Hibu, Inc

Review: On June 20, 2012, I contracted with Yellowbook (order #[redacted]) for an on-line yellow pages-type listing and paid for one year of service in advance. After the term ended, I began receiving phone calls from a company called "hibu, Inc." which claimed to represent Yellowbook. A representative of that company told me my contract was on automatic renewal, and that my account was past due. I told them I did not wish to renew the service, I did not owe them any money, and not to call me again.

Then I received a letter from hibu, Inc. Since I never had any previous dealings with hibu, Inc., I had discarded previous mailings from them, unopened, until after that phone call. The letter demanded payment of $410.96 with the warning that "the timeliness of your payment may be reported to the Credit Bureau".

Because this service did not seem to have added much benefit, I had no plans to renew the service. A promised end-of-year review of my plan by Yellowbook salesperson NEVER TOOK PLACE. If it had, Yellowbook would have known I did not want to renew. I called my Yellowbook sales person who said they do have automatic renewal, but that my account had been transferred to someone else before the end of my contract and that is why she had not contacted me for the review.

Later, another representative of that company called me demanding payment. I told them I did not owe anything and not to call again (2nd time). After that, I was contacted by another company representative who called me with the same message and told them not to call (3rd time). Now we are receiving recorded telephone messages from their representative, the most recent was on 10/21/2013. Letters from them continue to demand payment.

I do not owe these charges. I paid for a year of service and did not wish to extend or renew the contract. The company failed to fulfill its obligations to me; had it done so, it would have been well-aware that I did not wish to renew.

I continue to receive bills and phone calls. My credit is impeccable yet this company has in my opinion threatened to damage my reputation.Desired Settlement: I am asking that this company cease calling and sending me bills except to send me a written statement showing a zero balance.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

Review: I paid for 2 months of advertising which I will not receive. They promised me services that they did not provide in a timely fashion and so I cancelled the services before they went to press and went live online. Therefore there are no services received. So I should be entitled to a full refund of the 2 months, which is $208.00.Desired Settlement: Refund of the $208.00

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

Review: did not produced as guarented .false pretensesDesired Settlement: cash

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

Review: November 8,2013 met with sales rep to discuss a web site for my company. Was verbally promised that my company would be on or near top on [redacted],[redacted] etc. On that date I gave the rep a check with the required amount of $ 399.00 for initial set up fee.It took five months and 10 days (I was verbally promised three months to get a working web site) to even get a web site which was filled with errors,incomplete data and more. I asked the rep to help and he came to my facility and I listed my complaints and it took another month to complete the changes. After nine months (from 11/8/2013) I still have not had a call or "hit" on my website. I asked the rep in July 2014 to end our agreement and refund all money spent with them. This amounted to $399.00 initial set up and $ 79.00 per month for ? maintenance. They ( their accounting department) stated they would refund $317.00 and I reluctantly agreed to that amount.Then I emailed the rep. asking about the monthly fee and he replied that that amount would also be refunded. I received a check for $237.00 and was told that was all I was going to receive. I am very discussed with this company and would request ALL money spent with them be returned because I still do not have a working web site. The address for the web site was to be "[redacted].com but, they had the web site as "[redacted]" which actually was another companies web site. I advised hibu to correct this error several times but, no avail. Thank You,[redacted]Desired Settlement: Refund in full including ALL fees and monthly charges. $399.00

Business

Response:

This will confirm receipt of the customer letter dated August 18, 2014 regarding the advertising concern for [redacted].

Review: I paid my bill up front and they continue to bill me. I have spoken to them several times and they have agreed that I do not owe them anything but I continue to get phone calls and bills in the mail. The most recent bill says that I am past due. Please help resolve this issue.Desired Settlement: To correct my account information and not negatively effect my credit rating.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

Review: I had an agreement with Yellowbook for advertising for our business. When they called me in 2013 to renew my agreement I told them that I was not interested due to the fact that our business is for sale and I have no clue how long I was going to be here so no I was not going to continue my agreement for a new year. Then in the mail I started getting mail from Hibu. First I thought it was junk mail and never paid attention to it til I received a call stating that my account was past due. I asked them for an explanation of why I would even have an amount due with them. They advised that they were formerly known as Yellowbook. I advised her that I had turned down my option to renew for advertising in 2013-2014. She stated that she had my signature. I wondered how that could be if they had never even came into my office. I had a call to set the time to renew and like I said that is when I said no. We are not going to be in this location for long. She emailed me a copy of my supposed signature. It is NOT my signature. And if you read the paper she sent over there is a box checked that the "Customer authorizes activation of call recording on the rcf telephone number" I never authorized this and as far as I am concerned that is fraud and a scam. They requested copies of my signature so I sent two for** of my signature which is odd being that the box was checked for a recorded authorization. The signature does not match mine. I have tried resolving this with them and they are set that I owe them. I was up front with them from the very beginning that I did not need their service. Now they have turned my business into a collection agency. This is harassment.

