A Case of Mistaken Identity: 4 Tips to Avoid Scams

Well, it has happened again. Recently I visited a small beauty salon to discuss with them a variety of ways that my company could have helped them with some very basic advertising. I was greeted with a degree of scorn and was told that one of our other consultants had already been in. They said that a couple of weeks after our consultant had been in, they received a bill from our company for over $300. The inference was that my company had somehow hoodwinked them into a billing for something they did not want.

I knew the other guy had been in. In fact, he had suggested I go back by and see if they might have changed their mind about advertising. I also knew that he hadn't sold them any advertising and that we were not responsible for any billing of the beauty salon. I am positive that I know what happened.

Since our ad programs include yellow page advertising, we were being confused with one of the "yellow page" companies that sends out a document requesting a business to confirm that their listing information is correct. It is usually labelled as "This is not a bill". The problem is, if you don't read the small print, and if you don't pay close attention to where the form is from, you might be fooled by the walking fingers logo on the form. As far as you are concerned, it looks legitimate and so you sign it and send it in. The problem is, the walking fingers logo is not trademarked to any particular company and is used by directory companies of all kinds.

The company sending the form is NOT who you think they are. They are one of a number of companies who send out these misleading mailings, preying on the ignorance of businesses. They do publish some sort of directory, but most people never see it. Sometimes they are published in a national registry, but again, it is not one that the public will ever see. However, since they do publish some sort of phone directory, they are not considered illegal.

I rose, as tactfully as I could, to the defense of my company because I did not want to leave these beauty shop women with the impression that we had bilked them out of their money. I expressed concern and asked to see the bill so I could verify that my suspicions were correct, but they either didn't keep a copy or they were unwilling to show it. It seemed to me to be a case of "Don't bother me with the facts. My mind is made up!"

To prevent this from happening to you, here are a few tips:

First, pay attention to your mail. Make sure you can identify the company who is sending you a form. Just because it has the walking fingers on it, do not assume it is one of your legitimate phone book providers. If in doubt, look for a phone number on the form. Call and ask them to clarify exactly who they are. And speaking of phone calls, beware of phone solicitations for the same kind of service.

Second, never sign anything that says it is just to confirm your business information until you have read all the terms on the form. Often, when the form states that it is not a bill, the truth is that by signing the form and sending it in, you are authorizing the company to then send you a bill for that listing. You may or may not be able to get out of it, but if you will show a little caution here, it will save you a lot of headache.

Third, pay attention to your bona fide companies. There are legitimate providers who are there for you, helping connect you with customers. They will have no problem identifying themselves to you, and are worth listening to. Don't lump all advertising sales people into one heap with the few shady dealers out there.

Fourth, develop relationships with your representatives from the legitimate companies. Once you have established your reps, it will be easier to deal with each company in the future. Remember that it is rarely a good thing to treat people rudely.

Unfortunately for the beauty shop girls, I was unable to help them because they just simply were not going to listen. In retrospect, I think they were so afraid I might try to sell them something that they flat out didn't want to hear a thing I said. I can only hope that they will be more careful in the future when it comes to signing documents. And I can only hope that my attempt to defend my company will get them to dig out that form and verify that I was right. My reputation and my company's reputation is at stake.