USDirectory.com is a scam
USDirectory.com is a scam.
US Directory says that they’ll “put you in Directory Internet Yellow Pages, Superpages, Switchboard, MSN, and Area Guides.” and “Create a Promo website”. It’s a scam. First, there is no such thing as “Directory Internet Yellow Pages” or “Area Guides”. Yes, they capitalized them in their letter to her.
I’ve been selling yellow pages to folks. In my travels, a business owner (business initials K.C. in San Francisco) showed me the service she had signed up for with US Directory. The business owner had signed up for their services about 90 days prior to my visit. I went online and checked to see if her rank on various websites had been increased. Nothing. Nada. Niet. Nuffum. The search for USDirectory’s footprint was made easier because they actually misspelled her company’s name in the letter! While it’s true that she got a listing on USDirectory.com’s website with a little heart next to her company’s name, (spelled incorrectly), there was no sign of her company anywhere else on the internet.
The Dallas, TX Better Business Bureau has an alert about USDirectory.com, saying it’s a scam
http://www.dallas.bbb.org/news_20061115a.html
Phony Directory Callers Targeting Businesses
Watch out for this scheme against business. The BBB in Fresno reports that businesses there have been receiving calls from USdirectory.com, also known as Directory Billing LLC. The callers say they would like to verify the business’ address and phone number for the Yellow Pages. Then the business receives a notice that their service is activated as a “Preferred Merchant of Directory Billing Internet Yellow Pages,” at a cost of $49.95 a month, bill through the local phone company. The company is based in Boca Raton, FL, and the BBB in West Palm Beach reports USdirectory.com has an unsatisfactory record due to unanswered complaints and a pattern of responding slowly to complaints.
They had a 90 day money back guarantee that amazingly, they honored when she called and canceled her service.
Please contact me about this scam as soon as possible. Thank you.
I sent an email to Cowboy. They wrote back something like “Oh, never mind, you’re right.”
you are a retard.
Lee
Keep up the good work
When you hit a nerve scammers will get upset. I have been called much worst than a retard, but such replies confirm that you are
doing much good.
Your servant
Frank Thomas
Modesto, Ca.
Solid legal proof that USDirectory.com is a scam:
I hope this page has helped protect at least a few people. I’m happy to note that this post shows up on the first page of a Google search looking for “USDirectory.com”
Yep. I was just scammed by USDirectory.com too. I signed up my business website with them as they claimed all you have mentioned above: “put you in Directory Internet Yellow Pages, Superpages, Switchboard, MSN, and Area Guides.” + Yahoo! for $29.95/mo. I thought this was a great deal because my business was new and I had not yet signed up with all the major search engines yet and didn’t know when I would have time to do this myself. After I was listed, I found that you had to put in the EXACT name of my business for it to appear, and it would only appear on Yahoo! over on the far left side of the page. Basically, it was worthless. When I called to cancell my subscription, they indeed cancelled it but only after charging me for another month. I told them that I didn’t want to pay for something I would not receive so either keep me on the books until my subscription runs out or give me my money back. They would do neither. Onto the Washington State Attorney General and any local news outlets that will listen.
I think US Directory is a cool service if you know how to use it, if you want to really expose your business, just use the websites that they give you
“Someone”, since it’s already been shown legally that USDirectory.com is a scam, you will have to offer a little evidence to convince anyone they are not a scam.
Please do tell.
What other evidence do you want?? take a look at the people that DO USE the service, they take the time to place pictures and to place coupons, it’s worthy, what happens is that people are ignorant that the categories that they place in are for easy search but people are not that patient to customize it or anything.
Stop critizising the service, just because you didn’t like it doesn’t mean that you have to make other people think the same way you do.
And I haven’t heard not even in the news that this service is LEGALLY a scam.
Someone,
>take a look at the people that DO USE the service
I haven’t found any happy customers yet. If you have, please mention them here.
>I haven’t heard not even in the news that this service is LEGALLY a scam.
Read comment #5 above. You will find proof from the Pennsylvania Attorney General that this service is LEGALLY a scam.
What do you know have you called each and every single person that has the service, if you have, get yourself a girlfriend!!!
And that legal statement could be as fake as you.
Any payed attorney could have done that for you and you just placed it there, that’s not a proof to me.
Someone writes:
>Any payed attorney could have done that for you and you just placed it
>there, that’s not a proof to me.
Umm. Follow the links. And get a job where you aren’t trying to scam people.
The Idaho BBB (Better Business Bureau) writes on their website about USDirectory.com…
Why don’t you get a better job, besides I’m not a telemarketer but my sister is and I know how hard she works.
And besides, if I ever find a job I bet it will be better than yours cuz I hope I won’t spend a lot of my time hanging on the internet instead of getting myself a date Mr. Montgomery Burns!!!!!
Ah, so your sister works for USDirectory. You might suggest to your sister that she get a job where she isn’t trying to scam people.
I will let the rest of your comment stand as it’s own testament.
STUPID ASS!!!
Heh.
I work for USdirectory.com and have done so since early 2006. What was at issue with the AG offices related to a direct mail campaign that used a $3.25 check sent o business owners, along with propmotional material, allow customers to sign up for the service in this fashion. This was one of many marketing channels used for the service and the company in 2004, before using this channel, researched this to make sure this was FTC compliant and the offer was worded that way. We examined various Bank of America and Citibank offers and worded ours similarly. The AG did not say this was illegal, nor a scam, nor have they done much to the major banks with the same offer. Regardless – this offer was discontinued in early 2006 as it was minimal, less than 1/10 of 1/10th a percent in effectiveness.
Since 2005 USDirectory.com has done a great deal to offer a highly effective and value conscious flat fee Internet Yellow Page product with a PayPerClick component on competitive websites. For one of 2 price points, our custoemrs, and yes there are many, and all have an initial 90 day money back refund policy, where we spend part of the budget on Superpages, Switchboard, and Google and Yahoo for a link for their 5 page mini-site or enhanced profile , or their heading in their city to bring traffic to their sites. Each and every custoemr is sent a welcome kit with log on information where the customer can activate the mini-site, add keywords to help find their business in our search engine, and pick up to 6 categories or headings for their businesses.