I even called my rep that I had with Yellowbook and he was going to handle this and resolve it. Never heard back from him. All I got after that was a collection notice.Desired Settlement: I want the bill wiped clean. I feel like my verbal denial was more than enough to let them know I did not need their services. And it is totally fraud on their behalf to do a computer generated signature to make it look like I should be held accountable for what they are claiming I owe them. I do not and did not want their services any longer. I also want my name out of the collection agency.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

Review: My former business [redacted] had a contract with hibu for advertiseing, my partner and I had a falling out shortly after the contract was signed, the sales rep [redacted] was supposed to draw up a new contract reflecting my new business name, [redacted] and never did so. Hibu has been charging me $129.00 for a web site that they took of the internet in December of 2013, when the [redacted] contract that I have states that the only monthly charges I will be responsable for would be $79.00, which in actuality the contract is void as it is in the name of [redacted] and there is no new contract ,as they never drew one up reflecting the name for [redacted]. They have been asked, by myself, to show me a contract with [redacted] on it and they have been unsuccessful as again, one was never drawn up. They now have a collection agency calling me to try and obtain payment for these services that I did not agree to pay for.Desired Settlement: I want hibu to recognize their error and make my owing balance zero, as well as take me out of collections, in addition, I do not want them as my advertising agency as they have been unable to hold up to their very own contract or make a new contract reflecting the name [redacted].

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

This will confirm receipt of the customer letter dated February 28, 2014 regarding the advertising concern for [redacted].

We have attempted several times without success to contact **. [redacted] to review his hibu advertising discrepancy, which was first brought to our attention on February 28, 2014.

We have made the following unsuccessful attempts to contact him via telephone:

~~ 3/4/14, # called ###-###-####, status voice message left

~~3/5/14, # called ###-###-####, status voice message left ~~ 3/6/14, # called ###-###-####, status voice message left

It is our goal to resolve this inquiry in a timely manner, so we ask that **. [redacted] contact our Customer Service Department at ###-###-#### within the next 3 business days. We can be reached Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

If we do not hear from him, we can only assume the inquiry is no longer of concern to him, and close the investigation.

Sincerely,

Executive Services Specialist

###-###-#### x [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Hibu is flat out wrong. I was paying the $79 per month as in the contract until Jan 2014. The Reason that I stopped paying in January is because my website was taken down sometime in December and has been down since. When I asked Hibu about it I learned that Hibu took it down because they say that I was supposed to pay and additional $129 per month. This is when I contacted the Revdex.com the first time and filled a complaint. Again My account was current for the web site at $79 per month. They claim that I owe them an additional $129 a month. In addition to the $79 a month.. They took my web site down in December 2013. If you look at the original letter sent by [redacted] last month, April 2014, she dose not mention that I was not paying the website fee. She only says that I need to take a closer look at my contract and somehow I owe an additional $129 a month. My contract clearly states that my monthly obligation is $79 per month. I have already sent a copy of this contract to you. I did pay a one time fee of $129 and that was supposed to be it. I refuse to pay for a service that I am not getting. I have had no access to my web site since Dec 2013. I am sure there is a way to validate my claim. I would be able to validate it myself if I had access. the web site should be able to be seen here [redacted] but if you type this in to your browser the following comes up;http://www.[redacted].com

Review: paid company for both print mailings and online google search engine optimization advertising. Was unaware fo their sneaky business practices. They made me sign a 6 month contract without any mention of such. Both the print and internet advertising was not successful. Several attempts were made to the company and customer service but nothing was done. It took over 2 weeks to get a response from anyone. Company preys on its victims. Watch out! Currently in dispute with credit card company and Hibu (yellowbook).Desired Settlement: full refund!

Business

Response:

November 12, 2013

Dear [redacted]:

This letter confirms receipt of Complaint ID [redacted] filed by [redacted] DMD of [redacted]. Our records indicate that this matter has already been addressed with Dr. [redacted]. An investigation was opened on 10.30.2013 and closed on 11.5.2013. Delivery confirmation (enclosed) from the post office was provided showing that the customer’s postcards were delivered. In light of the customer’s dissatisfaction, a 10% goodwill adjustment was processed to the account totaling $502.74. This adjustment created a credit on the account and a refund was processed in the same amount and has been issued to the customer. We find that no further action is required on the account.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at the number below.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I am fully aware of the refund of 10% given for the direct mailing postcard campaign. My complaint is in regard to the online, NOT the printed postcards. I paid a large amount of money for proper google search engine optimiaztion which was not done correctly. After conversation with [redacted] and [redacted] they agreed that my google compain was not setup correctly and that this error should not have occured. At the same time, Hibu conitnued to charge my credit card even after several attempts were made to the company, specifically [redacted] and [redacted] at Hibu. It took almost two weeks and several managers/ supervisors to intervene before a stop was placed on my credit card. I am asking for some of the money which Hibu has be refunded to me. A total of $2,030 from the almost $7,000 already spent. Thank you!

