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Dex Media review: fraudulent contracts! 55

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12:00 am EDT
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I agree with this complaint 100%! We had the exact same thing happen to us. Dex Media told us that we had agreed to an auto renewal of our advertisement in some portion of a sales agreement that they we never saw much less agreed to. No one from Dex even Tried to contact us to see if we wanted to renew our ad, they just put it in again and billed us. I have refused to pay and they are now in the process of sending our account into collections which will damage our credit rating.
I have been told that the best course of action is to file a complaint with the Attorney General of the state that you were victimized in. I am in Oregon and so I will be filing with them immediately.

Is there anyone else who has had this problem? Dex Media needs to quit taking advantage of small business!

Oct 05, 2016 1:30 pm EDT
Dex Media customer support contacts
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2200 West Airfield Drive, P.O. Box 619810, DFW Airport, Dallas, TX, 75261, US

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I'm sorry to hear of the issue that you've outlined and would love to look into this matter for you and see if we can work toward a resolution. Please contact us via email at Social@dexmedia.com providing your business name/address, and preferred contact number for prompt follow up. Thank you, Ed!
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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.

55 comments
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GALE TAYLOR
Oct 03, 2007 1:00 pm EDT

I have spoken to the Boulder County consumer affairs department. I spoke with Cindy Taylor. They need as many people as possible to substantiate our complaints about Dex Media , owned by RH Donnely. They have false + illegal addenda to their contracts. The Boulder County consumer affairs department telephone number is [protected]. It is very simple to file a complaint. Please contact this office. They will help. I have already filed. They are waiting for more complaints.

Thank you

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Cliff
Aug 23, 2008 10:03 am EDT

Nobody bothered to call me to ask if I wanted to renew my DEX directory ad. Had they bothered I would have told them not to renew because I retired last year and am no longer in business.

I have been trying to reach the company for over a month now to dispute my bill. Sent a letter to them and it was ignored. I have also tried more than a dozen times in just the last week to reach them by phone. I end up with nothing but a busy signal after hearing a recorded message warning I may get one due to heavy call volume.

Does anyone know how to reach these people. It is absolutely ridiculous that an NYSE listed company (owned by RH Donnelly) would conduct business this way.

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LOUIS ANCONA
Aug 27, 2008 11:10 am EDT

dex left out ad due to their own negligence.cost our company over 100000 .00 in sales and does not want to compensaate us in any manner for thier negligence.we refused to pay bill and now are getting constant collection calls.we currently spend 22000.00 a month in yellow page ads, and i would go out of business before advertising with dex.they really dont care about their clients its obvious.so if you are considering placing ads in any of their books, you have been warned

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john
Oct 07, 2008 5:55 pm EDT

I met with a sales woman from dex about possibly placing an ad, I did not agree to put an ad in and did not agree to pay dex any money in a contract. Dex then sends me a bill for a rediculouse amont of money per month for internet advertising and the yellow pages. The sent me a contract without my signiture and scribbled things out and replaced them with other figures. It is as if a company is trying implode all on its own. It seems almost like Dex has hired a bunch of delinquent teenagers to manage its sales department, they are shameless plus just simply stupid to do this to themselves. I am sure the yellow book is loving it. To answer your questions on what to do. I sent info to the attorney general and to the Better business burea. I took a lot of work and many letters to Dex. Send them certified mail with return receipt ALWAYS! Keep all correspondence as evidence. And yes Dex is looking and a Class action Law suit. They have commited out right fraud and I told them they would be looking at a class action law suit about a year ago, and now here it is. I am glad they are going to get what they have comming.

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Baumanator
Oct 09, 2008 5:36 pm EDT

Interesting that Embassy Loeans above would complain about Dex, but at the same time buy one of their new fangled Search Engine Marketing packages.

http://storefront.dexonline.com/embassy-loans

No I don't work for Dex, but do work in the same industry.

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Infoservinc
El Cajon, US
Nov 20, 2008 3:41 pm EST

A client of mine has been going through the same thing with this company for two years. They wrote a letter canceling the contract and four months later DEX called their office and found someone to verbally renew it. DEX recorded the conversation. My client is not going to abide by the verbal contract and is willing to enter into a class if there is one.

