I normally like to write articles that help people start and grow their small business. I hate to leave negative reviews because I have worked in many service positions in the past. I know how unreasonable customers can be, and sometimes they leave negative reviews that are not really deserved.
I took some time to cool down, and after thinking it through I feel that publishing my own experience with 411.ca as an advertiser might save some business owners some time and money. Of course, I am sure not every advertiser’s experience is the same… so good or bad, please share with me your 411.ca review (From Advertisers) so I can get an idea if this is an isolated incident.
411.ca Review
The Offer:
I received a cold call from a sales person form 411.ca. I was fairly skeptical that this was a real opportunity to generate some sales, however the fact that some of my competition was already advertising on their web site was intriguing enough for me to take their promotional rate which was buy 1 month at full rate, receive the next two months at half price. I made sure to clarify with the sales person that this would not be something that would automatically renew. He told me it would not automatically renew… the contract is for only 90 days, and that someone would contact me to discuss a new contract once this one was about to expire. I also asked if there were any additional/hidden fees I should be aware of, and he said there wasn’t.
The Term:
Billing went as expected… almost immediately I realized this wasn’t the place for me to advertise. I somehow threw aside common sense… after all, why would someone go to 411.ca to search for a business, let alone a web designer? Most people would probably just use Google for that… or perhaps Kijiji in my area. In any event, I knew I would cancel once the time to renew came up.
Going Downhill:
Sure enough, after the 90 days I did not receive a follow up and noticed they charged me full monthly rate ($67.80 for me) on the renewal date. Of course, as soon as I noticed (February 25th, 2012) I called to cancel. Their phone line went to a voicemail where I left a detailed message on how I would like to cancel my services and request a refund.
Monday February 27th 1:59 PM – After not receiving a reply from an agent, I decided I should follow up. I again reached their answering machine and left a detailed message about the situation and asked for someone to call me.
Monday February 27th 7:05 PM – After not receiving a call back, I decided perhaps email was a better route. I emailed their billing department to request the cancellation.
Wednesday February 29th 2:16 PM – After not receiving a call or email back, I decided to call yet again. My message again I feel was detailed and friendly, though I certainly emphasized the fact I had called and received no reply yet.
Wednesday February 29th 4:31 PM – I decided I should send an email to their help department. Perhaps this department was more generic and someone would reply.
Rock Bottom: Friday March 2nd
I decided to call again on Friday March 2nd, a full week after my first attempt to contact 411.ca customer service. Finally, I reach a young man. I explain to him how I was not told that the contract would automatically renew, and that this isn’t what I wanted/all I wanted to do was cancel my ad and request a refund for this extra month. He puts me on hold to look into things. He comes back and offers advice on how to improve my listing, but I tell him I just really want to cancel. He offers some promotional rates and offers to put my site in another category for free, to which I replied that I just wanted to cancel. He asked if there was any way I would continue to advertise with 411… like even if he offered me the ad for free. I explained to him I just wanted to cancel.
Finally, he agrees to cancel the ad, but tells me I would still have to pay for 1 month after this, due to their 30 day cancellation policy. I explain to him that I specifically asked about cancellation fees during the sales call and the salesperson told me that there were no additional fees. He asked if I received the welcome package which clearly explains this policy. Of course, I did not receive this… I realize mail gets lost sometimes, but what’s really going on here? I did receive a receipt for my first payment so I know they have my address down correctly. Basically he is telling me that it is in the contract, and he sees no notes on my account from the sales person telling him that I was told otherwise.
Now I start getting a bit aggressive and annoyed in my tone, which believe you me I don’t take lightly as somebody who has worked in call centers before. While he stuck to the “company policy” line for a few more minutes, he finally agreed to waive the upcoming fee as a courtesy, but said I would not receive a refund for the extra month I was billed. Again, he is sticking to the fact it is policy and that they did send these details in the mail, so there is nothing that can be done. I try to ask him person to person if he thinks it is right that I should have to pay this fee even though I was told by another company representative that this would not happen AND that I did not receive any documentation to inform me of this policy. When he explained that is the reason why he waived the future billing but still couldn’t do anything about the previous charge, I started to realize this was going nowhere… after insisting there must be something that can be done or someone else I can speak to, he offers to let me speak to a manager but insists he doubts they can do anything.
Finally I reached the manager… after explaining the situation to her, she agrees to refund the previous fee. She asks for some final feedback to why I am cancelling and I explain to her that while the initial reason was the fact I didn’t feel I was getting the full value I was hoping for out of the service, the fact that it has taken me one week, multiple phone calls & emails which were never replied to in order to reach them, that this was not the type of company I wanted to do business with.
She offered me a free month of service as a goodwill gesture but I just wanted to cut ties with 411.ca at this point, so I acknowledged that the offer was appreciated, but I would just like to cancel.
I should note that she told me the refund would take around 4 weeks to apply, but she would try to expedite that. I should hope so! 4 weeks to apply a refund? Is this the 80s?
I’ll be sure to update when/if I receive a refund and if any further charges are applied.
Bottom Line:
While I appreciate other people may have a better experience than me, I have to recommend you avoid advertising with 411.ca – I doubt 411.ca is a scam, but certainly there is little value advertising in their online directory, and my experience is that they don’t communicate billing properly and their customer service is brutal, as far as taking one week to reach someone goes.