Without even adding the PPC component – this offer is one of the most, if not the most, competitively priced offers for a local search product. Our monthly uniques are well into the 7 figures, each custoemr can login to their account and see their traffic, and we work with our competitors to offer a great product.
Certainly, no one wants to have issues with the AG, and when you look at the cost of fighting a case where you have letters of opinion as well as FTC rulings on your side, but would have legal bills larger than the settlement offered, you have to make a business decision. Again, this was a fine on a marketing channel that was stopped in the beginning of 2006 because so many customers refused the offer.
BBB complaints need to be receieved to respond. We have a great many customers, and yes, a few did complain. Most of the complaints to the BBB were from people that were not customers, but did not like the check mailer.We have tried to do right by the custoemr since we created this product. We have made mistakes along the way as does any business, ours was a national business, so we have made national mistakes, but we have adjusted, and as achild grows, so have we with this business. I would enourage any of you to activate an account and try the service. There is a 90 day cancellation and full refund policy. If we don’t deliver the value and more, please call us and let us know. Our number is on the website and we offer 24/7 customer service.
Customer Service Manager,
I suppose in my initial post I conflated 2 issues. The first is that my customer had paid to register themselves on USDirectory.com with your “Directory Internet Yellow Pages” and “Area Guides” etc. This registration seemed completely ineffective. See my original post above. The second issue was with the activation checks. Yes, they are different issues but the two together paint a picture.
If you can address that first issue, you’d be doing well. The issue is that a customer that paid for your service didn’t get any additional telephone calls or internet presence that I could find. If you like, I can tell you the initials of the business “K.C.” offline and we can go from there. You can reach me directly at Lee at Lee dat org.
Have any of you asked if this is search submission or local search submission… If it is local search submission you are all screaming at usdirectory.com for nothing. Oh, and there are only a couple of companies in the US that do local search submission, and most yellow pages companies use them. It takes roughly 15 – 30 days for local.google.com and all the other local directories to suck the information over to update their directories. So you should do your due diligence before you jump all over this company for your ignorance of search and local search submission to the Internet. Stop thinking it is 1998 and start thinking like todays user.
Jack, I performed “due diligence”. Please read my post and the followup comments and then comment. Can you tell me what “local search submission” is and how USDirectory might do it? I searched local.google.com and K.C. hadn’t been mentioned there after 90 days of subscribing to their “service”.
Montana, yes, it is obviously a scam. Did you read this post and the followups?
Feh, I am closing comments on this post. None of the supposed defenders of USDirectory.com from above have responded. It is pointless to repeatedly respond to, “Sure, their service is expensive and completely ineffective but do you -know- it is a scam?”.
Dear reader, if you are considering giving USDirectory.com money, I recommend you read this post and the followups first. You will find nothing good said about them here.
Lee, U still have in ur mind that US directory is a scam??
I just quit Usdirectory.com yesterday and have been reading these blogs and wondering why no new blogs on this subject. Could there tactics have changed and they apear to be morer honest. I was led to believe they would only charge $5 a month but for every hit to my web site I was charged a quarter and that can add up. I suspect that some of these hits were not authentic as I haven’t gotten any phone calls from over 600 of them. The lack of phone calls to me is the biggest turn off. I went to there web site to see if they had any info on how they do buiseness. This information is in http://www.Usdirectory.com/Terms.aspx. Under Services,Fees,Termination Talks about billing information. I wonder why I got seperate bills two days apart where the first one is the $5 monthly charge then the second one the charges for the web site hits? When I asked to cancil they tried to get me to sign up for a flat fee that would cut my costs by about a third. Why not tell me about flat fee when I signed up? In terms there is something written about a third party fees that I might have to pay (separate feees.)
If you want to use Usdirectory.com be sure to go into your web site soon because there will probably be mispellings. In terms of use wording there is wording protecting Usdirectory.com from mispellings and just about everything. I would use other web sites like networking groups first before signing up with Usdirectory.com
It’s been 2 years, I turned comments back on. USDirectory.com still exists. I’d like to hear at least 1 story of USDirectory helping a business. I doubt I’ll get it :-(.
Read the next comment to find out why Tom’s comment has a line through it – Lee
USDirectory.com is the best!!!! I edited my web site with all sorts of photos and information and added coupons to the account. I started receiving calls around the end of the 2nd month. Customer service assisted me with everything and when the references came it equaled about $100. They refunded that money and set me on the flat rate and its been worth it!!!1Tom, since my statements are so counter to what you are saying, could you tell me about your business… The name and website and such. If you like, we don’t have to put them on my blog. But I need a little proof that you aren’t shilling for the company. Thanks.
Dear fair reader, on Aug 12th, I emailed Tom directly asking him the question above. I have not yet heard back a response… likely because he is a liar. I would love to be corrected but doubt I will be.
Mr.Lee why are you targeting Usdirectory.com and what is your purpose?..just to be fair why not look or search also for a good comment for this company..i give you the answer why usdirectory.com still exist,maybe because they provide quality service and Mr.Lee nobody is perfect each every company has a complaint and its normal..and for the customers of this company its all up to you how you will use it and take advantage the service they provide
I too have had problems with usdirectory.com. I wish that I had found your blog before I got involved with them. I am in the process of starting a new business and I wanted to get it listed in the yellow pages. I agreed to a $5.00 charge and Some how I have been billed $90.00 for the 1st month. That is an unreasonable amount of money for 1 month of service. I have not received even one phone call from a customer. When I called to have the charge taken off my credit card the first customer service person I spoke to hung up on me. The next one refused at first to reimburse my money but finally agreed when I told him I was going to call the BBB. He acted as though he was doing me a big favor. I will have to wait and see if they actually follow through with my refund. Their sales pitch is full of a lot of misleading statements from people who speak very poor English so beware.
Lee Nice blog
I’m a member of a contractor’s forum and found you researching USdirectory.com.
