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yellowpages.com suing me...can they get away with this?

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Raynoch

Junior Member
Georgia Law.

I personally think this is a case of complete extortion against small business from collection attorney's. A suit has been filed against me for $11k for internet advertising I never agreed too.

The only thing I ever signed was a one page carbon copy piece of paper that says nothing about the "term" of my online add with yellowpages. It shows what my monthly charge is and I was told by my rep it was a month to month agreement I could cancel at anytime. I was ok with that and thought I'd give it a shot.

When I tried to cancel, they said I can not. In fact, they said I agreed to a 19 MONTH LONG CONTRACT!!!! WTF?

I ask to please see the document that shows I agreed to that.

The only thing they can produce is a letter they said was mail to me (I do not believe I ever go it, but regardless) that said "here are your terms. If you do not agree you must notify us within 15 days". I never signed anything agreeing to 19 month contract terms and they acknowledge that.

The exibits with the lawsuit are a joke. They support ZERO of the claim made in the complaint.

The plantiff attorney calls and harrasses me trying to get me to settle or he'll see me in court (representing myself, which he said goodluck with that).

This case comes down to can someone send me a letter in the mail and if I don't respond I'm bound to contract terms.

I am fighting this all the way to the court house if I have to. Complete extortion because they know it doesn't make sense for me to hire an attorney (although I did pay want to help me file an Answer Per Se).

Can they do this?
 


Antigone*

Senior Member
Georgia Law.

I personally think this is a case of complete extortion against small business from collection attorney's. A suit has been filed against me for $11k for internet advertising I never agreed too.

The only thing I ever signed was a one page carbon copy piece of paper that says nothing about the "term" of my online add with yellowpages. It shows what my monthly charge is and I was told by my rep it was a month to month agreement I could cancel at anytime. I was ok with that and thought I'd give it a shot.

When I tried to cancel, they said I can not. In fact, they said I agreed to a 19 MONTH LONG CONTRACT!!!! WTF?

I ask to please see the document that shows I agreed to that.

The only thing they can produce is a letter they said was mail to me (I do not believe I ever go it, but regardless) that said "here are your terms. If you do not agree you must notify us within 15 days". I never signed anything agreeing to 19 month contract terms and they acknowledge that.

The exibits with the lawsuit are a joke. They support ZERO of the claim made in the complaint.

The plantiff attorney calls and harrasses me trying to get me to settle or he'll see me in court (representing myself, which he said goodluck with that).

This case comes down to can someone send me a letter in the mail and if I don't respond I'm bound to contract terms.

I am fighting this all the way to the court house if I have to. Complete extortion because they know it doesn't make sense for me to hire an attorney (although I did pay want to help me file an Answer Per Se).

Can they do this?
In a word... Yes
 

Raynoch

Junior Member
so in your opinion, should I start trying to settle?

I will lose going in front of a judge in this scenario?
 

jsmith416

Member
What is their settlement offer? Did they even put up the Internet ads you allegedly agreed to?

If their case is as flimsy as it seems then they have no case and are blowing smoke. Did you read all the fine print of what you signed to make sure you didn't agree to this?
 

Mass_Shyster

Senior Member
The exibits with the lawsuit are a joke. They support ZERO of the claim made in the complaint.
Since they appear to have already filed a complaint, the obvious answer (already given) is that they CAN do this.

Did you respond to the complaint properly? Within the correct time frame?

It seems to me that spending a few hundred dollars discussing this with an attorney is better than facing a $11,000 judgment.
 

Raynoch

Junior Member
Since they appear to have already filed a complaint, the obvious answer (already given) is that they CAN do this.

Did you respond to the complaint properly? Within the correct time frame?

It seems to me that spending a few hundred dollars discussing this with an attorney is better than facing a $11,000 judgment.
I did pay an attorney $250 to help me file an answer and yes it was within the correct time period.

The attorney does not believe they have a claim and even said we should file a frivulous countersuit. I'm just trying to gather more info from more sources because as you mentioned I don't want to get nailed with a $11k judgement

As for your other statement that it's obvious they can do this since they filed a complaint**************.I'm not so sure.

