Guide · Scam Watch
The directory sales call: Yellow Pages in Canada, Yelp in the US
Keep the useful free listing, slow down the sales call, and require the real price and cancellation terms in writing.
Updated 2026-07-28
A directory can be a real company with a useful free listing and still sell a paid package that is wrong for your business. A different caller can also imitate a familiar directory name to create an invoice for something you never ordered. The safe response is the same: never buy during the call.
Canada’s Competition Bureau describes the “assumed sale” directory scam, and the US Federal Trade Commission warns about free-listing and renewal claims. Those warnings concern deceptive operators. They do not mean every call from a legitimate directory is fraudulent.
Free listing first
Claim or correct the free profile. Make the business name, address or service area, phone number, hours, and website match your Google Business Profile.
In Canada, owners commonly encounter Yellow Pages sales alongside the free YellowPages.ca listing.In the US, owners commonly encounter Yelp sales alongside the free Yelp business profile. A paid package should be judged as advertising, not as a required fee to remain listed.
What to say on the call
Use one sentence:
I do not authorize purchases by phone. Email the complete offer, total term cost, renewal terms, cancellation method, and the exact placement you are selling.
Do not “confirm” that you are renewing, accept a free trial, or provide billing details. Ask for the caller’s full legal business name and a callback number, then verify both independently.
If employees answer the phone, give them a rule: only one named person can authorize advertising, and that person never approves it during an inbound sales call.
The written-price checklist
Before considering an offer, get:
- total cost over the entire initial term
- contract length and earliest cancellation date
- whether a package change, discount, or added feature restarts the contract term
- automatic-renewal terms
- exact ad location, targeting, and expected impressions
- who owns the ad account and performance data
- how leads will be attributed
- every creative, setup, and cancellation fee
- a sample invoice and the legal contracting entity
“Per month” is incomplete if the term is long. “Top placement” is incomplete without the search area, category, and device.
If an invoice arrives for work you did not order
Do not pay simply to stop the calls. Write that you dispute the charge, request the complete contract and unedited authorization record, and instruct the sender to preserve all call recordings. Keep notes, envelopes, emails, and caller IDs.
If you knowingly accepted a real contract, cancellation becomes a contract question. Follow the written notice method and deadlines, and get legal advice where the amount justifies it. This guide is practical risk control, not legal advice.
Where the budget usually works harder
Finish the free assets first:
- a complete Google Business Profile
- a working website and contact path
- a repeatable review-request routine
- Apple Maps and Bing listings
- basic analytics that show which source produced an enquiry
Upgrade to paid directory advertising only after the free listing produces relevant leads and a short, measurable test has a clear stop date. If the seller cannot support that test, keep the free profile and keep the budget.