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Dex Guy
Denver, US
Jun 25, 2009 5:57 pm EDT

I am an employee of Dex and have been for 10 years. I can tell you that we have hundreds of customers to individually contact each year. We are honest people trying to do our best for our customers. Yes, there is an automatic renewal clause in our contracts. This is ONLY if we cannot get a hold of the business owner or if they choose not to respond. We do not like auto renewals as the local sales people do not get paid for these. It is in our best interest to work with our customers. However, there are times where a business owner doesn't respond for some reason and we auto renew the contract. THIS IS TO PROTECT THE BUSINESS OWNER. If we pulled out every ad just because they didn't get back to us, we would have a lot of very angry bankrupt business owners. And this has acutally happened.

What I have found in the last 10 years is that a lot of business owners are not doing their job. They don't answer their phones, they don't return calls and they don't decide that taking 1/2 hour per year is worth their time to discuss yellow pages. Then, when they fail to own up to their mistake, they want a class action law suit? Come on?

I'm not saying every sales rep and every manager at Dex is perfect, but in my 10 years I can say that I am proud to work for this company. And in my experience there have been VERY few issues with the auto renewal issue. This isn't benefiting us as much as it is protecting business owners. If a dentist or plumber had their ad pulled out of the book because they neglected to call Dex back, do you think they would do very well the next year? No. Because the yellow pages is still the #1 place people go to find local information.

And regarding the verbal contract. It is valid and is a valid contract in all of the states in which we do business. We have tailored it to ge the specific information we need to verify the responsible party, billing info, advertising items, amount, etc.

Hope this helps those who don't really know the way it works. Please think twice before jumping on a bandwagon trying to sue. We are all local people with families living in your community just trying to make ends meet.

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Dex Guy
Denver, US
Jun 25, 2009 5:59 pm EDT

Another point of information. It shouldn't be that difficult to reach Dex...never has been. If the 800# is frustrating, look in your local white pages and find the local office and call them. If you are a business owner, call your rep back.

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Dex Guy
Denver, US
Jun 25, 2009 6:04 pm EDT

Another point:: You cannot simply leave a voice mail to cancel a contract. Again, this is to protect the business owner. We must have the contract signed saying CANCEL on it with the price crossed out. Unfortunately, this isn't the good old days where we can seal a deal on a handshake. I wish it were.

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scott nelsen
US
Jul 14, 2009 7:57 pm EDT

I JUST GOT ANOTHER MONTHLY BILL FROM DEX AFTER, WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE LAST PAYMENT TO THEM FOR 2008/2009 BOOK. I CHECKED MY STATEMENT ONLINE AND SAW THAT I WAS ABOUT TO BE BILLED FOR THE 2009/2010 BOOK TOO. I EMAILED THEM A COMPLAINT ABOUT NOT RENEWING, GOT ONE BACK FROM THEM DIRECTING ME TO THE "CLAIMS" DEPARTMENT PHONE NUMBER. THE LADY SAID AUTOMATIC RENEWAL WAS PART OF MY CONTRACT AND NO ONE AT DEX WAS GOING TO MAKE MY BILL GO AWAY. I THOUGHT WHEN MY ONE YEAR WAS UP MY ADD WOULDN'T BE RUN AGAIN WITHOUT A NEW CONTRACT. I EVEN GOT A PHONE CALL FROM DEX IN MARCH OR APRIL 2009 ASKING IF I WANTED TO RENEW AND TOLD THEM NO. I TOLD THEM I WASN'T GOING TO PAY ANYMORE.

I READ THE POST FROM THE DEX EMPLOYEE. GIVE ME A BREAK. SO IT'S A LOT OF WORK TO GET CONTRACTS RENEWED. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD. THAT IS HOW IT WORKS. I AGREE WITH THE LADY'S POST ABOUT DEX SHOOTING THEMSELVES IN THE FOOT. IF THIS IS NOT A SCAM I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS. IN THE WORLD I LIVE IN I DON'T PROVIDE A SERVICE OR PRODUCT WITHOUT A SIGNED CONTRACT. CAN YOU IMAGINE IF I DID THAT WITHOUT SOMEONE'S CONSENT AND JUST SENT THEM A BILL.

BY THE WAY, THE SALES PERSON WHO SOLD ME THE AD FOR THE 2008/2009 BOOK NEVER MENTIONED THAT I WOULD GET BILLED IMPERPETUITY. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SOME OBSCURE BUSINESS SEND YOU A BOOK OR C.D., UNSOLICITED BY YOU, AND A BILL FOR THE PRODUCT AND A NOTE SAYING THAT IF YOU DIDN'T RETURN IT IN TWO WEEKS THAT YOU WERE LIABLE FOR THE BILL? HOW DEX HAS DECIDED TO RUN THEIR BUSINESS ISN'T ANY BETTER.