They file hundreds of these claims. One day around the time they filed my complaint, they filed 35 in one day.

My complaint talks about print advertising, which I never had (online only).

It really appears to me this is part of their process. File a bunch of complaints, harrass some people, get a few to pay, then move on to the next one.

The exhibits in the complaint are a joke and support nothing claimed in the complaint.

I'm in the process of getting a Request for Documents file to see what else they have to support their claim.
 

Raynoch

Junior Member
What is their settlement offer? Did they even put up the Internet ads you allegedly agreed to?

If their case is as flimsy as it seems then they have no case and are blowing smoke. Did you read all the fine print of what you signed to make sure you didn't agree to this?
They have not offered a settlement. Of course they want me to offer first.

I have read the fine print and so has the attorney who helped me file the answer. My stepmother is a paralegal and she has read it as well. Neither can see how the documents support their claim.

But again, who knows. I'm going to request documents and look at things further. I do not want to go to court and lose and they know that.
 

jsmith416

Member
If the attorney you paid was competent and he said they don't have a claim then they don't have a claim. It sounds to me like you are on a fishing expedition to find things that could possibly be used against you in court. If they haven't shown it to you by now they won't until they have to. Let them take you to trial and present any evidence they may have that this is a valid debt.
 

Raynoch

Junior Member
If the attorney you paid was competent and he said they don't have a claim then they don't have a claim. It sounds to me like you are on a fishing expedition to find things that could possibly be used against you in court. If they haven't shown it to you by now they won't until they have to. Let them take you to trial and present any evidence they may have that this is a valid debt.
That's why I'm filing a Request to Produce Documents. That way, I can see what they have and make a more informed decision.

I know from my own records (and memory), I only signed one piece of paper, which was exhibit A in their complaint, and it only has a monthly amount and nothing about the term. This is where they claim they later sent me a "confirmation package" in the mail that had my terms and since I didn't tell them the terms in the confirmation package were incorrect, I am now bound to those terms.

That's the issue at hand.
 

Mass_Shyster

Senior Member
As for your other statement that it's obvious they can do this since they filed a complaint.
The CAN sue because they DID sue. Winning has not been discussed.

You can sue me for my extremely poor penmanship if you wish. That doesn't mean you will win.
 

jsmith416

Member
This is where they claim they later sent me a "confirmation package" in the mail that had my terms and since I didn't tell them the terms in the confirmation package were incorrect, I am now bound to those terms.
Does the paperwork you signed say anything about receiving a letter at a later date with additional contact terms?
 

Raynoch

Junior Member
Does the paperwork you signed say anything about receiving a letter at a later date with additional contact terms?
THat's a good question and one I've looked into.

There is an * that at the bottom of the page it says "For internet products, please refer to your confirmation package for your Estimated Billing Start date".

At first when I saw this, I thought Oh Crap, this is how they will get me.

But, it just says the confirmation package will tell me when my start date is. Now they are claiming my confirmation package has all the terms, but the one sheet carbon copy piece of paper only say what I noted above.
 

Raynoch

Junior Member
The CAN sue because they DID sue. Winning has not been discussed.

You can sue me for my extremely poor penmanship if you wish. That doesn't mean you will win.
Correct. I guess I was asking "can they win".

I think part of their tactic is to scare people into thinking "well, I guess if they filed it in court, I must be guilty".

The other part of their tactic is knowing it hardly makes financial sense to get an attorney too involved, so many people will just settle whether they think they are guilty or not. I may end up doing that, but I'm putting up a fight first.
 

Raynoch

Junior Member
Look... if you didn't sign up for it, then you're not liable for it. How much simpler do you want this to be?
Like you mentioned, I'm just looking for any angles I've not considered.

And really, whether anyone's ever been seen this type of situation where they are claiming I had to respond to a letter they sent me or I'm bound to contract terms. That sounds ridiculous to me, but I'm not a lawyer.

I'm just trying to make a calculated decision on whether to fight it and potentially lose or try to settle for a few thousand dollars. I can pay it no problem, but as a matter of principle I'm not going down easily. If it can wait until this summer (when I have time), they'll see my butt in court.
 

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