We are constantly bombarded with emails, phone calls, faxes, door-to-door solicitations and offers in the mail. Individuals must constantly be on guard to make sure they're not signing up for something they don't want. That's also true of companies that may get an offer they believe is from a business that they are already working with when in fact -- they're not.
Case in point – Yellow Pages advertisements. Hundreds of thousands of Canadian businesses use the Yellow Pages phone book directory in its printed form and online, to advertise their businesses. Now companies may want to check offers more carefully after some have been approached by look-a-like companies offering a service -- but not the one businesses may think they are getting.
Dr. Albert Chan is a dentist in Pickering, Ont. who has been practicing more than 30 years. He's advertised in the Yellow Pages since he started. He contacted Â鶹´«Ã½ after signing up for a special offer faxed to him from what he thought was the Yellow Pages Group.
He said, "When I received this fax from the company I actually thought it was from Yellow Pages. This is why it is so misleading. I noticed that it's Yellow Page not Yellow Pages and the logo is turned upside down." Chan got an invoice from the company asking him to pay more then 28 hundred dollars even though he told them he didn't want their services.
The company told Chan "the fact that you did not check which company you were registering with is your fault alone. We would be prepared to accept, as a gesture of goodwill, one years payment at $1,428 instead of the full two-year term at $2,856."
Calls and e-mails to the yellowpage-ontario.com company by Â鶹´«Ã½ were not returned.
When we contacted Yellow Pages they told us some companies have chosen to use the Yellow Pages Group brand because it is a well-known and trusted name in the directory industry. A yellow pages spokesperson told us "If a business receives suspicious advertising offers we encourage them to contact their Better Business Bureau, the Competition Bureau or to call Phone Busters." Chan feels he was misled and he won't be paying the bill.
Key points from Better Business Bureau
- It usually begins with a fax that, at first glance, appears to be an order form from the yellow pages complete with a similar logo
- However, it's often revealed to be a costly two-year contract for an alternative online directory called yellowpage for $119 per month
- Oftentimes, the company will follow up with a phone call and invoice statements in the mail indicating a payment is due
- The unsolicited faxes have been circulating through Canada, the U.S and Europe and often only features one variation – the website
- For instance, in Alberta, it's yellowpage-alberta.com and in B.C., it's yellowpage-britishcolumbia.com
yellowpage-ontario.com has an f rating from the BBB and its additional names include:
- yellow page marketing b.v.
- yellowpage-manitoba.com
- yellow publishing ltd.
- yellowpage-britishcolumbia.com
- yellowpage-alberta.com
At least 15 complaints have been filed against the business and it has failed to respond to those complaints.
