Complain about a product or service

YP.com

Gjovalin of Bronx, NY October 13, 2009

On Monday October 5, 2009 Rebecca R., a representative of YP Business Info, called me regarding an unpaid invoice# for an advertisement I supposedly placed with her company on July 30, 2009. On July 30, 2009 I received a call from an advertising company regarding an outstanding invoice. I advised them that the person who does billing is on vacation, but they can mail or fax the invoice and I will forward it to the appropriate person. They asked me to verify my mailing address and my position in the company.

On October 5, 2009 when Ms. R. called, she stated that I had placed an order on July 30, 2009, and she played a recording of me supposedly ordering the advertisement. But it was actually me verifying my mailing information. The recording didn't state that I was authorizing the advertisement, nor the date the advertisement will take effect.

The representative only advised me that I had 30 days to pay the invoice. I asked Ms. R. to play the full conversation, but she stated that calls are recorded randomly. I never authorized YP Business Info. to list my company, and I never even heard of them before. Ms. R. was unable to explain what type of advertisement it was, and when I questioned how would prospective clients find the advertisement, she explained that they would have to go to YPBUSINESSINFO.COM website then enter my company name. I explained to Mr. R. that this sounds like a scam, and I would never advertise with a company that doesn't even categorize the business listings. I further asked her to remove my company from their list, cancel this fake and fraudulently obtained advertisement and stop calling me.

The company is now pressuring me to pay a bill for a service which I did not authorize and are threatening legal action if the bill is not paid. Any purported service provided by the company was obtained fraudulently and I request that you look into this matter as I believe that this is not the only complaint against this company regarding the actions herein.

Gail of Rockford, IL June 5, 2009

On 6-3-2009 I check my bank account and notice a charge of 735.56 was taken by Livedeal. I ended the contract in early Jan 2009 in writing. I called them, they said they would refund the amount but as of 6-5-2009 it is still not in. My bank said that livedeal only sent a soft copy to them, they need a hard copy to post the refund.

Jenny of Muskegon, MI February 27, 2009

Jenny of Muskegon MI (02/27/09)
I received a phone call from a man with YP Media in regards to updating our information with them. I believe this was in December 2008. From the start of the phone conversation, I told him that I was not authorized to make any decisions regarding our businesss advertising or payments. He then pursued to verify our location and phone number. Once this was complete, I then repeated to him that I was not authorized to make sales or payment decisions for the company. He stated to me that this was not holding me to any invoicing decisions. He asked if he could fax the information over and I stated that was okay. He then said that he needed to connect me to a processing department and put me on hold.

On multiple occasions I told him I was not authorized to do payments or invoicing and he continued to push. I was on the phone with him for at least 15 minutes and in the process missed several calls for the Ranch. I was very frustrated with the man and that is why I hung up the phone. Within 10 minutes a lady from their processing department called back to continue the phone conversation. I re-iterated to her that I do not have the authority for any invoicing or payments. She stated that this was not committing me to a contract of any kind. She started recording the conversation to verify the information. Now I was very frustrated that no one was listening to me and I just wanted to get her off the phone so I answered her questions in a very short manner. We shortly received a fax for an invoice in my name through YP Media.

I then went on their website and emailed them from their restating all that I had said prior. The fax gave me a phone number to call, but I was tired of dealing with these people on the phone. They had been very harassing and pushing. So I sent an email from their website stating that I did not sign up for any contract as I expressed on the phone I am not authorized to do that through my company. I figured it was handled and didnt want to concern myself with that. A couple weeks later we receive another fax. The owner spoke to me about it when it came back through. I explained all of the above to her as well.

Tuesday, 2/24 I receive a phone call from a different man with YP media shortly after 9am. Right from the start he was very rude. He did a conference call where we were both listening to the recording of the verbal contract that I apparently made with them. Per what was recorded it looked like I did sign up for their advertising. I went through the whole thing with him as well. I express how harassing all the people was that I dealt with. I also stated to him as I had to all the ones prior that I AM NOT AUTHORIZED to make decisions regarding the companys advertising or invoicing. Not one of the people that I dealt with would listen to me!

This man had me on the phone for over 45 minutes. I asked him where was the recording of the prior phone calls? He said that they were not recorded and he had no record of the email that I sent. He demanded payment for the services and I again told him I was not able to do that. I got very irate and upset with this man. During this time he had me on the phone over this I was missing very valuable clients phone calls. That also upsets me. He asked If I went into a department store and wanted to buy a jacket, but didnt pay for it they wouldnt let me take the jacket. I stated that this is clearly not the same thing. I did not want the services and was pushed and harassed by their staff.