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scott nelsen
US
Jul 14, 2009 8:15 pm EDT

OH, ANOTHER THING. THE "CLAIMS LADY GAVE ME THE PHONE NO. OF "MY SALES REP. I CALLED AND TALKED TO HIM. HE CLAIMED THAT HE SENT ME A CONTRACT RENEWAL FORM OR LETTER OR WHATEVER AND THAT, IF I WANTED TO CANCEL, ALL I HAD TO DO WAS WRITE THAT ON THE LETTER AND SEND IT BACK. GEE, I'M PRETTY SURE I WOULD HAVE NOTICED THAT IF I HAD EVER RECEIVED ONE. AND I DEFINITELY WOULD HAVE SIGNED IT AND CANCELED AS I DIDN'T PLAN ON RENEWING. I THINK THEY HAVE A NAME FOR THIS KIND OF ACTIVITY THAT DEX IS INVOLVED IN.

ONE LAST THING. DEX SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH BEING SUED BY BUSINESSES FOR NOT POSTING THEIR ADS. THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO CONTACT PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES ANYMORE TO PRESENT CONTRACTS TO FOR RENEWAL. IF THE BUSINESS HASN'T DONE THIER PART TO RENEW, DEX HAS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. AND BY THE WAY, THE TEN YEAR EMPLOYEE DEFENDING THEIR BUSINESS PRACTICES IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF OF THE KIND OF PEOPLE THEY MUST HAVE WORKING THERE. I CAN'T BELIEVE HE IS THAT NAIVE.

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heatman
Idaho Falls, US
Jul 16, 2009 12:05 pm EDT

Well I have tried to cancel for over a year. They turned me into their collection agency, Allied and I just received a call from them. The lady stated no one has ever won a law suit against Dex. The only way to cancel is in written communication. Why don't they tell you that when you call? Well my ad isn't in their book this year and I didn't write letter, funny how that works.
I have tried for over a year to get a copy of my "contract" instead they sent me some paper with my name but not my signature some one else had signed it. Everytime I did get in contact with them I was told their was notes indicating I had ever called. So I guess that means I never called, right? I mean if there isn't a note it never happened? this company is full of crooks. I have told the lady at Allied to send me a copy of my orignal contract and I would take it to my lawyer. Hopefully she sends something. I will keep you posted.

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Toyo
Phoenix, US
Jul 31, 2009 8:25 pm EDT

My nightmare is similar, only they have autorenewed my comnpany for 5 years. This has cost me over $5000 dollars. Sad part is I have paid it... as it was billed through my phone company instead of direct invoice. I did not even notice it until this month when having a third party disect my confusing 9 page phone bill for me. Unbelievable! I cannot believe a company can "auto-renew" an advertising piece without contact, and bill discreetly through phone company on top of that! I feel as though I have been robbed!

I cannot believe how many have complained of this an yet this company has not been sued, I will gladly join any group that is wanting to take this on.

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alice58
Bozeman, US
Aug 27, 2009 9:47 pm EDT

I work for an independent yellow page publisher (a competitor of DEX) and I can tell you that we DO NOT auto-renew our advertisers. Our customers LOVE us for the better service, more affordable rates, higher use of our books, and the fact that we do NOT renew your ads/listings unless you do give us your signature to renew. There is no longer a monopoly in phone books the way there used to be.

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AYS
Bozem, US
Sep 14, 2009 2:45 pm EDT

I too had a call from a representative wanting to update my information. I told him I wanted to cancel my advertising for the next book and was told it was taken care of. After my contract should have ended I began receiving past due notices. Called the number on the bill, yes it was very easy to get a hold of someone, and was told they never received any cancellation notice.
So the next bit is in response to Dex Guy;
I'm always easy to get a hold of, being that I have one number (a cell phone which is always on me). So the statement "Yes, there is an automatic renewal clause in our contracts. This is ONLY if we cannot get a hold of the business owner or if they choose not to respond." is obviously false. I never recieved another call from any representative asking if I wanted to renew.
And this may not be the good old days where you can seal a deal with a handshake, but you can do so with a word (no signature necessary). So why should it not be the same to end the contract? especially when talking to a live person who reassures you it's no problem!
You may be an honest man trying to do an honest job, but you work for a company with dishonest business practices screwing the rest of us out of our hard earned money. If honesty was a trait Dex valued, they would work with me to find a mutual solution.
FYI: I will now be advertising with my local phone book who charges a fraction of the price for the same results. If you have an alternative in your area, I advise going with them.