I am being harassed by this company as well & posted comments on CT (Contractor talk)
Contractor talk.com, please professionals only
Thanks Lee
I was open for this until I saw your site. She made this sound so good that I could not have passed this up. I did not get hooked Thanks for the warning Lee.
Thanks Lee, seeing this was very helpful. I don’t think it is worth the risk. Thank goodness I told them I am wary about joining something on the phone without all the proper info.
Wow, I just received a call with similar characteristics… difficult to understand, $5/mo + 25 cents per reference (what is that?), 5-page website, and promises to give my business listing a high ranking.
After telling her that I wouldn’t provide financial information to a company that I never heard of, and definitely not one that just called me, she directed me to their website. (As if having a website was evidence of being a legit business). Their website used the Yellow Pages logo and had logos of Yahoo and Google on their site as “partners.”
Hmmm… the whole thing felt suspicious. So I told her I would need to do some research before signing up. She told me that my listing on Google and Yahoo would be FROZEN until I decided to sign up! Okay, so that made me mad. I said, “you mean to tell me that my listing could be found on Google and Yahoo until today. But now if I don’t pay you $5/month, my listing won’t be found?!!!” She responded, “Yes, your listing will be FROZEN and your business won’t be found by Yahoo & Google.”
This had me worried a bit, because I thought, well, maybe this company is actually a part of Google and Yahoo and is simply verifying recent information that I posted about my business. But then I realized that it wouldn’t make sense that I would have to pay to be listed in their search engines.
Thank you for this article. I appreciate the info.
im an agent from usdirectory.com..you know what?youre just a dumb ass trying to pretend that you know how to use your email address..as if you know how how to use all the benefits of usdirectory..haha!how pathetic.. if you already checked your email address,,you’ll just knew all the benefits with usdirectory.com are not scam..haha..youre funny!
Dude, Ryan if you are an agent, you really need to learn how to type. That’s enough for me right there.
USDIRECTORY.COM (THE INTERNET YELLOW PAGES) JUST CALLED ME TRYING THEIR HARDEST TO GET ME TO SIGN UP FOR THEIR $5.00 A MONTH AND $.25 PER REFERENCE (EVERY TIME SOMEONE CLICKS ON MY SITE). OBVIOUSLY I WOULD NOT GIVE THEM MY BILLING INFO WITH OUT DOING SOME RESEARCH ABOUT THEM SINCE I HAD NO CLUE WHO THEY WERE. WELL AS IM TELLING THEM THIS THEY KEPT REPEATING (IN VERY POOR ENGLISH), “IT’S OK WE ARE GOOD, YOU PAY NOW AND I SEND YOU CONFIRMATION PAPER IN BLACK AND WHITE. OK WE DO NOW.” THIS SHE REPEATED OVER AND OVER AS I TOLD HER THAT I WILL NOT GIVE OUT MY BILLING INFO UNTIL I VERIFY THEIR LAGITNESS. THEN SHE GOES ON TO SAY THAT I HAVE TO DO IT TODAY BECAUSE “TODAY WAS THE LAST DAY FOR THE OFFER IN MY AREA” (THIS ALSO REPEATED MANY TIMES). SO I THEN TELL HER THAT WE ARE WASTING EACH OTHERS TIME BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE TO DO MY RESEARCH WHEN I HAD TIME.AFTER MANY MINUTES OF HER BABBLING ON AND MY CONSTANT REFUSAL TO IMMEDIATELY JUMP ABOARD SHE GIVES ME A DIRECT NUMBER AND SAYS THAT WE CAN TALK TOMORROW. I GUESS IM JUST THAT SPECIAL ALL OF THE SUDDEN AND SHE WILL IGNORE THE FACT THAT THIS WAS THE LAST DAY. WELL I STARTED MY RESEARCH AS SOON AS I GOT OFF THE PHONE. THROUGH MY RESEARCH I CAME UP WITH LOTS OF COMMENTS AND DATA LEADING ME TO BE SUSPICIOUS OF A SCAM. SO I GATHERED UP MY INFO THAT I FOUND ON USDIRECTORY (WHICH WAS’NT LOOKING GOOD) AND PROCEEDED TO CALL HER BACK TO GIVE HER AND THE COMPANY A CHANCE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES AND HELP CONVINCE ME THAT THEY ARE LEGIT. NOT TO MY SURPRISE THE PHONE NUMBER SHE GAVE AND REPEATED TO ME 5 TIMES WAS A OUT OF SERVICE LINE, GO FIGURE.
CONCLUSION: FROM THE VERY BEGINNING THINGS WERE NOT ADDING UP AND I WAS GIVING THE RUN AROUND ON NEARLY ALL MY QUESTIONS, THIER STORIES CHANGED, THE RETURN NUMBER WAS NO GOOD, AND THEY WERE CONSISTENT ON GETTING MY BILLING INFORMATION BEFORE ALLOWING ME TO RESEARCH THEIR COMPANY.
MY ADVICE: STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. THERE ARE OTHER COMPANIES OFFERING THE SAME OR NEARLY THE SAME SERVICES WHO ARE PROVEN TO BE LEGIT. BE SAFE RATHER THAN SORRY.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!
AND BY THE WAY, THE $.25 REFERENCE (PER CLICK), WHO’S TO SAY THEY DONT JUST SIT BACK CLICKING AWAY ON YOUR LINK AND CHARGING YOU? JUST A THOUGHT.
Lee, I just wanted to say thank you for what you’re doing here. There are simply too many companies operating that exist to try to profit off the backs of hard working individuals without an equal exchange of values (and sometimes no exchange of value at all). It seems usdirectory.com is one of these types of businesses.
The government can’t keep up with these types of businesses, nor is the law such that it is easy to shut them down. Unfortunately, it is up to the citizens of the US to stop supporting scams like usdirectory.com and many more. The only way to stop these monsters is to stop feeding them. It is discussions like this that can support that change through knowledge.
Thank You.
And to all the employees and relatives of employees commenting here and on other blogs, I’d like to tell you that while it’s important to work hard, it’s also important to work at a company that conducts itself well because there are many people like Lee, myself and many many others that will broadcast the truth. So ranting and lying is just a waste of your time.
