Idearc reviews and complaints

I would like to hear from anyone that has a ad in the Veriszon yellow pages and that had the ad renewed without your authorization when the publication of the yellow pages was assumed by Idearc.

Idearc tells me that a letter was mailed to me in August of 2017 advising me that my ad would automatically renew unless I advised them otherwise. However, I never received that letter. The only letter I received from Idearc was in January of 2017 stating that Idearc took over publication of the Verizon Yellow Pages in November 2017, too late for me to cancel my ad.

If anyone has had a similar problem with their yellow page ads, please contact me at my email address.

WORST OF THE WORST WORST OF THE WORST WORST OF THE WORST!WE should all stand together and shut down those unethical, derogatory, sickly ###! Their practices are illegal. Their shares are trembling. Guess what ?They will not exist in 1 to 2 months. If the harrasment is not stop call FTC right away, write a report to the police, Texas General Attorney, USA Attorney General. Don't call BBB, they are SCAM too and will ask you to pay for their membership without even looking at your case. Contact your lawyer. File " Despite and Request for Case of Collection due to Fraud" the forms are available online. Hope this help...it helps to sent a few mail to local tv channels, and sent Fradual report to the Post office services to block the fraudulent mail.

I have had advertising for my small local business in the Verizon Yellow Pages for several years. I thought that the service was poor under Verizon's management in several respects, such as (for example) the fact that they NEVER notified me that the deadline for renewing or changing my ad was approaching. Each year, I would have to contact them and ask when was the deadline for changing my ad -- frequently I found that the deadline was "last week" or "tomorrow, " which meant that I was unable to change my ad, or would have to cancel all my other business and spend the entire next day or two trying to get an ad prepared and worked up by their art department - usually to no avail because there was too little time to accomplish the back-and-forth process of them preparing a rendering, me marking it up, them trying again, etc. -- so I always ended up with an ad which was not quite what I wanted.

Eventually, I started doing all of the layout and artwork myself in an attempt to get something closer to what I wanted. It was very difficult to obtain information about the exact dimensions of the ad, the typefaces available, borders, margins, what format of graphics files they needed from me, etc., but with great effort I eventually got most of that information and was able to submit exactly what I wanted, which resulted in ads that were closer to, though not exactly, what I wanted.

Also, each year I would find that somebody new was in charge of my account, so there was no continuity. The new sales rep would be unfamiliar with my previous ads, and with the problems experienced previously, therefore very likely to repeat the same mistakes.

I have also run a yellow pages ad in the phone book of a nearby town, whose phone company is BellSouth, for the past several years, so I do have something against which to compare Verizon's service. While my experience with BellSouth advertising has not been exactly perfect (they, too, change my sales rep each year, and fail to notify me of upcoming deadlines, etc.), I can say with certainty that my experience with Verizon were much worse.

So I thought that Verizon's Yellow Pages Advertising department left a lot to be desired -- that is, until a couple of years ago, when Verizon spun-off or subcontracted their directory advertising to another company - Idearc Media. Little did I know how much worse it could be, but I soon began to learn.

The most recent renewal cycle, in June 2017, was the worst ever. I found it impossible to communicate with my new sales rep, a Mr. Donald R. Howell.

May 24-May 28: Once again, I had to initiate contact with them -- I tried to phone and also to send email to my sales rep from the previous year, but there was no reply. So, I wrote to Verizon on May 24, asking who was my Idearc sales rep, and how to contact them, and when was the deadline. The new rep contacted me on May 28, and informed me that the deadline was two days ago.

May 29-June 2: I insisted that they needed to hold the presses and allow me to change my ad, since I had been trying unsuccessfully to do so for the previous two years. He agreed to extend my deadline so as to allow me to change my ad, and we decided upon an ad size and the cost, whereupon I (once again) cancelled all my scheduled appointments and spent the next two days designing my new ad -- carefully laying everything out according to their restrictions on margins, typefaces, borders, colors, etc. -- and delivered my finished perfect layout on Monday June 2.

