DDA Directory Distribution Associates - Verizon Yellow Pages Discriminating/abusive payment practises. Applies payment methods that take advantage of low income workers Bridgeton Missouri

I've been a carrier and am a seasonal employee in their delivery office in my hometown.  I've worked with two different delivery managers.  Many of the negative views expressed in this report and in the other disgruntled responses conflict with my experience.  

The bottom line is that DDA gets paid a certain amount of money to have the phone books delivered to a certain area before a certain date, and just like any other business, they have to work out how much they can afford to spend in time, money, and resources in order to do that.  And if DDA wants to keep their clients and to actually collect payment from them, they have to be able to ensure that the delivery is actually made.  Everything else nonsense.  That's how business works.

Unfortunately for the unhappy people posting here, delivering phone books is not very skilled labor, and it stands to reason that there is a limit to how much a company can pay unskilled laborers to do a temporary job-- particularly one that they cannot avoid verifying was actually done within the parameters that they agreed to with the phone book publishers.  Where the laborer can succeed is by learning to do the job efficiently.  That doesn't mean they're going to let you work forever or as fast or as often as you want.  But the more efficient and accurate you are with your route delivery, the less time you will spend doing it, and the more money you will make for the work you actually perform.  Complaining that managers try to slow you down is really just complaining that they didn't give you as much work as you wanted.  And the suggestion that you go do some other menial job because you'd be better off is a silly alternative, because you don't get to dictate to the employers of those jobs how many hours they will give you to work either.

There are some above comments about individual managers that I honestly can't speak to, as I haven't worked with those particular people.  Obviously, as with any job and particularly unskilled labor jobs, some bosses are better than others and in any case it sounds like most of the inidviduals mentioned are no longer around anyway.

The GPS trackers are about making sure you did the work.  Nonsense about how it violates private contractor laws or is unconstitutional just makes you look stupid.  Part of your contracted job is to click the tracker when & where you deliver a book, and the reason for it is to verify that the other part of your contracted job-- DELIVERING THE BOOK-- was actually done when & where it was supposed to.  I review the GPS trackers when the carriers bring them in.  They're very accurate.  You can see when a carrier drove up and down the same street 10 times, when they parked and walked door to door like they should have, and when they just blew past whole streets or apartment complexes without stopping only to come in saying the occupants or complexes refused delivery.

I've also listened to the complaints of several carriers about the GPS trackers, the routes, the pay timeframe, and more.  I'm only speaking for myself with everything I've written here and not on behalf of anyone else and ONLY about my experience, but in that experience, invariably, the carriers making these complaints are the ones for whom, to me, it seems obvious why they don't have other work.  They're either trying to scam the system by getting paid without doing good work or work at all, or they're complaining just to complain, or they're just lazy, incompetent people in general.  The vast majority of the carriers I deal with are NOT like this, they know what the job is, they know it's not rocket science and can't pay like it is, and they're happy to do it and make some needed cash.  I delivered books before I worked in the delivery office as a clerk, and no, it wasn't fun or terribly lucrative.  But I did it how I was trained to do it, I did what I agreed I would do when I accepted the contract on the route, and I got paid on time without hassle.

If some people had bad experiences with particular managers, I certainly do sympathize with that, and I hope those people have since devoted themselves to being qualified for work that gives them more more options in the future.  To anyone reading the above report who is considering delivering routes for DDA, just keep in mind that YES, it's physical unskilled labor, no it's not fun, but YES, if you do it how you're supposed to and you focus on doing it quickly and accurately, you'll get paid on time and you can make some money.  If you're not sure, just go to the orientation and watch the video (it's NOT an hour long or anything close to that), meet the manager for that area in person, and see what you think.  

Do not work for these people-it's a complete scam. First you sit thorough an hour long video. After that they have you sign a 1099 which makes you an independent contractor. Then you use your own vehicle to get a return of maybe 50 bucks after gas for 1000 books. The gps they force you to wear is unconstitutional because of independent contractor laws. Your route will be scrutinized to a tee until they find a reason not to pay you. It takes hours alone just to bag every book. the gas the recompensense you for is based on 1985 gas prices. DO NOT EVER WORK HERE.

I actually worked for them. Routinely I would make 200+ dollars a delivery that would take me between 8 and 10 hours. Which math would say is $20+ per hour. This did include Mileage. excluding Mileage it would be about $12/hr.

Also I never had an issue with any of my deliveries. Manager was always nice to me. I made about $4000 in around 2 Months. Which for delivering phonebooks is no to bad. The easiest job I've ever had by far.