Read the next comment to find out why Cheryl’s comment has a line through it. – Lee
I’m one of the customers of us directory. My business is doing great! That’s it!Cheryl, I see that you are located in the Philippines. Your IP address is 121.96.34.*. You are not a USDirectory customer, you are a spammer. Thanks. Have a nice day.
Lee, thanks for the service. Wish I had been more cautious and found your blog sooner; would have saved me some bucks. USDirectory.com is *definitely* a scam, and I suspect Matt’s thought as to how the “increased traffic” is generated is spot on. Lord knows I haven’t received any calls!!
Again, thanks.
Thanks for the heads up about US Directory it saved our bacon!!!
They are a scam. They have called me over 50 times in the last 4 months. I don’t know where they got my contact info. Probably found it on the web. I keep telling them to stop calling me and that I am not interested in signing up to their directory but they keep calling me. The callers usually have heavy Spanish or Asian accents. I even spoke to the supervisor and he wanted me to give him my credit card number over the phone. I would love to find out how to report this company and to stop them from calling and harassing me. They are obviously running a scam.
> I would love to find out how to report this company and to stop them from calling and harassing me
Carlton, here’s a start. Report them at http://www.DoNotCall.gov
YES, usdirectory.com is a BIG SCAM we just got scammed by them.
They promise you all kinds of things but all they want is to get your money. They say they it will only cost $5 a month 25 cents a reference but in fact it will cost you much more. My husband signed up yesterday thinking this is great deal only $5 a month only to discover they had us listed for $5 a day plus other fees. We called this morning to cancel but they told us “oh you will still have to pay $5” not much but $5 for no service, we are not letting them away with it. We have stopped payment and will fight them on it. It is time for us to fight and expose dishonest people, they are making money from honest hard working people like us.
My husband is legally blind and believed every word they said it was only after I came from work and did researched this company that we discovered what they are – DISHONEST.
We are learning the hard way, but will do everything we can to prevent others from being deceived.
BELIEVE US THEY ARE A SCAM
Just hung up on some woman from usdirectory i could barely understand asking me to get my credit card out and give her money for talking at me in pigeon english for 20 minutes , i asked her to send me an e mail so i could read the terms and conditions before i undertook any contract then she got a bit loud and aggressive which was weird then said she needed payment immediately to make this posting live . Asked her if she would buy a dress or pair of shoes without seeing it ? that went down like a fart in church :) Had it up to the eyeballs with these scammers promising page 1 google rankings blah blah i just mess with them now at least you can have a bit of fun with them and brighten your day somewhat .. bottom line is ..if a service is good they will not have to phone you ;)
Lee, Thanks for saving me from this scam. I did lodge a complaint. I had registered for the Do Not Call Registry years ago, but lately have been receiving unsolicited calls. I re-registered. I suggest others do the same.
Alene, thank you for reminding me to go to DoNotCall.gov again. I registered my phone numbers there a few years ago and just re-registered myself. :-)
Scam! Scam! Scam! Have you seen the “F” rating with the BBB.
How the Scam Works
The Call. First, con artists make cold calls to offices. They ask the person answering the phone to “confirm” the address, telephone number, and other information, claiming it’s for a listing the company has in the yellow pages or a similar business directory. The scammers then fire off a rapid series of questions they may tape-record, sometimes sliding in a confusing reference to the cost. The scam works because fraudsters convince the person who picks up the phone that they’re just “verifying” an arrangement the company already has with the directory.
The Bill. The con artist then sends urgent “invoices” for $500 or more – sometimes including a copy of the “directory.” They’re usually worthless and are never distributed or promoted as promised. Often, they’re just websites with listings of various businesses. In many cases, the person paying the bills will simply cut a check, not realizing that the company never agreed to pay the hefty fee for the directory. But if businesses resist, the scammers turn up the heat, threatening collection or legal action to get payment. They may use the name of the person who answered the phone or play a “verification tape” as “proof” that the company owes them money. Often these tapes have been doctored or the nature of the transaction was rattled off in a way no one could have understood. If companies stand firm in their refusal to pay for services they didn’t authorize, the scammer may try to smooth things over by offering a phony discount. Or they may let the company return the directory – at the company’s own cost, of course – but insist on payment for the so-called listing. At this stage, many companies pay up just to stop the hounding. What they don’t know is that they’ll likely get more bogus invoices – either from the same scam artist or from others who have bought their contact information for a new scheme.
How can I protect my business?
Take the following four steps to protect your company from business directory fraud.
1. Train your staff to spot this scam. Educate your employees about how this scam works. In addition to your regular receptionist, talk to everyone who may pick up the phone. Put a copy of this alert in employee mailboxes. Mention it in a staff meeting. Post it on the break room bulletin board or where employees clock in and out.
2. Inspect your invoices. Depending on the size and nature of your business, consider implementing a purchase order system to make sure you’re paying only legitimate expenses. At a minimum, designate a small group of employees with authority to approve purchases and pay the bills. Train your team to send all inquiries to them. Compile a list of the companies you typically use for directory services, office supplies, and other recurring expenses. Encourage the people who pay the bills to develop a “show me” attitude when it comes to unexpected invoices from companies they’re not familiar with. Don’t pay for products or services you’re not sure you ordered.
3. Verify to clarify. Many business directory scam artists are headquartered in Canada, but use post office boxes or mail drops to make it look like they are in the United States. Before paying, check them out for free at bbb.org, and read the BBB’s report on them.
4. File a complaint. If a scammer is sending you bogus bills, speak up. Visit bbb.org to complain to the BBB. And let the FTC know by filing a complaint at ftc.gov or calling 877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). Your complaints help shape the FTC’s law enforcement agenda, so it’s important to sound off when you spot a scam. Concerned about business directory fraudsters’ threats to tarnish your credit if you don’t pay? Many will simply drop the matter – and may even provide a refund – if they know you’ve complained to the BBB and law enforcement.
