I am really tired because I've had a busy day today, but I just want to say right now, before I go to bed, that AT&T Advertising and Publishing is a real rip-off, and I would like to warn as many advertisers as possible to not get hooked up with that loser of a company. It is my experience from advertising with them, and their sister rip-off company, Yellow Pages.com, that not only does their advertising not produce the results that they claim, but also that it is quite possible that you will not even recoup your expenses in advertising from the business that you will get from the advertising. I will not go into detail here, but I would also like to say that one of their representatives failed to cancel my print advertising after I instructed her to, and after she said that she would pull it. After they printed the advertising without my permission, the stupid, lying bitch account representative named Dernise B. lied and said that I never told her to cancel the ads. How much is this non-effective advertisement costing me? $59 a month, for a locked-in 12 months.
AT&T Advertising and Publishing sucks! Don't use it, and you can quote me on that! If you have any questions, you can contact me here on my blog!
21 comments:
Having a similar experience...Rep called and said there were no "notes" about a cancellation. HMMMM! I talked with the rep for over half an hour while they tried to sell me more advertising. When I told them I got NO calls based on the ad and did not want to renew they said ok. Now I have a past due notice for something I never wanted.
Bottom Line: I received NO calls on their ad in the yellow pages. I got all my business from the Internet (FREE). DO NOT USE THE YELLOW PAGES>>>DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING YOU RECEIVE FROM THEM EVER. THIS IS WHY THEY ARE LOSING THEIR ADVERTISING BUSINESS!
Had a similar experience. The sales lady got me to renew a losing online advertising campaign by promising the world. She told me I would get better placement more points etc and so on. I would have never renewed this terrible service if she had not done a good job of selling (unfortunately by lying) me on it.
I used AT&T yellow pages to advertise my business. The rep Scott Smith signed me up, he had me sign a blank page that would be my proof page before I even had the graphic made. So after I submitted my graphic I never received notice of what was the last day to make any changes. So the book came out even though I needed to make a change. On top of him conning me into signing before the graphic was made, he also persuaded me into making my ad larger than the one I wanted, giving me confidence i would be receiving around 10 calls a month with the nicer ad. Over a year I received 4 calls total and completely wasted my time and money. Scott Smith tried to contact me about the new book and I told him that I wasn't interested, but he still wanted to meet with me, but never let me know why. Now that the new book came out I realized why cause my ad was in the new book. They have an AUTOMATIC RENEWAL that no one ever cared to tell me about. DO NOT ADVERTISE WITH AT&T EVER!
Well, I see that there's a lot of other pissed off people who got ripped off by AT&T Advertising and Publishing (Yellow Pages). I told them I'd blog about them and tell everyone who'd listen what terrible things they did to me...I wasn't kidding! A recent AT&T Yellow Pages Rep called me to try to get more business, and I told him about what they'd done to me in the past, and that I'd never trust them again. I also gave him a tip that I had spoken to a lot of other pissed off people, and that his job might not be so secure... I think he took that to heart!
The people work at AT&T Advertising department are thieves. Here is what happened:
1) Mr. James Wheeler, sales rep, called 3-4 times to make an appointment with me somewhere in January 2009. I scheduled a meeting him.
2) He came and gave little bit information about their products. I subscribed to their yellow pages online advertisement. He was telling me all kind of lies like he is one of the best in his team. He would proving me the month statistical data. He could help me always be at the top no matter what. He can see my competitions points and help me add points to my account with minimum investment. He acted friendly and that is how got scammed.
3) At that time- I told him-we have no one to answer the phones at that moment if he could start the online advertisement in May 15th. He said definitely. He wanted to sell me their Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisement. I said let’s meet another time to talk about it.
4) He continuously called me. We finally met again in February 2009. He gave me a false information about how their program works(Of course I realized that when it was too late).
5) I was checking yellow pages online site and realized that our banner was showing up. It was only April 2009 and my ad was on. It shouldn’t be on till May 15th.
6) I started calling our friend Mr. Wheeler. No response. I tried to call him 15 times within 3 weeks. I was frustrated. Because, now I was being victimize with my own money.