There's nothing hard about this job. Don't see what you are complaining about. I worked for them this summer. It was the easiest job I've ever had. If you had a problem with your route just write a note. Tell the Manager that you could not get in the building, because it was locked. You could even call the person on your list and let them know you left a phonebook for them.

As for them checking the routes before payment. You should expect that it's called quality control. I always got payed the next day. My average route brought home about $200, which got me around $4000 in 2 months. If you work hard it will be worth it.

 I've delivered phone books for 4 different companies several times. I have a bike carrier on my car so I load 2 newspaper carrier bags with phone books and ride my bike from house to house tossing the books on each porch.I can range far before I have to return to my car to reload and bike to the next street.I use very little gas this way.I never put them in plastic bags unless it's raining outside or I do a rural mailbox drop or there's lots of hills and I have to driveway drop them while driving along.If I don't feel like working, I don't. When I do I can move 200 per hour and easily make $1200 to $1500 in 2 weeks. I've always been paid...always!It's no rip off. Some people work stupid and make it harder than it needs to be. Think... and it's very easy.

This just keeps getting better.  I now find out that Verizon is doing a partial delivery on routes in Boston.  I certainly hope their advertisers know this.  They are only delivering to residents that have a land line.  For instance, if an apartment complex has 10 residents, 10 books may and in most instances not be delivered.  There might be only 8 or 5 or even 2 books going to that residence.

Here is where the insanity starts.  Most doors to buildings in the Boston area are locked.  Therefore, books delivered are in most cases just inside the alcove or on the stoop.  Now get ready for this.  There are ten residents with let's say 4 books.  How does anyone know who gets a book!!!  So anyone walking into the building will pick up a book and depending on how many people are getting a book, the odds are very great that a person on the delivery list will not get one.  Bonkers!!!

So in essence, when a carriers route is phone checked, he will inevitably have a failed route or several or all.  I know one person that was made to redeliver 3 times to the same residence on several occasions.

The DDA employee who posted above is not making an argument based in reality.  When someone shows up to deliver phone books, they are in most cases desperate and are not in a position to understand delivering phone books until they are actually doing it.  All they know is they have to make money fast.

I'll give you an example of how the job works.  Someone shows up to deliver books.  They are given a video to watch and then a quick test sometimes.  They fill out an application and told to go pick out a route or in some cases handed one.  They then go wait in line to get books.  That's it.

There is no bundle weight test....please.   Maybe the manager tells them to watch the weight in their car but that is not what happens in the real world.  The person has to make money and in 90% of the cases the car owner jams as many books into their car as humanly possible.

I'm not going to go on here as I think it's clear from mine and other post's, what this job is all about. You've been pre-warned.

Line 5 DDA Delivery contract.

All work is subject to accuracy checks.  If the work is not completed to the reasonable satisfaction of DDA, payment will be withheld.  DDA will not exercise control over the manner, method or details of performance, and will look to performance only.

The demand of use the of GPS devices is in direct violation of their own agreement in bold above. 

It also violates IRS rules regarding IC relationships with payer.  Below and taken in part.
Take special note at the last paragraph.

Taken from the IRS website.

People such as doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, accountants, contractors, subcontractors, public stenographers, or auctioneers who are in an independent trade, business, or profession in which they offer their services to the general public are generally independent contractors. However, whether these people are independent contractors or employees depends on the facts in each case. The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to
control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done. The earnings of a person who is working as an independent contractor are subject to Self-Employment Tax.


You are not an independent contractor if you perform services that can be controlled by an employer (what will be done and how it will be done). This applies even if you are given freedom of action. What matters is that the employer has the legal right to control the details of how the services are performed."


If one takes the above IRS rule into consideration as DDA should be doing.  They would simply give out routes without GPS's or any other direction except for the result.  A simple list of addresses and number of books to each address.  They would be able to ask for signatures or business cards because that is the result.  Everything else they should have no say in how it is done.  Then it is up to them to confirm the result.

This whole GPS thing is a way for DDA to skirt their responsibility for the result and putting it in the lap of the IC.

They, by IRS rules, are not allowed to interfere in how the books are delivered.

GPS's have been found to be inaccurate and are not made for 1000s of detailed delivery stats.  IC's are being made to go back to work already completed and re-walk the delivery route by walking up to each house and re-clicking at each home.

There are hundreds of GPS's at each delivery station and many go bad or are malfunctioning.
The IC's are responsible for any GPS malfunctioning, whether visible or not or in the control of the IC.  IC's are responsible for line of sight errors or weak signals caused by this.  What this mean is if one is delivering in an obstructed area and the signal weakens or is lost they must still go back and re-click the route.

