I used whitepages to get in contact with some of my old friends. I started with just a name. The site asked me questions to determine whom on the list of people with that name was the one I was looking for. It included there age and family members in order to help me identify them. That was extremely useful and I found them. The phone numbers were old and either deactivated or connected to a new owner of that number. The address was current which eventually enabled my entry in contact once again. So it served my purpose in trying it.
I signed up for the premium trial of just a dollar. Later they charged me for the premium version when the trial ended. I sent an email the same day I saw the charge and was extremely pleased to receive a response in under an hour time. Extremely fast and the customer service helped me out with the situation immediately. I have never had such a quick and helpful response from customer service before.
Summing everything up, they provide the service the market. It is just public records and not private phone company records which is sad but understandable. But if you have any concerns you can rest assured that they will do their best in an extremely timely manner to apply.