Some Yellow Pages advice please.

Hi everyone,

I've had a seach through some of the older threads about advertising in Yellow Pages and found some mixed advice. I've still got some questions of my own and would like to know if anybody would like to offer some advice or opinions on them.

First of all, before anybody comes on here and slams Yellow Pages as being a waste of time and money, allow me to give you a little background info.
I'm a Sole Trading Plumber, coming into my second year of trading later in the year. I missed the deadlines for advertising with YP last year, so I've been advertising in the classified section of my local free paper that gets delivered weekly. I've also door dropped flyers in local areas and done some 'card advertising' in local shop windows. All of these have given me work of varying degrees and I think it's a good time for me to think about investing money in advertising to a 'wider audience', ie Yellow Pages.
A good friend of mine, also a plumber, advertised in YP for his first time last year and constantly tells me that it works really well for him. I've also sneakily called a few other plumbers in different areas to see if their YP advertising works and all of them have given me positive feedback.

I've already met with the local rep and she's given me pricing for a variety of different sizes and colours. Although she wasn't particularly hard sell with me, she was pushy for a "yes, I want to advertise with you", with a view to showing me some artwork samples and discussing sizes and colours etc at a later date, obviously before the deadlines. I have told her I am interested in taking things further and haven't signed anything yet, so I'm not worried about being bullied into something I can't get out of.
What I found disappointing was that when I asked her about any discounts she could offer me because I was a first time advertiser with them, she told me there were no offers. As I'm still in the early stages and have plenty of time until the dealine I didn't push this any further. However, I've spoken to my friend who advertised with them last year and discovered that the prices she quoted me are several hundred of pounds higher than what he paid for a similar ad.
I'd like to hear from anybody who has any advice or tips on getting the best deals with YP advertising, ie is it best to wait until the last possible minute before the dealine to 'do the deal' or is asking up front the best way forward? Is it a good idea to give them an ultimatum - "I'll advertise with you, but only when you offer me a good discount, otherwise I wont bother"? Obviously I don't want to give them an ultimatum like that, only to have to run back to them with my tail between my legs.
As far as I'm concerned, they should want my business and I shouldn't have to be the one who does the chasing on pricing deals. Or am I missing the point here? Are they so big that they don't have to offer discounts nowadays and operate on a "go with our rates or we don't want your business" policy?

Another point I should make....I'm intending to advertise in a book in a totally different area to where I am currently. The rep who I've been speaking to is the local rep for my current area and has said she can help me out because my current address falls into her territory. Should I continue talking with her or should I contact a rep from the area I intend to be moving to? Or should I forget the reps and just call Yellow Pages direct?

Apologies for the post being a little long-winded, so thanks for reading down this far.
In summary, what I'm hoping for is some tips and advice on prices and discounts. Also any advice or opinions on whether I should continue speaking to the rep I've already met with or find another one or speak direct to YP?
Any general advice or experiences with Yellow Pages would also be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for reading this.

Dave.