Regards,

Review: I signed up for an ad in their magazine and was told that I could cancel it after three months only to find out that they dont allow any canceling of their ad's.Desired Settlement: I want my money back for this ad after being lied to.

Business

Response:

Account: [redacted]

Review: [redacted]) agreed to have the school advertised in the Yellowbook directory in January 2012. As part of that advertisment Yellowbook placed our preschool service on their on-line advertisinf system. They were to charge $12.00 per relevant call of qualified parents looking for information on enrolling their child in our school. For more than a year Yellowbook (aka: Telemetrics, Hibu, Inc.) they have tried to invoice us for calls we never received through this advertising. We had called some of the phone numbers provided to us on the Yellowbook invoices only to learn that these calls were coming from elderly men over 40 miles from our school. There is no possible way that these people had called our school seeking enrollment information and when we spoke with them they never heard of our school. Often times these "billable calls" were coming from other states. It makes no sense and Hibu, Inc. refuses to correct and eliminate their invoice machine.Desired Settlement: We have offered Hibu, Inc. (Yellowbook) a one-time check of $50.00 to part the relationship and eliminate any future communications and billing. We have not heard back from them. If they do not accept this one-time payment it will be to their loss as the ownership of the school is changing. If they agree to accept the $50.00 payment we first need a letter from them stating that there will be no more communications or invoicing.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

This will confirm receipt of your letter dated February 214, 2013 regarding the advertising concern for [redacted].

Our records indicate **. [redacted] has agreed to our Pay Per Call Program in these directories. The way the program works is we give customers an adjustment for the full value of the desired print product(s). The customer agrees upon a billable pay per call rate. As part of this agreement it becomes the customer’s responsibility to listen to the billable calls each month and to call into our Customer Service Dept during the month billing to dispute any billable call(s). On the 10th of each month the customer is sent a report which lists all of the billable calls for that billing month. The customer then has the opportunity to call in to our Customer Service Department and dispute any call charge(s) which they do not feel is a valid charge that month. If determined invalid as long as the call charge is disputed prior to the 19th of the month, the call charge(s) are waived and the customer never bills for the call(s). In the event the call is received after the 19th, at this point the account has already billed, so the customer will receive an adjustment for the invalid call charges this month.

During my review I found the customer was calling in to dispute call charges up through October 2012. From there the calls being received each month just stopped.

When I received the complaint I began to reach out to the customer in an attempt to see if they would be able to tell me which month(s) and call charge(s) they were looking to dispute. These attempts went unanswered.

As noted above, the customer agreed to listen to the billable call(s) each month and then call into our Customer Service Department to report the invalid charges. As a result of your letter and that I was unable to get a hold of the customer, I went in and listened to the billable calls November 2012 through the last billing that went out which was April 10. For November, December, January & February each of these months the call volumes were about the same. (3 each month). In March the call charges spiked from 3 to 28. In listening to the March calls I found a lot were wrong number calls. For these five months I posted a 1 time adjustment to the account for $408. A settlement letter was sent via email to this customer so they would have a copy for their records. Due to the wrong number calls increasing, at no additional cost to the customer, I have requested to have a IVR message added which would give callers and option “if you want [redacted] press 1, for all other call press 2”. This way the customer will only bill for calls if someone actually pushes 1. Unfortunately, I am unable to cancel the contracts as both are 1 year contracts. By adding the IVR message added it should drive down the number of billable calls each month.

We apologize to **. [redacted] for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Sincerely,

Executive Services Specialist

###-###-#### x [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I appreciate the length of **. [redacted]'s response to our complaint. However communication with hibu/yellowbook has been very difficult over the last year. After the salesman visited us in January 2012 he soon disappeared until very recently when he was asked to respond to my emails to the organization. I have been occasionally receiving emails and calls from a lot of hibu representatives that all appear to be from different offices with different stories. I have found it troublesome that hibu assigns a new account representative every couple months. And when someone from hibu does call and one of our teachers answers the phone they do not leave their name or direct phone number. It makes it very difficult to get back to them. They have a general number that has a difficult voice mail system to work through.

They are inaccurate in stating that I stopped rejecting all of these calls we were being billed for in October of 2012. I have rejected them all along. It is not our issue if I leave a VM message on their system and it gets lost in their labyrinth of offices and personnel. **. [redacted] makes it seem as if all I have to do is notify them of calls that are not relevant or billable and they respond by quickly correcting or voiding the charges. No they persist like aggressive vultures to insist on payment on calls that serve no purpose.

Hibu, Inc. (aka: telemetrics and yellowbook) is not interested in true customer service but rather putting their talons into a company and persistently invoicing them as much and as aggressively as they can.

Thank you,

[redacted]

Business

Response:

Yellowbook.com-MA 2008/Contract No: [redacted]

Dear [redacted]:

This will confirm receipt of the customer rebuttal letter May 13, 2013 regarding the advertising concern for [redacted].

We apologize to [redacted] for any inconvenience he has encountered purchasing the “Pay Per Call” product with our organization. For clarification I have included a copy of the signed contract which outlines the terms and conditions agreed upon.

