i received one of these calls last night at 3:45 a.m. id on phone only said 267-443-2002 and philadelphia, pa. Tried calling back...last night recevied fast busy signal...this a.m. told # is not in service.
I was careless enough to respond to this fax, thinking it was a further communication from Yellow Book with whom I had recently placed a small ad. Please read my letter of complaint to follow this twisted sordid story.
Dear Sirs:
The order in question was originally undertaken based solely upon your unsolicited broadcast fax which was generated and sent on your own initiative. I never sought out your so-called service. As I previously stated, this was done concurrently with a legitimately contracted local Yellow Book ad, which I did place. It is my contention that you knew of this ad and sent a communication by fax which was intentionally meant to be deceptive in its nature. A sound alike name to a business I had recently contracted with, Yellow Book, which would cause the kind of confusion from which I am now attempting to extricate myself. Congratulations, you succeeded as you must do with so many unfortunate other harried small business operators whom you manage to inveigle.
This confusion has resulted in your seeking collection of a bill for a virtually worthless service of typing a few lines consisting of my name and phone number into a national website you control. There was no discussion, consultation design or any other communication between the parties at any time in connection with the service you provided beyond your fax, which targeted me as a recent local Yellow Book advertiser. No salesman ever called nor was I ever contacted for my approval in advance of this listings insertion by any agent or employee of your business, as would be customary in the placement of an advertisement. Does this sound normal? It does not pass the prudent man or even laugh test that any local businessman would knowingly desire such a useless service of listing themselves in a national directory, not to mention at the inflated, rediculous price you seek. Additionally as I am only legally licensed in four states as an insurance producer, it would not be logical or even legal to hold myself out to do business with the public in the remaining 45 states plus DC, assorted US Territories and Possessions or wherever else this listing might be viewed online. Good thing no one actually looks at your work product becasue I haven't received a single inquiry from this listing to date, in case you are curious regarding the effectiveness of your online publication for your customers. How many hits have I received? Do you have any such records you’d like to share? In fact your corporate headquarters and return correspondence address is not even located in the United States but in the Republic of Panama. Why is that? To circumvent the laws of this country regarding obtaining business by fraudulent means?
I am only replying again to this nonsense in order to have a paper trail by which to defend myself should you unwisely choose to attempt collection of any amount as a legal debt. I have already contacted the US Postal Inspectors office and referred this matter to them, including the circumstances described, here along with your previous communications to be investigated for mail fraud.
Therefore, as previously stated, I disown any responsibility for the so-called work supposedly performed to enter my few basic lines of information and place them on your website which is of dubious, if any, actual value by virtue of your deceptive means. If you were indeed a legitimate enterprise you would have already recognized from my prior communications requesting cancelation etc. that this situation arose out of an error. If however this is but stage two of a deliberate premeditated strategy to prey on unwary dupes to pay outrageous charges for a virtually worthless and I am certain hugely profitable scam, then your unyielding attitude and response makes perfect sense. You would not even agree to cancel my ad per your own instructions on how to do so. Does this mean it will renew for another year against my wishes? This is exactly the type of warning I have read about in various postings on the net from numerous former victims of your business practices. Why don't you just kidnap my family and hold them for hostage in Generalissimo Manuel Noriega's former Presidential Palace? This at least be a more honest way to extort money! If you would like to persist with this phase of your business plan where you collect, please be my guest. If you believe your records and business practices are beyond reproach and up to the rigors of discover by the legal authorities by all means, let’s call for the lawyers.