Vivial (formerly The Berry Company)
Reviews and Complaints

They are unprofessional. Their in house communication is horrible! They claim that they see results on their end and I'm to just take their word for it. They have produced ZERO RESULTS! Not one single form fill. And they refuse to cancel the account. They just threaten. They want to be paid for the worst service, the worst performance. They wanted my IT person to give them passwords! Thankfully he refused.
It was like working with elementary children and expecting a professional result. Now they just want to keep charging my card for zero production. They will ask for passwords. They claim you will have 50, 000 views a month. They say I'm getting 100 but cannot prove it. This was a simple project for hiring sales people. Not a single form filled out.
I offered to just walk away. They stop attempting to collect and I will simply chalk it off to something that didn't work. But they refuse to walk away. They are argumentative. The "supervisor" would not allow me to speak to anyone else. I have emails from the very beginning of the ridiculous process to show how incredibly unprofessional they are. Not sure how to attach all of the emails or even those most relevant. Please advise.

I have tried on numerous occasions for the last few months, and by multiple means, online, by phone, to determine when the contract with this company is up. I have not agreed to a renewal or been contracted, and they just keep billing me. You cannot access any information about your contract online, only pay your bill. If you are late paying your bill, and the next bill comes out before payment reaches them. they charge a $25.00 late fee. My invoice with then each month is only $25.80. That is a 100% late fee. When you try to call you are on hold for a long, long time, and when you reach someone, it is this person named RuQaiyah Grimes, who claims she is a supervisor, but is one of the worst customer service persons with whom I have ever spoken, rude, hostile, reactionary. When I sat through the long hold time finally in October, I once again got RuQaihyah, and asked when this contract was up as I cannot handle interacting with this company anymore, and do not want to renew or do any more business with them ever. She told me that the contract renewed last month in September. She told me she could cancel now, but would continue to be billed until next renewal took place in nearly a year.
I asked how and why they automatically renew, and she said that it was in the terms and conditions. I responded that I do not have any kind documentation for that contract, do not recall signing or agreeing to such an arrangement, and generally do not sign auto renewal contracts for advertising without a notification before renewal to give me the chance to change or update the listing or cancel if I no longer want it. I do not consider it a good business practice, and do not engage in it. I told her that I received emails from them if I was even two days late in making my payment, but I searched all the emails from them, and there was none mentioning renewal or approval of an extension on contract, even though they emailed me in August, the month before renewal. The email was about how to structure advertising to be more effective, not a notice or mention of renewal date or deadline for updates to be submitted. I told her I don't care what they might have put into their terms and conditions at this point, but that I would need evidence in the form of proof of my agreeing to them, which I did not do. I asked her to provide me with proof that I had agreeed to automatic renewal. I also asked if there was any online presence from which I would be removed now, but still billed for, and tried to ascertain what exactly she meant by "cancelled", as I was asking for non renewal and asking for proof they had authority to renew in september 2020 without notifying me or getting my approval. She would not answer and kept repeating the word "cancel". She then told me that I would no longer be in the local phone book when I cancel, which is incorrect. Every land line with windstream is listed in the phone book, for no charge. I pointed out to her that that out to her, and she complained that I was arguing with her and talking at her. I replied that she should not misrepresent the facts to customers regarding the consequences of cancelling with Vivial. I asked her to send me proof again. I asked for the call to be escalated, or to speak to a supervisor. She said she was the supervisor. I admit I laughed and said, "God help us if that is true."
I asked her for the spelling of her name, and she spelled it for me. I repeated it back and asked if that was right, because it is a very unusual name. She hung up. She emailed me an invoice showing the cancellation date for the contract as 9/21/2021. Which would be the renewal date. It does not say that there will not be an autorenewal as I asked. It provided no information as to proof I had agreed to terms and conditions of autorenewal. It did not even have the name of the state where the company is located, just the town. I called back and after a long hold, spoke to Scotty. He was marginally less hostile, but very passive aggressive. He argued with me about the invoice lacking a state in the address until I forwarded the email to him. He said he could send me a copy of my signed agreement, but after being on the phone for 20 minutes, he could not find it. I told him I was very unhappy with the customer service I had received previously and he said he did not want me to tell him about it as he was trying to help me and that I was stopping him from doing what I had asked him to do by bring ing that up. I asked who I should tell since every time previously, I had only been able to reach the very hostile, rude person named Ruqaiyah. I said I thought your company might want to know how customers are being treated. I should have know better. I asked why this was taking so lond, and he told me that the company had been around for 80 years and he had a lot of records to go through. I told him he would not have to go back that far and that that was ridiculous. He then indicated he was going to terminate the call as he did not want to listen to my concerns any longer. I hung up first in the middle of my third lecture from this smug, snide jerk, then awhile later sent me a generic copy of terms and conditions with no date, signature, or any evidence I ever agreed to them.