In the rebuttal letter [redacted] indicates communication with Hibu has been very difficult. Hibu provides a toll free number to all customers which will connect them directly to our Customer Service department. Our Customer Serviced department is manned by live representatives 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday through Friday.

In the best interest of the customer as well Hibu the request has been submitted to receive approval to end this contract early. The approval was received Friday May 17 and I have since placed the request to disconnect the tracking number. Effective May 18th, the customer is no longer part of this program therefore there will be no billing for this product going forward.

All call charges have been reviewed to date and the customer’s account has been credited for all of the invalid call charges. Currently there is a balance $108.00 remaining on the account which is the responsibility of the customer to pay.

Sincerely,

Executive Services Specialist

###-###-#### x [redacted]

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

This will confirm receipt of the customer rebuttal letter dated August 10, 2013 regarding the advertising concern for [redacted].

[redacted] has indicated that he has sold the business. We have been asking for him to forward us a copy of the liabilities page from the recent sale but this request has gone unanswered. It is also unfortunate that in the letters received from **. [redacted] he does not include a current contact phone for himself. The number we have on file for him is ###-###-####. When I call this number I find it is for [redacted], which is the reason we have been in contact with the new owner.

The contract authorized by [redacted] is a 1 year agreement.

I have not been able to obtain a definite answer as to why the account started billing again, but I have since been advised that the program has definitely been canceled.

At this point, there is just a small balance on the account. Please inform [redacted] that it has been decided to credit the account with a full credit for the total balance due.

This adjustment is goodwill, and in no way is an admission of any wrong doing.

We are pleased to be able to resolve the matter.

Sincerely,

Executive Services Specialist

###-###-#### x [redacted]

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

This will confirm receipt of the customer rebuttal letter dated August 10, 2013 regarding the advertising concern for [redacted].

[redacted] has indicated that he has sold the business. We have been asking for him to forward us a copy of the liabilities page from the recent sale but this request has gone unanswered. It is also unfortunate that in the letters received from **. [redacted] he does not include a current contact phone for himself. The number we have on file for him is ###-###-####. When I call this number I find it is for [redacted], which is the reason we have been in contact with the new owner.

The contract authorized by [redacted] is a 1 year agreement.

I have not been able to obtain a definite answer as to why the account started billing again, but I have since been advised that the program has definitely been canceled.

At this point, there is just a small balance on the account. Please inform [redacted] that it has been decided to credit the account with a full credit for the total balance due.

This adjustment is goodwill, and in no way is an admission of any wrong doing.

We are pleased to be able to resolve the matter.

Sincerely,

Executive Services Specialist

###-###-#### x [redacted]

Review: I signed my company to advertise through Yellow Book. I was told I was going to see results, when I signed up. Months passed and I contacted them to ask about the situation. All they would say was to wait one more month. Obviously, they would want me to wait since I was paying monthly. The total that I paid in the 6 month contract was about $58,000. I could have used that money to invest in an advertising agency that would give me results. When I would contact [redacted], my representative, he would give me the same answer. He would not follow up with me. They just have bad customer service. It seemed like he did not care if my company showed any results. I wasn't asking him to care for my business, but I would have liked for him to care since it is his job. All in all, Complain after complain and nothing was solved.

My representative

[redacted]Desired Settlement: I would like yellow book to refund the money I have invested, since there were no results.

Business

Response:

We have been unable to locate this customer's account using the phone number provided. We found one account with the same name but the phone number and the billing amount is nowhere near what the customer indicates in their complaint. Attempts to reach [redacted] at the information provided on the complaint have been unsuccessful. Please have [redacted] contact me at [redacted] to provide the account number and discuss the complaint.

Thanks,

Review: I contracted and paid on advance a website company the value of US 599.

For 2 months they were trying to build a website according to my requests .

I never approved the website " in work" because has a wrong information regarding my practice.

My husband contacted the salesman Jessy B[redacted] and Shane . The last one, confirmed the payment of the full refund since the web site was never active

I was contacted the HIBU billing to started to pay the monthly fees, even Before the final website approval or being launched online.

I requested full refund to billing department since I was not satisfied with the " work in progress" for 2 months

The billing department informed me will not refund the website fees, even knowing that it was not active online

My husband contacted the billing department ( Maribeth) who said I had approved the website, and the time had expired , therefore could not be refund the payment.

I should receive the full refund since I was not personally informed in any TIME LIMIT for the web site approval. ThanksDesired Settlement: Refund cash

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

Review: Good Afternoon,

In October, I had their salesperson come to our shop selling HIBU services. They had a deal for $598.00 dollars for two months of advertising, so you basically were getting one free month. We decided to subscribe for it for the months of December to the end of January to see how it would work. The salesman, Condoll, told us it was a month to month thing, I asked more than three times about this just to make sure. He said I could cancel anytime if I was not happy with it.

