Originally posted by stopthescam:Company Name: Hong Kong Business Directories Limited
BR Number: 35054846-000
Director: Joseph Miller
Shareholders: Christian Hamoeller; Michael Joost
Managers (known ones): Stephen Richards
Looks like we are one of the latest victims!!Originally posted by scarborough:http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070611232642AAQfpw3
Anyone had bad experience with Singapore Business Pages?
Wonder if anyone had a bad experience with Singapore Business Pages, who get companies to sign a contract for advertisement, with the impression that its free and then charging high fees. Heard there are a number of people who were similarly "conned". What did you do? Please share your experience.
Hi There,
It is sad that the same sales tactic is utilised again and again. A friend of mine refused to pay the bill when presented. Apart from that there is nothing much you can do but pass the info around.
To me it is not expensive but a waste of money as no one really calls you from there.
Sounds like a gangster.... Which company will reply this way? Mafia?Originally posted by warnerw:Looks like we are one of the latest victims!!
We had recently been billed S$4547.50 by Singapore Business Pages, which we had no idea how we incurred! After some investigation, we found out that it was a fax that we faxed back to them, thinking that it was a free service. I then called to ask to terminate the contract as we really did not want to advertise with a publication that we have never seen, especially not for S$4000+++!
I was told by a Benjamin to write in to ask for a termination of the contract. That is when all the nastiness surfaced!! This so-called "Customer Service Officer" by the name of Aaron, who sounded more like a gangster more than a customer service provider!
See the latest email between Aaron (his reply starting with "-" ) and me below:
Dear (my name omitted)
First things first I will like to clarify some point that you misunderstood.
Firstly, we were MISLED BY YOUR REPRESENTATIVE who called up to promote this service to my Manager, stating that it was a free service. We only faxed the contract back, thinking that it is a free service, which your directory was promoting to get new customers.
- our marketing department prepare the mailer and sent it to various companies. We do not have staffs here to call your manager and promote your service. We have few very well trained customer service officers who can attend to you, but I am sure they wonÂ’t advice that is free. Most importantly there is not a single word in our letter that is free.
Secondly, we are giving you ample notice period to terminate something that you are only printing in March. We should not be asked to pay for any services not rendered to us.
- To us this is an official contract. The issue here is not about when you fax in for cancellations is the terms of the contract.
Last but not least, nobody from you company even came to meet us to tell us anything about your publication and any cancellation policy. We have not come across any reputable publications or agencies that would ask clients to pay for a 2-year contract without even sending a representative to present their publications and do any follow-up for artwork submission
- We will not know that you need someone to attend to you when you have not make the payment. Our policy is art work after the payment.
We are aware that we are not the only organisation that have been misled in this matter and am now giving you FINAL NOTICE to terminate this contract.
- since you have know that there are many other companies that do not read the contract and sign it with a stamp and send it back to us then how come you are doing the same thing? Are you trying to challenge us?
Sorry XXX I believe I have make myself very clear and my stands, we are not going to take your so called FINAL NOTICE to terminate the contract.
With Regards
Aaron Wu
Customer Service Officer
Originally posted by warnerw:Looks like we are one of the latest victims!!
We had recently been billed S$4547.50 by Singapore Business Pages, which we had no idea how we incurred! After some investigation, we found out that it was a fax that we faxed back to them, thinking that it was a free service. I then called to ask to terminate the contract as we really did not want to advertise with a publication that we have never seen, especially not for S$4000+++!
I was told by a Benjamin to write in to ask for a termination of the contract. That is when all the nastiness surfaced!! This so-called "Customer Service Officer" by the name of Aaron, who sounded more like a gangster more than a customer service provider!
See the latest email between Aaron (his reply starting with "-" ) and me below:
Dear (my name omitted)
First things first I will like to clarify some point that you misunderstood.
Firstly, we were MISLED BY YOUR REPRESENTATIVE who called up to promote this service to my Manager, stating that it was a free service. We only faxed the contract back, thinking that it is a free service, which your directory was promoting to get new customers.
- our marketing department prepare the mailer and sent it to various companies. We do not have staffs here to call your manager and promote your service. We have few very well trained customer service officers who can attend to you, but I am sure they wonÂ’t advice that is free. Most importantly there is not a single word in our letter that is free.
Secondly, we are giving you ample notice period to terminate something that you are only printing in March. We should not be asked to pay for any services not rendered to us.
- To us this is an official contract. The issue here is not about when you fax in for cancellations is the terms of the contract.
Last but not least, nobody from you company even came to meet us to tell us anything about your publication and any cancellation policy. We have not come across any reputable publications or agencies that would ask clients to pay for a 2-year contract without even sending a representative to present their publications and do any follow-up for artwork submission
- We will not know that you need someone to attend to you when you have not make the payment. Our policy is art work after the payment.
We are aware that we are not the only organisation that have been misled in this matter and am now giving you FINAL NOTICE to terminate this contract.
- since you have know that there are many other companies that do not read the contract and sign it with a stamp and send it back to us then how come you are doing the same thing? Are you trying to challenge us?
