Last year C & F Removals from Derby took a Call Counter GEO number through Yell.com (now called Hibu plc) to be displayed on its website.

 Unfortunately, Yell did not activate the number so, while Paul Clarke, the company’s Managing Director, sat waiting for the phone to ring, nothing happened.  Paul, assuming it was just the bad trading conditions, continued to wait.

By the time Paul realised the problem, six months had passed and he had lost around 70% of his expected business.  Visitors to his website had remained healthy, but he didn’t receive any calls.  In a phone call to The Mover, Paul explained that the situation had become so difficult, he was no longer able to continue in business.  It appears, therefore, that a blunder by Yell.com had sent him bust.

The Mover contacted the Hibu press office on Paul’s behalf for a comment.  Demelza Fryer-Saxby, Senior Manager, UK Communications for Hibu said: “I believe the call counter number was made inactive because of a contract issue.  We would really like to continue our customer service conversation with Mr. Clark to help resolve the issue.”

The Mover has put the two parties together, however, judging by the previous conversation with Paul, it’s all come a bit late. 

The Call Counter GEO numbers are a useful service that logs all calls made to the number and shows exactly how many calls were made to each Yell.com advert.  This allows companies to identify which adverts work best.

Movers are advised that, should they take out Call Counter GEO numbers through Hibu, to check frequently that they are working.  This is a wise precaution with any critical numbers especially where regional numbers are referred to a central office.