GPS data can be lost or erased at the delivery station by mis handling.  IC is still responsible and must go back and re-click.

GPS Data can be garbled and look like a maze on the viewers screen by a re-setting.  Ever been in your car and suddenly for no apparent reason, your GPS re maps your route.  That is a re-setting.  The GPS lost the connection and is acquiring a new satellite connection.

The GPS clickers IC's use are the same thing as GPS's one uses in their car.  If the GPS re-sets it can screw up the results.  No results, partial results or garbled data can result.

All for now. More coming.

I have worked for DDA as a seasnoal employee since 2008. I have been in the west coast mainly on jobs as a clerical employee, and have delivered routes also.

This is not what I have experienced as an employee. Every manager needs carriers on every delivery.

I have experienced many different scenarios with carriers not delivering as trained in an orientation and have always been told they are given a second chance if they didn't deliver per instructions. In some cases they are given numerous chances.

Every delivery has a set time that the managers have to be completed. So the more carriers the better. Good or not so great. They all are given many chances to get it right and learn a routine they can follow.,

Many times there has been a bonus included in the route pay. On occasion even 100 % bonus on the route pay.

If a carrier is very abusive with their delivery then they are not alowed another route. When the carrier doesn't deliver at all and then marks in the route that they have, then they have taken advantage of the company and this could result in DNRing of the carrier.

If you work efficiently and fast, then money can be made and a check could be dipensed daily almost.

By not following the guidlines is only the carriers fault. Why a carrier would not want to deliver properly is beyond me. It seems to me that if someone was wanting to earn money on a part time basis then they would expect to do a good job and not expect high end pay. They don't have to take a route after orientation if they are not interested in the route pay.

The weight of the phonebooks is all known up front by alowing a carrier to hold a bundle. An applicant can handle a bundle of books at any time during orientation if need be. All this is up front and discussed at the time of orientation. One should know the limits of their own vehicle. It's the carriers decision to choose the amount of bundles to be placed in their vehicle.

Also, in addition to the weight factor on the books in the car has been discussed greatly at time of hiring a route to a carrier. It is discouraged not to over load your vehicle so damage doesn't occur. It is reccommended to take additional trips if a vehicle is small and can't safely hold the bundles all in one load.

Also if a carrier is not interested in delivering after starting the route they chose to work, then it is reccommended to bring all items issued to the carrier back to the office immediately. Why would the company pay a carrier who didn't complete the work? This happens a lot.

I have had great experiences with DDA as a clerical employee and carrier. I am still working constantly with DDA as a seasonal clerk.

I have worked with DDA for the past 10 years delivering in my home town. The last 4 of those 10 years I traveled to different states with a few of the managers.

I have worked for David Moonie who has since passed away. He was the only manager who wasn't into the games or power trips that the other managers were into or had. The other fair manager is Marilyn Mael. Though if you came back with one book short or one book over there was some explaining to do. 

The other managers were all about slowing everyone down so you can't get them out of the areas too fast. If an area is scheduled to be in place for 4 weeks and they finish in 3 then the managers lose money the next year because they are then expected to finish the following year in 3 weeks.

I have worked for a manager Mary Cook who may be the biggest waste of anyone's time. On one route I was sent back to 10 or so houses because I was told that they hadn't received their books. Every single time the book was in the place where it was supposed to be. Route after route this would happen. Way too much. This never happened with other managers. I'm assuming this was her slow down tactic.

The 2nd time I worked for her, I was in another state hundreds of miles from home and my van broke down. I was relieved that I had checks coming out that I had turned in over 48 hours ago. Mary aware that van was accross the street said to me I can't pay you until so and so day. Here I am basically homeless in a town I know noone and I have a manager playing games. I had to sneak back to my van still at the shop to sleep in it till she felt like giving me my checks.

I have worked for Judy Smith the most. She had all the good areas that I liked to work. One year she had asked me on many occasions if I was coming to work in Portland, Maine. I told her yes I was coming. I was 4 months pregnant, but still could move around. I was pushing out the routes and of course keeping track of the 48 hour pay. Mind you on all their paperwork it states 24 hours. So It was getting close to the time when all my checks should've been ready. When I asked about them, one of the regular phone checkers Maria said to me I can't have you paid till Tuesday. She was way too happy to tell me this as Judy is just sitting in the background listening to this.