June 6-June 9: I then had to work out of town for the next few days, but I sent email to Mr. Howell starting on June 6, asking whether everything was okay with my ad, and asking him to please send me a "proof" of what their art department did with my ad layout -- i.e., exactly what they would be printing.

Instead of an answer to my question, I got email replies back from Mr. Howell asking me to call him -- which I could not do during business hours, since I was working at a remote new construction site (rural Appalachian mountains, where there was no telephone and no cellular signal. So each night I sent a new email to Mr. Howell, asking again to please send me the proof.

This went on for a few days. Each day, I'm sending messages, repeating my request for a proof (a copy) of the ad.

June 10: I received the following email message from Mr. Howell [this is exactly verbatim what he wrote -- no punctuation, no grammar, multiple misspellings, etc.]:

"Hi your adds ready to go to graphix I need aut I fax you a contract please call me so we can get it in
the book todays the last day"

Until this, I had not had any idea that Mr. Howell was illiterate. That, of course, adds to the difficulty of getting what I wanted.

June 11: Next day, a new email from Mr. Howell:

"Hi all I need is autherization I fax you your contract or call me"

June 12: I wrote: "As I have told you, I am working this week out where there is no phone service. SEND ME A COPY OF THE AD! Obviously, I have to see what you are printing before I can approve it, but I have not seen it. Instead of sending 8 messages asking me to call you during the day, when, as I've explained, I'm unable to telephone from my job site, why did you not just send me the ad, as I've requested multiple times?"

His reply:

"Sorry jon ad is prepared to go to graphix if you like we can keep your ad the same, only autherized adds are sent to graphixs. thanks"

"Graphixs" ? "Autherized" ? and, worse -- "adds".

If an advertising sales representative cannot even spell the word "ads, " how did he get this job, and how is he able to keep it?

My reply: "I have driven down to a spot where I can pick up somebody's wireless signal, in order to check my email. WHY WON'T YOU SEND ME A PROOF OF THE GRAPHIC? SEND IT, [censored]! YOU ARE MAKING ME ANGRY NOW. I have been asking for one week about my ad, and you have not sent me the proof."

Mr. Howell: "Im sorry, graphics only takes adds when there autherised you never autherised call me it only takes a moment, i have your add prepared to go to graphics"

June 13: Email to Mr. Howell: "Donald, I need to get my ad renewed and it has proved to be impossible to communicate with you. I need to work with someone else. Send me the name & phone # of another agent. If you do not send me a name & phone #, I will find your supervisor and will raise hell about your lack of customer service.

No response from Mr. Howell.

I managed to find the name and extension of his supervisor. I left several messages for him, asking for an urgent call back.

No response from supervisor.

June 19:
8:33 AM Email to Mr. Howell: "Donald, I am sending these again -- my display ad design, in various formats (MS Publisher, .TIF, .JPG). I'm here only until 12:00 today, so please call if ANY problem.

11:30AM: Email to Mr. Howell: "Hi Donald, I will be leaving my office in an hour for the rest of the day. So could you please confirm that all is well with my ad before I leave? "

11:33AM: Email from Mr. Howell: Hi yes I received your add thanks

June 25:
11:33PM: Email to Mr. Howell: "Donald, So, can I now see a proof of what the graphics dept. did?"

NO REPLY
==========

July 28: I received the new Verizon phone book, and (of course) the ad that was printed was NOT AT ALL like what I had submitted. THIS POORLY DESIGNED AND INCORRECT AD IS GOING TO HARM MY BUSINESS FOR ONE YEAR.

I wrote to Mr. Howell.

NO REPLY

August 6: I wrote to Mr. Howell again, sending a copy of my email of July 28.