Sorry XXX I believe I have make myself very clear and my stands, we are not going to take your so called FINAL NOTICE to terminate the contract.
With Regards
Aaron Wu
Customer Service Officer
Originally posted by redstone:Sounds like a gangster.... Which company will reply this way? Mafia?
So.... how should we start?? Hopefully, we can round up more people. It's really annoying the more I think about it! Esp. when I have nothing to do with it in the first place!!! The email this Aaron guy wrote was definitely out to scare people off!!! No one out there should be intimidated by them and pay a single cent. Can anyone organise a reporter from ST to meet us to get this published? Mayber we should call Sin Ming and Wan Ban as well huh??Originally posted by UnitedMind:Maybe we can propose this issue to the media and alert the rest of the public of this special tailored document out there that can trick people. We have to expose their scheme before more people get tricked like what they say in their gangster letter, right? They have degrade our country clean reputation by calling themselves "Singapore" business pages by doing such an act. I agree that we must gather together and report this to the media.
Originally posted by warnerw:So.... how should we start?? Hopefully, we can round up more people. It's really annoying the more I think about it! Esp. when I have nothing to do with it in the first place!!! The email this Aaron guy wrote was definitely out to scare people off!!! No one out there should be intimidated by them and pay a single cent. Can anyone organise a reporter from ST to meet us to get this published? Mayber we should call Sin Ming and Wan Ban as well huh??
Originally posted by warnerw:Looks like we are one of the latest victims!!
We had recently been billed S$4547.50 by Singapore Business Pages, which we had no idea how we incurred! After some investigation, we found out that it was a fax that we faxed back to them, thinking that it was a free service. I then called to ask to terminate the contract as we really did not want to advertise with a publication that we have never seen, especially not for S$4000+++!
I was told by a Benjamin to write in to ask for a termination of the contract. That is when all the nastiness surfaced!! This so-called "Customer Service Officer" by the name of Aaron, who sounded more like a gangster more than a customer service provider!
See the latest email between Aaron (his reply starting with "-" ) and me below:
Dear (my name omitted)
First things first I will like to clarify some point that you misunderstood.
Firstly, we were MISLED BY YOUR REPRESENTATIVE who called up to promote this service to my Manager, stating that it was a free service. We only faxed the contract back, thinking that it is a free service, which your directory was promoting to get new customers.
- our marketing department prepare the mailer and sent it to various companies. We do not have staffs here to call your manager and promote your service. We have few very well trained customer service officers who can attend to you, but I am sure they wonÂ’t advice that is free. Most importantly there is not a single word in our letter that is free.
Secondly, we are giving you ample notice period to terminate something that you are only printing in March. We should not be asked to pay for any services not rendered to us.
- To us this is an official contract. The issue here is not about when you fax in for cancellations is the terms of the contract.
Last but not least, nobody from you company even came to meet us to tell us anything about your publication and any cancellation policy. We have not come across any reputable publications or agencies that would ask clients to pay for a 2-year contract without even sending a representative to present their publications and do any follow-up for artwork submission
- We will not know that you need someone to attend to you when you have not make the payment. Our policy is art work after the payment.
We are aware that we are not the only organisation that have been misled in this matter and am now giving you FINAL NOTICE to terminate this contract.
- since you have know that there are many other companies that do not read the contract and sign it with a stamp and send it back to us then how come you are doing the same thing? Are you trying to challenge us?
Sorry XXX I believe I have make myself very clear and my stands, we are not going to take your so called FINAL NOTICE to terminate the contract.
With Regards
Aaron Wu
Customer Service Officer
Yes. Do try to make it a point to get as many victims as possible to come together to end this ridiculous scam. It's such a waste of our time and energy. I really do not want to deal with them anymore!Originally posted by UnitedMind:Yes! Amen to that!
Please let me know the contact for Today and CAD.
Meantime, maybe we can gather all our information and meet up before we call ST or Mediacorp.
Originally posted by warnerw:Wow very professional. hahahha
Belle from Asian Business Directories called to apologise for the email that Aaron sent and I told her how appalled I was with the way Aaron replied. Told her that a group of us have come together in various forums to put an end to this matter. She apologised profusely and asked to meet up to resolve this matter and send us an email with a "proposal", which is still not solving anything!
Read her email below:
Dear XXX,
We refer to the conversation between your goodself and the undersigned earlier today with regards to the above matter.
Firstly, we wish to apologise for the uncanny reply from our staff to your email yesterday dated 12th December 2007. This email came to our attention yesterday evening during our auditing process. Refer our tele-conversation earlier, you have misinterpreted our invitation letter for gratis entry and further acknowledged the contract by overlooking the contract terms.
However, as a gesture of goodwill and sincerity, we wish to propose the following amicable solution for your kind consideration;
1) Advertising with Singapore Business Pages at SGD2,975.00+GST (30% discount from original advert cost of SGD 4,250.00+GST Per Edition Per Year for 1 Year Only).
