The Phonebook Co. Unethical marketing

Towards the end of August 2022, I received a phone call from the Phonebook Co. requesting that I update our company contact details, as she explained an update was required, I believed that previously our number had been in this phone book.

The consultant emailed a form confirming our company details, I did not immediately attend to this as I was busy with month end. The consultant called persistently saying their deadline was approaching and she needed the signed form, out of frustration I checked the company details and signed the form and sent it back. After about a month I received an invoice from the company and I immediately disputed it as I was not aware of any costs. The consultant sent the form I had signed and said that by signing the form I had accepted these costs. I relooked at the form and saw that the costs were mentioned in fine print.

I explained that no costs were discussed, and the phone call confirmed an update of our details and that nothing else was mentioned. I then asked that they do not include our company in their phonebook as we are not prepared to pay for the costs, they then replied that a cancellation cost would be charged, I disputed this as it was still a rather large amount and said that the phone call was misleading.

I have googled the company and there are two reviews on Hello Peter with similar complaints. I suspect that they are scammers as the contact numbers do not exist. I had initially requested to pay one month’s fee as I felt that would be a more reasonable cancellation amount, they had initially declined the offer and now are requesting the one month’s fee. Now that I have done some investigating, I do believe that this is a scam as there are many spelling and grammar mistakes, their invoice and cancellation invoices do not confirm their company registration number or address, their emails are trying to incite fear by saying “We have no intention of starting a paper war and trust we can resolve this amicably.” and they have also refused my request for a service agreement as well as the call recordings.

Company name: The Phonebook Co. Telephone number provided: +27 (0) 31 505 2148 (Does not exist) Website: https://the-phonebook-co.webnode.com/ Email Addresses: PhoneBook Legal Department legal@thephonebookco.net ; PhoneBook Cancellations cancellations@thephonebookco.net ; PhoneBook Administration admin@thephonebookco.net ; PhoneBook Accounts accounts@thephonebookco.net ; Phone Book Entries <bookings@thephonebookco.net>