Again, I hope you will share your experiences so I can see if this is an isolated incident or if this is common practice for this company.
A Note From Derrick:
If you received value out of this article, I strongly suggest you read the following article as well: Churn & Burn SEO – Why Cheap SEO Sucks. If you are looking to get exposure for your small business, you need to avoid cheap search engine optimization services. I strongly believe you will find it to be a waste of money, and this article outlines why I feel this way.
242 Comments
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Eman
March 23, 2016These scammers are pests persisting like hell until they get something out of you. I said no to the fellow and hung up but he called back to harass me. Stay away from 411.ca
Tom
March 23, 2016Thank You for writing your article. The responses that you have had to your article have also helped in my decision to NOT go ahead with a 411.ca advertisement. I’ve been through your same frustration (and with all of the calmness, perseverance, and restraint that you showed) with 2 other companies (not related). I always check into companies before dealing with them now. If there is enough negativity written about them, then I take my business elsewhere. Writing about a company takes time and most people that are not totally ticked off, will not take the time.
Thank You again!
OMG
February 24, 2016OMG I was part of this too. I did agree on first month just to try it – I told them specifically the same day 1 month and that’s it. I even called cancellation department the same day to make sure It will be cancelled. After not seeing any progress in my business after 1 week I told them I want to make sure I am not getting billed for another month, they said “It’s all recorded, don’t worry”
It’s been 3 weeks and they still typed something out that is not even my edition of text, logos, pictures, content. They just made something up and put up on my page!!! Who does that??
Then I called 3rd time and ask for refund on week 3 – this time female answered the phone and said – “We can’t give you a refund and you will have to be billed for another month”
I told her that I am not paying them a cent more and that I want to speak with a manager. She was very rude, did not listen, and did not cooperate. Manager never called me.
I had to cancel my credit card completely not to be billed by these idiots of a company.
Why are they still in business and why do people fall for this crap?
PLEASE BAN THEIR SITE.
For the person above – Yes I asked myself the same thing “Why would someone go on 411.ca to find a business I never did. Usually google or kijiji for service.
I can’t believe that Canada allows people to be scammed by this company
Annie
February 24, 2016That is what happens when you say yes. When you say no to them an unbelievable level of harassment and insult follow. I was polite with them the first 4 times I told them not to call me. On the 7th and 8th time they left messages in my mail box I screamed at them. Do they agree to go away? No they don’t. They insult you and continue to call you. It is unbelievable! I am going to go now and complain to the CRTC and hope they can make them stop calling. Failing that I will file before a JOP for an harassment charge. Do they not know that a corporation can have a criminal charge against it? I have recordings where I made it abundantly clear to them I wanted no further communication from them. They called at least 6 times more after that.
Trisha
February 9, 2016I also made the mistake of advertising with 411.ca.
They are just as bad as yellow pages. luckily I did my research before signing with yellow pages.
I encourage people to do the research before advertising with these two companies. Also they did not generate any traffic for me.
Michael
July 11, 2017You were lucky! We lost thousands with YP. Trusted them because of their history – waste of money.
Ann
February 6, 2016411.ca is a scam. We recieved the call on our renovation business cell (voicemail message) from 416-849-1432 (this number is on reject list already) saying they would like us to contact them to confirm our information was correct. ??? We have never used their services..ever. This is the first time ever hearing about this so called company. Also I googled and found that ph# goes to Wideport.com, another branch of thier scam company it looks like.
There is also a similar thing going around called online services, they send out invoices with a logo that looks very similar to yellowpages, so if you do advertise with yellow pages you may think that its the online part of the service..its no, and yellow pages is aware fof the fraud.. when they call they make it sound like you have an ad with them also…they are even sending overdue notices…never used thier so called service either, has been reported to anti fraud center, but still goes on.
Be aware, there are quite a few of these things around. be ever vigilant.
George
January 12, 2016I too was lied to and cheated by 411.ca. This is a good article but those that don’t know the history of 411.ca, let me fill you in.
411.ca is a site that was built using the personal information and publicly available information from various databases and phone books across Canada. Of course using free or cheap and grossly outdated information. The site is nothing but a database of names submitted to google and the site bills itself as place that get visits and you should advertise with them. Nothing could be further from the truth, the people that visit this site are the people who have had their identities and personal information published against their will by 411.ca and are trying to remove it. Nobody in their right mind would visit this ‘do nothing’ web site that is nothing but names and addresses of Canadians stolen from other sources.
How do I know this ? I stumbled on my identity being published by 411.ca from an address that I haven’t been at for 20 years. Many others discovered this as well and since it was a good Toronto address people from as far as Africa began using my name and address to sign up to things and place orders online.
After learning this I contact 411.ca to remove my information and they tell me that they do no such thing and my information can’t be removed from 411.ca. The person telling me this of course is a disgusting and disgraceful middle eastern women who couldn’t even get her own lies straight. She actually said that they designed a system where the information can’t be removed, that might makes sense to another idiot like her but I quickly learn that is not true either and she is asked to say that since they only have one young man who knows how to update the web site. ( took me days to get through to him )
She now tells me that my information was picked up from another site and I must contact that other site, (but of course there is no other site and she can’t say which site so that leaves you with no way to remove your info) . Apparently their system is so advanced that it scours the internet, picks up people’s info, builds web pages out of them and publishes it on their site, yet they don’t have the capability to remove it. So this pathetic woman is telling me that a single function edit/delete is not available from the same company that has the ability to spider other sites and build web pages, sell advertising etc..
