i talked to a rep back in march of this year. he told me it would only cost me 367.50 a month that would be the total price and paid each month off. long story short it was a lie. i talked to the rep several times and asked him why the price said something different he stated that was payoff for the whole year. i got my first bill and he said if you owed more dont you think it would state it in your bill? i agreed. so i let it go, stupid me told him not to cancel my service and keep me going, well i got my next bill and immediatly called the number on it, after the lady on the phone told me that was the price times 12 basically over 4, 000 bucks a month i told her to cancel my service immediatly. she said she would. this is now october i have been going through this nightmare since june when i cancelled. after talking to supervisor after supervisor i finally got a call today from a lady who says she investigated it, and they have no records of me cancelling and since i signed the contract i had to pay in full. i am so angry and do not know what to do about it. we also have a small business and there is only 1 other employee besides myself. i cant afford this 20, 000 bill. this company needs to go out of business.

my suggestion is anyone who gets a call from idearc media hang up immediatly they will ruin your life and credit!!! im sure whats next to come is they will hit my credit. does anyone know what to do about this? if you do please email me right away at [email protected]. put idearc media in the title so i open it.

My husband passed away 7/6/09. I took over paying the bills at this time. He owned a small company in which he was the sole employee. When the bill came from Idearc for his Yellow pages ad, I wrote on it that he was deceased. The following month I received another bill. Since then I have sent a letter and an original Death Certificate to the address I was told. After almost 2 months of sending the letter, they have denied forgiveness of the bill, my account was turned over to a collection agency, and they keep billing me instead of closing the account until this is settled. All of the different companies, agencies and such that I've had to deal with since my husband's death have not given me any problem. Idearc Media is giving me sleepless nights and such aggravation that I do not need to deal with at this time.

Here is a letter I wrote yesterday to Kathleen Perrow at Idearc Media:

Dear Kathleen Perrow,

I have not heard from you in a few weeks, so I must conclude that Idearc has decided they will not send me a letter confirming my cancellation of next years directory. I know that there have been several conversations confirming the cancellation, and an email from you confirming it, but the fact that Idearc refuses to send me a confirming letter requires me to write this. While you have been seemingly forthright in your communication with me, other actions by Idearc are highly questionable and lead me to question the company's motives. I will write a more detailed letter to you and others, but for now here are some of the highlights.

In early May, 2009 I called Idearc to cancel advertising in your Lake Arrowhead directory. I did this because the year before the contract had been renewed without my knowledge (more on that later ***). No one returned my call. I called again a few days later, and again no one returned my call. I called again on May 12 at 9:20am PDT and was told that no sales rep was assigned to me, and that's why no one had called me back. They said someone would call me back. I told them to cancel everything and if they want to renew something to call me back.

Given Idearc's track record, I called back on May 18 to 800-555-4833 and spoke to Graciela. She indicated there was no record that I had ever cancelled. I expressed my extreme displeasure and she said she would handle it right then. She obtained my permission to record the conversation and I cancelled. She gave me a Cancellation confirmation number of C05109A4454. One would have thought that would be the end of it.

On August 3 I received an Advertising Agreement notifying me that I would be paying $227.70 per month for advertising in the new book. I immediately called to protest, and spoke to Clare, employee #25662. She referred me to you and you indicated the contract had in fact been cancelled by Graciela, although you said she didn't cancel until July 28. That's baffling since my conversation with her had been over two months before that.

I appreciate you sending me an email confirming the cancellation, and the fact that you followed up with me several times, but I am baffled why a simple confirming letter could not be sent.

*** I have been advertising in various Yellow Pages, Phone Books, etc. in multiple locations for over 20 years. In each case, the process is pretty straight-forward. I get a call or letter a few months before the book closes to discuss upcoming advertising and rates. This happens every year. When I didn't receive any contact from Idearc, I assume it was because it had split off from Verizon and was now on some different calendar cycle. When I finally inquired myself, I was told the book had closed and that I had been automatically renewed. When I complained, I was told that the previous contract (multi-page, fine print) contained a provision that if I didn't officially cancel, I would be automatically renewed. Nice. That's when I decided I was done with your company, and calendared a phone call to cancel the following May.

You were kind enough to escalate my complaint about "forced renewal" to a higher level. On August 28 I received a call from Craig Violett. Mr. Violett explained there would be no rebate or remuneration because the original contract contained a clause saying that I had read and understood everything in that contract. The entire multi-page, fine print Standard legalese contract. Typical.

It's clear from the way this has been handled that your company is in the business of making it extremely difficult for people to cancel. I wonder if that was part of Idearc's business model when you broke off from Verizon? Make sure everyone renews for at least one year and then by making it very difficult to cancel in the following year, keep enough subscribers to make money on the purchase.

Please email me at [email protected] or call 603-373-6185 I have serious problems with Idearc Media unfair business ands scams they are pulling with me and my business.
Thank you,

Please do not do business with this company, they will make you miserable.
Issue #1: I purchased direct mail postcards from them which I was told, and is also written on the sales order, that they were to go to the geographical area where my business is located. However they sent them all over Southern CA, and have responded that, "that's just what we do." Refuse to credit the ones that were out of range.

Issue #2: The postcards were not sent out on the dates that were listed on order.

Issue #3: They sent me a letter saying they were going to auto renew the postcards, and they had the wrong postcard design along with the letter. I canceled in writing per contract 30 days prior, and I also called around 11 times to ensure that it was going to not go out. Well, they were sent out. And while they have credited my account for these, I still had to once again take calls from all over southern CA for a service that I didn't even offer. What a stressful experience!

Issue #4: I had also advertised in their phone book for 1 year, then signed the cancellation notice to not renew. They renewed it anyways, and although they credited my account, I once again had to take calls and continue to for a business that I no longer operate.

I have already reported them to Better Business Bureau, and they responded by refusing to credit my account.

I've also reported them to FTC, and the Attorney General.