7) I called the customer service immediately. After talking to Miss Toledia Windless, Customer Service Manager, and explaining the situation she said she would make the local branch to contact me.
8) I talked to some friends at AT&T. They told me that once the sale is done- sales person get his/her cut and they close the deal.
9) It has been 8 months no one has called or communicated in any ways. Today a person, Eric Hair, from Charlotte office called me and asked me how I like the ATT&T advertising programs. I was like. Don’t even get started. I told him that I hated those people and their business practices. I asked him to resolve my issue (cancel my products). He said only customer service person can help me. He transferred me to Customer Service.
10) A person name Kenya answered phone. Another useless customer service rep. I told her all the story in 10 minutes and the only thing she said was she cannot cancel the contract. Only, our friend, Mr. Wheeler could do that. I asked her to transfer to her manager. I haven’t gotten any phone calls from Miss Heather Lion as of now.
11) The Charlotte Office Manager, Jene Alllen, called me. I explained the situation. He said he cannot help me. Well, he is another useless person this company employs.
12) Today- I report a complaint through Better Business Bureau. I will try to see how is is going to work.
The bottom line- don’t get AT&T Advertisement products. It doesn’t work. The PPC is even worse. The only calls you get is from spam advertisers. If you want to make a sound decision go for somewhere else. I trusted AT&T is reputation. I see now the company practices unethical business processes and employs incompetent people. They are basically thieves.
See....this is a popular trend...it's funny how people who get ripped off by AT&T Yellow Pages and YellowPages.com find their way to this blog....I'm sure there are a lot more people out there who get taken by this deep-pockets, connected, corporate liar/thief. I will never forget how they lied to me about how much traffic I would get, then signed me up for the print Yellow Pages after they told me that they would cancel it......horrible business practices!
Big hassle with Yellowpages.com
I signed up for a listing on their Internet directory in Sept. 09.
Thing is , if you search Google for a certain business category keywords, Yellowpages.com does not come up, even after 7 pages down the line.
They called for a phone renewal and update in March, before I knew it I agreed to another year(an agreement "signature" on the phone, a recording) to start up another year of advertising in Aug. 2010.
Doing Internet searches led me to find out that essentialy, most people looking for my business category would not find even the portal page of YP site.
So , I am trying to cancel that 2nd year, $77 per month.
They have to consult with higher-ups to see if that is possible.
DO NOT USE YELLOWPAGES.COM advertising. They will do these pressured phone recorded contracts and lock you in.
I have had so many problems with at&t both the yellow pages and yellowpages.com. They have lied to me repeatedly about my contract and they have no accountability what so ever. Their product doesn't work and they know this so they structure it in a way that makes it difficult to track response and when you want out they trap you with contracts that are very difficult to cancel. I tried to cancel mine because it had been 12 months and they told me it was a one year contract but when i tried to cancel they told me my yellowpages.com contract was for the life of the print directory which they say is two years(total BS). so i mailed in my certified letter with everything exactly as it should be to cancel and when i called in to check on it they said they received the cancellation letter but hadn't done anything to cancel it. So i checked back several weeks later and they still hadn't put in a cancellation request but when i talked to the customer service rep he said i had a one year contract and canceled it right there and then. They are either completely incompetent or just outright criminals stay away from AT&T
I have had so many problems with at&t both the yellow pages and yellowpages.com. They have lied to me repeatedly about my contract and they have no accountability what so ever. Their product doesn't work and they know this so they structure it in a way that makes it difficult to track response and when you want out they trap you with contracts that are very difficult to cancel. I tried to cancel mine because it had been 12 months and they told me it was a one year contract but when i tried to cancel they told me my yellowpages.com contract was for the life of the print directory which they say is two years(total BS). so i mailed in my certified letter with everything exactly as it should be to cancel and when i called in to check on it they said they received the cancellation letter but hadn't done anything to cancel it. So i checked back several weeks later and they still hadn't put in a cancellation request but when i talked to the customer service rep he said i had a one year contract and canceled it right there and then. They are either completely incompetent or just outright criminals stay away from AT&T
FOLLOWING ARE A COUPLE OF EMAILS RECEIVED FROM AT&T WHEN WE DECIDED NOT TO GO WITH THEIR LARGER AD AND ASKED FOR A BETTER PRICE (THEY REDUCED OUR LARGE AD AT OUR REQUEST BY ABOUT 50% OF THE SIZE BUT KNOCKED ONLY ABOUT 7% OFF OF THE BILL... THEN WENT ON AND ON ABOUT THE SAME OLD INCENTIVES, ETC. THAT I'VE HEARD FROM THEM FOR YEARS.
