An invoice or solicitation? Such can be a key distinction when you are a consumer and receive a form in your mailbox, especially when it is from a seemingly familiar vendor like the Yellow Pages. Making sure the distinction is clear is also important for businesses, which can run afoul of consumer protection laws. US-Yellow, a yellow page directory publisher, found this out the hard way. Florida, which knows a thing or two about confusing forms, alleged US-Yellow deceived consumers by mailing them solicitations for a renewal notice, which consumers mistakenly believed were invoices. Florida law requires any commercial solicitation which could reasonably be interpreted as an invoice to include, in 30 point boldfaced type, a warning stating “This is a solicitation for the order of goods or services, and you are under no obligation to make payment unless you accept the offer contained herein.” The US-Yellow solicitation lacked such a disclaimer, as seen above. The company settled with the state, and thus has to reimburse deceived customers and correct its mailings.
Telephone directories appear to be an industry ripe with deception. Florida has joined with several other states in cracking down on the deception. Part of the problem is that the walking fingers logo is not trademarked. Thus, while any telephone directory can use the familiar logo, it may also lead to companies deceiving customers into buying or advertising in unfamiliar telephone directories.