Don’t fall for the business directory scam. As noted above, if you believe you are being scammed, contact the FTC.
Mr. Lee,
I am one of US directory agent, I really don’t get the point why you’re really pinpointing US directory as a scam when being a person that is well informed about search engines and local directories, you know that US directory offers a very minimal amount compared to other paid local directories,plus no contracts. It’s a fair share of offer compared to other especially with businesses who doesn’t have any internet exposures.
I am just wondering, upon reading all your comments and blogs, are you one of US directory’s competitor? that cannot provide this much low sign up fee, that is why you are pulling it down?
As for all those others who have commented on this one, you know for yourself that putting up a business and having it start running, along the process, there is what we call adjustments, as well as certain aspects that cannot be perfected, and with starting up a business, we do take risks, and one of this risk is advertisement, is there any such ads that can guarantee you a customer?
And with that things as being filed over in PA/ID and other state, like I said, there is no such thing as perfect, but what is important is that they did their part in fixing their problems and really making efforts to do adjustments.
Mr. Lee, tell me, with search engines like google and yahoo, how perfect are they? and with a start up local business who just wanted a local exposure, is it fair for them to pay thousands of dollars just to have a visibility online?
Essa,
I haven’t ever heard of a happy customer of USDirectory. If you have, please tell me about them. Give names.
>Mr. Lee, tell me, with search engines like google and yahoo, how perfect are they? and with a start
>up local business who just wanted a local exposure, is it fair for them to pay thousands of dollars
>just to have a visibility online?
As I mentioned in my post, the customer who paid for USDirectory didn’t receive ANY local exposure or national exposure. It doesn’t matter how much the service costs, it doesn’t work AT ALL. Please read my original post. Google and Yahoo have effective inexpensive plans that do not cost thousands.
PS, my first name is Lee, my last name is Sonko. Please refer to me as “Mr. Sonko”, not “Mr. Lee”.
MR. SONKO,
Oh I do know a certain companies, but I won’t mention them to you.. Why?! the way you are pulling US directory down, If I mention them, I will not be surprised if they are being brainwashed the other day If mention who they are.
Anyways, I have worked with different online yellowpages directories, almost all of them provides the same features and benefits, so the big WONDER here is WHY is US Directory seems to be the one you are targeting and the only one that seems to be doing something wrong. I am an agent MR. SONKO, even those who signed up with google and yahoo, they are saying something about this search engines, that they pay thousands and they get nothing.
Mr. Sonko, have you tried managing a business?! I guess not, cause If you do, You should know the rule that You cannot really satisfy everybody. Make a survey, MR. Sonko, as to satisfy the proof you need, lists 10 businesses and asks at least 10 consumers, If you’re done with the survey, see for yourself the result, If one company would get a perfect10 approval from all 10 consumers..
Oh I Think, I know the reason why you are so persistent in trying to pull US directory, your valley yellow pages didn’t succeed..
>MR. SONKO,
Please capitalize my name properly.
>Oh I do know a certain companies, but I won’t mention them to you.. Why?! the way you are pulling
>US directory down, If I mention them, I will not be surprised if they are being brainwashed the
>other day If mention who they are.
That is a stupid argument. I am “pulling US Directory down” because I saw a local San Francisco company (initials K.C., go and read my post) almost get scammed by them. They were being charged for a service that did nothing for their online presence. And you provide no evidence to prove that USDirectory’s service does anything but scam businesses, even when asked to produce such evidence.
>Anyways, I have worked with different online yellowpages directories, almost all of them provides
>the same features and benefits, so the big WONDER here is WHY is US Directory seems to be the one
>you are targeting and the only one that seems to be doing something wrong. I am an agent MR.
>SONKO, even those who signed up with google and yahoo, they are saying something about this search
>engines, that they pay thousands and they get nothing.
“Features and benefits”? USDirectory provides no features or benefits. If you can list any, I will be happy to review them.
>Mr. Sonko, have you tried managing a business?! I guess not, cause If you do, You should know the
>rule that You cannot really satisfy everybody.
Yes, I have managed several businesses. I know you cannot satisfy everybody. The problem is that US Directory has, in my experience, and the experience of every commenter so far, satisfied nobody.
>Make a survey, MR. Sonko, as to satisfy the proof you need, lists 10 businesses and asks at least
>10 consumers, If you’re done with the survey, see for yourself the result, If one company would
>get a perfect10 approval from all 10 consumers..
I have re-read that sentence several times and I have no idea what it means. Please clarify.
>Oh I Think, I know the reason why you are so persistent in trying to pull US directory, your
>valley yellow pages didn’t succeed..
Huh? What? Are you trying to relate how I worked for the Valley Yellow Pages for a short time 3 years ago to how USDirectory is a scam? That makes no sense at all.
It’s idiots like essa that caused me to be fed up and close comments in 2008. If I receive any more comments like essa’s that don’t back up their positive assertions of USDirectory with fact, I will close comments again.
Thank you for posting this site Lee. They called me friday and i asked them to email some info about their company first and to call me back monday. They just called saying they emailed the info but i did not receive it. I was then directed to their website. Told them to call me back in 2 days. Then I googled their company and found your blog, first page. There are a lot of shady business’s doing similar things. I constantly get calls where the caller will start off by saying “I’m with google” or “we are going to put you on the first page with google” yada yada. Just hang up on these people and don’t waste your time. Another company that scammed me is CitySearch or CityGrid Media. I wish someone would start a blog for these guys. They are a real peice of work.
I updated this post with USDirectory’s (AKA Directory Billing, LLC) Better Business Bureau ranking. Hint: It’s somewhere between “E” and “G”. ;-)
Bryan, you’re very welcome! I’d start a blog post about CitySearch or others but I don’t have any personal experience with them. You should do it! Start a blog. Stick to the facts and the truth will be seen!
