I signed this fax about 18 months ago now, and have had many faxes (wasting my paper only..!), and letters. The last one came just yesterday..

To be honest, i just smile to myself now as i tear them in half and throw them in the bin without even bothering to open them anymore, and just laugh at their costs in wasted postage..

These guys cannot chase you for payment as they are acting illegally, so i hope you all can relax also as i now do.

Let them send their letters and faxes and silly demands. My bin is plenty large enough..

Keep smiling folks..

I recieved 1-st and last reminder, several calls from UNNOWN telephone # (they are hide their telephone #) to USA.

Then I answered their – take a flag in hands and go with the shady deal. Then they have asked again – how to take flag?. I have answered them – very simply and then they have taken offence, having told that I roughly speak with them, but have ceased to solicit.

I commented on Feb 3rd about my first experience. After the ‘Final Reminder’ from the Debt collection agency I did not receive any more letter.

Spam.. Spam…

Rajiv – London

We also signed on this fake agreement. The letters were so small that no one couldn’t decipher what was in this agreement. Now we are getting letters with final notice for the payment. Some lady , name herself Alexandra, ( without surname ) is calling and demands this payment, we’ve expalained that we are not going to pay this contract, Than she cut the phone. Thank you for informing, let’s wait and see….
Alina , Israel 21.4.2011

WE have deal with the INTERNATIONALl FRAUD, threats and extortion.

Contact to INTERPOL – http://interpol.com/

=Alexander

In fact in police language it’s called HARASSMENT or CRIME RACKET.

I call up all to make this step and then we shall destroy these speculators who should sit in prison.

=Alexander.

I am from Mexico

I have not made any payment because since the beginning I felt something was wrong but…

I have decided to ignore them.

Please comment.

I have friend, Who has same problem and He informed me on – Thanks God I found this forum otherwise he was about to pay this because he is also getting final notice. I wish these fraud people soon get punished !! !! This is so disgusted that these people make people fool.

I suggest that no one never pay these invoices.

Said

Rajiv – London

I also singed the form some months ago. These guys are very persistent in claiming the money, but im sure the’ll give up once, right now ive received the first letter from Waldberg & Hirsch collectors. At first the letter looks very official, but the design is clearly from the same designer as the world bussiness guide design and the name down on the letter “K. Van Ruler” Looks like a fake dutch name to me (im Dutch myself, working in Spain)

I’ve called them on their dutch number, but they dont speak a word dutch, so i guess this line is being forwarded to another country.

I think that not paying is the only option, i trust they will give up eventually.

But get this:
Our marketing and salesperson read the fine print and was very careful NOT to sign the “order.” We’ve still been receiving invoices and threatening emails.

When we asked to see the signed copy of the order, they emailed us the form, and THEY HAD SIGNED IT. The date didn’t match the handwriting on the rest of the form, and the signature was nothing like hers.

When we called them on this, they went from claiming that she had obviously signed it in error, but oh-well-too-bad now you owe us 1100 Euro, to it doesn’t actually matter if the person who signed this form was authorized. If someone signed it on behalf of your company, it’s still legally binding. So, if someone who isn’t affiliated with our company signed an order for us, why don’t they just pull the info and sign them all themselves, and cut out the middle man? I’ve emailed several times telling them to do their worst, because it will never stand up in court and we’re not paying them. We’ve also blocked their fax number.

I’ve demanded contact info for their “collections agency” but they always sidestep the question…

It has been suggested by experienced lawyers here that we should all perhaps consider a “Class Action” in court as victims in this scam as perhaps a legal firm may be prepared to take on a “no win, no fee” case. It doesn’t mean that we have to but it could be a possible option later on as they seem to have bought a lot of grief to a many honest, hard working business people.

As far as taking any of us to court, they would need to start the legal process through each country’s OWN LEGAL JURISDICTION which would prove to be extremely costly to them.