SEEMS THEY BELIEVE CAB USERS ARE NOT "INTERNET SAVVY".
ODD. WONDER WHAT THEY THINK OF OTHER PEOPLE?
NOTICE THAT BESIDES BEING INSULTING AND IMMATURE, THEY ALWAYS REFER TO YELLOWBOOK IN SMALL TYPE, UNCAPITALIZED.... VERY CHILDISH. SECONDLY, WE DID NOT COMPARE THE TWO BOOKS, OR DRAW ANY COMPARISONS. YET AT&T INSULTS US AND TRASHES YELLOWBOOK REPEATEDLY.
THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF AT&T CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THEIR YELLOW PAGES AREA.
RUDE AND INSULTING.
HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?
WE DON'T.
----------------------------------------
Sam,
Good Morning.....
In regards to your email I want to clear up a few of your concerns. The prices that I emailed you on the proposals are correct. The investment for the in-column ads with a logo are nearly as much as the display ad that you currently have. I would be more than happy to send you some other options for listings the same size without the logo. Also, if you take advantage of our suite of products (yp.com) the incentives are going to dramatically increase as well as your businesses exposure and the leads that we drive to you. There are some different options that are not going to give you quite the exposure as the program I have put together but will still qualify you for the incentives. This would be A LOT easier to do either in person or over the phone so if I could get 10-15 minutes of your time it would benefit us both.
As far as the ad goes, we just wanted to give you some ideas with the new features your company is now, or soon to be, offering. I am sure you would want all of your current or potential customers to know that you offer the new GPS feature and what that means to them. But, that is fine if you would like to design your own ad.
Trying to compare us to yellow book is like comparing apples to oranges, or your taxi cab company to a one car cab company. We explained in great detail when we met with you that we are the only directory that goes to newcomers in the area, have rack distribution in our AT&T wireless stores, Schnuck's, Dierbergs, and other high traffic locations. We are the utility company of choice and are the only book that has up to date and accurate listings. Our distribution and usage are in a different ballpark completely than that of yellow book. I hope this helps you understand the value of our products and what they can do for your business. Once again, I would be more than happy to send you some different options that might not deliver the leads that this program will but might be more in-line with the investment you are looking for. Please advise.
Thanks,
Blake C. A------
-------------------------------
We made a full presentation to you folks on the difference between AT&T vs. yellow book. There is no comparison. A majority of cab users are not internet savvy people. To not have a minimum presence in our permission based products, like your current program, you will hurt your business. To date, nationwide 13% of the population uses a SMART phone. The day of beating up AT&T to get a better price against Yellow Book are long gone. Remember, yellow book is downsizing their directory size in half. Verizon has already left the market without publishing the second year. Less distribution, incomplete listing, smaller book for 2010? Do I need to say anymore?
We appreciate your business and will provide you with a program that will work best for your needs. The prices quoted to you are correct. We would appreciate the chance to meet in person or on the phone. Your industry is very strong to date and we are a big part of creating the leads that helps you company succeed.
Thanks,
Vince LoP-----
I am a former AT&T advertising sales person. The reason you can't get answers is that their training is horrible. The reps, even if they want to help you, can't get answers for you. That is why you have a new rep almost every year. If you have a rep 2 years in a row, chances are they are the ones who will sell without a conscience and will lie or falsify or cheat their accounts. Sales reps are asked to sign document that state they work a certain amount of time but are pressured to work longer by immediate supervisors. I am unemployed my last job was with AT&T Advertising and I have to explain on each interview I get why I am currently out of work. The bottom line is...I am out of work because I am not a crook..LOL...funny but true.