In September 2014, I entered into a 12 month contract with The Berry Company for the YP.Com advertising to start October of 2014. (Since I am able to count, I came up with the conclusion that the advertising contract would be up in Oct. of 2015). I was told when I called & e-mailed to cancel (which took about 3 weeks of calling until I even got to speak to anybody) that the contract would be up in February of 2016. HOW DOES THIS ADD UP TO A 12 MONTH CONTRACT?...I COUNT 16 MONTHS. I just got off the phone with the billing to see how much I owe to pay off this bill. I was told that they are not authorized to tell me how much more I owe. How do you run a business like that? If I told my clients that I am not authorized to tell them how much they owe me - how long do you think I would remain in business?! This is the exact same thing I went through about 15 years ago with them when I worked at another company. It also took me 3 weeks of calling & emails to even get anybody to confirm my cancellation. Get your act together Berry Co!

Ill keep it short.
Berry has changed my business name and my services on local listings without my approval of the changes.
They are calling my business a plumbing business and I AM NOT A PLUMBER.
They destroyed all of my online advertising information.
I would not recommend Berry to worst enemy.
Worst website or advertising company on the planet.

I will make this one short.
I was sold a website. Berry Built a website for a plumber, and I am not a plumber. They published the website without my approval.
They refused to take the fraudulent false advertising website off the internet until I hired an attorney to force the Berry company to take the website off the internet. The website had specific information that could have put me in jail and definitely cost me thousands in fines, imposed by the state of Kentucky. Not to mention the false advertising that was put out to the world with my name on it.
They are still billing me for this website and just sent me a bill for over $1200.00. They have collectors calling me all night long every night, trying to collect for a service that they are not providing nor have ever provided. They continue to ignore me and my attorney and I will definitely see them in court for damages.
Do not do business with this company. Please read the hundreds of complaints on the BBB and other websites. All of those complaints completely express my complaint to the fullest.
Berry Has no business building or servicing websites period.
The Berry Company is a deadbeat company and should have shut down instead of filing for bankruptcy and trying to restructure.
Actually I believe the executives at Berry are only trying to squeeze every dime they can out of the company before they take off and let it go to the grave for good. The Berry Company is terrible and a rip off from top to bottom.

For 2013 I reuped for YP book advertising as well as adding a Berry designed website. I already had a website but was assured theirs would be topnotch and add to my business. I was asked if I had a domain address in mind and told them yes, in fact I owned one and wanted to use that. To make a long story (6 hours on the phone with no resolution) short - after stating they would use my domain in the recorded contract and my rejecting the incorrect book ad in writing (confirmed by them) and correcting it to the one I wanted, they ultimately claimed that because the website was "unavailable" (ya, it was owned by me) they, without any notification or authorization by me and in contradiction to the written instructions they themselves confirmed, changed it to one of their ownership. I would never have spent the money they wanted on a website I did not own and told them so from the start. Their response? Tough. Ultimately all I got was the old "I'll talk to the sales manager" used car routine and a refusal to give an inch on their part. Berry has, of course, jumped right on the incessant sales calls for more ads for this year. Like that's gonna happen. They would make up what they want in a single year of book ads with me. Book ads I've placed with them for a couple decades. Never again. Beware of these people. It's an endless loop of runaround with no intention at good faith negotiations over something that was provably their fault. They don't even deny it, they just have decided there is nothing I can do about it so tough. We'll see about that.

I did not know my local phone company decided not to bill me for the yellow pages. The Berry Company owns the local telephone book here in Ashtabula, Ohio. Six months after the book comes out I receive collection calls from The Berry Company. Apparently they have been sending an invoice to someone else. I had no idea what the person on the phone from the collection department was talking about because they did not have a good grasp of the English language. After I understood I asked them to send me a bill outlining the services. Instead I got a piece of paper with a total on it. After I finally received a bill I submitted it and it was paid in 30 days. Apparently they lost the check because I am still getting collection calls from this company. I am now paying the bill over the phone just to get them to stop calling me. By the way, I asked them on a recorded line to stop calling me, they still call. I am very disappointed that the employees of this company and the management are incompetent or just plain stupid. I am sorry that I have to deal with them or my business suffers. Right now I am rooting for the internet !

