Our company address changed a few months ago, and in the interest of practicing what I preach, I updated Short Hills Design's NAP (name, address, phone #) listings across the Internet using Moz local (which I highly recommend -- and for which I receive no commission, fee, etc).
I received a notice from Yellow Pages United which listed the information I had submitted, and I had noticed that there was an error. So I jumped down to the bottom of the form and I checked off "list with changes."
A few weeks later I received an invoice from Yellow Pages United for $396. I gave them a call and they promptly cancelled the listing with no hassle at all. I went on to explain that I did not read the bottom area where it said that I was signing up for something and I took full responsibility for that. I told them that I thought it was deceptive because I was just trying to verify my Yellow Pages listing so it would be accurate.
I've included a scan of the invoice below so you can see what I'm talking about. Note that in all fairness to Yellow Pages United, I don't have a copy of the original paper that I submitted. However, they did attach a copy of what I signed to the invoice (see attached) -- as if to "remind me" of what I did.
Click the image for a larger size. Note the "Yellow Pages" logo at the top right, and the very fine print at the very bottom.
The rep was firm -- but understanding and very polite. She explained to me that "Yellow Pages" is a brand with 300+ companies, and that "Yellow Pages United" isn't "YP.com". Apparently what happened - according to the rep - was that I submitted my free yellow pages listing, and that I "coincidentally" received this offer from Yellow Pages United - that had no bearing on the free Yellow Pages listing I submitted (confused yet? I was). I told her that the only reason I even looked at it was because I was expecting a company verification type of letter from them (as you would receive when you verify any online listing to prove that it's you).
Still confused I said to her, "But you have the Yellow Pages logo,...?"
And she replied that many of the Yellow Pages companies use the logo, and that they are different companies.
Personally it seems to me that creating 300 companies that all say "Yellow Pages" in some form another, and that also share the same "Yellow Pages" logo is deceptive - if not ethically borderline.
At the end of the day, I have a hard time believing that they didn't consider customer confusion when they setup their umbrella brand in this manner -- as doing such makes it very easy for someone to make a mistake -- including yours truly!