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PaulI
Olympia, US
Sep 28, 2009 7:04 pm EDT

Dex has done this also to me. I sent in notice of cancelation they say they never got it. Next thing I know I am getting a bill in the mail to pay. Then I call to dispute this and Tena from Dex tells me they have already ruled that I am at fault. I replied that I would like to talk to a manager and she refused to let me. Then i asked about abritration and she said she is the final decission, I commentented that she can't as the abritrator a third party needs to do that. My response from Tena was they have final say. I would like to hear if a class action lawsuit is in the works.

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Dex hater
US
Oct 02, 2009 7:11 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

My company was billed by Dex for a ad that was not placed by anyone here. They claim they have a voice recording but when you ask them to play it they cant find it. They also intalled my company ad that we did not place into a catagory that has nothing to do with the products we sell. and yet they expect me to pay for this ad? Dex is one of the largest conartists out there. We have Embarq as a phone provider who said our phone book ads are to be free. Dex is their phone book provider so how can they charge me even if there is an ad. Which we did not, will not, and never have done any advertising. We do not want to be in the phonebook as we are not open to the public. So tell me again Dex why do I owe you anything for a ad I did not place, do not want, and wasnt in the correct catagory?
I think someone in our government needs to take down this corrupt company. Dex is a thief.

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homeimprovementwhores.com
Portland, OR, US
Oct 07, 2009 10:52 pm EDT

Just laugh at them when they (the collection agencies) call. I have been charging them $150.00 per call. Make up your own silly bill and rules as to why they owe you forever and send them a bill. Have fun with it.

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Isabel2009
Denver, US
Nov 24, 2009 12:38 am EST

Yes, my friend, I am preparing a LAW-SUIT THAT PREPARED AS GOOD AS IT STATES HOW UNETHICAL DEX-MEDIA WORKS, and I am trying to put people to get together who is ready to stop Dex Media's endless comfort and believe that they will never be nailed down and they can go as far as it can! just because they think they can do it...

They are forgetting that people are online every day to figure out to put their add way cheaper than what Dex Media is offering... That's why they are resigning people who do not renew their adds but Dex Media does it anyway and bill them easily and report them in the collection agents.

I am not only going to be bringing this to peoples attention who can support me with my law-suit action, I will also be bringing the attention to collection agencies, and the SUPREME COURT, because only through SUPREME COURT, every single aspects of advertising can be re-observed and flaws and incentives can be reviewed, so you can write me back if you like with your supports and concerns about this to me at: canim_kizim2002@yahoo.com.

thanks

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Isabel2009
Denver, US
Nov 25, 2009 1:04 pm EST

I believe there would be because as you said... there is not such 10 pages contract that they say and if all the people get together and sign off their complaints and we all go the Supreme Court to bring business ethics and how the contract should be reviewed and go over to the flaws that the consumers and the customers go through... Do you understand what I mean, As a constitutional law student, I am working on it...

I will make a big case out of this... because I would like to figure out where they are getting this comfort to screw people around like there will be no justice ever...

Every criminals gets caught up eventually, RIGHT?

LET' GET TOGETHER FRIENDS, IF WE GONE THROUGH SUCH EXPERIENCES, IT IS OUR JOB TO PREVENT THIS FOR THE FUTURE AND NOT TO REPEAT ITSELF AGAIN...

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VarReseller
Mesa, US
Dec 18, 2009 11:50 pm EST

Dex is still trying the same shoddy sales tactics in late December 2009 as well. We also had a paid ad for one year, they called and tried to sign us up for another year, we said "No Thanks" since our business was down and very few calls had actually come in from our Dex ad during the previous 12 months (we always asked how the customer found us).

Dex claimed that we would have to fill out more paperwork to stop the automatic yearly re-billing of our ad even though we had already told them "No Thanks" on several occasions (when they called wanting to re-do our ad from the previous year). They promised to send over the paperwork they claimed they needed to cancel their so-called "automatic yearly ad re-bill" but never did.

Now they are trying to claim that after several months of telling them "No Thanks" we called them and changed our minds (we never called them and certainly didn't change our mind about not renewing any advertising with them) and want $1, 000 for an ad we never authorized.