NO REPLY
===========

August 15: I called Idearc Customer Service and spoke at length with a Ms. Tara Marero about my problem. I explained to her that I would not make any payments to Idearc until this situation was resolved. She was agreeable to that, but asked me to send to her copies of the ad I had prepared and submitted multiple times to Mr. Howell, along with the ad that was actually printed in the Verizon Directory. She would review these, discuss the situation with Idearc management, and would contact me within 1 week.

I emailed to her the requested documents, within the hour.

NO CALL BACK FROM TARA MARERO WITHIN 1 WEEK, NOR 2 WEEKS, NOR 3 WEEKS.

Sept. 5: I sent email to Tara Marero, reminding her of her commitment to resolve this problem.

Oct 1: By this time, I am beginning to receive threatening letters from Idearc Billing, since I had stopped paying my monthly bill as of August.

I wrote to Idearc Customer Service, describing what had happened, and the failure of Ms. Marero to follow up and call me back as promised.

Oct. 8: Ms. Marero called me, and apologized, stating that she had become seriously ill shortly after our initial conversation, was out on sick leave for some time, and my case had just "slipped through the cracks." I accepted her apology, and resent to her the the side by side comparison of my ad with the ad that got printed, at her request since she stated she could no longer find the copies I had sent to her on Aug. 15. She assured me that she would call me back within 1-2 weeks with a proposed solution.

Oct. 22-Nov 1: Two weeks later -- still no callback from Ms. Marero. I went email & left phone messages.

I am now receiving freqent phone calls & letters from a collection agency, about my past due Idearc bills.

Nov 6: I left more telephone voicemail messages, and sent more email messages to Ms. Marero

NO REPLY.

Nov. 8: I spoke with a person from the collection agency when they called, at length, explaining the entire history, stating that this was why I have not paid my Idearc bills since August. She was very understanding, sympathetic, and promised that I would not receive further phone calls, that she would report the situation to Idearc, and that someone there would contact me to FINALLY resolve this situation.

Dec. 14 (Today): I continue to receive threatening letters from the collection agency (but fewer phone calls, thankfully).

I still have not received any call or message from Idearc.

This Idearc company should be placed before a firing squad and shot. Or sent to Guantanamo and tortured. They are doing more harm harm to America than most of the prisoners who are there.

Our country's GNP certainly does not need the enormous waste of time and effort, and lost business that I (and countless other small business) have incurred due to its gross incompetence and abuse.

Idearc Media Company (formely Verizon) sold me a very murky mailing program that was supposed to be free in that it was included in a complicated "bill in advance" procedure.

When turned out to be far from free I consulted my paperwork and found an even murkier billing code that was completely unreadable.

The company offers no satisfaction.

MY COMPANY HAS TRIED TO CANCEL OUR ACCOUNT SINCE JANUARY 2017. WE KEEP GETTING STATEMENTS AND CHARGES. I WANT THIS STOPPED.

Signed up for a webpage, and got the worse page i've ever seen. From typos to duplicate pictures to wrong store information, to even a disturbing web address. Called wanted to cancel my ad, and still nobody will cancel and i keep getting billed every month. my total now is $1163.28, and i've been trying to cancel ever since the first month.

Advertising started 3 years ago with a web site which mostly i wrote and added pictures. It took almost 3 months to go on. Not easy to navigate to change pictures or wording from page to p age. Recently my site is not on and cannot reach anyone to communicate. My complaints go from one person to another with no result.

Verizon Yellow Page opened up an account for us (Gom Hong) without our authorization and charged us. I tried to contact them but they transfer me to a department that no body will answer the phone. After some times, they sent the account to a collection agency.