I soon realize that is a lie as well. My info that was published is pre-internet days and the only place I seen this is on a $9.99 CD-Rom that future shop was selling called CD-Rom phone book (from about 1993-4)
Bottom line. Everything about 411.ca is bad, they way they acquired and published the personal information of everyone and then lied to them and made it near impossible to remove, this site offers nothing, has nothing and its visitors are nothing but disgruntled users trying to remove their info. And the employees, which is only 2 from what I can tell are told to lie when people question why their publishing the names.
Cory
February 5, 2016Everyone on here is absolutely correct about how 411.ca conducts business. I will reveal who their fearless leaders are and you can actually contact them directly. Cory Phillips (Director of Sales) his LinkedIn page attached. https://ca.linkedin.com/in/cory-phillips-08aa5b87 Can be reached at cphillips@411.ca. The Sales Manager is James Rogers jrogers@411.ca. And if you want to reach the President, Neal Ramanchych nromanchych@411.ca. Good luck to all fellow business people who have been ripped off by 411.ca.
kevin
July 20, 2015411.CA is a scam.. never trust them！！！！
Josh
January 28, 2016411 is trying to scam me out of another month after cancellation. When signing up, sales agent clearly stated no lead time was required. I’ve requested for a recording of the sales call. I expect them to retract the request for another month shortly. If not, my lawyer will take care of it.
Advertisers beware!!!
John
July 8, 2015I’m going through the same thing right now. I asked them three times to confirm I wouldn’t be charged an extra month and they dodged the question. And now I’m trying to confirm my cancellation and I cannot get hold of anyone. Calls/emails are not being returned.
I really hope this company gets shut down.
kevin
July 23, 2015Agree!!!They did the exact same thing to me! Be aware!!!
Ahsan
July 6, 2015411 is robber and irresponsible…………..I have horrible experience with 411. I was running a window cleaning company. A marketing lady from 411 used to call me every other day to advertise with them but latter when I want to cancel it, she was rude and totally non cooperative. I requested their customer care on 30th june to cancel my account and she told me, its done and I will receive a confirmatory mail in a day or so but I never received that. After couple of days, I called back and shocked that my account is not cancelled and I have to pay an extra month (August) because they just deduct payment for July yesterday…….They will kiss your feet when they want to start your business and then kick on your ass, if you want to cancel your account. They are robbers
Ali Brisbane
May 28, 2015Although I didn’t accept any paid advertising with 411, I find dealing with them a complete hassle.
As per their website, I was looking for a basic listing for citation purposes. I have a locally owned business and just wanted a basic listing. I agree with this article, most people looking for my services will most likely search through Google, however Google will increase my ratings based on my citations in local directories.
Long story short, I listed in 411.ca and was told to wait a day or two as someone will contact me to verify my listing. The first person that call tried to up-sell me with a category listing, saying that I will never get customers and my business will lose sales if I don’t. I advised the rep kindly that I was looking for just the free basic listing as specified on the website. He continued to pressure me (in a very rude manner) that my keywords were not going to be there and therefore I was wasting his time. I asked him again to please just submit a basic listing as this is what I signed up for online.
He ended up refusing to post my basic listing and told me I can try to sign up again when I was willing to pay 411 for more than a basic listing as it was ‘pointless’.
Well, I decided to revisit their website where it clearly states their listings were FREE. So, I re-entered my request to have my business listed on 411. This time, another man called to verify my listing and continued with the same selling tactics, advising me that it was a waste of my time and the business will not generate any calls for this. Again, I made it clear I was looking for a basic listing and that was what I signed up for. Reluctantly, the man accepted my basic listing (not sure why it took a second time for this to be accomplished) and made it clear that my listing was no longer a priority for them, therefore it will take several weeks for them to complete my submission. Not sure if this is a true process timing or if he just said it to change my mind and pay 411 to list it faster.
Regardless, I have never had any problems with listing my company on any other directory sites (Yellowpages, Yelp, Canpages, Hotfrog, Homestars, N49, Brownbook, etc.)
Now that business has picked up, we have now allocated a marketing budget to bring up our SEO. Let’s just say due to this horrible service and unethical practice at 411, we will rather spend our money on other citation directories rather than 411.
Be careful when dealing with these guys. Similar to a con-artist, they like to weasel their way into your wallets and offer poor customer service for a business owner just looking to get their name out there. Be wary!
Charlotte
June 19, 2015Hi Ali, I’d like to learn more about your experience with our sales team so we can try to rectify the situation. If it doesn’t inconvenience you, please email me at clocke@411.ca.