Thanks Lee, for posting this site. I almost got scammed by these people as well. I ordered business cards from Vista Print and signed up for a free trial for an online search profile. Two days later, I get a call from these jokers (US Directory). They wanted to verify my business info to make sure that everything was correct. I assumed they were associated with Vista Print so I was happy to verify this info. Then came the sales pitch. The lady I spoke with could barely speak English and was very confusing, and very persistent. She wanted my credit card info so I could start my service with them. I told her that I thought the first month was free….at least that is what I signed up for. She said that it was not free. Then she started making promises about being on the first page on all the major search engines for local searches. And she went on….and on…and on. By this point I was very pissed at Vista for associating themselves with this company (US Directory). After about 15 mins, I asked her to just email me something so I could look it over before I decided to use their services. I received the email with a link to their website. I must state that the yellow pages icon (fingers walking) on the website and URL bar fooled me. I really thought they were an online division for YP. Then I get another call the very next day from them wanting me to verify my info again and give them my credit card info to start my service. I told them I did this yesterday and that I would call when I was ready to start my advertising. Again, the sales pitch. Today was the deadline and if I did not sign up now, I would not qualify for the discount and service. RED FLAG MOMENT….Ms. Lopez was just as persistent as the first lady from the day before. She kept saying the deadline ends today. I asked her if she was telling me that if I did not sign up today, that I couldn’t sign up a month from now? Ms. Lopez told me that because I was so nice to her that she would do me a big favor. When I have my soft opening in March, she would call back and offer me this wonderful deal. After I ended the call, I researched this company with the BBB (they have an “F” rating as well as lawsuits from many state AGs). They also have several scam and fraud alerts all over the place. Your site has been very enlightening and I appreciate the time you have taken to educate people about this piece of sh*t company and how they operate. It appears that your site may have helped me from being scammed out of hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. I am looking forward to their call in March….. Thanks again
PS: All of you so called agents for US Directory……..please learn English and grammar. Your lack of proper English along with your typos does not look professional. There is no way in hell that I would allow you to have anything to do with my business if you can not represent yours in a professional manner.
Just wanted to say thank you for the post on US Directory. I decided to comment here as that blog was closed for comments. Wanted you to know I knew nothing about them–but realized that they called me just after I tried to post our listing on Yahoo Local today–so they must have a deal with Yahoo as I got the call literally seconds after entering my info into Yahoo.
The man on the phone (clearly from India) talked so fast I could not get a word in edgewise,…I had to finally yell at him to stop talking so I could speak. He acted as if it were a complimentary call to update the listing on “Yellow Pages” and other pertinent search sites. I interrupted him to ask “how much” and after more cofused banter he finally stated it was $5 a month and then a .25 charge “per reference”. I must have asked him 5 times to explain “per reference” and he kept on and on about how much cheaper it was than traditional pay per click ads, etc,–not answering my question.
Finally I got him to tell me that it was “per view” on my listing. WHAT? To me–he was very elusive on just how I would be charged this fee–and it took me getting upset and asking him to explain exactly how that charge is applied. Most people might not think to do that. For all those comments of people saying these folks are not a SCAM,…I believe they definitely are. Any business that misrepresents or tries to confuse the customer into a contract–is deceptive to me. Please keep your post up for others to see–as I know many who might fall for this scam if they don’t know enough to ask the right questions. Thanks again.
Really, MR. SONKO?! You call me IDIOT?! Can you ask yourself again who’s who?!
You need PROOF?! IF US DIRECTORY is a SCAM, then why is it still on operations? IF it is a SCAM, why is it still having the same business name?
And tell me, Mr. Sonko, Is there any IYP wherein no Business Owners complains? like I said, there is no perfect business, but what is important here is that, This people who commit mistakes, know how to admit it, and responsible enough to take charges.
To all business owners, you know how it is to operate a business, you know that when a company is a scam, this won’t stay long in the business industry,right?!
And for all those business owners who are checking the sites on BBB kindly check this out
For years I have trusted the ratings of the Better Business Bureau until recently when a TV documentary came out with a report that the BBB ratings could be biased and unfair.
I thought that the ratings for companies and services from the Better Business Bureau were legitimate, fair, accurate and not biased in any way. I was wrong. Recent news stories concerning the Better Business Bureau show that the ratings the BBB gives to companies can be influenced as to whether or not the company is a paying member of the BBB. In addition to being a paying member of the BBB it also appears that some companies have been able to practically buy a higher rating.
http://factoidz.com/can-you-trust-the-better-business-bureau-ratings/
Essa, thank you for showing me that article about the BBB. It led me to a 20/20 article about the BBB that demonstrates it to be not that reputable. I have removed mention of USDirectory’s F rating from the post.
As to the rest of your comments Essa, I still have not heard you back up any of your positive assertions of USDirectory with fact.
The Fact that USDirectory is still in business, Mr. Sonko, Is that not enough proof?
(See next comment as to why this comment is crossed-out – Lee)
>Mr. Sonko, have you tried managing a business?! I guess not, cause If you do, You should know the
>rule that You cannot really satisfy everybody.
Yes, I have managed several businesses. I know you cannot satisfy everybody. The problem is that US Directory has, in my experience, and the experience of every commenter so far, satisfied nobody.
>Make a survey, MR. Sonko, as to satisfy the proof you need, lists 10 businesses and asks at least
>10 consumers, If you’re done with the survey, see for yourself the result, If one company would
>get a perfect10 approval from all 10 consumers..
I have re-read that sentence several times and I have no idea what it means. Please clarify.
>Oh I Think, I know the reason why you are so persistent in trying to pull US directory, your
>valley yellow pages didn’t succeed..
Huh? What? Are you trying to relate how I worked for the Valley Yellow Pages for a short time 3 years ago to how USDirectory is a scam? That makes no sense at all.
You say US directory doesn’t satisfy anybody? How about with the Valley yellowpages you’ve worked? for your Three years working in that directory? Is there a single client you’ve had provided satisfaction with your services? The fact that you are telling people US Directory is a Scam made you relate the work you’ve had with the valley yellow pages because that means, you know how how local ads in IYP work, but with USdirectory, like I said, there are clients that have stayed with US directory for two years, and those clients won’t stay if they are not satisfied with our services, because the fact that they stayed advertising with us wherein we provide no contract is already a proof that they are satisfied and we even have this client wherein he has this business already advertise with Us directory, He know that he is paying our company, but he wanted to advertise his other business in other location, he signed it up too, and this client obviously know he is paying, coz he even used his other CC for the payment of the other ads for his business. Because with US directory, If you already use your CC or DC for one transaction, you cannot use it again even If you agreed for another ads.