The Berry Company solicits business via yellow pages or local phone companies and tries to get you to "authorize" them to build you a website. They do this by promising that you will not pay unless and until you are satisfied with the site. When the site is put up and it doesn't meet your specifications they try to bill you saying that you "authorized" it. When you complain they simply offer "gift certificates" for future Berry Advertising. That's right...gift certificates. What a joke! The daily harassing and disruptive phone call will start coming and they think they can force you to pay. When they screwed up my site I lost money on business cards, letterhead etc because I thought this was a legitimate company, they simply let you know that they DO NOT CARE! I told them that the site was unsatisfactory yet they kept promising that they were working on it and it would be ready soon. After weeks of frustration, they finally let me speak to the website programmer and she told me: "It can't be done"...big surprise! So I told them that I wasn't satisfied and did not want to continue, unfortunately, for the Berry Company that is just the beginning because in their mind it is NOT over. I found 366 complaints on BBB, numerous complaints on Ohio Attorney General office and FTC, not to mention all of the SCAM review sites. Wish I would have checked them out before hand but thought they were ok because it was originated from the yellow pages...that was a mistake. This company uses deceptive trade practices, false advertising and any available method to lure you into "authorizing" them to build a site. DONT LET THEM DO IT...YOU WILL REGRET IT! I PROMISE! I have filed complaints with BBB, AG Office, FTC and any other outlet I can find and my next step will be to hire an attorney because small business is hard enough without predators like this lurking around.

I m an attorney investigating claims of The Berry Company aka Windstream extending circulation dates for telephone directory yellow pages advertising beyond the annual period represented and continuing to bill for months beyond the twelve month period agreement without publishing the "new" telephone book for the next year until anywhere from a few to several months into that year period. This happened to our firm and is apparently a pattern of business for these companies. I believe this is an unfair and deceptive trade practice and would be interested in hearing from anyone else who has or is being victimized by this tactic. We are currently concentrating on "violations" in Ohio but would be interested in hearing from any State. My e-mail is [protected]@rcbiales.com

The Berry Company handles the yellow page advertising for numerous smaller town directories in our area. However in the last year their customer service has been nothing short of horrible. Berry doubled the listing cost for one town, over doubled the agreed to price on another three towns and when we faxed them a copy of what we agreed to the customer service person agreed they were wrong, but nobody could or has been able to straighten this mess up. We started complaining to the Missouri Att. General's office however just this last week (Dec. 27, 2011) we received a letter from their office explaining how they could not get Berry to respond so now it was our problem to deal with. Another horrible problem is that this company is now renewing our contracts without our approval or knowledge at higher prices! This company (Berry) without a doubt the worst company we have EVER dealt with. Any phone company who hires this company to handle their yellow page advertising should know what type of customer service and ethics they are dealing with. Stay away from Berry Advertising!

From leaving my phone number out of the local phone book to my current problem of stopping internet advertising, the Berry Company has caused my business nothing but problems. In December 2010 my ad disappeared on the internet. After numerous calls I still have no explanation as to why that occurred. They have a problem with returning phone calls. I have been trying to cancel some advertising since December 2010 with no success. The only response I receive to my numerous written requests is more inaccurate billings. I have only heard from one person at the company who I thought was going to solve the problem. The problem has only continued and escalated to a level that has completely frustrated me. I highly recommend not doing business with this company, because once you start they will not let you stop.

In 2006, I was sued by the Berry Company for advertising I had never requested nor authorized for yellow page ads appearing in a 2004 Orange County Frontierpages for a business that I had closed in 2001 and for which I had written proof that the phone was turned off at the time as I vacated my shop space.

I submitted my written proof to Berry's lawyer and the Berry Company would neither proceed with the case or drop the case for over 4 years. We filed a demand with the court and the case was ordered dismissed and a judgment was ordered with prejudice against the Berry Company. which means it can not be appealed. Berry's lawyer was served by the Supreme Court, County of Orange with a copy the judgment and dismissal of their case over a month ago.

Berry has yet to pay the judgment and is trying stall the collection of this debt. Complete facts and legal documents are at http://www.ronhinsdale.com/berrycompanylawsuit .