Sharon
May 27, 2015I got swindled by them also, sigh, they found me on craigslist and ya know what I didnt leave a phone # in my add so I am curious as to how they got my #!!! I signed up and they told me on the phone I could cancel anytime … when I called to cancel they said they needed 30 days!! What I was told anytime!! Now I am stuck with the bill of $150 and they are trying to charge my credit card but it wont go though so it will be a charge on my account the way it works for me … Arrgghhh … anyone get any good dealings at all with these guys?!! I signed up in April 2015 and I called to cancel May 2015 since I only got 64 views and they said over 20,000 are searching for my company … lies
Charlotte
June 19, 2015Hi Sharon, thanks for the feedback. I’d be happy to speak to you about your experience with 411.ca. Please email me at clocke@411.ca if you have a minute. Although our contracts are month to month, we typically encourage advertisers to sign up for more than 1 month since online advertising (and SEO in general) takes time to generate results.
Aleks
May 24, 2015I just found out 411.CA charged my credit card for 4 month after I cancelled service.. Over 300$..
Stay away from them, don’t talk to them even, just hang up to them if they call..just discusting people.
Charlotte
June 19, 2015Hi Aleks, I can’t tell from your comment what happened here. If you want, please contact me at clocke@411.ca and I can do my best to resolve things for you.
Andre
May 8, 2015411.ca is a group of dirty sales people. I was sold saying there were over 25000 (yup, that’s 3 zeros) for the search terms I wanted to advertise for… I’ve got 0 calls and 0 visits to my website.
I was also told that I would be put on a month to month payment plan. Unfortunately, that ended up being a three month contract. So I was financially violated. I support everything you say in this article because 411.ca is total shit and I doubt anyone get’s any real results.
Their site barely even shows up in Google, so I don’t even know how they’re possibly even driving any sorts of organic traffic to their site.
Johann
March 30, 2015Wow, am I glad my wife thought to research 411 before I went ahead and signed up. I experienced the exact same situation as many of you, I had posted a Kijiji ad for my small side business and within 3 days I was cold-called by a 411 rep. He fed me the same lines about searches for my business area being around a thousand or so and saying that I can pay month-to-month.
Needless to say, I think I will be passing on their “offer”. Kijiji is free after all!
MstDrm
March 13, 2015Just had my worst “customer service” experience ever with 411.ca.
I wanted to change the address of my company on 411.ca (as the one they display on their website is outdated…not sure where they got it to begin with). I got Joshua on the phone and after his *very* pushy sales pitch I explained I’d speak to my CEO and would call him back if we were interested in further advertising. I politely asked if he’d update our address in the meantime, and he flat out refused until we’d either signed up for advertising with them or he’d spoken directly to the CEO. He then made a few snarky comments – “You aren’t interested in getting customers I guess, eh?” and “Really? You don’t have the authority to authorize $60/month?”. He then hung up on me while I was speaking.
I was left frustrated and angry – something no one, especially current or potential customers, should ever feel after speaking with an organization’s “customer service” department. Would highly recommend no one deal with 411.ca if at all possible.
Betty
February 16, 2015I think a part of the problem is their contract. In the contract I got from Yellow Pages Group Co., they have an “evergreen clause” stating that if you wish to cancel, you must let them know with a written letter 3 months before the end of your contract, otherwise, you are on the hook for paying for another year of their service.
Also, if there are any errors in your listing / advertising, you are the one responsible for finding the errors and notifying them. Otherwise nothing is done about the errors and they will not be held accountable to reimburse you if there are errors.
Updates to their contract:
http://businesscentre.yp.ca/terms-and-conditions
Betty
February 16, 2015I paid for a listing for a full year (2014) with Yellow Pages Group Co., partner of 411.ca There were numerous problems with the service throughout the year, such as listing my company under a business category it shouldn’t have been in, the listing not rotating with the rest, not being able to get into my online account no matter how many password resets I did. I spoke to the account manager in Aug. 2014 about advertising options, but decided to keep the service I had. I called in Nov. to pay for another year and was told I’d been switched to a higher priced listing. I told them I didn’t believe I’d authorized that. They started an investigation they said would take 2 – 6 weeks, but within the week I was told I’d be switched back to the old service. They told me not to pay, but to wait for my billing date in Dec./14.
I did pay in December, but I notified them that since about Nov. 20th, they had not been running my paid listing. They said they’d start another 2-6 week investigation. The afternoon of the same day, I got a call from their AR department wanting over $100.00 for payment for the higher priced listing. Too many service problems. Too much up-selling. Too many different stories from too many different departments. I told the account manager that I wanted to cancel in an email. I received no acknowledgement from her. I put in a complaint with the BBB.
In January 2015 I received a call from a senior customer service representative who said I had a credit of over $500 on my account already. She also offered to refund the amount I had paid in Dec./14. She said they would give me a “free listing”. That was her idea, not mine. I only wanted my company information completely removed from their site at this point.
I emailed the account manager a written letter in pdf requesting that they cancel and close my account, refund my money and take my company listing off their website.
It’s now February 2015. I have received absolutely no refund. I am still being invoiced.
Although they seem to have removed my “free listing”, they are still using cached pages from my company listing to lead to their site yp.ca and also another partner site, canpages.ca. I asked them to remove these and they said the search engines would remove them.
I think whether it’s 411.ca, canpages.ca, yp.ca, or any of their other partners, these are red flag companies to avoid doing business with.
James
February 9, 2015They are also google partners.
