In fact, in this day and age, large parts of the worlds still work the same way they worked ten years ago. Time and time again, we internet savvy folks grossly overestimate the amount of business and consumption that has shifted to 'the web'. Yes, Amazon has a revenue of 24.5 billion. Do you realize what the total size of that market is?
I know someone that still makes money printing books of coupons that the receivers can redeem to obtains discounts, rebates, etc. If you honestely believe that companies only invest in that out of custom and the false belief that it still yields results, then you are out of your mind. You are mistaking intelligence for knowledge and making claims about a subject you actually don't know anything about.
Big corporations invented 'purchase orders' for that reason so they're fairly well protected, but the smaller companies that outsource their books because they're too busy doing their work are the ones that are the victims of companies like these.
I've received a couple of such 'not invoices' from companies here in NL and Belgium and they're usually crafted well enough that you have to read them three times before you realize they're not legit. One of them actually presented itself as a 'kvk' which is short for 'kamer van koophandel', the local chambers of commerce.
They're parasites, pure and simple, selling a service for which there is no real demand other than to create a 'product' used as a fig-leaf to hide the scam behind.
Do you by chance have an example of the solicitations in question? Showing that the solicitation was designed in good faith (and not to confuse people) can go a long way to quell the rumor mill.
Facts:
- They clearly state that it's not a bill/invoice.
- The fine print explains that there is no obligation to subscribe.
- The fine print explains that they are not affiliated with the actual Yellow Pages.
- The fine print font is larger than your typical bank statement fine print.
- The typical Yellow Pages logo is prominently featured in the solicitation. This is probably not illegal, but can be seen as potentially misleading.
- The first line of the return card is addressed to YELLOW PAGES (as opposed to Yellow Pages United). Probably not illegal, but again, potentially misleading.
Opinion:
I think they (United Directories, not Hashrocket) adopted an unpleasant business model that I wouldn't want to be associated with. But considering Exibit A, it appears that as far as the solicitation goes, they may be operating within the borders of legality. It will be interesting to see what the court will decide.
"In September 2009, a Grand Jury sitting in the Northern District of Georgia indicted Charles Smith for committing mail fraud. He remains a fugitive."
But, hey, maybe there's no such thing as bad publicity.
Consider that they pulled records of how many business reply cards came into the PO box and compared that to how many names were actually published in the book. They compared that to the bank accounts. While I have my doubts that the actual solicitation was illegal and that the total dollar amounts were so high, there seems to be more here than just an out of control prosecutor.
If United billed far more names than they actually published in the book, that would be fraud.
"In November 2009, two victims from the Charles Smith/YPDP fraud scheme contacted the United States Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Georgia, indicating that they were still receiving fraudulent Yellow Pages solicitations..."
When they investigated and realized that the solicitation came from a company owned by Charles Smith's brother, I'm sure that was enough to launch a full fledged investigation.
According to the complaint, United Directories published 27,626 copies of the book in 2009. Exhibit A of the complaint is an advertisement they sent to a small business in North Las Vegas for the "National Business Edition" of the "Yellow Pages". I don't see how, with 27,626 copies printed, the United Directories' Yellow Pages could possibly meet the traditional definition of "the Yellow Pages" in a "National Business Edition".
So yes, while probably not illegal, its deceptive to use the term "Yellow Pages" when you're just publishing a lower circulation business to business directory.