Wow. The last comment by Chris is not surprising to me, though. Sales jobs are so cutthroat. It's not surprising about the Supervisors making people work more hours than they are paid- that's a big thing in Corporate America today. A couple of years after I parted with Fed Ex, I got a part of a settlement for hours worked off the clock- so did all my former co-workers (most of whom still work there).
Again, I see that even the employees at AT&T Advertising and Publishing think that it sucks and that they are pressured to lie in order to keep their jobs.
yeap i am one of you. got taken by the thieves at At@T Advertising. they totally disconsidered my request to not renew my subscription and they told me they tried to get in contact with me 8 times. yes they did but only to promote their new subscription which i categorically refused from the begining. they dont even listen to me when i tell them i DON'T WANT to advertise with them another year.
Wow, AT&T Yellow Pages is still ripping people off. They have the "trusted name", though. I got a few calls that I knew came from them (but I was paying to be FIRST in the listing of Notaries), but I swear I only got about 1 business transaction a month that was attributable to the advertising. Most of the rest of it came from Google or craigslist. In today's world, you have to learn to work the social media to advertise.
I was totally ripped off by at&t. I had a hard time getting some straight answers from the sales rep on when the book would come out in my area and all I wanted to do was run a ad in the actual book. Finally we started working on the ad and they sent me a proof to ok. I never heard from them again. Then close to the end of may I decided to change my home phone from at&t to vonage to save money. They then cancelled my advertising without even contacting me. I never heard from them again and my ad never made it to the book. Im so mad because I was really planning on that ad. Most of all business in my field came from YP book. Now Im dead in the water@!
I have been advertising with them since september. It is worthless. Its a waste of money...I am paying $89 a month for the website and $102 a month for their banner advertisement. Im a sucker!! I decided that this was a mistake and called today to see if I could discontinue my advertising...nope! I was told that I had signed a one year contract. I asked the rep to show me where this was stated...she says that it is equivalent to running an ad in the book which runs for one year so I am still responsible for the whole year. I'm still looking for a way out.
Today I know more about what I would do if I were to ever have been suckered into signing up for AT&T Advertising again. I would stop paying and take them to small claims court. This works, by the way- just have all your facts straight when you go. I am not sure how it works all over the nation, but in Los Angeles County you can file a dispute in small claims for claims up to $5000. AT&T would have to show up for the case in court, too, or they would lose automatically.
My friends and I are just college students who got tricked into getting the pay per call ads. We are being charged almost $400 a month. We have received no customers so far and have noticed that they are charging us for calls made with the same number minutes from each other. I don't know what to do anymore. It was a dumb rookie mistake. This is ruining our business and making it hard to pay for things such as rent and food. I just want to get rid of this scam they call a service and be done with att forever.
How does one cancel the pay per call advertising with this horrible company? My friends and I made the mistake of signing up and we don't know what to do. They are charging us nearly $400 a month. As students this is near impossible for us to pay on top of rent and other things. The sales rep basically tricked us into signing this contract. I have received no customers so far. They even charge us for calls made minutes after each other from the same number. I don't know what to do anymore. Does anyone have any advise?
What I would do, Zulhaj, is immediately call and write them via registered letter demanding cancellation of the service. Keep the mailing receipt. Stop paying them. Next, take them to small claims court and tell them about how the sales rep lied. They might not even show up in court and if not you will automatically win as long as you show up. Don't just take it. That is what I should have done years ago when I initially wrote this blog post (I am older and wiser).
After years of paying up to 10K per year to advertise with yellow pages, calling to point out when they screwed up my ad, being handed off to several agents each year - none of which could fix the problems, came to an end today. They took me to court, got a judgement and came and got my truck while I was out today. What started out as a $7,500. bill turned into over $11,000. What a piece of SHIT company. Never again.
Post a Comment