners, are left to fight our own battles.

We know that Chrysler needs 3.5 billion dollars to keep the V8 Dodge Charger on the road, and we all know that in the last 5 years the banks haven't made a big enough profit to stay afloat. So while the government and Wall Street debate about their hand outs, business owners have to protect themselves by themselves. To my understanding, there are over 1 million telemarketers across Canada and the US all paying taxes for the money they steal from you. Guess who's making a profit from this money? Yes, you guessed right! The federal government. Corruption is greasing the pockets of the same people we've elected to protect us and to keep the Bernie Madoff's and Earl Jones away from our bottom lines.

I urge you to visit my website and learn more about telemarketing fraud and how to protect yourself...KNOW YOUR RIGHTS and stand up to fight against this injustice.

Sincerely
Spg Consultants
www.spgconsultants.webs.com

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KLS
, US
Jul 17, 2009 11:29 am EDT

I am so thankful I found this posting! My company experienced the same thing - I thought it was an error on my part! I just called the same customer service line as above and the lady gladly cancelled out my account. What a devious, horrible sales tactic. I am just happy they were more than willing to cancel the subscription. Just hope the confirmation number is legit! :)

Best of luck to all of you out there experiencing the same thing!

- KLS
Michigan

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NLN
, US
Apr 03, 2009 11:25 am EDT

April 2009, This is the exact situation that has happened with me and my small Colorado business. It is quite an intimidation tactic for them to mail back our signatures back to us! I just called their listed 800 # at [protected] and got an absolutely pleasant woman to quickly cancel the ad, to zero out any account that I may have had with them and she offered to leave a complimentary online listing for my company. I simply began the conversation with the fact that there had been some mistake, that the with the form I returned, I was only trying to correct the phone number that they had listed for my company and that they said they were already publishing---that I was not ordering an online OR print ad with their company. She finished the call with a confirmation number, so I will keep you posted if there is an residual trouble with this.

I read so many stories of these Yellow Pages scams online last night---all the expense and harassing that people have been subjected to. I am much relieved that things seem to be all cleared up now.

All the best to you,
NLN

ps Because there are so many of these scams, here is the company information of the company I dealt with. Just so you know: US-Yellow, National Yellow Pages, USY PO BOX 3110, Jersey City, NJ [protected]

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