From the google.com/partners website:
The Google Partner badge means that we trust you, and your clients should too. It shows your business is healthy, your clients are happy, and that you follow Google best practices.
411’s profile:
https://www.google.ca/partners/#a_profile;idtf=3209558300;
There is a complaint at the bottom of this.
James
February 6, 2015Its a trip down memory lane hearing the promises that were declared by the 411.ca reps.
Shawn, I guess so… Im going through it right now.
I wish I knew of this earlier. I paid $750 for the year, in advance and when the girl called to renew, I told her, even though you tell me I have over 10k in views, not one clicked on a link to my site. I know every client who has called us and even those asking for quotes. Not one has been from 411.ca.
(We are not in the business of just handing out numbers, but getting to know each of our clients and what their true needs are. And yes, we always ask where they came from… specifically)
I informed her of our findings and she said fine, she will get back to me. Then the credit card started getting charged $75 per month.
I contacted them many many times with no response. (When I posed as a client looking to advertise with 411, I got a pretty quick call back.)
When I finally did, I spoke to Natasha Bristol, was told they could not refund anything, but rather give me a few months free. She stated specifically in her email she would contact me after the month and discuss if I wanted to continue.
3 weeks later, 5 weeks before the 2 free months ended, I sent a message cancelling everything as there was not one click, even though she stated 48 clicks through my ad. Who is telling the truth? 411 or Google Analytics?
I was away for the month of December and just found out that they started charging me twice on my November statement, December and now January.
I have filed a complaint with the BBB.
Im not sure how to go about filing with CIRA. I am member.
———
On a side note, whois for the domain 411.ca and yp.ca are the same. Both state it’s registrant name is Yellow Pages Group Corp/Groupe Pages Jaunes Corp., using a Quebec address of: 16 Place du Commerce, Ile des Soeurs, Verdun QC H3E2A5 Canada, Phone: +1.5149347350, Fax: +1.5149344076, Email: legal.classification@ypg.com
James
March 6, 2016An update.
A few weeks after, through the initialization of BBB complaint, they gave me all my money back, no questions asked… and no apology… but I’d rather have the money.
It seems the report has disappeared also. It is no longer on the BBB website.
As a web company, there are many ways to use a tracking link if you do have a link that you pay for on any website. I suggest using them so you know exactly how much traffic comes from it.
There are also phone numbers you can have that redirect calls. This is something where not only can the calls be recorded, but counted.
This is what I call “quantifiable” traffic. If your not tracking it, how do you know if its paying off?
I have a number of clients I deal with and both ypg and 411 are not worth the money… and to cancel?… reminds me of a gym membership.
I hope this helps anyone else out there.
Jess Canadian
February 4, 2015I was scammed (but reversed it) by 411.ca too!!!
They partnered up with EVO Canada to scam business owners.
I put the full story here and some people are commenting too – http://www.trafficsteed.com/didnt-sign-up-for-411-ca-program-with-evo-getting-unauthorized-charges/
Pat
January 22, 2015I’ve had the same problem with 411.ca. I was told over the phone that I could pay for the first month and see what the benefits of having their services. 3 months I realized they had been charging me for all 3 months, so i immediately gave them a call and left a message with the guy who called me first and gave me his extension. After calling him 5 different times with no answer or reply’s, I called the regular service line and was told I cannot cancel my listing as I have two outstanding payments because my card declined. So 411 went ahead and gave me their “services” without receiving a payment and now expect me to pay them. Glad my card declined as now I can just cancel the card.
Patrick Turner
January 22, 2015Wow, I too, wish I had seen these posts before I took the call. I appreciate that they have good sales people as I have not been “taken” like this in the 30 years I have been doing business. Do NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT get involved with these people!
I got a cold call too, and while I usually take time to go and review the company, it appeared their offer was time limited to an hour or so and I’d have missed the opportunity. The deal appeared to be decent. They said they good advance my search engine listing (SEO) in engines like Google for only $220.month. A listing at the top of the list! (They mingle conversation about the top of their 411 list with the Google list until you can’t tell the difference). I signed on for a month. . . after all, they said you could cancel any time!
I went immediately to the web to check this company out. There is a now a whole section of the internet devoted to the scary business practices this company and these people are engaged in and within hours I had sent my cancellation for the month following ( I was willing to take responsibility for being suckered into the first month) by email and placed calls to the numbers listed for customer service. They of course did not answer. Before they had billed me (the following day). . . I had sent two emails and made a call to their customer support line as well as a time stamped email to the Better Business Bureau regarding the situation.
The following day, I did get through to their customer support line and was forwarded to my account rep where I again cancelled my account and sent email to both the rep and CS for confirmation of that call. I had also placed a call to the credit card company early on the morning of the 19th December, outlining what had happened. You have a choice of disputing the charge and cancelling your card or accepting the charge. I’ve been doing my business for 30 years and consider myself an ethical business person and decided to accept the billing for the first month I was talked into. I’d advise cancelling your car. . . it is a pain but you don’t want to have anything at all, to do with this company. You may have to pay the month. . . but you will be charged again and again even if you cancel.
It is now about 31 days later and I noticed the Visa charge from 411.ca for another month this morning. This after writing 8 emails to them cancelling their service and a number of calls, and a dated letter to the Better Business Bureau on the day >before< their initial billing.