They also claim that they have "notes" in their file authorizing the ad placement, yet can't produce a single authorization, or a purchase order, or a tape of the conversation where we authorized any re-run of our original ad.

Dex has become a scam of the worst kind. Small businesses are much better off advertising their wares or services using Google or other search engines.

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amt123
denver, US
Mar 13, 2010 11:25 pm EST

DO NOT AD WITH DEX ! SMALL BUSINESSES BEWARE! These people are full of it!. I had these A-holes fax me a copy of my agreement to auto renew- they faxed me a page with my signature and 2 additional pages of agreement (Which up to this point I had never seen)- that do state auto renew- LOSERS! I was never given a copy of "page-2" and "page-3". UNFORTUNATELY, I have learned the hard way that you can never trust some companies to be forthright about a deal or agreement. I will send out the written/notorized/delivery confirmation requests for cancellation . And hope for the best. DO NOTY TRUST THIS COMPANY. I have paid for an advertisement that I never intended on renewing - NOT BECAUSE I DIDNT SEE THE FINE PRINT, BUT BECAUSE THE CONTRACT I SIGNED "PAGE ONE" LOCKED ME INTO ALL THREE PAGES- ABSOLUTE ###!

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sman840
Boulder, US
Aug 11, 2010 11:24 pm EDT

Dex sucks - if they [censor] with you call your state's attorney general for fraud and a violation of your state's fair business practices act or consumer protection act - AND, DO NOT ADVERTISE WITH THIS PIECE-OF-[censor] COMPANY

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Tony_Fellis
Port Orchard, US
Sep 07, 2010 12:42 pm EDT

Dex asked if they could do auto pay from my bank account for the monthly payments.
They Dex then took over $1600.00 out of my account without my permission. I did say they could take out the monthly billing not the entire amount!
This caused me to bounce many checks even checks the to local government.
What a mess and fee's not to mention the time i spent trying to get it straight.
Dex said they would refund, send by overnite but never did a thing.
I called over twenty times and told them to cancle my ad.
I got my bank to take back the money after over 90 days.
They refuse to pay any costs incurred by me and now sent to collections. I would love to join a law suit! They are crooks.

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fitright
US
Oct 08, 2010 5:16 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have had the same problem with Dex Media auto-renewing a contract that I had asked to be canceled. So after many fustrating phone calls including one that said no one could help me because they were all in a customer service seminar for the day, what a joke, they agreed that I did have an email that I had to send to them again saying I did not want to renew my contract. So I thought this would take care of it. Oh no, now they are calling me everyday saying I owe them a different amount of money everytime. I have asked repeatedly to get copies of all of my bills to see what adjustments were made to correct the issue of auto-renewing. Of course they say they have been mailing them to me, but I have not seen one come in the mail for at least six months. I have asked to get copies of them emailed to me, but of course no one in that department is able to take care of that for me. I signed up to get my bills online a long time before I had this problem with Dex Media, but for some mysterious reason as soon as I was having this auto-renewal issue I was locked out of my online access to my bills. I have submitted a complaint to the Attorney General's office in my state, but of course Dex Media would not respond to my complaint. I am very interested in any kind of legal action that would affect Dex Media. I can not believe how hard small business owners have to work only to be taken advantage of by big business who think they are above the law.

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fisherdank
US
Oct 23, 2010 5:58 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

they called and told me if i dont get back to them befor such and such date that i would miss the deadline, i assumed that by not responding that i would not be placed in the phone book! now they want 3000 bucks and i didnt wana be in there!

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xvespamarkx
Iowa City, US
Dec 28, 2010 11:55 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

My business is going through the same thing. They sent me a letter asking if I wanted to renew. I did not, so I didn't send anything back. Just like magazine subscriptions and everything else you sign up for a year at a time. Now I am getting billed for another year, which is of course more expensive than last year. If I did sign a contract how ever many years ago that said they could pull this stuff, it must have been in some pretty fine print and definitely not explained to me by the salesman. I already filed a complaint with my state attorney general and have been spreading the word to every business owner I know.