Otherwise, now that I know who and what they are, I can now sit back like the rest of you and see what transpires as they are most definately NOT going to get a red cent out of me.

Reading through all these comments has reassured me. Yep, I was suckered into signing and have had one phone call and a “second demand”. I had gone as far as starting to pay a portion when sense struck and I dashed back to the bank and cancelled the payment. I have no intention of paying them now that I know who they are and what they have been doing. Funnily enough, since I relayed to them a conversation I had with a solicitor, I haven’t heard from them since Friday. I am going to compile more stuff together and threaten them with a counter law-suit.

Thank you ALL for your comments and to others who fell for it, let’s all learn from this. NEVER sign anything again without reading the small print. Best lesson I have learnt as a brand new business owner!

A

These people cannot win and the best defense is to duplicate the advice about them in as many palces as possibe. Please reproduce the information on your Blogs Etc. You can still access it via Google Cache

http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:1eXx6C9T6rQJ:www.stopecg.org/eu_company_directory.htm+eucompanydirectory&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk

When blogging the info please link to the original page
http://www.stopecg.org/eu_company_directory.htm
and the Google cache
with a note that it is kept up to date when not under attack

Please reproduce parts of the page rather than the entirety and add a note that you are doing this to defeat attempts by online criminals to silence websites that criticise directory scams

Thanks,
Jules

I recently received a phonecall from someone asking if I had paid the European city guide any money as my company is listed in it. The person who called me was investigating this company as he too had received correspondence from them.

I explained that I have received many such letters from various European guides over the years and have never paid any of them a penny.

Upon reading this site and others I must say I am surprised at how many people have fallen for the tactics of these individuals. I have received many requests for payements for adverts I have never authorised and requests to update my address details. Within seconds of reading these documents I know they are a scam and I have not signed anything or filled out any details on any forms. I must say I have not had any for a while but my tactic has always been as follows and it seems to work.

Open the letter and regardless of whether it is an invoice or a request for updated information proceed as follows. Obtain a black marker pen and write in large letters diagonally across the form “FUCK OFF”

On some ocassions I have also been daring and included other expletives like, “WANKERS” “CUNTS” “PRICKS” and generally whatever comes to my mind first.

If there is a reply envelope put the document in it and do not affix a stamp so that the recipient has to pay to obtain it from the post office. Addtionaly write on the outside of the envelope “urgent payment documents enclosed”

If there is no reply envelope then simply reseal the envelope and write return to sender on the envelope and circle the return address to assist the post office.

I personally have found this method to be 100% effective.

Regards

Garry

At the foot of the proceedings it says this:

MEPs also regret that Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market does not cover business-to-business transactions and that Member States appear reluctant to extend its scope. They request the Commission to report by December 2009 on the feasibility and possible consequences of extending the scope of Directive 2005/29/EC to cover business-to-business contracts, based on the Austrian model, in a way that specifically prohibits advertising in business directories unless prospective clients are unequivocally and by clear and graphic means informed that such advertisement is solely an offer for a contract against payment.

Parliament welcomes the measures taken by several Member States including Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom, but especially Austria, in attempting to prohibit misleading business directories.

It considers, however, that these efforts remain insufficient and that there is still a need for the coordination of control at an international level.

The European Commission is invited to:

- step up efforts, in full cooperation with national and European business representative organisations, to raise awareness of this problem so that more people are informed and empowered to avoid misleading advertising which can lure them into unwanted advertising contracts;

- address the problem of business scams in the context of its “Small Business Act for Europe” initiative, and to engage with the Enterprise Europe Network, the SOLVIT Network and relevant DG portals;

- develop best-practice guidelines for national enforcement agencies which may be followed when cases of misleading advertising are brought to their attention;

- pursue international cooperation with third countries and with the competent international organisations so that misleading business-directory companies based in third countries do not cause harm to businesses based in the EU.

Member States are urged to ensure that victims of misleading advertising have a clearly identifiable national authority to which they can make a complaint and from which they can seek a remedy even in cases where the victims of misleading advertising are businesses.

