Buyer Beware...

Wow, so I totally got a scam phone call today! I can't describe how I feel...kind of proud that I didn't totally fall for it, kind of stressed that I gave them too much info and may be getting a phoney invoice after all... . I was in the middle of working on a project with a customer, so I was distracted when I answered the call. The caller ID showed "Unknown name/Unknown number". The caller asked for the "person in charge of advertising" and I, already on my guard, asked who was calling. She told me her name (didn't catch it) and that she was calling from ezyellowpages.com. But, she said it quickly so I really only heard yellow pages. I said "are you trying to sell me something?" and she said "oh, no mam we're just updating our records. You had an ad with ezyellowpages.com last year and we are calling to confirm the info is correct". Still assuming I was speaking to someone with the ACTUAL yellow pages, I answered YES to a few questions, which I guess it not a smart thing to do, as they often record the call, send you the "invoice" then when you say "hey, I didn't agree to that!" they say "well, we have a recording of you saying "yes" to it" and they doctor up the call. Freaking CON artists!! So then she hands me over to the quality control supervisor or some such nonsense. At this point, I'm like what the hell is this? I don't remember ever signing up for this directory. I asked the quality control woman when I "signed up", and she was like "oh, well last year it was complimentary" and I said "well who initiated that, I don't remember contacting you" and she said "oh, it was probably through your website" (HUH? What does THAT mean?) So I asked her the cost of advertising, and she said $479.99. AHHH! WHAT! To which I said, oh, well then I am NOT interested in continuing to advertise with you. At that point, she actually got WHINEY! and said "well why not!" and I said "because that's quite expensive". She started to get very pushy and I said "you know, I'm in the middle of something right now, why don't you give my your phone number and extension and I will call you back at a time that is more convenient to me" and she said "what time would be more convenient for us to call back?" and I said, "no, I want your number" and we went back and forth with her refusing to give me a number, and me refusing to give her a call-back time. I finally said "if you won't give me a phone number, I'm not interested in purchasing advertising through you. That sounds like a scam" and she said "we're not a scam, you can go to our website www.ezyellowpages.com and see that we are a real company". My response...are you ready for it? it might be my favorite part (drum roll). "Great, then I'll go to your website and find a number to call you back" then I HUNG UP! Yeah! (I'm never rude to telemarketers or solicitors so that got my blood pressure pumping! I'm such a nerd).

So, curious about ez yellow pages? Go ahead, Google it. You will find complaint after complaint after compliant. If you are a small business owner, please be aware of this scam. I am not a chain letter. I am a really business owner, and this really happened! Don't let it happen to you!