And to Dex Guy: You claim that they are doing this to "protect the customers". Sounds like how the banks claim to be protecting customers when they let you withdraw money from your account when you don't have enough, then charge you $35 for the privilege. You would be protecting the customers if you included the following wording on the bills, "If you want to cancel your contract, you need to contact us in writing. Failure to respond will be interpreted as a renewal request." But you don't because you don't care. This is your business practice because some suit in some office crunched the numbers and found that this would make x amount of extra dollars, and it would cost x amount of dollars to fight the lawsuits, and the bottom line is they would come out on top. Money over people. Just like the YellowBook guys that I was fighting with last year over the same garbage and eventually won. All national advertising firms I have dealt with are scam artists, obsessed with fine print and sneaky tactics. No one cares about people anymore, just dollar signs.

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LWilliams83
US
Jan 18, 2011 10:17 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Dex contacted our small business months ago about advertisement and after several phone calls and e-mails, we decided not to do it. Haven't heard a lot of good about them. They called last week for our address to give us some "information" about their company and ads. Today, I pulled a bill from them out of my mailbox for 2 months worth of advertising! We had no idea! We called and they said there was a verbal agreement. Biggest load of bull I've heard in a long time. There never was any sort of agreement. And they had the wrong mailing address in a DIFFERENT state. On top of the wrong ss # and mother's maiden name which I guess they use to verify. So, the employee who we supposedly gave verbal permission to just made everything up. They said it's up to us to prove we didn't enter into it and ask for a copy of my birth certificate. Hahaha. Yeah right. I told them I wanted visual proof because it's their burden to prove. All they had was 2 "acknowledgment" letters? No idea what that is or what it proves but we never received them b/c they made up our address! Bunch of liars. I told them I wouldn't stop until it was resolved and also filed a complaint with the BBB. I won't let them get away with this FRAUD that they are committing. What an illegal company.

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LWilliams83
US
Jan 18, 2011 11:36 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

And Dex Guy, how is it that you can supposedly accept a contract agreement by word over the phone but not end one? Protecting the customers? You guys make me sick to my stomach.

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Dex Guy 2
US
Mar 02, 2011 3:27 pm EST

The Dex auto renew clause is not some fine print matter. Every contract comes with a terms of agreement page and on that page is the auto renew clause. Like all other topics on that page, it is in nice, big, bold letters to call your attention to it. The passage is not a long one, either. Reading the terms of agreement is not some mire of words that takes an hour to go through.

It is not Dex's fault if the client fails to read the contract, or listen to the contract be read to them, before signing/agreeing to it.

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Equuleus79
Dickinson, US
Mar 03, 2011 6:19 pm EST

Dex media is a fraud! I tried their services. They then sent me a renewal contract upon which I wrote in large letters across the entire thing CANCEL. I returned the renewal form. They did not cancel it and proceeded to send me bills. I refused to pay the bills. I wrote them numerous letters explaining that their salesman do not follow instructions. I called them several times and every time I was referred to a different phone number and department. Then they tried to collect through a collection agency. I have explained it on two different occasions with two different collection agents. The last time I told them I would counter sue if they tried to collect on this fraudulent contract. I even sent them a bill for all of the time I wasted trying to clear up this matter. Here's the most ridiculous part, after numerous letters and phones calls telling them I canceled their contract, they still list my business in their rotten phone book. Go figure. They are complete joke and unbelievably mismanaged.

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wantasolution
US
Mar 03, 2011 10:55 pm EST

C'mon people... let's turn this into a forum where we can formulate a plan! Any ideas? Obviously, the auto-renew policy is the root of our dispute. I'm sure it was the INTENT of each of us to cancel our service. We just didn't follow their procedure, which apparently is spelled out in their terms of service.

I have a $200 bill from DEX that I tried to dispute. I did not renew my ad. Had I known about the auto-renew clause in the terms of service, I certainly would have answered the call from the DEX sales person. But because I didn't want to renew, I didn't answer the phone or call back. I assumed my contract would end, just like all the other phone books do it. I didn't read the terms of service, nor have I ever even seen one. I know it's my responsibility to find it and read it, but c'mon, who does that? This is a phone book ad! I assumed that DEX would be honest in their business dealings and that there wouldn't be any "gotcha" [censor] terms in their service agreement. I can see the point that their making as far as protecting their customers, but I don't think that is their INTENT in putting the clause in there. I believe it is their INTENT to keep customers in their books when they can't get a hold of them, or when their customers decide to leave them.

I considered small claims court, but DEX doesn't owe me any money, so I can't do that. I'm also not going to pay $150/hr. for an attorney to dispute a $200 bill in court. Will the auto-renew clause stand up in court? Does anyone have any lawyer friends that can provide their candid assessment, or provide us with a course of action? I assume DEX is watching this thread, so I also expect them to add their legal 2 cents (though we may not be able to tell if they're with DEX by their post!)

