Yellow Book Telephone Number Listing

Is there nothing that I can do when the telephone book company that

prints The Yellow Book (or any other phone book company) gets my phone

number wrong? I talked with people there three times to make sure it

would be published correctly. I did this because I had moved and my

number had changed. They did get the new number, but they typed a 6

where they should have typed a 7.

When I contacted Yellow Book about the error, they said they got it from

my phone company. No Way! My phone number is listed correctly in their

book! Now Yellow Book has screwed my business for a year, along with

screwing the poor lady who has that number and works nights!

My listing is a free listing, so I have no recourse. Isn't there

something that the FCC could do? Maybe assess a penalty for all wrong

phone numbers. They either have very poor typists, or they proof

nothing. I have a VERY small business, and I depend on it for most of my

living. I would love to see them experience the problem I have. They

would go out of business. I might have to do that myself. Now I have to

hold on for a year, and hope they get it right then.

The fact that it is a free listing should have no relevance. They should

be responsible in some way to get the phone numbers listed properly, or

they should be out of business. I will look up every friend I have who

has a paid ad in the book and tell them what an incompetent bunch they

have at Yellow Book I really think they should pay for the loss of

business for every business that is listed wrong.

Janie

Comment On This

Same story here.....I moved my business from Chicago to a suburb and had my phone number changed. The LOCAL phone company blew off my 'free' (they call it 'free'...I call it "paid for" because it is only available to a BUSINESS that pays for the privilege to be listed in the yellow pages) yellow page listing for more than 3 years, almost putting me out of business. I finally got the listing updated in my LOCAL yellow pages and the YELLOWBOOK followed suit the next year. No problems with any listings for the next 8 years...but yesterday, the NEW 09-10 YellowBook directory was delivered ALL OVER MY COMMUNITY. I took the issue into my office and looked up my listing...NOTHING THERE! Since I am a VERY small business, this would have a irreversible effect to me, so I contacted YellowBook to find out what went wrong. I was first told that only PAID advertising is represented in their publication....then I was told that the information in their books was PURCHASED from my local phone company, now AT&T. AT&T told me that their listings are not edited when they are given to YellowBook. YBook says that even tough I have been listed for more than 8 years and even though my company is listed in the electronic directory and business white pages, AT&T must not have given them the information....which, of course, is false. I eventually called YBook Corporate in Uniiondale, NY (516.730.1900) and asked to speak with Joe Walsh, CEO. I got his secretary (he wasn't 'available') and explained the entire scenario (for the 1,000 time) to her and she told me that she didn't know why my company would have been omitted. She promised to contact 'someone' to follow up. Right. It's most unfortunate for small business owners, like myself, that rely on the yellow pages for business to find themselves held hostage by a company that publishes a phone book under the auspices of being "comprehensive" when in fact, it is nothing more than a publication full of PAID advertising. This not only has lasting effects for the business owner, but also the local phone company, as well. YELLOWBOOK is nothing more than a scam and offers nothing beneficial to the business community. It's publications are anything BUT comprehensive and do nothing but dupe the unsuspecting public into thinking that they are providing COMPREHENSIVE phone directory information. Sure, I'm upset and will suffer for their lack of integrity, but my local phone company should also be enraged....since the information publicized was originally SOLD by them to the dishonest company. BTW....I threw the YBook in the trash and would encourage anyone that received one to do the same.

Comment On This

Dear Janie,

I am sorry to hear that your number is printed incorrectly. As a Yellow Book sales rep, I know how hard we work to make everything correct for our customers. You should know, however, that the only way we get the numbers for the listings in the Yellow Book is to pay for them. We actually purchase the numbers from the local utility (i.e. local phone compay) whoever that may be. If the number is wrong with them, there is no way it can be correct in our directory!

That being said, there should be a way to contact your local phone company and correct the number with them. You may also contact your local Yellow Book office and ask them to correct it for you in the next edition.

Please be patient, though, as the directory is only printed once a year.

All the best!

Randy