By mid January, I get an invoice for $ 1, 118.84 dollars. I called their customer service number and they say they could not explain the amount. I also told them I did not want to continue with the service, so that I wanted to cancel. I was told that I was in a three month contract, that I would not cancel. I told them what the salesman said, and the customer representative said I had to talk to the salesman, Condoll.

I called the the salesman and he said he will look into it; I told him that when he came to my shop for me to sign the contract, he said it was going to be a month to month thing and the customer service girl said it was a three month contract. He, Condoll, said they were saying that because they wanted me to stay , but that I did not have to.It has been three weeks and I have been trying to contact him; the only thing I get from him is a message saying he talked to them and why they were charging that much, apparently they were already charging me for the next month, February. I told him I was going to cancel, I did not want this to happen again (I have his text messages) he did not respond back after a few messages.

Today, January 14th 2015, I called to customer service to see what was going on. I asked to cancel my account and again, a customer service representative named Christina said it was a 6 month contract and could not do that. She refused to help me or to put the sales representative on the phone, that he will be e-mailing him.Desired Settlement: All what I want is that they sdo what the sales representative said it was going to be. I will only be paying for the $598.00 dollars that is in the contract and I want my account to be canceled since it is suppose to be in a month to month thing and not a contract.

Business

Response:

Hello,

I am still working with Mr. [redacted] on a resolution for this concern. I am keeping in constant contact with Mr. [redacted]. This matter should be resolved shortly.

Review: I have advertised with this company (now called hibu) for about 12 years. My business, photography closed about a year and a half ago. I have had $0. sales for the last 2 years and have proof of no tax forms being filled for sales tax. Also my photography phone has been disconnected for a long time. My local rep, Abby (phone # ###-###-####) has been the person who has called on me for many years. In 2013 she came by to see me. She was, using a small hand held computer to complete the contract. Let me say that I had previously had no complaints with Abby or hibu in spite of not getting a written contract, I trusted what she told me and would respect my needs when conveyed. On the visit in 2013, I explained that business was very bad and that the 2013 book would definately be the last book I would advertise in. She said that she was "trying to make a deadline for the ad to be in the 2013 book." I told her again that this would be my last ad and that I felt sure that I would probably have to close before the end of 2013. She started typing the contract (always with the screen away from my view) and would turn it around only for my signature. AGAIN, I again said that I could not advertise beyond the 2013 book, she said "she understood and that she was trying to beat the book deadline." My monthly contract was set to end in September of 2014. To my surprise, I was looking in the 2014-2015 hibu book phone number information when I stumbled on my photography ad, I was so surprised to see an ad since I had made it perfectly clear that the 2013 book was to be my last ad (again remember the business had been long closed by this point.)

I called the hibu billing department and was told that, "I had signed a contract for that period". I explained the above to them and my conversation with Abby and the fact that I never was given a contract on paper and that I had not seen Abby's computer screen contract, rather just asked to sign. They stated that there was nothing they could do and that I owed the advertising money in spite of the business being long ago closed. I appealed to Abby's boss, Matt M[redacted] (phone number: ###-###-#### on multiple occassions regarding what I felt was a "scam" and that the business had long ago closed. He expressed that he understood the problem and felt that he could get the total bill "written off." After weeks he was able to get the collections department to write off $289.20 leaving a balance of $674.80. I made four attempts to reach him again by phone to question why there was still a balance. I finally called Abby who called Matt and passed along my urgent message that he return my call. When he called he told me that "there was nothing more that he could do and that "if I wanted to I could just not pay the bill and let them try to keep collecting." I explained that I value my credit score too much to do such a thing. I asked for his assistance in talking to the collections department to allow me to make payments on the $674.80. He stated that he "could not do anything more for me and that it was now between me and the collections department."

Also, please note in my earlier conversation with the collections department I was told: "we have the right to charge you forever on auto renew whether you ever sign a new contract again...that is written in your contract" (Remember, a contract that was never printed or given to me.) The man in collections who told me this was Josh W[redacted], and was confirmed by others at hibu. Wow, was I amazed, I could be held hostage for YEARS to come with their auto renew policy. On 10/16/14, I called collections at hibu and gave them a credit card payment for the $674.80 since they were demanding the full payment in order to not be charged the other $289.20 they were writting off. I feel that I have been forced to pay for advertising that I never knowingly agreed to.Desired Settlement: My expectation is that hibu refund the $674.80 that I paid them on 10/16/2014 since their sales rep was well aware that I had no intention to advertise beyond the 2013 book. I am also sending them a certified letter notifying them that they have no right to auto-renew me, according to their collections rep, "forever if we want too" especially since they have been notified long ago that the business has been closed.

I am also putting in writing on this date that I have notified the hibu collections department that I will not renew another ad that I have under another business name due to their unethical business practices.

Business

Response:

11/5/14

[redacted] Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC and Eastern Pennsylvania 1054 Oak St Scranton, PA 18508 RE: Revdex.com Number: [redacted]

Telephone #: ###-###-####

Account #: [redacted] hibu Product: [redacted]/15[redacted]

Dear [redacted]:

This letter is being sent in response to the correspondence received on 10/16/2014 concerning the advertising [redacted] received from hibu.