We had paid for our year of outrageous service which did not benefit us. When they called to renew I indicated I did not want the same service as it was outrageously priced and we received no referrals from the yellow pages. I was to have bare minimum with option to cancel as we were not happy with service. If anyone listens to the recording, this should be stated, but it appears things conveniently disappear on their end. I contacted centurytel as this was our service provider. We changed services through them and they never stated the Berry company had to be contacted as I assumed I was done with them. Then I get a bill from Centurytel for the amount of 517.30 as we failed to complete our contract which is an extreme amount as we are a small business that had stated we did not need their services. I made multiple contacts with Berry and only spoke with one person who said it would be reviewed. All other contacts involved me leaving a message with no response. I contacted centurytel on numerous occasions and they actually had a supervisor or worker contact Berry and leave messages as well so I have documentation of that through centurytel. Finally, they gave me a number to call directly and I received a disgruntled employee who had left Berry due to their practices. She gave me te number directly to Kevin Albrecht who stated he had escalated my issue to John Gulas who was directly affiliated with Berry. I never received a response. I received in the mail a letter from the collection agency to collect a debt for the amount of $517.30 and was never contacted by John Gulas. I contacted Kevin Albrecht again who stated he would have John Gulas contact me. I gave him until 5:00 p.m. on 2/16/11. There was still no response. After reviewing the information here, I can see this has been an ongoing issue with them. I am truly frustrated by this entire process. They are horrible to deal with and I caution others in dealing with them.

I spoke with Jasmine Fleming in the Hudson, Ohio office in December of 2010 and I told her I had been trying to cancel my advertising in the Houston Texas Sugarland/Katy directory for over a year. She assured me that she would get to the bottom of the situation and she herself would call me back. I called back and spoke to another rep who told me that nothing had been done on my account and they are still charging me for services that I do not want! I really want this to end. I have been dealing with this for too long and I am sick of it. I will NEVER do business with this company again. When I spoke to Jasmine Fleming, she told me she would take care of this and I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Well here I am stuck with these fruadulent charges and nobody that can help me. Oh, and I'm still waiting on Jasmine to call me back, almost two months later!

After paying for display ads for over 30 years, this year the ad was not in the book, even after I (like usual) talked to the rep on the phone. When I call to try to talk about this I am faced by a wall of some very uncaring people (well, if you weren't billed for it, what are you complaining about?). OR, I'll get you something special online, I'll call you back in 30 days(60 days ago).
Am stll waiting to hear from these bozos.

In June 1999 I contracted the Berry Company, who was working with Yodel, to create, host and market my website. I was suppose to pay $883 for 6 months and $600 for the last 6 months for a year. Billing would not start until the website was up and being marketed. They told me I would be up in 2-3 weeks so I went ahead and cancelled my current website marketing. After calling and working with numerous different technicians it was November and I still wasn't up. They started billing right away though. I saw I was going to miss the Holiday marketing, which is essential for our gift sales and after fighting with Berry and Yodel reps I told them I wanted the rights back to my website. They said I was under contract and had to pay.

I finally worked out a deal that I would stay with them another six months and I would be refunded all the money I was charged for and get another 3 months free. I have left them in May when my contract was up and they continued to bill me until and including Sept. 2010. My October bill did not include more internet advertising, they did increase my yellow page advertising $200 over what I signed a contract for.

I've met with reps, had the vice pres of operation of this area call me and applologize and tell me it would get straightened out and the same thing always happens. They switch me to another rep and credit my account nothing. I have paid my phone bill and yellow pages advertising each month and due the the charges they continue to bill me for (services I'm not getting and late charges) they say I owe them over $6000.00.

I have tried the PUCO and they will not help me because it is considered internet advertising and not a utility problem.

I have mountains of documentation of emails, phone conversations, etc. I've spent hundreds of hours working on this bill and they bascially just give me the run around. This is a scam, I have contacted the Attorney General months ago, but they said they are waiting for a response from the Berry Company and have not heard anything back.

If anyone can help me please call Susan.

I am an attorney in Rochester. The Berry Co. has billed me and reported me to a debt collection agency over a purported advertising debt which I do not owe. I have asked for the basis for the charges and have received nothing. I have submitted proof I do not owe the charges they are claiming. I have spent months trying to resolve this, have been hung up on, etc. I am in the process of investigating a law suit against this company. Anyone else with a complaint, please e-mail me at [protected]@vienceklaw.com. Thank you.

they are charging us 1, 580.79 for service. we have never agreed to use their service. it is for advertising in the phone book. we have gotten a new phone book ever year and our ad isn't in it. so i feel we should not have to pay for their service.