And still they charge. Once you are signed up. I doubt they will ever stop billing you. DO NOT get involved with this company . . .they are bad news.
Jill
January 20, 2015Here we are in January 2015, and it seems all the feedback given to 411.ca has fallen on deaf ears. I agreed to the 411.ca listing last spring, after all it is a national brand and part of the Yellow Pages Group. As a long-standing national organization I thought they could be trusted to deliver what they promised. I was sadly mistaken. For six months I have been trying to cancel my account and still no resolve. The song and dance outlined by many people here prior to me has continued with my case. After multiple attempts to cancel my account unsuccessfully, I am now taking matters in to my own hands. I appreciate the links shared above for further communication and action. I shall engage accordingly!
Jon Cohen
January 14, 2015I think I am a sucker and have just been taken in, i signed up for 60$ yesterday after a salesman called making me think for most of the conversation that I was getting work, what a sucker I am, what should I do from this point, I do not want to pay for this crappy service, I thought it was canada 411, I actually in a moment of complete absurdity agreed to try this. advice anyone?
Derrick
January 14, 2015Have you tried to call and cancel? I have heard they are getting better in comparison to my last experience. Please let me know if you have a good or bad experience with that. Also, if you keep your ad let me know if you get an results. Thanks 🙂
robert lalonde
November 14, 2014was approached a few years ago to put an add…They sent me a contract that i never signed and called to say the small business was put on hold..They tried billing me anyways, I never payed, luckily they did not have my card number. I managed to have them stop trying to bill me because i was not interested in their services, but they still tried to bill me for interest?!?
Since then i have called a few times to take off the add for a non existant company, and it is still always there, called again today and she said that she will have to investigate if i owe anything, told her good luck, not paying anything for an add i never agreed to.
What kind of place is this…..going to give them one more week, getting tired of having it there with my named misspelled on top of that.
does anybody know what i can do to speed up the progress? Thanks
Marco
September 30, 2014Thank you for all your comments and experiences.
We’ve been receiving cold calls from 411.ca from various Kijiji ads that we’ve placed for our services telling us how they will increase traffic to our site with their 12 million daily searches in my province alone. After I kindly point out that this would mean that near every single inhabitant would have visited 411.ca that day I told them that I was suspicious with their numbers. He quickly placed me on hold and came back after a few brief moments to rattle off more “search statistics” including 800 searches daily occur in my business category from people within a 50 km radius of my business and presented me with a plan to advertise on their site for $150/month. After crunching some numbers, I realized that the cost of customer acquisition with their site would be too expensive and decided not to take part.
I then searched out reviews for their site and I’m glad I did. I’m now certain I made the right choice by not signing up with them.
Thanks again all!
Christina
September 18, 2014Thank you for posting this!
I just got the cold call 15 minutes ago.
I got the girls contact information and said I would have to think about it and call her back, she then asked what time I would call. I said something along the lines of later today and she hung up on me mid sentence!
Did some googling and am really glad I found your site!
Kevin Erickson
August 28, 2014Yup, immediately after agreeing to use their service things changed! The cold call was prompted by my kijiji add (should have been a red flag). The fellow told me specifically that their current promotion was $5/month for 6 months, then $60/month thereafter. The email I received following the verbal agreement stated none of this. My credit card was immediately charged. On my scheduled orientation call two days later, the guy said there was no such promo and now has to call the guy that originally sold me and then get back to me.
Hmmm wonder how long this will take. I am confident that I will succeed in simply cancelling all-together.
Bob
August 27, 2014They got me as well.
411.ca ripped me off for hundreds of dollars through lies and refusing to cancel my subscription. They also fulsified results and refused to provide recorded phone conversations after letting me know they did have them.
How can a company like this stay in business ? This company is run be thieves.
RUN AWAY !!
randy
August 23, 2014Like many 411.ca was one of the worst experiences we had when starting out our business..charged us $225.00 and when I contacted them they advised this would get us on the front page of google..i advised them I didn’t want this package and asked to credit our credit card back the money..told me 2 months ago that they would and I haven’t seen a penny yet ..customer service(if you can call it that) keeps saying it on the way..am looking at other avenues to get our money back..I strongly suggest you think long and hard before you commit to any advertising this this company
Dean
August 21, 2014Sure enough, this shady organization is still up to these tricks. They began charging my card without my consent after what I was told was a ‘one time setup fee’, and of course aren’t willing to stop doing so without penalizing me another month. All said I lost a few hundred dollars. Hard to believe a business model like this is legal. I have reported them to the BBB where – surprise, surprise – close to 100 complaints of the exact same thing. Even my credit card company knew about them, that’s the degree to which this scam is being perpetuated. Absolutely sickening. Shame on you, 411.ca.
Kevin
August 7, 2014They called me and I didn’t take anything from them because they fooled me once in 2010 now they wanted to do it again and I didn’t let them.
The guy didn’t introduce himself and didn’t say he was from 411.ca he asked me am I free to work with more customers and I said “yes for sure but who are you” he kept on going and I asked again “who are you” then I knew it was them. I told him “so basically you don’t have customers for me but you want to me to sign up with something so my ad would be among the first listed”.
