phone scam

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Complaint

0
Sally Riley
Country: United States
change the dates, the story is the same.  The amount of $667.39 is even the same.  
When it was happening on the initial call in July, our business person suspected as much because she tried to interrupt the caller and not to answer the questions in order and she said "You weren't supposed to do that!  Now I have to start all over!"  Our employee correctly asked for the name and number of a manager and got a cancellation number which (of course) we are now told is not a number from them.  Shocker.

Comments

  • 0
    Judy M.
    My story is the same!  Recorded me on October 8, 2012, called me last week, (had sent me a faxed invoice)  and after listening to the recording twice, I  knew it was edited.  I checked with my attorney, and he said don't pay.
    I called  the collection agent for this Company --Jenna Fox--  1-800-493-1359, ext. 424, fax 1-914-920-3666,  and told her she had an "F" rating with the BBB, and this was a "Scam"!  She said she was turning it over for collection, and hung up on me.  First of all, my invoice states in detail all the services they are providing (business detail, business categories, unlimited search keywords, showcase products and service, etc.).  Since I've provided no information, just how are they going to produce this service!  I'm writing to every Agency available to complain!
  • 0
    school administrator
    Same story as all explained prior. It took some legwork, but filing a complaint with the BBB in New York was effective. OLY has an "F" rating from the New York BBB. OLY will respond to the BBB complaint (stating that they followed fair procedure and you still owe them money), and you will have to file with the BBB a rejection of OLY's response. We told the OLY reps who called us (we had reps call us from collections as well as from a "lawyer's office") that we would not be paying the bill and that we had filed a complaint. It is important not to let emotions run wild. They are conducting themselves like a business, and an exaggerated emotional response will only fuel the matter. Emotions will not work; legitimate follow-up does. Be firm, be polite, be matter-of-fact. Do not pay the bill, and keep up with Better Business Bureau paperwork. It worked for us -- a small, nonprofit elementary school. The day after OLY's "lawyer" said he would be following up with the next level of collection, we received official notice from the BBB that our account was brought to $0 and a statement that we were removed from their database. What a relief.  Good luck.
  • 0
    ckitty
    Marco Gatti has also been a frequent caller to our school..He played recording of a supposed ad approval.  After I received the first invoice, I contacted the FTC, and filed a complaint with our state's Attorney General.  DO NOT PAY THIS EVER.....Today I received a letter from the Department of Justice  with a copy of the response from Online Yellow Pages, stating "that they have looked into the mentioned account and have found that it has been closed and all charges have been cancelled."  They just use scare tatics and have no legal rights...pass it on...don't get scared, get even....
  • 0
    Velma Iversen-HeavenonEarth Salon & Spa
    | 1 reply
    We are a small Salon & Day Spa in Honolulu, HI.
    Attached is an excerpt I filed with the Better Business Bureau on 2-18-13.
    These people are slick as they played a tape when the order was placed, but now I think the tape was altered as the responses were very hard to hear and different than the person they claimed placed the order.
    Every business should be put on alert so scams like this can be stopped.

    "In 2011, an employee used a company signed check to pay an invoice from this company. We received nothing in return for their so called services. In 2012 this company called an unqualified employee and charged our credit card for their "service".  When I called, they refused to cancel the order that was placed with an unqualified employee so I denied the claim on the credit card. I expressed to the Company - "We do not want to do business with them ever again."
    This year they called, placed order with an unqualified front desk person in October 2012. I received the blurred almost unreadable bill by FAX, Feb. 2013 and called 914-202-4540, Joanne Wilson, Collection Agent.  She refused to cancel Invoice #OL 5423537, dated 10/9/2012. It states it is an Advanced Online Advertising Package for $599.99. As of Feb. 2013, the bill is $877.48.  During our conversation, I expressed the order was taken with an unqualified front desk person. When I again expressed that Heaven on Earth did not want their business and have never received any benefit from them and requested to cancel this order Ms. Wilson got angry and yelled :This bill will be placed in the hands of a collection agency" and hung up on my phone call.  This is the third time they have tricked Heaven on Earth into placing an order.  We have never used their services, and don't know what benefit their service would be to our company.  How do we get them to stop calling our Company?"
    • 0
      The first thing you need to do is to stop your "unqualified" employees from placing orders. The second thing is to develop an awareness of these types of calls as you receive them. Any time I get a call and they start the conversation of with "Hi my name is _______, how are you today?" my b/s radar immediately starts alarming inside my head. I get a lot of calls and the only ones that start off with a line like the above are from cold callers trying to sell you something or to switch energy providers. I agree that the tactics that OLYP are very sneaky and many people will say yes or agree to let them make some unspecific changes to a listing just to get them off the line. After falling for this scam, we won't be making the same mistake again.
  • 0
    NataliSue
    I had the exact same thing happened to me. I even canceled the "service" and wrote down a cancellation number, keeping it for months. I never heard anything else so tossed it. Then all the sudden I get a fax saying we owe them the $599, plus the extra from "being delinquent".. I explained to the guy that I had a cancellation number but he had no clue about that. My question to you all is, my guys name was Marco Davis...not Marco Gatti. Wondering if it's the same guy but a name change? It's all way to coincidental that it's a Marco and the exact same situation. And it's the company in Fulton, MD..
  • 0
    Judy
    2 3 4