I have
crossed-outEssa’s comments above. Essa’s comments do not answer my concerns and seem a bit crazy-ranty. As promised, I will now close comments on this post.Essa, after asking several times, I still have not heard you back up any of your positive assertions of USDirectory with fact.
Gentle reader, be well assured that USDirectory.com is a scam. Giving them money will not improve your company’s standing with any service.
Lee,
This blog is pretty cool thanks for sharing your insights with the world. I found you after being scammed by US Directory. Feel free to manually add my story to the comments section of their page so people can see this is STILL going on.
Today I received a call from 1-888-217-5736. I STRONGLY advice everyone to not answer a call from this number AND block it from their phone. The lady on the other end was obviously from the Philippines and she was calling to “confirm” my already existing online directory listing for DJ Services. They are very clever, they make you believe they are just confirming an existing listing, and then all of a sudden the bait and switch comes in for just 5 dollars we will get your listing online in all the search engines and on our directory, and it’s only $5 a month after that…. And guess what, I let them sucker me into it. However, I DID NOT give them my credit card on the phone, NEVER do that.. I simply told her that I would go to their site and sign up myself, which I foolishly did, and low and behold after I spent half an hour uploading a photo, entering all my categories and detailed sales pitch about my business, the listing is done and that’s when I discovered the SCAM! They charge you 25 cents for EVERY impression, so any time someone types on one of your key words and your listing shows up you’re charged 25 cents. Fortunately, I caught this and IMMEDIATELY called to cancel my listing. The lady on the phone tried to talk me out of canceling… And she tried to sell me a $79 a month for unlimited clicks, and then when I said no, she said “well for $49 we can give you the same thing but not be in google and yahoo”… I told her no and asked her to cancel, which she says she did. I’m glad I caught this before my credit card was robbed hundreds of dollars in click fees like some of the other poor folks I’ve read about online. AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS. I reported them to the FTC and to the Do Not Call Registry since my number is on the DO NOT CALL LIST.
I just cancelled my subscription to U.S. Directory due to misrepresentation of the service. I have a unique business that I know had it received the volume of hits they claimed (341 hits) I would have received at least 20-40 calls or inquiries. I service and repair bbq’s, patio heaters and fire pits. Anyone looking for that type of service out of 341 people should have had my phone or email ringing off the hook. I agreed to the .25 charge when they told me I would only be charged that if the customer contacted me. Complete B.S. I was charged the $5.00 and an additional $78-00 for the 341 hits. I never had any increase in business and when I do get calls I ask where on the internet they heard about me and it is always Yelp, Angies list or they found my website. U.S. Directory did cancel my account and issue a credit and I have an email saying so along with a confirmation number of the cancellation and credit. There are a number of these types of offerings out there and I have no idea which ones are valid or how effective they are. The bottom line is there is no easy way to determine whether these services are getting you new customers unless there is a code or some other designation of where the lead actually came from. Stick with your website and do multiple searches for it and it will help your website to come up quicker. Definately research any company claiming they can get your business better exposure and more customers by listing you on Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. As a small business owner I don’t have time for this crap! I sincerely hope this helps someone else out there avoid the frustration of dealing with this. I have since had to cancel my business checking debit card and have a new one issued. What a pain in the ASS.
Just wanted to thank you for saving my new business $$$ for the old, closed comment article on us directory. They have been harrassing me and I almost caved, then found your archive. Whew! Thanks!!!
I got an email from a business owner today. It saddens me to hear that USDirectory is still trying to scam folks but I’m glad I could help
Dear Lee,
USDIERCETORY.COM IS THE BIGGEST SCAM!!!!!!!!!! BEWARE CONSUMER! BEWARE!!!
Thank you so much for this blog and the info for the Attorney Generals office! I will be contacting
Them in the morning regarding several thousand dollars that have been fraudulently withdrawn
From my business account! I was at my bank today TD BANK (which by the way is horrible) for 3 hours going over bank statements from July of 2013 till present finding $5.00 here and there then all of all of a sudden $90.00 then $193.50 then they jumped to $999.50 all at once. I wasn’t getting anywhere with TD Bank while I was there to fill out a fraud report and the Simple minded condescending bank manager wouldn’t do so until I called the police! When the Palm Beach county sheriffs office showed up and I explained what was happening suddenly the branch manager started the fraud report! I filled that out as well as a police report regarding this company as well as something called
AT&T Cons that were stealing from me! I’m not sure if they are affiliated but both a Scam!
Over 30 charges from this company That I Have Never done business with nor given my account number to! I called the number for them from my bank statement & asked who they were and what did they did. They were reluctant to respond! RED FLAG!!!! Any legitimate business does not conduct business secretively ! When I explained that I had all these charges she asked for my business phone number. I gave it to her & she says “We don’t have an account with that number” I said of course you don’t because I didn’t open one! After14 minutes on the phone she asked for my name & business name, under the advice from the officer we gave her a fake name! She then gets back on the phone after a five minute hold and says she heard the recording of me (fake name remember) authorizing them to take this money from my account! …..Really? That is not even possible! When I told her to let me listen to this recording they denied me! Of course they did because there IS NO SUCH RECORDING! When I told them I was there with the police and they better return this money she said I need to write a letter and mail it to this address
Ariel McLeod
Customer Support
1825 Ponce De Leon Blvd, #177 Coral Gables, FL 33134
T: 786-245-4900 Ext 116
Web: http://www.usdirectory.com
Email: a.mcleod@usdirectory.com
Which turns out to be a UPS STORE !!! Not even a PO Box! The phone number is a cell! When the sheriff got
On the phone to ask a question she hung up and we could not reach them again!