I really didn’t like the way he started the call as if he was ashamed to represent 411.ca and I had to insist to finally get an answer and I politely declined his offer he didn’t like it and I said to him how my experience was very bad with his company and I wouldn’t do it again because I am a well aware person and I don’t get fooled twice.
My advice is to stay away from these people because they give a lot of trouble to innocent people and take their money. There are many ways to increase your visibility sometimes for free.
Reinhold
August 4, 2014Mr. Steve Curry ,the owner of 411.ca ,or any of his staff did not answer my privacy complaint since May 2014. Clearly , regarding this complaint 411.ca has no consent to display the address or any personal phone number.
Our opinion is , 411.ca is violating the new privacy law.
Sean
July 23, 2014Well, I guess you can add me to the sucker list as I have tried to cancel since Feb and Now am Getting collections threat, Love the business model though, hook line and sinker and dont reel them in till they get tired and give up. Really wish I had read this post before I went for the bait. I wish this forum was pinned on Google web search.
Rob Poechman
June 9, 2014I almost got sucked in too. I support yellow pages and they somehow start off talking just like yellow pages and I could swear on like 2 occasions in the past year I have been fooled by them. The first time I was like | close to giving them my money before realizing they are not who I think they are, I found the reviews, and now a year or 2 later they are still after my business, and I decided to search a little more and see if they have maybe cleaned up and are more transparent, but I see they have only gotten more skilled at what they do. If I could click here to donate 50 cents towards a fund dedicated to shuttin em down, I would.
Reinhold
May 21, 2014Mr. Steve Curry,
411.ca ,Owner
Mr. Neil Romanchych,
411.ca ,VP Sales and Service
Please delete my home address and the mapsgalaxy direction to my home, home phone number and all my collected personal / profile information.
411.ca, you and your Staff have no consent and no approval to collect and distribute to people my address including the mapsgalaxy direction to my home or to display my phone number, or any collected ,personal , profile information.
All my multiple emails to 411.ca ended with no results. My 411.ca company opinion so far is, I am dealing with an unprofessional, unfair, shameless, outrageous unprincipled ,company. I also forwarded via email my situation to the CBC’s long- running investigative consumer program ,Marketplace. I received an immediate very nice reply. Thank you CBC Marketplace.
Mr. Steve Curry , Mr. Neal Romanchych show your ethical and professional side by
deleting all my information from your 411.ca site.
Viral In Nature
May 17, 2014Don’t even bother signing up for their free link. I did months ago and did get the pushy sales call which I successfully declined, but still no free listing.
Chris N.
May 15, 2014I just got a cold call from 411.ca asking me to sign up for their deal. I told the sales person that we’ve already exceeded our advertising budget for the year, and so we’re not interested in any type of paid advertising. He continued to go on-and-on about the benefits anyways.. and I get this.. it’s his job. However, I then reminded him two more times that we ARE NOT paying for advertising. He very RUDELY says “GOOD LUCK THEN!!” then hung up on me!! Haha.. wow – Very poor service indeed. It would’ve been more beneficial for him to support my decision to decline at this time, and then offer to reach out to me at a later date OR to send me additional information by email for future reference.
The way he ended our call, is safe to say, I will not be using this service at all.
Ricardo
May 14, 2014Hi:
Same thing here, I subscribed to 411.ca and the following week I cancelled any further automatic renewals, but now there is a lawyer, VICK MANDLA, e-mailing me a demand for payment… for almost $500.. but no idea why do I owe any money… and they do not reply their emails to tell me what are the charges for..
Jonathan Timar
May 1, 2014I just got a call from someone from this company. My scam-radar kicked in right away because the sales rep told me that I had a listing on the site that needed to be updated. BS I thought, I couldn’t remember adding a listing to that site. Sure enough I went searching in the site and couldn’t find any reference to my business. I repeatedly mentioned this to the rep on the phone and she kept dodging the questions and insisting it was there until she finally admitted that it wasn’t on the site just in their “database”. Update my listing indeed.
The price I was quoted was $59.99 per month with a no risk, no contract yadda yadda yadda. That didn’t sound like much of a deal to get listed in a website that I doubt anyone visits, so I politely declined. Then the price went down to $59.99, then $45.99 with the sell getting harder and harder. Finally I got irritated and hung up the phone.
I won’t deal with any business that uses boiler-room sales tactics, even if their product seemed like a good deal, and this one didn’t.
Rob
April 28, 2014Warning! Even if you email to cancel, they ignore the email and try to charge you for another month anyhow.
I emailed my “rep” that I wanted to cancel, surprisingly the next day I get a new rep, who knows I am upset but makes no mention of the cancellation. 2 weeks later at the end of the billing cycle I get a call from billing asking for a new card because my card had been declined (figured it would be a problem so I had already cancelled the credit card). Of course they claim they have no notes from the rep and that I am “liable” for another $250/month for 5 hits they sent to my website!
As for their claims of 10,000+++ hits to your keywords? The whole site gets 48,000 hits a month (look it up at compete.com). Divide that by the number of keywords they have and you will see you will get no traffic from them.
They guys are like dog droppings on your shoe. They stick to it, are impossible to get off, smell bad and serve no useful purpose. Stay away and don’t step in them!