I said that the only person who could do anything with our buisnesss advertising wouldnt be in until Friday (2/27). He said that he would call back then at 10 am and talk to [her]. I hung up the phone. The same man called 2/27 and spoke to [her]. He threatened to send it through legal avenues if it wasnt paid. She asked to have it sit through until Monday so she could investigate this further. He was very rude with her as well.

This is when we started looking to what we could do and I found this site. If there is nothing I can do regarding this specific case, can you please help me so that this doesnt happen again? This has been a very frustrating situation from my point of view and it is completely unfair what they are doing. Any help that you can provide me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

It has caused the owner and myself several hours of labor to deal with them on the phone. Numerous client's phone calls were missed and neglected due to this. It caused lots of emotional headache and stress.

David of Beaverton, OR January 22, 2009

David of Beaverton OR (01/22/09)
I was talked into signing up for a YP Internet advertising program on a one year basis with a 3 month trial period. I cancelled it during the 2nd month of trial period by faxing a letter to them as specified in the agreement. In Jan this year they charged my account for 396.00 even though I had cancelled IAW the agreement. THey will not return phone calls or emails. I've filed dispute with Mastercard.

Loss of 396.00 plus the original 450 I paid them. This is a total ripoff and fraud scheme. I'm very frustrated, but learned my lesson the hard way. YP.COM is a total scam. BEWARE!

Kathy of Flushing, MI January 3, 2009

Kathy of Flushing MI (01/03/09)
Similar to the other contributors, YP.com offered me one month free. I called and cancelled the service after one month. They started sending me invoices. I called after 2 invoices telling them I had cancelled the service. They said they had no record of the cancellation. I wrote to them cancelling the service. I continued to get more invoices so I called them again. They stated that I never cancelled. I am not sure how to stop this situation. I am in the process of writing them again stating that I cancelled the service. I see that they have now changed their name to LiveDeal Inc. It is very annoying and worrisome relative to credit rating. I imagine those documenting their experience with YP.com is just the tip of the iceberg.

At this point the only economic damage is the outstanding invoices and potential impact on my credit rating.

Kenneth of Flint, MI December 9, 2008

Kenneth of Flint MI (12/09/08)
Since I have been in business, reps from YP.com have been contacting me. They used to go by a different name. Everytime they contact you they try to sound like they are just verifying information in their database is correct. They slowly lead you into accepting a paid on-line advertising package.

I was leary right form the get go with them, and the next few times I talked with them I always told them I was not interested, and made sure that they could not twist my words in any way. I was very clear that they were not to charge me for anything but if they wanted to post my FREE ad that was fine.

After the first few calls I started recognizing their phone number and also recognized their tactics right off the bat. So, when someone would call and say, Hi, I am so and so from.... I would cut them off and say, Hi so and so. Have a great day.

So, a couple days ago I get a bill for 79.90 showing a past due amount of 39.95. I immediately called them up and was very upset. I told them they were not authorized to do this and told them that they will remove the bill and cancel the service immediately or I will contact my attorneys. She informed me that one of my employees had, in fact, authorized the charges. I told her she was out of her mind and that she better have a recording of it. So, she proceeded to play back a recording of my employee answering pre-recorded questions. You could hear that he was confused, and the lady had to keep interrupting to answer questions for him. One of the final answers was my employee agreeing that he was 18 years of age and authorized to make the necessary updates. They then played a long recording of how he had just agreed to a 39.95/month ad package and asked if he understood. I again heard my employees voice say yes. However, he has no recollection of the final recording asking him if he understood, and from looking at previous posts on the internet other people don't either.

It's obvious that this company is splicing words together and suckering people into doing things they don't want to do. I turned right around and informed the yp.com lady that my employee doesn't have any authorization to sign me up or bind me into any contract and told her that she wasn't getting any money and that she is going to cancel the account and remove the charges or I would contact my attorneys. She was more than happy to remove the charges and cancel the account and gave me a cancellation number. I then verified again that all accounts had been cancelled and that there would be no more bills. She confirmed.

Its bad enough they are using dirty tactics to trick you into signing up for something you don't want. But, they also all have bad english that makes it even harder to understand what they are telling you or asking you.

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