Here's what I want: for DEX to forgive the balance on my account, and to report back to the credit bureaus that my account is in good standing and that my account was never past due, and to remove all past due entries in my credit report. I do not seek damages.

What are the chances that we can formulate a plan to, at the very least, get DEX to do this?

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wantasolution
US
Mar 31, 2011 4:00 pm EDT

I finally got a reply from the DAs office in Arapahoe County, CO, where Dex's main office is. Here's what he said:

We receive several complaints each year about auto-renewal contracts. While I personally would never sign an auto renewal agreement, they are legal. In the eyes of the law, the consumer must take responsibility for understanding any legal agreement that he/she signs. Failure to read or understand the terms of a contract is not an acceptable defense against that contract. I know the amount of "legalese" in even simple agreements is almost overwhelming, but until the legislature either bans auto-renewal agreements or declares that consumers are not responsible for what they sign, I know of no way (short of negotiation) out of this situation. Be sure that you notify Dex in writing that you are cancelling this contract and that you send that notice registered or certified mail, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED. Then you will have proof that they were notified and if they auto renew again you will have evidence you can use in court.

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W R Howland
Rio Rancho, US
May 15, 2011 4:06 am EDT

I pulled my full page display ads in three headings and replaced them with in column listings for 2010. The same year an unlicensed imposter shows up in the Dex book using my company name and a cell phone number in a large display ad. The imposter screens his calls with voice mail and never calls me back. Dex won’t tell me who the imposter is. I’m convinced a Dex representative told the imposter that we were reducing our ads to listings and that by running a large display ad he could fool people into calling him thinking they were calling us. We have been in business for 25 years and we have thousands of loyal customers. Many people have told us they thought they were calling us and never got a call back or got bad service from a fly by night imposter. Dex claims no responsibility but they could have prevented this by simply checking their own client records or the State licensing web site. I seriously doubt it would have happened if we had kept our $12, 000.00 a month display ads instead of cutting back more than 90%. I intend to sue Dex and subpoena the rep who sold the ad to the imposter. After 25 years I doubt any local Dex rep in our area doesn’t know who we are. I owe Dex a lot of money since I stopped paying off the display ads after this started. They keep adding 1.5% per month to the total. Dex is responsible for the actions of their employees and their actions caused us severe hardship far exceeding my dept to them. I offered to settle with them for what I originally owed but they are greedy and want to screw me regardless of what they did. I think Dex sucks and the sooner the internet puts them out of business the better.

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joesmoeblue
Maple Lake, US
Jul 12, 2011 1:33 am EDT

I did some advertising with dex with their online white pages. I met up with my rep because I had received only 2 calls in a 5 month period when I was supposed to be getting 10-20 a month. When I had previously met up with her we had discussed some additional adverstising that I really wasn't interested in. She said I should just sign the contract so if I did decide to go with it we wouldn't have to meet up again. She promised up and down that she wouldn't turn it in unless I confirmed over the phone that I wanted it. So when we met up I told her I didn't want it and she agreed that it was probably the right choice. Then I get a call down the road a few months later that I've been assigned a new rep. We met up and were discussing my business and my advertising needs...the usual stuff. He then tells me I have an add in their hard book. I told him no he must be mistaken but then he pulls out the add and shows me. I told him that my old rep must have accidently sent it in. Then I tell him that I made it crystal clear that the add wasn't supposed to be put in and my rep promised me she wouldn't turn it in unless she contacted me and I told her to...besides when we had last met up I told her I didn't want it. I tried contacting her and she wouldn't return my call. Talk about feeling guilty, these people befriend you to make a sale then they turn around and stab you in the back. My new rep spoke with her and she told him she wasn't going to call me back...for what reason I don't know but I'm thinking because she knows she scammed me. I called the Dex customer service and told them what happened and they said they would get back to me. Well they never did and they continue to send me bills for it. I'm very disappointed in the professionalism of this company. If they think I'm paying for a service I didn't want they have another guess coming. I wouldn't trust this company even though the results can be ok at times but their dishonesty erases what good things they do.

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Ex.Complaint Dex One
Cary, US
Aug 02, 2011 8:58 pm EDT

You should call their claims manager. They have one listed on the BBB website.