    Same exact story with our Company.  They edited my conversation, stating I authorized their service.  My last statement was $677.48, and I was continuously receiving collection calls and faxes from their collection department.  I finally had enough, and on 2/18/13 sat down and reported them on line to the following -

    BBB of New York
    econsumer.gov
    New York Department of State Division of Consumer Protection
    State of WV Office of the Attorney General
    (you would report to the Attorney General in your State)

    On March 4th, I received a copy of the letter sent by N.Y. Dept. of Consumer Protection to the Online Local Yellow Pages asking for explanation of all charges.

    On Feb. 22nd, I received a letter from the  State of WV Attorney General's Office with the person's name who was to be my Mediator in this matter. On March lst, I received another letter from the Mediator, along with a letter from Online Local Yellow pages, stating my account had been closed, chages cancelled, and no further correspondence would be received.

    Don't let them get away with this! It takes some time, but you just need to report  them to these Agencys.
  • 0
    Eric
    I just got scammed by these people too. They called, played the recording and charged my a $499 termination service fee to cancel the account. The audio recording sounded like they spliced the same "yes" in every place where the recording states the fee. My employee swears it was a verification of existing information.

    Did anyone else fight the charges? I am in california.
  • 0
    Melissa in Utah
    They did the same thing to us for the same amount. It's SO obvious that the recording is doctored. I'm working now with the Consumer protection agency to get this cleared up. I'm so upset and frustrated. I will NOT go down without a fight.
  • 0
    Melissa in Utah
    Thought this might help. I read this and did what they said. Let's hope it works.
    http://www.givemebackmycredit.com/blog/2012/0 ... e-its-back.html
  • 0
    drcbc
    Our Wellness Center was scammed by company in a similar manor to those described by others.   We complained to the Texas State Attorney General, Federal Trade Commission and the BBB of Greater Maryland.  They are working out of Fulton, Maryland at this time and as of today have a F Rating and 98 Complaints against them.  http://www.bbb.org/greater-maryland/business- ... ton-md-90233751. They have responded to our complaint by dropping all charges against us.  I found that previously they were working out of Terrrytown, NY where the BBB reported 512 complaints and a rating of F.   http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/business-rev ... ytown-ny-137799   Send your complaint to the BBB of Greater Maryland. Ms. Amanda Rogers is listed in both BBB listings so it is the same operation.
  • 0
    Balu
    We got into the same situation as others.  Thanks for all the information.  My lawyer said, do not bother to respond back the online yellow pages.  What do you think.  I am planning to file complaint with my state attorney general and FTC and BBB.
  • 0
    Just PO'd
    They tried that with us.  Of course, I'm not the friendliest person, especially when someone calls from "your telephone company" who doesn't speak English (mega red flag right there).  I could barely understand them, but then got pretty rough when they started the whole you owe us money bit because I'd received a call from the actual yellow pages this morning trying to sign me up with a ton of stuff I don't want.  Finally, after going in circles and arguing for ten minutes, I pinned them down to a name of who signed the "enforcement documents" I'd already told them where they could shove.  They had a name of someone we never heard of and even had our business name wrong.  Did they apologize?  Hell no!  They just hung up.  If they hadn't called from a blocked number, I would have called them back and cussed them some more for being rude to me by just hanging up before I was finished cussing them.
  • 0
    Tracey
    I get numerous calls per week from them.  When I ask questions they just try to keep going with their script.  Does anyone know how to stop these calls?

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