Complaint Review: Datasource 411

A representative from the company called my business saying i owed them money for some advertising that I had done with them. She said it was part of a three year agreement I had authorized. I didn't remember ever placing any orders with them so I told her that and she said she had to send out the invoice because it had to be paid immediately. I checked their website while I was on the phone with her and my business did not appear on there, so I told her I wasn't even on their website. She then did something on the computer and said ok there it is I just updated the listing.

She kept putting pressure on me telling that she needed to verify my address and some other information so that she could send out the invoice to me and I was then transferred to a third party verification. I have only been in business for less than two years so I didn't know much about this. Turns out the information they verified with me is now being used to say that that was the order I had placed.

I spoke to one of their representatives that is in charge of outstanding invoices and I told him to play the original recording of when I first placed the order, since the first person that called me said it was a three year contract, and he played the recording of when I was contacted by the first person in March of 2008. They didn't record the whole conversation they only recorded the part where they were asking me for my business information.

I told the person from the accounts receivable department that I never advertise for the phone number they had listed because my main line is a completely different number. I told him I was going to contact a lawyer to review this case because I felt I was being robbed and tricked into paying for something I never wanted. I asked him how their advertising was going to benefit my business because none of this had ever been mentioned to me when I had supposedly placed the order for the ad and he said that they sell their cd with listings of businesses all throughout the country. I told him that my business relies on local customers not nationwide because I do window tinting and upholstery. I also told him that I could provided proof that I would not have placed any ads that advertise to the phone number they had because any advertising I had done had a completely different number and that I was going to contact a lawyer to help me with this. He then said they would settle if I would just pay the closure fee of $199.95. Originally they were trying to get me for $749.95. He also said he was just doing his job, but if someone ever called him and told him that he owed them money he would simply hang up the phone.

I did contact a lawyer and he advised me to jut pay the closure fee. He said he wasn't telling me not to hire him, but if I decided to hire him it was going to cost me $2,000.00 dollars up front. So I guess I have to bite the dust on this one and pay the closure fee since they have me verifying my information on a recording. If you own a business and you receive any phone calls of this type NEVER VERIFY YOUR INFORMATION WITH A THIRD PARTY WHILE THEY HAVE YOU ON THE LINE.

If anyone calls you and say you owe them money and they need you to verify your address to send out a bill just tell them you don't owe them anything and to stop harrassing you because you will contact you lawyer, but before you do this get the person's information who is calling you. Another thing you can do is tell them that you want to hear the recording of when the order was placed since they are calling to collect on an existing account, but since they don't have one they will just tell you that they will call you back when they have it.
I don't know if there something I can do because I was basically tricked be them. Is this against the law?

What can I do legally in the future against these companies when I receive this type of phone calls? I don't think it's fair that they trick and harrass people into paying for something they did not want anyway. There is another company that tried to do the same thing, but I never confirmed any information with them. I asked them to play the recording for me of when I placed the order and the rep said she would call back in about 15 days when she had it. The name of this company is Empire Group Direct and they are in Plattsburgh, NY.
I hope the information I provided is helpful to anyone who reads it. There has got to be a way to stop these companies from ripping people off like I was ripped off.

Erik
La Habra, California
U.S.A.