I am an self emplyed Mother of 3 HAir Stylist and childcare provider. After a year of trying to get my business i fially said yes. Since I moved here from California it is not that simple to promote my business. I tried Idearc. For the first 3 months I thought there was going to be a mail out but there was none even though I got a bill. Then someone called me saying that they had to go on my website to get my phone number. Cause the phone number on the flyer was wrong. I told her when she came to bring the flyer. She did and it was not the way I wanted it. It was ugly and it had the wrong number. I called several time to the claim dept. They said I was to get credit and they would correct the change(cause I still wanted the services) Several times that they did mail out still had the ugly flyer and wrong number. The bill still kept coming. Then I talked to the superviser severla times. and still the same mistake, even after I told them to get lost . I have a bill over $6, 000. This has been goin on for over 6 months. I don't know if its on my credit or they disregarded it like they told me cause they been bad business anda lier. Now I have to make my flyer myself and go on foot to promote. I still have the flyer just in case. Anyone know what I should do?

We are never pleased when one of our clients is unhappy. Please give me the opportunity to review your issue. I promise someone will get back to you within 48 hours with an update. Please provide me with the following information and email back to me at: customerservice@Idearc.com

Your Full Name and Title:

Business Name:

Business Telephone Number:

State in which your Business resides:

Your Contact Number:

Best time to call you:

E-mail address:

Brief Complaint Description:

I am an self emplyed Mother of 3 HAir Stylist and childcare provider. After a year of trying to get my business i fially said yes. Since I moved here from California it is not that simple to promote my business. I tried Idearc. For the first 3 months I thought there was going to be a mail out but there was none even though I got a bill. Then someone called me saying that they had to go on my website to get my phone number. Cause the phone number on the flyer was wrong. I told her when she came to bring the flyer. She did and it was not the way I wanted it. It was ugly and it had the wrong number. I called several time to the claim dept. They said I was to get credit and they would correct the change(cause I still wanted the services) Several times that they did mail out still had the ugly flyer and wrong number. The bill still kept coming. Then I talked to the superviser severla times. and still the same mistake, even after I told them to get lost . I have a bill over $2, 000. This has been goin on for over 6 months. I don't know if its on my credit or they disregarded it like they told me cause they been bad business anda lier. Now I have to make my flyer myself and go on foot to promote. I still have the flyer just in case. Anyone know what I should do?

Last August, 2008 I agreed to try their pay per click program to advertise my business locally. When the rep and I agreed to some parameters we were recorded as to the deal. They repeatedly attempted to over bill me and each time I had to make several phone calls to get the money refunded back to my credit card. I never could identify what they were doing for me and repeatedly asked for reports and sources of or sites where they assisted me. NO ANSWERS.

I told them I was finished with them. They then claim I have a one-year contract. Bull. I say show me. They say listen to this and play the agreement. Upon which I said, "and where does it say I committed to a year?" Answer, "well, that would be what the rep explained to you." Wrong.

Finally, my credit card company re-issued my card and they were no longer able to debit it. I called after they sent me a cancellation letter and said, great, thanks for canceling me. Now more BS starts with: 1. we bill after the month's activity so you still owe us; 2. you must cancel in writing; 3. collection agency calls daily...Hey, I've canceled verbally just like I signed up, I've sent a letter canceling, and all I get is, "we have to call you every day."

I frankly don't mind them calling me every morning as it gives me an opportunity to blow off some steam and give them some abuse back. What a load of crap this company turned out to be!

I received a quote from my rep from Idearc which included XYZ. The book came out and it did not include Z. I talked to numerous reps at Idearc and they all stated that my contract matches my ad and they cant help me. My contract is all codes that me nothing to me. I have emails confirming what my ad should entail for that price. But they are stating that they believe my rep over me even ignoring the fact that I have email confirmations.

I will not advertise with them every again. Take the free listing. Nobody looks in a book anymore.

We are never pleased when one of our clients is unhappy. Please give me the opportunity to review your issue. I promise someone will get back to you within 48 hours with an update. Please provide me with the following information and email back to me at: customerservice@Idearc.com

Your Full Name and Title:

Business Name:

Business Telephone Number:

State in which your Business resides:

Your Contact Number:

Best time to call you:

E-mail address:

Brief Complaint Description: