Another great directory spam came through on the fax today, this time from World Business Guide.
Always read the fine print
This one is even more blatant than similar fax spam (more), in that although they note at the top nice and clearly
To update your company profile please print, complete and return this form (UPDATING IS FREE OF CHARGE).
you need to read between the lines a little. Updating may be free of charge, but placing the listing is going to cost you €2985 – around $AUD4300! Buried at the bottom in the fine print, in all capital letters to make it hard to read, is
THE VALIDATION TIME OF THE CONTRACT IS THREE YEARS AND STARTS ON THE EIGHTH DAY AFTER SIGNING THE CONTRACT. THE INSERTION IS GRANTED AFTER SIGNING AND RECEIVING THIS DOCUMENT BY THE SERVICE PROVIDER. I HEREBY ORDER A SUBSCRIPTION WITH SERVICE PROVIDER INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORIES LTD “WORLD BUSINESS GUIDEâ€. I WILL HAVE AN INSERTION INTO ITS DATA BASE FOR THREE YEARS. THE PRICE PER YEAR IS EURO 995
I’ve bolded and underline what I’d have to describe as the ‘key points’.
(Fine print, click to zoom in)
Oh, but hang on – they’re not totally mercenary. After being hit with your first bill you do get the chance to cancel
THE SUBSCRIPTION WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY EXTENDED EVERY YEAR FOR ANOTHER YEAR, UNLESS SPECIFIC WRITTEN NOTICE IS RECEIVED BY THE SERVICE PROVIDER OR THE SUBSCRIBER TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE EXPIRATION OF THE SUBSCRIPTION.
So if you fill in the form based on what you’ve read at the top and miss the fine print it’s really only going to cost you around €995/$AUD1500. Nice.
Here’s the full World Business Guide fax (pdf, 78 kb).
Who is behind the World Business Guide?
The fax lists their address as P.O. Box 3079, 3502 GB, Utrecht, The Netherlands but their website suggests otherwise.
The World Business Guide online is product of International Directories, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of BVI.
BVI is tax haven the British Virgin Islands. Like Jack and Meg said, I think I smell a rat.
Comments
They are croocks the tried to blackmail me so I mailed the Netherland commers chamber, they answered that this so called “company” are scammers and whatever they write and threat not to pay or answer them whatsoever.
And why is this a scam?????
Hector – I’m not sure what you mean? It’s a blatant attempt to trick people into parting with their money by making them think they get a listing for free in a directory of dubious quality. It has also been identified as such by a number of sources, including government agencies – for example Australia’s ACCC: see http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/897472 and
http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/771971
Yes after careful research it has been recognized by the organisations due to the Rubbish on this site!!!!! m This accounts for more monetary damagaes than you can make in a lifetime. Not only to the company but with it’s thousands of members like myself. I am going to assist them in every way that I can with their lawsuit. I hope your egoitistic blog is worth it to you as you are about to be slapped with a lawsuit that will knock your bloody socks off. Maybe it would have been better if you had owned Coates Hire, because you’re going to need the money. ANYONE can take another company’s direct marketing attempts and use them in a blog to generate traffic beacause of the Hi rankings blogs get. Why dont you try getting traffic with your own marketing efforts. Oh yea, I forgot. Your personal rubbish is not interesting at all and you are a horrible writer so that wouldn’t work at all mate. Find a new hobby you opportunistic piece of scum.
Oh and by the way. There are over 13,000 free listings in their directory that haven’t paid a cent! The paid listings are bigger, in color and better. So if one chooses they can upgrade… IS THAT A SCAM?????? NOOOOOOOOOOOO STEVE IT”S NOT. It is a simple upsale. Hardly a scam. We get what we are promised with the opportunity to buy more. Just like any good business marketing model. What business are you in STEVE. Just cusious what industry such an ignorant individual could be successful in. But maybe your not, that’s why you get off on these rotten blogs harming others. You can say what you please in response, but God knows your intentions, and you CANNOT Hide from him!
Hector I’m finding your threats and comments across this blog increasingly bizarrre and I have nothing more to say to you.
I’ll let readers make up their own minds.
Sound great. Please define how the truth is bizzarre before you cower in slience.
And please quote a threat that came from me that was not a simply relay of knowledge that I’ve gathered from the party’s suing you. For an avid hobbyist blogger your reading comprehension is quite skewed. I guess when you hear what you don’t like to hear you interpret it as it is convenient for your ego.
Your website is worth over $1400USD. I can bet that is not from your content!
Why don’t we engage in a debate Steve to get the truth out to the readers. Why the silence. Is that an admission of you being wrong? Lets debate this out and give your readers something to mull over. What are you afraid of? If you don’t have the knowledge to defend your rubbish, take it down. What a joke. Now thats good reading, A debate! Lets get at it Steve!
Hector Schmidt! who are you ? the con man of this swindlers???? Completely a dark!
[…] I noticed this morning that yesterday someone had left comments on a number of posts on this blog, all regarding directory scams (both the Who’s Who In Australia and the World Business Guide scams). […]
Yes, it’s a scam – and very obvious too.
Strange behaviour from the the Hector’s House wierdo.
Hector has never heard of the the Fifth Amendment and he needs a spell checker. The misuse of the apostrophe shows his complete ignorance of the English Language and for that reason alone he should be shot.
Liz – you’re a girl after my own heart with your apostrophe militancy!