The cost of the advert inclusive the followings;
Ø Full Page Advert (250mm x 200mm),
Ø Free update of the advert contents on bi-annual basis,
Ø Template Layout, kindly logon to t he hyperlink below to view the sample mock up advert: http://www.abdpl.com/english/advert.php (The actual print out may vary from the sample),
Ø Available in Hardcopy, Softcopy (CD-ROM) and our Online Directories, and
Ø Free hand delivery of Complimentary Copy (up to 10 copies) on behalf of your company to your business partners / clients and 5 copies to your good company.
Lastly, we sincerely hope that we can arrange an appointment to meet up with you in person so that we can clarify all matters pertaining to the above preferred proposal and also to present our products to you in detail.
Appreciate if we could have your reply latest by 20th December 2007 in order to enable us to arrange the necessary for upcoming publication arrangement purposes.
Thank you for the opportunity and we look forward to the meeting with you shortly.
Please feel free to contact us at 6297 8035 should you require further information.
Thank you
Sincerely,
Belle Koe
Customer Service Department
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.abdpl.com
Phone: +(65) 6297 8035
Fax: +(65) 6297 8036
Asian Business Directories Pte Ltd
2A Jalan Klapa
Singapore 199314[b][/b]
Originally posted by scarborough:Originally posted by warnerw:
[b]Belle from Asian Business Directories called to apologise for the email that Aaron sent and I told her how appalled I was with the way Aaron replied. Told her that a group of us have come together in various forums to put an end to this matter. She apologised profusely and asked to meet up to resolve this matter and send us an email with a "proposal", which is still not solving anything!
Read her email below:
Dear XXX,
We refer to the conversation between your goodself and the undersigned earlier today with regards to the above matter.
Firstly, we wish to apologise for the uncanny reply from our staff to your email yesterday dated 12th December 2007. This email came to our attention yesterday evening during our auditing process.
[Scarborough] : Email Audit ???? Something strange, never heard that there are such technology??? Scamme rare so high tech
Refer our tele-conversation earlier, you have misinterpreted our invitation letter for gratis entry and further acknowledged the contract by overlooking the contract terms.
[Scarborough] : Who misterpreted it??? Scammer trying to put words into your mouth ... it is a delibrate move, carefully crafted scam
However, as a gesture of goodwill and sincerity, we wish to propose the following amicable solution for your kind consideration;
[Scarborough] : ya right! so kind and understanding!
1) Advertising with Singapore Business Pages at SGD2,975.00+GST (30% discount from original advert cost of SGD 4,250.00+GST Per Edition Per Year for 1 Year Only).
[Scarborough] : Many $$ out of air!!! fat hope
The cost of the advert inclusive the followings;
Ø Full Page Advert (250mm x 200mm),
Ø Free update of the advert contents on bi-annual basis,
Ø Template Layout, kindly logon to t he hyperlink below to view the sample mock up advert: http://www.abdpl.com/english/advert.php (The actual print out may vary from the sample),
Ø Available in Hardcopy, Softcopy (CD-ROM) and our Online Directories, and
Ø Free hand delivery of Complimentary Copy (up to 10 copies) on behalf of your company to your business partners / clients and 5 copies to your good company.
Lastly, we sincerely hope that we can arrange an appointment to meet up with you in person so that we can clarify all matters pertaining to the above preferred proposal and also to present our products to you in detail.
[Scarborough] : who is meeting you??? ask for the names? May be better to meet at CAD office together with ACRA officers and MDA officers
Appreciate if we could have your reply latest by 20th December 2007 in order to enable us to arrange the necessary for upcoming publication arrangement purposes.
[Scarborough] : so if you dont reply, dont fall into the trap!!!! Just ask them to look for spider
Thank you for the opportunity and we look forward to the meeting with you shortly.
[Scarborough] : ya ? wat opprtunuity? for you to con me??? Ya see you in CAD office, may be!!!
Please feel free to contact us at 6297 8035 should you require further information.
[Scarborough] : why should I, waste my time.
Thank you
Sincerely,
[Scarborough] : you sincere in con job??
Belle Koe
[Scarborough] : Tell me your really name, and I will pray for you everyday
Customer Service Department
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.abdpl.com
Phone: +(65) 6297 8035
Fax: +(65) 6297 8036
Asian Business Directories Pte Ltd
2A Jalan Klapa
Singapore 199314
Originally posted by UnitedMind:I am ok. anytime
Don't pay them.Originally posted by gotcheated:hi all
i was advice by a friend of mine to join this forum and get advice from u guys how to slove this problem.she got an email asking her not to pay the outstanding to asian business directories. so anyone advice?
pls help!
Originally posted by gotcheated:hi all
i was advice by a friend of mine to join this forum and get advice from u guys how to slove this problem.she got an email asking her not to pay the outstanding to asian business directories. so anyone advice?
pls help!
Originally posted by UnitedMind:Don't pay them.
They are using a specially tailored document to trick people into signing on the dotted line for something they have mistaken or misled into.
The discussion on this forum is a clear indication that this is no originally document and we must warned the public about it. So that there will be no other innocent victims in the future.
We are gathering information for the reporters and CAD to help to create public awareness on this unfair business practice.
warnerw, please email me when and where to meet and discuss.
scarborough, we hope you can participate because we need your help in providing us more information.
gotcheated, you can ask your friend to email to us.