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dex is a rip off
Yugoslavia
Dec 28, 2011 8:20 am EST

DEX is trhe biggest rip off!
They are billing my company $ 900.00 a month for Advertising. We recieved 0 calls from so called Dex customers.WE ASK OUR CUSTOMERS.Alot of our customers are from Yelp and of course Google.
Dex wont let us out of a ontract after signing the first month .Currently we are trying to milk our company dry to the bone. My Dex sales rep called me back only after a month. I told him I do not want to go forward with this contract. He would look into it but did not retun my calls and now we get bills for 900.00 per month.
STAY CLEAR OF DEX

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Dex One Ex. Claims
Bristol, US
Jan 03, 2012 5:28 pm EST

Please contact the Dex One claims manager listed on the BBB website and they will be happy to assist you.

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Door guy
Des, US
Feb 29, 2012 5:57 pm EST

I'm thrilled to hear all the complaints about Dex Media!
Now I know that all the fraud that Dex Media has committed against my business over the past 12 years is not just my experience. I am a garage door company that has been working to pay Dex Media since 2002. I can say that I am currently a multimillion dollar gross business that is on the verge of bankruptcy due to Dex overcharging for their products, lying about their books usage, having multiple phone books for one small area that only needs one book in order to force you to spend more to reach all your potential customers, sharing confidential customer information between reps in order to sell more advertising, changing heading rules to appease certain customers, offering certain products to some customers but not others creating unfair business, and charging one customer one thing then your competitor a different rate. They tell you that your rates are half what the real rate is to make you feel all warm and cozy about the deal they gave you then when you want to drop your program to a smaller ad the next year because they sucked your business dry and you can't afford it anymore they tell you all your incentive money will go away and you will have to pay full rate for the smaller ad which comes out to the same rate. So in other words once you spend big money they force you to continue to spend that same amount or your screwed and wont be in the book at all. Dex knows that my business is a service business and needs the phone book still to get business so they take advantage of that the best they can. The list goes on and on and I have experienced it all!
They are crooks that will do whatever they can to suck money out of you and make you feel important as a client. Then the minute you turn your back they are doing whatever they can to screw you over by offering better products and deals to your competition. It's all a big scam game where they play their reps and customers against each other to generate as much revenue as they can for themselves without any concern for their clients well being. They say they want you to be successful and partner with you and if your not successful they wont be, blah blah blah. These are all sales tactics the sales reps are taught to pull the big sheet over your eyes while they are stabbing you in the back!
Every year they show me their usage figures and claim it hasn't gone down figures. These usage figures are shown on ### charts done by this third party company they use which I'm convinced is in bed with Dex to deceive their customers that their book is still being used. That's the big argument with them about usage when I tell them their full of it. They say " well we don't figure the usage ourselves we have a third party company do it". Yeah I bet they do! They are being paid off to generate false documents to show their customers and potential customers in order to sell their products and triple what any other phone book charges. I have done my own usage tests this year and I average 4 calls a day out of a program that costs me over $15k per month. That means that every day $500.00 goes straight to Dex which translates to $125.00 per call on average! The amount paid per lead with advertising on a national average for my type business is under $25.00!
I cannot believe the Feds have not brought these crooks to justice for the crimes they commit all over the United States against small business's that don't have anymore money to sue considering Dex already stole it all. Forget the Attorney General and the BBB, It's time to get the FBI involved and I'm ready to lead the parade to bring this big corporate scam company down. If you have been a victim of Dex Media please contact your personal attorney and the local FBI agent. If you have a solid case your attorney should take it on contingency and if not find one that will.

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screw88
joints, US
Apr 01, 2012 12:26 am EDT

Dex is the WORST COMPANY EVERYONE !The first year I signed up for a small on line contract.They accidentally forgot to place my AD in the city I worked in.We lost business because people couldnt find my location. We recieved no compensation.By the second year once again they SCREWED ME up and didnt place my NEW business which was actual new store location properly. We lost business and recieved No compensation at all.The third year they came into my store ..2 men dressed in suits with briefcases.They sold me a new contract promising I would get alot of work. We didnt and never heard from them again- DEX scams and we wont pay. DEX took the life out of our business with false hope and milked thousands of dollars we couldnt spend with no returns. SCREW YOU DEX! YOU LIED AND CHARGED US TO COMPETE WITH VIRTUAL COMPANIES ON LINE THAT APPEARED ABOVE MY PAID LISTING...WHAT A JOKE!

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  1. Dex Media Contacts

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