Business Alert

Chamber Member, Bruce Reeves, owner of Reeves Construction called to alert fellow business owners. He received a call from “Regional” Yellow Pages. They were calling to renew his advertising agreement. Bruce was surprised because to the best of his recollection, he had never done any advertising with them. They tried to convince him that he had advertised several years ago and owed them over $400. When Bruce insisted they were wrong and refused to pay that amount they continued to lower the price trying to get him to pay anything. After a long persistent conversation the rep finally gave up and ended the call. Bruce then went on-line to look-up “Regional Yellow Pages.com” and found the following information:
Regional Yellow Pages Online calling into the area11:46 AM Wed, Jun 03, 2009 | PermalinkDale Dixon
It was brought to BBB's attention that a questionable Yellow Pages business pitch is targeting our region whereby a rep contacts a business wishing to confirm the company's cancellation regarding their service listing.
What's tricky about this? Based on reports posted online as well as reports to the BBB, what these calls are attempting to do is get businesses recorded as saying "Yes" to their questions so they may turn around and hold it on you that you have instead confirmed or said "Yes" to their offer.
One business contacted the BBB saying that she received a call from a person identifying themselves as The Regional Yellow Pages Online 888-815-6244. They told her that her business' subscription was cancelled or near expiring and he would be sending out a final bill with a cancellation number that could be used for discounts in the future if she wanted to do business with them again.
The business said they were a very small company. The rep stated that her CEO had signed up for the service 2 years ago. The business continued to inquire what address they had on record. The address the rep had was an address the business had not been at for over 4 years.
As the business began asking more questions, the rep merely hung up on her. The business owner believes this is highly deceptive activity and that all that this group is interested in is sending an unauthorized bill in hopes the business will not question it and just pay.
Business owners, remind your employees who could respond to such calls to make sure that they understand the wishes of the business owner concerning renewal of any online listing. If you have an unresolved issue concerning an unauthorized invoice, file a formal complaint by clicking here. If the invoice was unauthorized, dispute it. You are under no obligation to pay it.



Special thanks to Bruce from Reeves Construction for passing along this information. What a perfect example of Chamber Members helping Members”!




The Fenton Regional Chamber of Commerce exists to be a strong advocate for member businesses through services and resources, while fostering the economic vitality and prosperity of our region.