It is now a friday and now 'm upset. I have no food money or camp money and again am hundreds of miles from home. All my money was spent on gas.  I said to Judy I just want my money and I want to go home. I said I can't believe you are treating me like this. You asked me over and over if I was coming and this is how I get treated. I'm pregnant I need my checks and I mentioned the time line 48 hours. Judy says come back in a while. When I came back I had $800 in checks sitting there. So if it's there benefit they can pay you. I was moving to fast. Judy was one that said that alot. You need to slow down, you are moving to fast. But really that's why she wanted me there in the first place because I can deliver 2 routes a day and maybe 3 if everthing meaning traffic, etc was right. Judy has since retired.

Before I tell you about my last manager, I just want to say there is a new system in place. GPS systems. Evertime a book is dropped at a step you are supposed to click the button. This assures management that that they were being delivered to the doors and not the end of the driveways.  All the managers assumed this would slow all the regular carriers down. It didn't,  so little by little they started firing all the regular carriers for one reason or another. We all knew the managers could get on us so we made sure we did the right things.

The last manager that I worked for was Karen Patrick. She was Judy Smith's go to person. Computers, phone checker or if cars needed to be loaded with books and noone was around, she was the go to. She became a manager right after Judy retired. When ever I worked for Judy, Karen was there. I have known them both for 4 years or so. Last year in 2010 I was working in my home town and I delivered about 300 books door to door to this condominium complex. Usually that amount of books I could deliver in an hour, but this time it took hours because there were stairs to each bldg. 10 bldgs.

No problem it was part of the job. So as I started to deliver to the condos I saw this lady driving around on a golf cart. She noticed what I was doing and drove by a few times, but didn't say anything. So I just had finished up the last bldg and she came over to me and asked if I could go pick up the books. I matter of factly said I can't, but I can give you my managers number. I gave her the number got back in my van and continued my route all the while thinking why didn't she tell me this when she first saw me. She had drove by a few different times.

So I got back to the book station and Karen asked me what happened. A little confused I said what do you mean. She then says you told that lady to go f... herself. Since I have known Karen so long I thought at first she was joking. Long story short she wouldn't let me explain myself. I assured her that didn't happen. I really am unsure if the woman really said that or if that was an easy way for Karen to get rid of me. I can't see that lady saying that because I had my phone in my hand and could have been recording the conversation. It's just hard to believe the lady said that. Maybe I shouldv'e picked up the books and probably would have if it wasn't for the fact that she drove by me many times. Like it was a joke she asked me at the last building. I took the job seriously not as a joke.

I called 2 of Karen's managers including the top guy which I forget his name. They all sided with Karen.

I loved my job and wouldn't have put myself in jeopordy talking to a customer badly. That's not my style. A married couple by the name of Rita and Richard (may have retired) are the regular phone checkers came to me and said wow Karen would'nt let you say a word. They knew me well and didn't believe it. Nobody believed it, but what could anyone do but stand by and say wow that's not right.

I am thinking about getting a lawyer to take care of this and get my job back. I was fired in my own home town for something that really didn't happen. It all comes down to moving to fast.

I'm not saying this to be spiteful, but a lot of the carriers don't take Karen, Maria and Karen's partner Carla, too seriously because they all come to work dressed like they painted the house all weekend. Really. Holey and painted clothes. To me I could care less, but they would be respected and taken more seriously if they invested in some clothes. And on the last day I was there retrieving checks and Karen was on the phone actually crying about her truck getting repossed. Low class is how her stations are being ran.

So if you really want to work this type of job, it is a good job just working for bad people. Which I didn't think they were that bad to me until the end when they wanted to get rid of the regular carriers.

Directory Distributing Associates is a bogus company that should be investigated by a news reporter.
When gas was $1.00-$1.50 and they paid more per stop you could make some money.  Now that gas is $4.00 a gallon you are basically working for free.  You are better off panhandling on the streets.
They pay 8 cents per stop and they will pay 1/4 of the 10 times you have to load books into your car.  And they won't pay for you to drive 25 miles to their delivery office.  You have no idea how much these phone books weigh and how much space they take.  It will mess the shocks and break the axle of a UHaul truck!
They offer no workers comp nor health benefits.  Pull your back or develop a hernia and you're out of luck.  They are a fly by night company meaning they do deliveries for 3 weeks twice a year and skip town.

Work for a moving company and make only 2 stops and make $40-60 an hour instead of 500 stops for less than $5 !  Drive a parts truck, a cab or work as a courier instead if you want to make a living.

The abusive practices continued as they forced me to wear a GPS device strapped aroung my neck, treating me as a Criminal.  THAT'S WHEN I QUIT !!!!