I’ve spoken with [redacted] and discussed the advertising agreement. I advised a contract for the [redacted] directory was signed 10/24/2013 which was for upcoming advertising. [redacted] thought this was for advertising in the 2012/2013 directory. I’ve advised [redacted] this is incorrect, our contracts are signed before the advertising publishes. I offered to check into a small goodwill adjustment for [redacted] but, she declined as she wants 100% refund. Unfortunately we are unable to fulfill [redacted]’s request.

I do apologize to [redacted] for the inconvenience, but we are not able to come to a resolution.

Thank you,

Cortney H[redacted]hibu Customer Service###-###-####Email: [email protected]

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: yes, I did speak to the woman from HIBU, however in her response she did not accurately relay our conversation. She makes it appear that I simply did not understand the contract period. I made it perfectly clear to her that I was NEVER given a written contract nor did their sales representative allow me to see her hand held tablet (on which she was typing the contract) other than to turn it for signatures. As I told the woman I spoke to, I adametely told Abby (my sales representative) that I did not want any advertising beyond December 2013 as I would close the business. This seems to be the central issue. Abby was told what my plans were and was actually committing me for another year of advertising knowing I had no written contract to verify what turned out to be a scam. My mistake was in trusting her integrity to take my needs into consideration knowing full well that the business closing was set for the end of 2013. I consider myself to be a bright well educated woman who has owned and operated a large mental health practice for over 20 years. Abby took advantage of my history of past business with her and the trust I displayed in signing a computer screen (never receiving a written contract). I never received a copy of the contract by email as the HIBU rep stated. Regardless of HIBU's attempt to pass this off as a misunderstanding, the truth remains the same...I was scammed by Abby as a rep for HIBU. As far as the so called refund offer goes, yes, the woman did say "maybe" I can get you a small adjustment but I can not guarantee it. She asked if that would satisfy me. My response was that I felt that I was due a complete refund due to the circumstances. She indicated she could not do that. I feel she should have presented that request along with my explanation of events. Obviously, her rigidity in not presenting my request to her superiors coupled with her inability to tell me how much she could refund (on this she had to speak to a supervisor yet she could not convey my expectation) caused the conversation to end without a satisfactory result.

Review: I first contracted with [redacted] in 2011 for print advertising in the [redacted] of [redacted] and [redacted] Counties. Included with that advertising contract were two web sites: www.[redacted]com and www.[redacted]com. When the contract was renewed in October 2012, there was a new salesman and we agreed that they would continue the same program already in existence. In late 2012 or early 2013, my business started to slow down without any explanation. When another new sales person contacted me in October 2013 we again agreed to continue the advertising as it was initially structured - print in the books and websites for [redacted] and [redacted] Counties. At that time it was discovered that the [redacted] County website had been cancelled in October 2012 and in addition the [redacted] website had also been cancelled although it continued to appear on my contract. The new company, hibu, Inc. took over for [redacted] on January 17, 2013. During my meeting with the 3rd sales person in 3 years, although the contract continued to show that the website was part of the services provided, the salesperson said that the domain name was no longer available and had been cancelled but that I could get another website at a cost of an additional approximately $449.00 plus an additional $69.99 monthly fee for something that was already in the contract. At that time I started sending emails to management in the company who said continued to say they would have someone get in touch with me. I sent a letter on March 14, 2014 by certified mail, return receipt, stating that there was a dispute regarding the account and services provided under the contract and that hibu did not provide the services for which I had paid. The only response I received was an Urgent Delinquency Notice form letter for an amount due of $722.90 dated May 30, 2014, then a Final Demand Notice dated June 3, 2014. In response to the final demand letter, I sent another letter on July 14. 2014 further stating that hibu was aware of this dispute in October 13 and that although I had made several written notices to hibu managment, I have received no written response to any of them regarding the billing dispute. I advised hibu that I was not making any additional payments on the amount due on the contract due to the dispute. The advertising was shut down immediately by hibu in October 2013. Today, August 11, 2014, I received a collection notice from [redacted] of [redacted],LA stating that hibu has placed their past due account with them for collection. The amount due in the collection notice is $2,627.50 due within 5 days from receipt of the letter. The last notice received for the past due amount was $722.90 and hibu was notified that there was a billing dispute. Hibu, through [redacted] is now threatening litigation in this matter. I have all of the paperwork sent to hibu regarding this matter and am sending copies to [redacted] disputing the collection account.Desired Settlement: I am requesting a billing adjustment for the years of 2012 and 2013 for the value of the online advertising that was not received as per the contract and cancellation of the October 2013 contract which was disputed immediately upon notice that the website was no longer available, even though it was part of the contract signed.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

This letter is in response to your letter dated August 12, 2014 regarding the advertising concern for [redacted].