Andrea
April 24, 2014Seriously thank you for posting this and thnx to everyone who shared there experience.
I had no idea when I got a call from 411 yesterday, after I had posted an add on kijiji.
I recieved the same sales pitch as everyone on here. I fell for it and signed up. Like everyone, they said it was on a month to month basis no contracts and cancel anytime.
I then decided to look up reviews on them . ( a little late, I know) . While reading reviews in this site and numerous others my heart dropped. I wanted to cancel right away. I called at about 5 and no answer so I decided to call today. The sales person informed me that my account will be charged for the second month because it was not 30 says it was 29. Seriously one day off! I had only signed up yesterday! after telling me I would be charged for the second month and that there was nothing she could do about it, I said to just cancel the whole thing. Then she said she will talk to her manager about giving me a break on 29 days and would call me back. I then called customer service and talked to a woman that said I was defiantly allowed to cancel it now because her floor( the 1st floor) was allowed to be more flexible than the sales floor….!?? lol anyways I told her I just wanted to cancel and she agreed to give it to me. I then got a call 2 minutes later from the original salesperson saying I could have ur just for one month after all. ( surprise surprise) I told her I just wanted to cancel and she got very annoyed and went on for about 10 minutes about how she went to talk to her manager for me and that I’m too worried about the money , I have to keep it up for longer than a month to see results. I didn’t back down and eventually she said she would cancel it too. I am waiting for e mail confirmation about cancelling.so we will se how that goes. But over all I am glad I read these reviews before everything really did go downhill. thnx again!
Rob
April 16, 2014Outright lied to about the exposure they offer. They said that they have 1,000’s of hits to my category. Well after signing up with them for $250 for their national coverage – down from the regular $500 (yes I was a sucker) I had a total of 3 new clickthroughs to my website!!
As the banner advertiser under my category with only a total of 12 companies there is no way their traffic to this category is the 1,000’s of hits a month they claim. They know this, they have the numbers for their site, but they outright LIE to take your money.
Complain and cancel. We’ll they call you up and have the guts to offer your MORE SERVICES!! If we do this and that, add you to Adwords (something a 10 year old could do for themselves in 10 minutes) it would only be $100 per month for that! Get real!! I paid you top dollar and you gave me nothing!! Do you think I am dumb enough to give you any more money? Are they dumb enough to tell me that for less money they are going to give me more results.
Crooks is all they are. Looking to cash in on cold calls to the unsuspecting, because if anyone took the time to research them they would not give them a cent.
To get rid of them I cancelled the credit card before they could bill me another month. Guess I can look forward to the collections agency crap next.
Sad thing of it all is as a company we have money that we want to spend on advertising. Actually do something, and we’d be more than happy. Seems they don’t want to work for their money, only collect as much as they can off the unsuspecting for doing nothing.
mr. Bergeron
April 11, 2014411.ca #20667771 asking me for 999.21
I agreed to a trial for 2 months at 30$ but they billed me 69$ per month.
I apposed the amounts with visa.
I cancelled my trial.
Now they are asking for 999.21 and are using equifax to try and take advantage of me.
Even though I cancelled the trial.
And paid them the trial rate told to me over the phone.
I don’t understand why companies try and get away with these things.
Anyone can give me advice how to deal with this fraud.
Sarah Clarke
April 9, 2014I made the mistake of signing up with them. Total scam! I have tried to get a hold of my rep for weeks but no one responds. I cancelled back in January and they are still taking payments off my credit card. Don’t sign up with them. I wish I read reviews on them before signing up with them.
Christian
April 1, 2014Add me to the list. Just noticed that my billing jumped by $50/mo. Turns out they sent an email New Years Eve at 6:10pm telling me they added a mobile site service and I was going to start being billed.
Requested cancellation and refund, apparently someone has to call me back. This should be fun. Has nobody reported them to the competition bureau???
Amy
March 29, 2014I wish I would have read these reviews prior to signing up with 411. I sent a cancellation email request on June 6 2013, they said they’d call me but no one ever called. On March 27 2014 I received an email from canlegal.net telling me I owe them $1092 but the matter will be considered resolved if I pay $546 by April 11. These guys are a scam, I’m going to complain to the BBB. I emailed canlegal.net telling them I want detailed documents as to how they came up with that so I can send it to my lawyer for review, I sent him the cancelation email chain and told him to call to me asap to discuss further. We’ll see if they actually call me, will follow up for sure.
Austin
March 29, 2014I had an ad with them in Mar and Apr 2013. I cancelled my ad in april giving them 30 days notice as required.
Today, almost a year later, I get an e-mail from a Vick Malda of Canada Legal Referal, a so-called collection agency, representing 411.ca saying I owe $524 but if I pay them $262 now, they will drop the matter. They are not getting a dime from me.
I haven’t responded, yet, but when I do, it is going to be very impolite. I am trying to find Steve Curry’s (President of 411) e-mail address. If I don’t find it I will snail mail a postage due letter to him.
gotscammed
March 28, 2014Wish I’ve seen this before too. $1500 collection account on me now after a year of cancelling the account (or at least asking to) http://411scammedme.blogspot.ca/2014/03/is-411.html
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