A hard time with Easy Pages

Business owner to file complaint

By FRITZ MAYER

REGION — Susan Hamlin is fed up with the company that publishes the Easy Pages phone book in Sullivan County. Hamlin, who is president of Hamlin Construction and president of the Board of the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce, gave the company $1,100 in November 2006 for an ad that would appear in the 2007/08 directory.

In November 2007, she called to ask when the directory would be published. She was told it would be coming out in January 2008. It’s the end of July and the directories are still not out. Hamlin said she is now in the process of filing a complaint with the New York State Attorney General.

What’s the reason for the delay?

In an email to River Reporter assistant publisher Danielle Gaebel, Jim Mack, who is employed with Blue Moon Publishing, which owns Easy Pages, said the lengthy delay was because the directory has been with the printer for quite a while because the printer needs “to order an odd roll size to complete the printing of our directory.”

In a phone interview, Mack said the company was small and lost some sales staff. He also said the economy was tougher than expected and it was more difficult to sell ads than had been anticipated. He added, however, that the phone book should be available in a few weeks.

The River Reporter has received several complaints about the directory, and is listed on the Easy Pages website as a “partner.” Gaebel said, “The River Reporter provided some community content for the Easy Pages directory; we had nothing to do with any other part of the business. We are disappointed with their behavior.”

So is Terri Hess, president and CEO of the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce. She urged other business owners with the same experience to file complaints.

And the complaints won’t just be coming in from Sullivan County. Blue Moon Publishing prints directories for Pike County, Wayne County, Pocono Mountains/Monroe County, Slate Belt/Nazareth Area in Pennsylvania, as well as a directory for Port Jervis, NY.

The Pike County Chamber of Commerce has received numerous complaints regarding the company, as did the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce where, though editions for the year 2007/08 did come out, they came out months late.

Annetta DeYoung, the former executive director of the Wayne chamber said that although last year the directories were eventually printed and delivered, “they were full of errors.” She said that surprised her because “the first one was so wonderful.”

Mack said the Wayne and Pike directories for 2008/09 should be out in a month or so.

A complaint form for the NYS attorney general can obtained at www.oag.state.ny.us/complaints/pdfs/internet_complaint.pdf, or by calling 212/416-8433.