The bank won’t return the money because they said if you don’t dispute it within 24 hours of withdrawal the Federal Reserve will not pay it back !!!! WHAT???? I have never heard of such a thing ! 24 hours? Who looks at their business bank account every 24 hours? So now I’m being robbed by my bank also? Are you kidding me! Please Lee if you have
Any info regarding the federal reserve rules and regulations I would love your help! I own a small business,
I have never given us directory my info nor have I signed up with them for anything.
I happened upon this blog while searching us directory scams! I am sick to my stomach and this is my life’s
Work and my business!!! I will be forced to shut down because this company has stolen all of my operating expenses! Where do I go from here? Like I said I will contact the Attorney General but I need this money
Returned! I now have no money To hire an attorney or pay my employees, my rent, my overhead etc…
They belong in prison!
These morons on here defending a fraudulent company either work for them
Or have never owned a business or had a job & based on their grammar they have never gone to school!
Please don’t waste your time arguing or trying to prove your point to these idiots! They will never
Be scammed because they are the scammers!
You have been very helpful to me. I would appreciate and welcome as much info from you as possible!
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Lisa
I signed up for $5 and then they charged $62.00 just a week later. I didn’t get any extra calls, and when I Googled, I didn’t see my company come up. I didn’t even finish the registration, and they are already charging me $62.00. SCAM ALL THE WAY!!!!!!
Thanks for the info. I just got solicited and when I asked for an address all they give is a po box in boca raton, FL. I said that’s not good enough and they put me on hold. I hung up. Then I found this website and decided to not answer their calls. They called back many times and wouldn’t leave a message. I will avoid them. Thanks!
I wish I’d seen this Web page a few minutes earlier. I just got off the phone with US Directory after signing up for the service and giving them my card number. I tried calling the same number back and they told me they cannot cancel my account. I have to call the 800 number, which I ill do first thing tomorrow morning. If I’m not satisfied with that I’ll call my credit card and do a charge back.
Thanks everyone for the info about these foreign rip-off artists.
i can help you guys shut down usdirectory.com however i need your support
plz answer bk in a comment
OK Mark, I’m answering bk. What is the plan?
Well , i can help you reach all their customers data base , and we can also reveal their real location , where their call centers are located as well
Mark, when I last looked, most of the company was based in the Philippines.
whew!I almost fell for the offer from US directory,what the red flag for me was that the caller kept asking questions and mentioning only once that it would cost me $5 a month.I asked where she had gotten my information from and she could not give me a straight answer.She asked me for my bankcard number and said that I would receive information in my email in 48 hours about what I had signed up for after I payed,I said I was confused and wasn’t going to pay for anything until I researched the offer.She did email me with vague information and a link to reviews of course they are all good ones.I decided to look up reviews myself and I’m grateful that I didn’t make the mistake and sign up with US directory.Thank you for the information.
They told me they were calling from Google and that it was only $5 per month to list with them. I checked my bank statement and found out they lied about everything. I cancelled my CC immediately.
I used to be a telemarketer of USDIRECTORY.COM most of their workforce are from the Philippines.If you dont want any other business owner to be scammed, you need to take an action for this company to totally stop their operation,stop outsourcing to innocent Filipinos.Telemarketers in the PHilippines are really great and tough ones, they are just doing their job.I quit selling USD because I dont feel its services were helping others. Even telemarketers were scammed by them,they oriented us that they are a great company helping business owners to gain our confidence with what we are selling but they fail to deliver the said promised to their clients.I must also mention that other small vendors of usdirectory in the Philippines are scamming clients or misrepresenting and just cut the misleading part of the recordings.All sales needs a recording to be submitted by the vendor to the client.American business owners dont deserved to be scammed specially new and small ones.As long as you got a phone and a business someone else gonna sell you usdirectory, sometimes youre not even aware of it.Everybody wants to go to heaven but no ones wants to die, same as you want this thing to stop but you guys really need to take action,shut them down and tell everyone elses you know not to pick up the phone,kidding ..do not talk to any usd salesman.Best of luck Sir’s/Madam’s.I am still a telemarketer but legit one this time that Am selling,hope not to reach you.Godbless and remember telemarketers rule ABC ALWAYS BE CLOSING so you should always set a voicemail or if not drop the phone if you smell a telemarketers calling.There is always a right call though.
I received a call from them yesterday. I didn’t do it but I have the name and the phone number of the guy who called. It was Frank Sozua Phone 631-210-7013. He said if I didn’t do this he would block my business from showing up anywhere. I don’t know where to go with this information.
That sounds like a blackmail attempt. Since his phone number is in New York State, maybe try the Suffolk County New York district attorney’s office. It may sound extreme but if these jerks are getting serious with you, they are probably getting serious with other people too. The DA might jump at the chance to kick them to the curb.
Yes definitely a Scam. I got the call, said it would be $5. While being recorded I asked if this was a one time charge, he replied yes. I then received an email stating it was $49.95 each month after. I called them and said to cancel my service. She said she did. I called my bank and cancelled my debit card. This all happened in the last 2 hours. The lady that answered stated she would make a report on the guy. He barely spoke Englush which made it hard to understand.
OMG, US Directory is still active? Boo!
I just got a call from US Directory, I did not want to waste my time listening to the BS, just thought I would let you know, yes, they are still active… Wish I had more time to listen to their pitch just for fun. Thanks for taking the time to inform people of this site!
THANK YOU FOR THIS. I got a call from them, first saying the loose term “Yellow pages” “and we only charge you $5.00. I promise no more.” I said send me something that tells me you actually are in the US and not just some random person asking for my billing info. You could be someone in Antarctica scamming. I said “what if I were to call you from some weird number then give you a story about how I am from the background report company that handles all your background information and if you want me to clean it up or make sure nothing bad is on it, please give me your billing info.” Then just do that X 10,000 people and you have a nice $50,000 bank account in a month.
Man this blog really just gave me the clarity to simply HANG UP instantly. Whew.
Thank you kind sir. PS. all the people hating on you for this either work there or they are being paid $.25 everytime they say something nice about them online.