Our records indicate that [redacted] purchased 2 foundation website pages in a bundle agreement dated September 28, 2011. The sites went live on November 2, 2011. The agreement also included advertising in the print directory. The sites billed with the print directory so the customer received billing for the [redacted] County website from January 2012 through December 2012. The [redacted] County website billed from June 2012 through May 2013. The agreement was a 12 month agreement.

[redacted]s renewal contract dated October 4, 2012 did not include the websites. Consequently the websites expired in February and July 2013. [redacted] verbally authorized another agreement on October 17, 2013. The program was the same as the previous program and did not include the websites. Both the 2012 and 2013 contracts were for print advertising. [redacted] contacted our Customer Service Department about the websites in November 2013. An investigation was opened. No adjustment was warranted as the websites were not part of his contract in either 2012 or 2013. We no longer sell that particular product. We offered the newer website but the customer did not want to pay the required set-up fee. Another investigation was opened in March 2014 for the same issue. It was also determined that no adjustment was warranted. The billing for the print advertising was due and payable. The account was turned over to agency on July 29, 2014 for the total amount for both contracts.

I spoke with [redacted] about the matter. In the interest of customer relations, we offered an adjustment of $500.00, the approximate value of the websites, to be applied to the agency balance. [redacted] refused our offer.

We consider our offer, based on the facts, to be fair and reasonable. If [redacted] agrees to accept this settlement after further review, please have him contact me Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the number indicated below and I will make the necessary arrangements to reopen his file.

Sincerely,

Claudia B[redacted]

Executive Services Specialist

###-###-#### x[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

Dear [redacted]

Review: I just received a Yellow Book advertising book on my door step and would like to opt out of receiving. The website they direct you to is the Yellow Pages, a competitor, not their own web site.Desired Settlement: Yellow Book must deliver a letter to all customers who received their book with clear instructions on how to opt out of future deliveries.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

Review: My primary complaint is that the representative from hibu that I worked with, [redacted], took my account and routing number off of a business check I wrote him for service without my permission and signed me up for automatic withdrawals from my bank account. I never signed a form specifically authorizing automatic withdrawals from my account. Along with this issue, I encountered several other concerns with hibu and its representatives.

To be considerate of the character limit, I will summarize my experience, although I have a more detailed accounting readily available.

[redacted] rushed the paperwork to get me started with his services, so he accidentally signed me up for a cheaper campaign ($285/month) when it was only possible for me to sign up for a more expensive campaign ($414/month). He contacted me a few days after I paid for the $285 campaign about the need to increase the price of service. I agreed to the increase, and I wrote him another check for the new service.

I followed up with him several times over the next few weeks about the refund for the initial service. Then hhe called me in a panic on April 11th. He said hibu had accidentally withdrawn the second month’s payment of $414 from my account and 16 other customer’s accounts. He insisted this was not a problem because I would not be charged next month.I reminded [redacted] of his promise that I would not be charged for the second month of service until after my campaign was active and the original $414 was used up. I also reminded him that they still had not processed my refund, so the company currently had $1,113 of my money. He promised he would follow-up with my refund and “try” to get my second $414 back. He called later that day saying he spoke to “upper management” and secured my refund, and he found I had not actually been charged the second $414 - he “just panicked.” I told him I wanted to cancel my account because I was uncomfortable with how the company was handling the financial component. [redacted] insisted at that time that there was “no way” to cancel my account, but that he could “pause” the campaign after my original $414 was “gone.”

April 14th, I called [redacted] because I received an electronic invoice for $455.40. He said that he would find out why my $414 payment was not applied and why it was higher than he quoted me, but he never called me back. At that point, I called my bank to explain the situation and had them put a stop-payment hold on hibu until I could get an answer.

On the 15th, I called customer service and spoke to [redacted] about the invoice and informed her that I had already paid the $414 and was waiting on a refund for the canceled campaign. She had trouble finding my account, and when she did, there were no financial transactions at all, nor could she find the invoice even when I gave her the invoice number. At that time, she transferred me to the voicemail of [redacted]’s supervisor, [redacted], where I left a message requesting a callback.

I called [redacted] after my phone call to [redacted], asking him again to cancel my account, again citing that I was not comfortable with how the company was my finances. He again insisted that I “could not” cancel my account, that I was in a 6-month and that he had gone “above and beyond” for me in service and free promotions. I explained that I was not disappointed in the campaign since it was not even active yet, but I was not comfortable with the fact that hibu had no record of any of my transactions nor had I agreed to automatic withdrawals. At that point, [redacted] became angry and started yelling at me; when he would not calm down so I hung up.

On the 16th, I found that my $285 refund had been processed. However, I had no word about my cancelation, so I called hibu again. I ended up calling on April 16th and 18th, and speaking to 3 different people, none of whom could find any of my financial transactions or information, nor would they cancel my account. I was finally able to speak to [redacted]ory’s supervisor [redacted] on April 18th, but like [redacted]ory, she became argumentative and yelled at me over the phone, for which I have two witnesses who could hear her on my end. She finally agreed to cancel my account and refund my money, which I have documented when she copied me on an unprofessional email.

