HE spotted an error in his company information in the document which he thought was from Yellow Pages.
Mr Simon Quek, 52, owns an audio records store but the document listed his business as 'communication, advertising and media'.
He wanted to amend the error, sign the document and then fax it back to the company.
But the document, which he received on 1 Apr, wasn't from Yellow Pages. And if he had endorsed it then, he would have to pay over $4,250 for a two-year advertisement contract with Asian Business Directories (ABD), something which he did not ask for.
While Mr Quek didn't read the document carefully, he did the right thing by showing it to his brother-in-law, Mr Wee Cheeh Eng, a 65-year-old retiree, who remembered reading previous media reports on disputes related to some business directory.
Yellow Pages provides simple listings for free and charge only for display advertisements, while ABD charges for any listing.
On 17 Mar, ABD published an apology to Yellow Pages in The Straits Times for 'having infringed their copyright in the Yellow Pages directories' and declared that they are not related to the latter.
Yet, three weeks after the apology was published, Mr Wee called The New Paper, complaining that his brother-in-law received documents from the company.
Mr Wee said: 'How can a business deal be sealed by just faxing a document?'
MATTER CLOSED
When contacted, ABD's assistant general manager, Mr Benjamin Koh, said its recent apology had nothing to do with the similarities of the two companies' logos, publication names and business directories.
Ms Sharon Liew, Yellow Pages' marketing communications manager, said the company had accepted the apology and considered the matter closed.
The Straits Times reported that Case and the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore have received at least 53 complaints since ABD's registration in mid-2005.
Case executive director Seah Seng Choon told The New Paper it has received three enquiries on the matter since the published apology.
If companies have already bought ad space in ABD and they are unhappy, they could turn to the Small Claims Tribunal.
Mr Koh noted that ABD was getting only 90 complaints a month about mistaken identity, from the 30,000 mailers it sends every month.
Mr Koh said: 'If they don't want to buy the ad and just want to amend their company details, they can just amend it on the document, but not sign it, and fax it back to us. This way, they won't be charged any fees.'
But Mr Wee feels that business owners may still unknowingly commit themselves.
He said: 'There're enough complaints and media coverage for something more to be done.'
