Business Entries / Enterprises ************!!!

Business Entries, also known as Business Enterprises is an outright ****!!! I received an email from them asking me to check the company details on the attachment and send it back to them. The document looked like it came from Telkom and was for the business entries in the phonebook. There was NO prior phone call from them advising us of what they are sending or why. I completed the form as they requested and sent it back. 2 days later I received an invoice from them for R11 988 for an apparent online directory entry for the company. I immediately rep**** to the email advising them to cancel the job as we did not request the work or authorise them to do anything. There was no reply to my mail. The next day I received a phone call advising from them advising that we must pay the money immediately. I requesting their correspondence in writing via email which I am yet to receive. I was told that someone did call me to advise that they were sending me a document. I asked who it was and they could not answer me. I asked them to please pull up the phone recording of that phone call and they said that they don't record phone calls. When I advised that I requested cancellation, they told me that they cannot do that as the work was already done and the listing active. I can only cancel the listing in a year's time. They have not written an escape-clause into their contract, this is a legal requirement when a company offers a service. I asked the person on the phone to please justify the fact that they want me to pay them R12000 for services that will cost R1000 with any other company and she could not give me an answer. I looked for our company listing with them and could not find it. They then very quickly offered me a "settlement discount" if I paid them the money. This is definitely not common practice for businesses offering services like this. I requested this in writing, they did not comply. Something did not sound right to me in the phone call so I did some research. The so-called contract that they sent me is NOT a legally binding document and we cannot be held liable for payment of any kind. Telkom has advised that no one deal with them ever as they are ******** people and businesses. Their website does NOT exist!! I cannot find a website for their company anywhere! They are also advertising that they will do a free Google listing for you. They CANNOT do that. Google charges a yearly fee of around R400 for a business listing. The phone number that you need to contact them on, is not even correct for the area that they say they are in. The address for their company that I was given is for a shopping centre in Durban. There are no offices there! Once a week I receive a very UNPROFESSIONAL email with extremely bad english, asking me to "explain why the amount due has not been paid". There is NEVER an attached copy of the invoice or a statement. This is bad business practice. They further advise advise that they will take legal action, I am still waiting for the email from their "legal department''. Once a week I also receive a phone call from them, sometimes they give different names but everyone I speak to sounds suspiciously like 1 particular person. The person on the phone is extremely rude and belligerent. They are trying to employ ************ tactics in order to get us to pay them the money. I keep asking them to communicate in writing only, they refuse. When I ask them if they received my emails in reply to their request for payment, they say no. This indicates that they block incoming emails. When dealing with the person who phones, they do not let me speak or get a word in edgewise so in response, I put the phone down. Normally they do not call back. Once I received a phone call after putting the phone down on them, and was literally screamed at for being rude and inconsiderate, this coming from the person who does not allow someone to speak and does not comply with requests!! She continued to scream that if I dared to put the phone down on her again, she will tell the legal department, so I did, she called back yet again and continued her tirade.

Last week I received a call from someone from their company asking me if they could have a few minutes of my time so they can offer me a business listing. I said NO and she tried to continue speaking, she then wouldn't allow me to get another word in to decline her offer, so I had to put the phone down on her.

Please do not EVER deal with these people and do NOT accept any documents from them!! A legitimate company will always explain themselves when calling and will always afford the client every opportunity to dissolve any contract.