My $414 refund was processed early the next week, but then I received another two electronic invoices demanding payment despite my promised cancellation and refund, so I called on April 23rd and May 1st, spoke to 5 people all of who again could find no records of any transactions nor of the cancellation until the last person, Brennan, on May 1st who found a note of cancellation submitted 10 minutes before my call.Desired Settlement: My desired outcome was to have my account canceled and my money refunded, which hibu finally completed by April 24th. However, my desired settlement is to inform the Revdex.com of what transpired to help prevent this from happening to another business owner.

I should not have had to speak to 11 different people for over several weeks and have two of them verbally abuse me in order to have my account canceled. The fact that they had no record of my financial transactions and took my bank account and routing numbers off of a check without my permission for automatic bank withdrawals should have been sufficient reasons for canceling; what worried me the most throughout this entire ordeal was their cavalier attitude about it with no investigation into where my funds actually went or why headquarters had no records. In the end, the company and its representatives did not listen to the concerns I voiced; instead, they brushed off my legitimate concerns and made excuses instead of trying to correct the situation. I am very disappointed in how the situation was handled, and I will never do business with them again.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

Review: We paid for a mailing campaign, but never received it (it was never done). I've contacted the company and subsequent new owners of the business and nobody will give us a

refund. We tried to get the campaign redone, but that never happened either.Desired Settlement: At this point we just want a refund.

Business

Response:

12/6/13

Review: I paid for a full year of yellow pages advertising at the time of contract signing. I am receiving monthly billing statements. When I call to find out I am being billed for I am told something different by everybody I talk to. First I am told that the funds have not been transferred and to disregard the bill. The next person I talk to tells me that on top of the yearly fee that I paid I am also required to pay a monthly fee. I explain to them that I do not pay monthly due to the fact that it costs more and I was informed at the time of paying the yearly fee there would be no other charges. The sales representative is no longer working there and customer service will not let me speak to a supervisor.Desired Settlement: I would like them to clear the account and not send me any more billings.

Business

Response:

Attached is hibu's response to Complaint ID [redacted]. Thanks

Review: I met with the local Hibu sales agent, he told me Hibu would take our existing successful [redacted]) campaigns and double to quadruple our success. He specifically said we would get double the calls, way more volume of work. I signed a contract stating I would pay them $540 for six months. Our [redacted] campaign generated several hundred dollars of revenue per day and employed three people. As soon as their services started we knew there was a problem because the phone stopped ringing. I contacted Hibu within 24 hours of starting their services to complain about the issue. I left multiple voicemails and emails and no one from Hibu would contact me back. On the fourth day of using their service and still not receiving a single phone call from their marketing service I directed our lawyer-in-fact to send them a cease and desist letter so we could retake over our [redacted] campaign. After our lawyer-in-fact left a nasty voicemail for Hibu they finally called us and said the contract was null and void and that we would not owe them anything. Hibu stopped their services a few days after that and we restarted our [redacted] campaign and the phone calls started again. A month later for no reason Hibu restarted their [redacted] campaign for us. We contacted them again and they sent us a confirmation of cancellation and essentially explained that it was an error that it restarted. Five days after they sent us a cancellation confirmation letter they billed us anyway. They charged my credit card for $925.55. We contacted Hibu and they are offering to return $683.03 of the money they took after stating the contract was NULL and VOID as a goodwill measure.

I lost several thousand dollars due to Hibu taking over my [redacted] campaign and not releasing it back to me. They hid behind a six month contract when they failed to deliver the services they promised on day one. They continued to try to keep us as clients even after they stated the contract was NULL and VOID.Desired Settlement: I would like to balance my losses against their bill, at a minimum they need to refund the payment they took from us after they cancelled the contract.

Business

Response:

November 4, 2014Dear [redacted]:This correspondence confirms receipt of Complaint ID [redacted] filed by customer [redacted]. Our review of the account shows that we addressed this [redacted]er with [redacted] in September of this year. An investigation was opened on the account due to the cancellation request and subsequent payment. The sales representative on the account confirmed that he discussed cancellation with the customer and advised that he would look into it. When he attempted to cancel, he was advised that in order to proceed, the request had to be in writing from the customer. According to the review of the account, the cancellation request was entered into the system on September 11, 2014 but this was not in time to prevent the first payment from being pulled. This payment totaled $925.55 and posted to the customer’s account on September 15, 2014. Of this payment, $241.97 was applied to the [redacted] campaign leaving a balance of $683.58. We offered to refund this amount to [redacted] and that offer was refused.Please be advised that the customer signed a contract for six months. However, as a courtesy Hibu agreed to let [redacted] cancel early due to his dissatisfaction with the program. We feel that our offer to refund the unspent amount of the payment that remained after the cancellation posted to the account is fair. Should [redacted] decide to accept the offer, we will process the refund. We find that no further action is warranted on this account. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at the number below.Sincerely,Heather HExecutive Services Specialist

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this [redacted]er to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: