Yell.com or Yell.conned?

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O

Officebird

  • #41
    I had Yell.com on the phone the other day and they were offering me some kind of enhanced listing for £90 a year. He said it WOULD get me business. I said that if he was so confident how about he put the advert up for free for a trial period of say, one month, and then if it worked I would happily pay the £90 for the rest of the year. He very politely told me it doesn't work like that!! When you search sercreatrial services in Darlington there are only about 4 of us anyway so I think I'll take my chances!! I have had enquiries from Yell.com and Freeindex.co.uk but haven't paid for a isting, and don't think I ever will. Tehy are very good at selling advertising space but the claims they make put me off.
     
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    directmarketingadvice

    directmarketingadvice

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    Aug 2, 2005
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  • #42
    It's interesting how companies like Yell.com, etc., "guarantee" an increase but aren't interested in doing a commission only deal instead of full payment.
    Click to expand...

    They could offer a PPC rate as an alternative to the flat fee.

    Surely, that would be attractive to a lot of businesses.

    BTW, I've been doing some work for a business recently that are doing gangbusters with Yell.com.

    (nothing to do with me, I'm doing PPC work for them)

    I'm not going to say what line of work they're in, but they're not tradespeople and they're not a local service.

    It just goes to show: with the right service - and with a site that converts well - Yell.com can be really effective.

    Steve
     
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    petercurtis

    petercurtis

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    Sep 16, 2008
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    Blackheath
  • #46
    I placed an advert with yell.com as a london mortgage broker for my firm IDFM (City) Ltd. I found that yell.com allows firms to have multiple adverts covering all postcodes. I was advised by the yell.com sales adviser that yell.com only allow a company to have an advert in a postcode if the firm have a physical office in the postcode.

    I was advised that my advert had ben put live on yell.com and to my horror when I entered in the following

    When you enter the following information :
    Service :Mortgage
    Area :SE

    I discovered that a rival mortgge firm had an advert covering the first 3 pages. As a result of this dilution my advert was in effect useless.

    This multiple advert has the net effect of drowning out all other firms adverts and is totally unacceptable.

    When I phoned the rival mortgage firm they advised me that they in fact only had 1 office and no other branches.

    I have made a complaint to yell.com only to find the following:

    1. They are not regulated.
    2. They do not advise you of the outcome of the complaint
    3. No written reply has been received
    4. The situation remains unchanged

    Has anyone else experienced the same problem.

    Peter
     
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    lockie

    lockie

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    May 4, 2007
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  • #48
    petercurtis said:
    I placed an advert with yell.com as a london mortgage broker for my firm IDFM (City) Ltd. I found that yell.com allows firms to have multiple adverts covering all postcodes. I was advised by the yell.com sales adviser that yell.com only allow a company to have an advert in a postcode if the firm have a physical office in the postcode.

    I was advised that my advert had ben put live on yell.com and to my horror when I entered in the following

    When you enter the following information :
    Service :Mortgage
    Area :SE

    I discovered that a rival mortgge firm had an advert covering the first 3 pages. As a result of this dilution my advert was in effect useless.

    This multiple advert has the net effect of drowning out all other firms adverts and is totally unacceptable.

    When I phoned the rival mortgage firm they advised me that they in fact only had 1 office and no other branches.

    I have made a complaint to yell.com only to find the following:

    1. They are not regulated.
    2. They do not advise you of the outcome of the complaint
    3. No written reply has been received
    4. The situation remains unchanged

    Has anyone else experienced the same problem.

    Peter
    Click to expand...

    The locksmith trade has had this for years as have many other trades.Yell.con dont care one bit if you complain, a total waste of time bothering.
     
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    E

    Esk247

  • #49
    can only see it working for plumbers and electricians myself!

    i've advertised with yell.com for 3 different businesses and never had any returns, not even a phone call from anyone relating to a yell advertisement..all word of mouth.

    same with some other advertising i did though..£175 wasted..not even a phone call or email from the advertisement, i do check.
     
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    P

    palo

    Free Member
    Apr 2, 2009
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  • #51
    I wish I had read this. I've never had cause to trawl through complaints sites before, but Yell have stitched me up good and proper.
    I would advise anyone to have a lawyer present before signing up with Yell, you'll live to regret it otherwise.
    They take your money and it's up to them what service they provide, how they change your listing is up to them and there's nothing you can do about it.
    I feel very bitter, even their complaints person understands why I feel cheated but it's not illegal so tough. Never mind how unethical or unequitable it may be!
     
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    T

    taggingsupplies

  • #52
    DONT WORRY DUDE

    They done a sales call to me and got me to sign up and then they said NO PAYMENT needs to be made blah, blah, blah and then 6 months later debt agency looking for £500, i never signed nanty so they wont get nanty.
     
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    J

    jadexsoln

  • #54
    Ha - me as well, I fell for it but seen the light now.

    They even got my listing wrong and didn't promote my listing like they said and so I did get a bit of a refund....

    I have spent the money this year on getting my site added to other directories - some paid some not and then subscribing to forums etc.

    :D
     
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    BPM-UK

    BPM-UK

    Free Member
    Oct 2, 2007
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    Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
  • #55
    I had more enquries with my free listing than my paid for listing...the most disappointing company who promise x y and z but deliver nothing.
    And so unhelpful on the phone. They dont give a damn about their customers ...its just cram as many sales as possible....numbers game and all that rubbish.
    Dont advertise with them just have a free listing...your just as likely to get business doing it the free way as the paid for way!
     
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    P

    paulinfleet

  • #56
    Hi All,

    It still goes on, Yell are looking for new business; searching for new lambs to slaughter. When I became a member of the UK Locksmiths Association there were quite a few calls including Yell. A Yell rep asked me if I could cope with 20 calls a week and told that there were more than 200 calls a month up for the taking in my area. But in the 2 months since joining Yell I have had 1 call from Yell.com; my fees are around 45 pounds a month. The income generated by the one call didn't cover that and to be honest I made more from 10 flyers I drop in the local estate agents..

    Seems they are still alive and well so how do we get the word out on the streets? I can't believe I fell for it maybe it's because they are considered as a trusted company, I mean Yellow pages and all that.

    When you trust the people you are dealing with you don't look so hard or even look at all at the small print, it's only when you want out that the small print looks so big. Print that says "On your death or bankruptcy your obligations will remain in full force ..."

    I feel bad being caught but not as bad as I will feel if I don't try to make it known to others just starting out like I am. The last thing you need as a sole trader when you are barely keeping your head above water is a millstone around your neck dragging you down.

    Does anybody know the legalities of speaking out against a company like Yell? Has anyone ever contacted a programme like watchdog about it?
     
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    A

    achy7uk

    Free Member
    Oct 30, 2009
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  • #57
    Whatever you do do not advertise on Yell's Pay Per Click as it is a waste of time and money. I was told that people could view my web page when they search for similar services to what i do on google. But they actually create a web page that is cheap and tacky looking which does not even justify your product or service.

    Poor show for Yell.com once again.
     
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    ICU_Clean

    ICU_Clean

    Free Member
    Oct 27, 2009
    106
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    Cardiff
  • #59
    Chippie said:
    Yell are on-line pariahs who do an unnecessary job badly! I really do wish them all the worst. :)
    Click to expand...


    Ouch!


    I agree that they are far from perfect, and the truth is we have just spent several thousand with them a few weeks ago for the forthcoming year.

    The sales guy, while a nice enough chap was practically useless at his job which was quite frustrating. However we are going to give Yell/Yellow Pages a serious review next year as they take by far the biggest chunk of our advertising budget and i can't help but think we would be better off using that money elsewhere.

    The dilema though is that for all their shortcomings people do use them to search for a business. We are still collecting data at the moment so don't have any hard numbers in where our calls are coming from, but putting a finger into the air i would say they account for around half of all our enquiries. So on that basis we would be foolish to stop using them, but as i say next year we should be in a much better position to have accurate numbers.
     
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    P

    paulinfleet

  • #61
    After my complaint Yell extended my coverage area free of charge. But it was to no avail, I guess if people are not using the service even global coverage will not yeild more calls. As luck would have it I found an email from Yell that I had forgotten about, well at the outset I was expecting them to channel calls my way so it was not so important. Thankfully it stating they would give me 10-15 calls a week. I sent it to their customer services but the guy I had been dealing with said there was nothing more he could do. During several phone calls he did his best to deflect me onto side issues but I kept bringing him back to the email. Eventually he just about refused to speak to me on the subject stating he had nothing new to add.

    I had contacted Trade Standards on 08454 040506 by this time and was following their suggestions. They were very supportive and said it was worth reporting to them as they would take action if there were enough complaints about a company.


    I sent a letter with a copy of the email (10-15 calls a week) to the Yell legal department stating I was about to take legal action if the did not respond. After 3 weeks they wrote back and said they would credit me with just about 1/2 of my account, basically the 118 24 7 part so I was still left with a next to useless yellow pages advert on the net. It was not the best outcome but as a sole trader a £350 refund was better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. I still have a funny feeling that this will not be the end of my trouble with Yell as I am not totally free of them yet. My feeling is that they have a legal team that can run rings around the average high street solicitor.

    My best advise is to contact Trade Standards and complain about them, if everyone that I have seen in threads like this one and many other similar thread all over the net were to complain I can't see how Trade Standards could ignore it.

    I have not had any calls from my Yell advert in the last couple of months, but my free Google account is giving me a steady flow of new clients. My Yell advert generally comes up on the second page whereas my google add is at the top of the first page when you search on google.
     
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    F

    fergusmacdonald

    Free Member
    Nov 18, 2009
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  • #62
    I've also had problems with Yell, particularly with Yell.com and their search functionality.

    I created a website called YellScam.org which is set up as a place for people who've had problems with Yell to discuss their issues and get support from other members.

    If you have an issue that you would like to inform others about, feel free to create an account and write a page about it.

    YellScam.org or Google 'Yell Scam'.
     
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    T

    tdl

  • #63
    I've never dealt with Yell and intend never to do so.

    The way I look at this is, when I search for a company I use Google. When I search for a service I use Google.

    Basically everything you need is on Google! Spend your money getting onto the front page of Google as I won't "guarantee" it but I'm pretty sure you would get more hits, calls, sales etc etc.
     
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    logan1081

    Free Member
    Feb 10, 2011
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  • #64
    took out a contract with these numpties to cover my business and now they say they cannot do as the contract states for the price.
    seller claims he is new to the company and didnt understand the way it works!
    Well train them before they sell Yell
    Contract is a contract, i sell them and loss or gain still do as the contract states.. Trading standards wont take them on.
    Go legal... or roll over?? any ideas?
    :mad:
     
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    altwebdesign

    altwebdesign

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    Dec 3, 2009
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  • #65
    zero business? theyre the leading company in their area and theyre experts! the woman on the phone said so yesterday!! They tried ringing me yesterday to get me to review... no chance, account closed... as it should of been 6 months ago when i rang them to close it
     
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    M

    Matt1959

    Free Member
    Sep 8, 2006
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  • #69
    LocalBusinessChampion said:
    It will give many people on this thread who've had a bad experience with the 'good' old yellow pages some satisfaction to read about the latest woes of this relic of a company whose share price has fallen by a phenomenal 98% over the last 5 years!
    View this article in the Guardian
    Click to expand...

    not sure a company as big as this going down the pan is cause for celebration (think employees) but yes, they seem to have lost the plot which I can't understand as I don't think their product...Pages and Online is that bad. It is despicable though that they seem to trade on peoples ignorance alot of the time...
     
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    movietub

    Free Member
    Nov 6, 2008
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  • #70
    Yell owe it to themsleves, everyone that works for them and everyone that recieves their pointless, pestering calls to chuck the towel in.

    Yell missed the boat years ago and are now dragging out their slow, painful, and frankly boring death.

    They know sod all about advertising, they only know 'how to sell' when it comes to their own outdated lineup of products.

    Die soon please.
     
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    U

    UCaN

  • #71
    Have added free listing in yell but certainly would not pay them. Must say I was surprised to hear they had called our company before we launched - thus very very few people even had the number - but the person who answered the phone neglected to find out where they got it (I'm always curious lol)

    I certainly would never pay yell for advertising on yell.com - When the site first launched I tried using it a few times over the first couple of years as a potential customer looking for a product and was shocked at how difficult it was to find relevant results. While this is slightly better now (ran a couple of searches on some companies I know locally), out of ten searches only one came back as the top result (searching by company name and location) most were about halfway down the page.

    Searching general categories is still a problem - one search displayed the local area for three companies, then areas up to 150 miles away for the next 8, then back to the local area.

    Unsurprisingly I didn't see any adverts that looked like they had been paid for - all looked like free listings.
     
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    2

    24hrservices

  • #72
    I have known companies spend 10's of thousands of pounds with yell and had no result and yet others with not a lot spent at all. Luck of the draw I suppose but think it depends on how much competition you have in your trade.
     
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    Matt1959

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    Sep 8, 2006
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  • #73
    24hrservices said:
    I have known companies spend 10's of thousands of pounds with yell and had no result and yet others with not a lot spent at all. Luck of the draw I suppose but think it depends on how much competition you have in your trade.
    Click to expand...

    if you're a builder in a major city and theres 10 pages of paid ads on Yell.com, you've got sod all chance of your ad being seen as it rotates. Someone put a thread up recently about a blog re. Yell complaints and there was a formula used in it to ascertain how often your ad is seen - in a popular catagory, its not often. How many builders truly understand the Yell.com concept in this respect:| few I would say....
     
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    N

    Nigelge

  • #74
    if i can stop one person advertising on YELL then hopefully i have saved a soul, YELL are con artists of the highest degree, i took out a "pay per click" with YELL and was told that i would get any monies back that was not used, i have now been stuck with a £5000+ bill no evidence of any "clicks" certainly no credit or money back and a folder full of threatening letters from various collection agencys, defiantly NO increase in business in fact nothing but grief.

    They do not listen to their customers, they certainly do not care about their customers all they care about is screwing you over for more monies, yes like others i should have learnt, but there smooth talking salesman got one over on me yet again, well no more...

    should i pay them or go to court? well they are talking of issuing a winding up order on my business, a threat from a big bully of a company, i have asked for any shred of evidence to show what or why i should even consider paying a bill with i queried over 4 months ago

    my feelings... well lets hope that they do go under, shame for the people who work there !!!!! well maybe for some but most know whats happening and they still go out to con some poor sod out of more money
     
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    C

    crphillips

  • #78
    If anyone has a PDF of their accounts from Companies House I'd be interested to see them. It must show a major decline in revenue year by year. I think they'll be the next Woolworths soon. They've tried to move with the times but are just far too expensive for what they offer. You could take your money and spend it on hookers and you'd get more work.
     
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