Update:

DDA has dropped to new lows.  Some new information has come to light about DDA and their operation.
I have found that they are now further demoralizing their workers by making them where devices akin
to the ankle bracelets worn by certain parolees and sex offenders.  That's right, DDA's delivery personnel
must wear GPS tracking necklaces at all times.  To add further insult to injury, delivery personnel must
also click a little button every time they leave a book at a residence or business.  In my opinion, this
is beyond the scope of general business practices and is stepping into the realm of invasion of privacy.

I also think DDA is stepping over the line regarding the status they place on their delivery personnel,
regarding how they are labeled, for tax purposes.  If this action is not an invasion of privacy then isn't it
at least a step away from independent contractor status or 1099 filings and more towards a general
employee or W2 filing.  A 1099 denotes a person who works indepentently without a boss; one who
works alone, without checking in or clicking a time clock.  It also denotes someone who does a job how
they see fit at their own hours.  This strict and in my opnion, unconstitutional supervision, apes an
assembly line with supervision.  Except the supervision is done after the delivery when the GPS
device is hooked up to a computer and ones delivery behavior is graded at each point of the delivery
route.  This is exactly like being followed down the street with a supervisor following close behind
monitoring ones actions.  That which resembles an assembly line supervisor monitoring his
employees except the time line is altered.

From what I have gleaned from my contacts is the reasoning behind this new decision by DDA
is to stop people from throwing books.  This theory might be legitimate if people were delivering
in the suburbs but they are delivering in the city where each dwelling holds 3 or more residents.
Throwing 3 sets of 2 books is near physically impossible.  And to do so on a four to six hundred
book route would send someone to the hospital with a seperated shoulder.

In my opinion, DDA operates under an umbrella of intimidation toward delivery personnel.  One
IC was so afraid to bring back books to the office for fear of being let go, they stored them in their
apartment, only to be found when they moved out.  Part of the problem is that some of the delivery
routes are padded with multiples to one house and deliveries to phantom addresses.  The IC is
then faced with resolving DDAs lack of record keeping or face the wrath of the office and possibly
having money taken from their check.

DDA has lost their last big independent contractor this year.  From what I heard, they walked in
with the GPS devices dumped them on the table and walked out.  This contractor had been with
DDA for 10 years and was responsible for delivering over one hundred thousand books per Boston
delivery.  They represented what IC work really was at DDA.  DDA should be investigated
by the IRS for violating IRS tax filing code.  Not just for eliminating the true ICs but for taking
advantage of the system.


Ripoff Report is here for complaints against big companies that take advantage of the little guy.
I think this is a valid complaint against a big company and I hope it is useful.


By the way, it is not against the law to leave phonebooks at a mailbox.  Federal postal regulations
only apply to the actual mailbox, not the post or the ground around the mailbox which is considered
the homeowners or city property.  If you see big signs in DDA's that it is against the law to put books
around and or hang from the "post" of a mailbox, you can rest assured it is another one of DDA's
lies.  It is an outright misrepresentation of the law.

i did a route,and I met the infamous Cook and Moomie.I made about 5.50 an/hr,and beat the crap out of my car doing it. I still have to get my check this a.m.If there's a problem I'll report back.I give it a big thumbs down

Jplanes is completely correct on everything about this outfit.

First its not quick cash! Plus they don't pay you right away either. They have to "check" your deliveries. The amount of work for 2 days of work is ridiculous. The sorting, carrying, baging, and throwing/placing the books in houses is very time consuming. Its a min, of 10+ hours with two or three people working together! 1 Guy probably 20 hours.

Next, they expect you to have businesses sign that they received a phone book. There are times the workers do not English, they don't want to sign, are too busy, or think that they have to pay for the books. People are like why do I need a phone book, I use Google! Hire a real delivery person to drop the books off. They will charge so much more for signature confirmation.

Plus, the wear and tear on the car will cost you more in the end than you get paid. Also the amount of money they pay you for gas is a 1/4 of what you need.

In addition, when you do a major commercial area, a good amount of the business have either closed down or moved. So when you have so many extras they are so shocked.

I wish I read jplanes complaint, I would have never worked for this outfit. I don't even know if I am going to get paid. I have to wait 48 hours so they can confirm that I delivered all the books. What did I do all that time and miles ?

The manager sat there and gave us a lecture trying to scare us. Your going to get arrested for leaving one near a mail box, ok.

DO NOT THINK THAT IS EASY MONEY, IT IS LONG, TIRING WORK FOR VERY LITTLE PAY. SO MUCH TROUBLE AND PROBLEMS WITH THESE PEOPLE FOR A LOUSY $120 BUCKS. Go Shovel, Work a Grocery Store, Pump Gas you will make much more in a shorter time.


I hope more people read this report and know to stay away!