Lastly, Parliament welcomes the efforts made by business organisations to raise awareness among their members. It expresses concern that some of these organisations have consequently been pursued through the courts by the misleading business-directory companies specified in their awareness-raising activities on the basis of alleged defamation or similar accusations.

Read the whole thing, it’s very interesting.

I looked up on the net to see what other businesses were listed at the address, it’s called the ‘Africa Centre’ for those interested. I called one of the businesses as I wanted to know if the collections agency were physically located in that building. Naturally it’s a business centre and that’s only where their mail goes. I couldn’t get the forwarding address but did try. I guess this further goes to add that this ‘collections agency’ is also a hoax! Like the advice on this blog, I’m in the process of putting together a file to forward to all of the authorities mentioned. I can’t believe that people can be this sick, shame on you WBD and whatever other name you decide to go by today (know you would be reading this blog!).

We were so unfortunate as to sign this scam a couple of years ago (being named NovaChannel at that time) :o( … and they kept threathning us with debt-collectors, lawsuits et al.

We did, however, in return threathen them with a lawsuit after having consulted our legal advisor, being certain that we could have dragged them to court locally for fraud … part of the rather lengthy letters is copied in here for your notice:

It is considered fraud, – a criminal offence -, if an attempt is made to obtain economical gains by means of contracts or agreements containing misleading information, and as the “place of jurisdiction” issue is part of the general misleading information, any kind of legal action on your part will be counteractioned with legal claims at Domestic Court, including, but not limited to, harassment, attempted fraud and unauthorized use of Intellectual Property, resulting in damage to our business

… they fell quiet and we never heard from them .. except for new “invitations” to join :o)

So, I agree, never pay, but counteract with lawsuits based on fraud and scam if necessary, and take steps towards the EU body, governing these issues.

Bunch of losers will fade away if everyone just ignores them.

Rgds
Richard

I will not repeat myself by writing the same sad story… I fell for it by their misleading form and after searching the internet decided not to pay anything to them!
I am still in the beginning of their ‘procedure’ and have only received a couple reminders for settlement so far.
Hope to get rid of these bastards soon, as with their actions they ruin the reputation of internet as valid information mean.

Greetings from Greece,
Eftichis

PS. I will visit your blog regularly for any updates on the issue, so please do keep us informed !

I’ve decided not to pay anything and joined the Petition of EU Parliament.

Btw. I asked them to send company details in order to verify whom I’m paying to – and they answered me with a “automatic” response, that I have to pay. I’m still receiving notifications.

I think, that this “company” has to be placed on blacklists for spam filters. I really don’t understand why it isn’t already there.

Bye and do not pay to those bastards! There is no VAT number, so you can’t pay it without it! IMHO the invoice is invalid!

Jaj

Please help me!!!
If it is possible send to me the coordinates of Organization I can refer for legal advice.
Paulina Miteva

I just wanted to let you know that this scam operation has now targeted Canadians. I work for a government facility and received an “address change” form in the mail from NovaChannel AG. I signed it and sent it back since we do get a lot of free advertising for our facility. The next day I received another form for another of our locations, and this time I read the fine print. I realized my mistake and wrote an e-mail (through the NovaChannel Website) and then sent a letter (well within the ’10 day cooling off period’). Within weeks the invoices started to arrive. I sent another letter to complain that it should have been cancelled, but NCAG stated that they hadn’t received my cancellation letters. I was so nervous about signing a document and committing my company to a debt not authorized, I actually considered paying it personally in hopes that they would go away quietly. Thankfully I checked the company name on the internet and discovered this scam. I hope that this company is stopped and no one actually pays to keep themselves out of trouble with their employers.

today EUBG visited our web site. I checked where the company visited from. they are located and registered in Romania.

org-name: SC EU Business Services SRL
org-type: OTHER
address: Str. 1 Decembrie, nr. 43
address: Timisoara Timis
address: Romania
phone: +40.256201644
fax-no: +40.256201644
e-mail: carmen@eucompanydirectory.com

Also if you check eurobusinessguide.net, you will see that the web site is also registered in Romania.

