Verizon Yellow Pages ripoff dishonest fraudulent sales & Bad Business Tactics DFW Texas

I have been the victim of bad business practices by the Tampa Yellow Pages sales force for years. Unfortunately this is due to their not being a good alternative to the Yellow Pages available. Verizon is the current owner of the program in Tampa. The abuses have been so terrible and I have been so unhappy with their terrorist tactics that if I had another equally reliable source for advertising my business for the same or less costs then I would do so. This year was the worst experience I have had although there are a couple of years that have come close to matching it.

My central office and home are located in Tennessee. We relocated from Tampa 2 years ago. Last years ad cost us nearly $1300.00 per month and I could no longer justify this large expense so I hired a family member to create an ad half the size and with no color so that I could reduce the cost by more than half.

This Year (Summer 2003) When the ad rep called me he was very excited and wanted to immediately come out and see me as the deadline was coming up fast and we needed to get my advertising review and new improved ad ready to go. I explained to the rep that I am in Tennessee so unless he was going to drive 11 hours or fly we would be unable to meet. I also explained to the rep that I had my ad done already and that we would be reducing the size and losing the color. This was obviously a mistake on my part as all of the excitement went out of the reps voice and he said that he was mistaken about him beig the rep for my account and that a Tennessee rep would have to handle it.

I explained to him that there are no Tennessee Verizon Yellow Page Reps as Tennessee is under Bell South. (Sidenote: They are an equally flawed Yellow Page Provider).

The rep told me that he would have to check into it and then he would call me back in a couple days. 2 Weeks later it was very apparent that the rep had no intention of calling me back and that if I did not take action then I wouldn't be in the phone book at all in 2004. So, I called and asked for a supervisor.

The supervisor admitted that the rep didn't want to handle my ad because he didn't want to take the hit against his commission. She had me send my ad in and said that we would talk when she got the ad.

2 Weeks later when I had not heard anything I called and spoke to her again. She told me that she had received the ad and that she could not talk about it right at that moment but she would turn the ad in and we could discuss it when I got the proof back.

After more than a month had passed I checked back with her to find out why I didn't have the proof yet. She put me off saying that it would be done and then we could talk. I did finally get the proof and I called to speak with her again. She said she would call me back later the same day. I received no call. The next day I called again and she put me off again. This scenario was repeated over 5 more times over the course of a couple weeks. I finally called and asked to speak with the manager the next level up.

When I spoke with this manager he was very friendly and apologetic and said that they would help me out right away and if it was okay with me he would put me on the phone with one of his best reps who would handle writing the contract for me since I had not signed one yet this year. He explained that once the contract was signed we would make any changes needed on my advertising and that would conclude my experience with the company sales dept this year.

The manager put me through to the sales rep who then asked me what size and color my ad was. When I explained to him the size with no color he told me the price was over $960.00. I told him that this could not be right as I had been previously told that this ad would cost me about $650.00. He said that he was looking right at it and the price was $960.00. I explained again that I was talking about a smaller ad size with no color and that the ad I was submitting was created specifically so that I could get the ad cost down to about $650.00 because the business could no longer afford the expense of a $1000.00 ad and I explained to him the trouble I had with the sales dept this year. He said he was sorry but to get that price I would need the smallest ad size available and that to help make things right he could check to see if they could do color for free. He put me on hold for a minute and when he came back he happily said the free color was approved and we hope this makes up for your bad experience with us better this year.

The sales rep faxed me the sales contract and asked me to sign it and get it right back to him. I tried to read the sales contract to see if I could figure out where there was a trick or error on it that was causing the extra money to be charged to me. Less than 5 minutes into it the sales rep called me and asked me to hurry up and sign it so that he could go home for the day. I told him that I was looking it over and he said okay just send it back right away.

I could tell there was something strange going on and after the rep got off of the phone it hit me. The rep I had been turned over to was the same excited rep who I had spoken with the very first time I had been contacted this year. I tried to call the supervisor but it was 5 minutes after 5 and everyone had gone home. I wrote on the contract "No Charge for Color" and faxed the contract back.

First thing the next morning I called the supervisor and told him about my concerns. He explained that the contract he was holding was charging me for color. I told him that I had explained to the rep that I did not want color and that I had the ad created so that I would only pay about $650.00 per month for my advertising. I also explained what the rep told me. He called the rep in and the rep told him that I was mistaken. I told him that this was not a ploy on my part to somehow get free color and that if he looked at my ad he would see that it was designed to look its best with no color and that there was no good place in the ad for color so take out the "free" color and to fire the rep because of the potential fraud and extra $3,600 I would have paid if I had not caught this. The supervisor told me that the rep was just doing his job and that he was sure that it was a misunderstanding and that he would not be taking my word over the word of his rep.

I had had it at this point so I decided to wait until the ad came out and call customer service. I filed my complaint and got a call back about a month later. The customer service rep told me that she could only take action if there was a problem with the ad. I explained that I was sick and tired of the bad business practices by her company and that I either want compensation and documentation of the reason why or corrective action against the rep taken and that I would really prefer to see a change in their behavior rather than the money. She told me that they could not do anything. I explained that I will be suing and possibly pressing charges if I can prove the reps behavior. She said I should do what I have to do because she could not do anything about it other than apologize.

I have had it with this company and I want to sue for the poor treatment and business practices that are the trademark of this company and the way it compensates/punishes its sales reps who are supposed to be assisting the consumer instead of victimizing them.

Richard
Maryville, Tennessee
U.S.A.

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