We signed the form and we were taking a lot of mail about payment. When we signed the form we can’t see the 990€ payment. It is written very small letters.

When we take the mails we are afraid of it. Then we talked our lawyers. They find a lot of complaind about EU Business Guide and we make a decision that we don’t pay money. They try to deceive companies and this is illegal.

We found a explanation by Turkish Embassy of Lahey. They said that they took many many complaints about Eu Business Guide. And then they tried to communicate the company many times but they couldn’t. They had searched the company in Holland trade registers but couldn’t find the company. And of that, they are warning to companies for “Not to paying money to EU Business Guide”.

Sorry for my English. Be happy…

this should teach them a lesson

I’m from England- I fell for this scam and have been recieving invoices since December for 990 Euros, I have just received a ‘Final Demand’ and a threat to pass the debt onto Waldberg & Hirsch.
I contacted my local European Member of Parliament back in December who advised me to ignore all correspondence and not pay! There is movement in parliament regarding this issue but there is little they can legally do to stop them (apparently).

Chrissy,

Best regards,
Nomija

I want to inform you, that after my letter to Waldberg /Hirsch Global Collections, allready month no letters, but today I have received by post letter from NovaChannel AG, TOURISM GUIDE. I think the same company -different name.
My advice – simply ignore.
Best regards,

Seek legal advice if you are concerned. If it were me, and I obviously cant and don’t give legal advice, I’d ignore the invoice and the subsequent follow-up demands from their so-called debt collectors.

Of course that’s just me

Rgds
Richard

I have also problem with this company, yesterday they sent me an invoice to pay 990 EUR. I wrote them e-mail to say that it’s unfair, and their reply was to oblige our company to pay it! They just let me know that it is signed with text about 990 EUR included (small letters). Of course, it is a psychological trick: to let you know about “updating free of charge” and then to make you not reading 5 lines of small letters… I am not going to pay it, on the invoice they even don’t put any VAT EU number. They give you only bank account and adress, it is not a valid invoice!

What about your suggestions? Have you ever heard about any courts with this company? I suppose this company cannot win any court, any case…

Regards for all of you!
Kasia

@Mikhail – I cant give any legal advice. If I were in a similar position I would rip up their invoice, and simply ignore all further correspondence with them, including any threats from their so-called ‘debt collection’ agency.

That’s me however. You should take appropriate advice if this concerns you.

Rgds
Richard

Our compay has got an invoce from the company (990 euro).
What is your advice?
Can they do any legal action against our company if we don’t pay the invoce?

Mikhail

[Edit by Admin - sorry Mikhail, I removed one small sentence from your comment as I have to be careful what I publish on my blog]

Further to my email to you back in Aug 07, I have contacted the European Parliament to denounce this company. It took months before I got a reply from them stating that my company has been added amongs the many companies complaining.

I would suggest that people direct themselves directly to the European Parliament, Petition number 45/2006

Kind regards and thanks,

Lina De Castro

Seek legal advice if you are very concerned, but if it was me I’d simply ignore all correspondence with them. That’s not advice legal though.

http://www.stopecg.org/ is a very great resource offering advice also.

Rgds
Richard

We are also quite new to their scam…but we are going to ignore them tooo! I actually talked to our authorities here in Greece and they told me that they can’t do anything about it from there they have to come to your country in order to take legal actions! So that quite impossible…since it’s just not worth 1124 Euros!!!

After ignoring them and saying that I will never pay, they simply gave up. They even started new campaign by sending promo emails to new and old clients (my email was included). It just leads me to conclusion that EBG are just ordinary crooks and they look to cross as many people as they can. I am sure they will never send collectors anywhere, specially not in India.
Simply – everyone should ignore them.

Dragan