[mpkanuri]

Not sure if this is the right forum but here goes.

I have been getting these calls on my cell phone from a collection agency in Chicago, Leading Edge Recovery Solutions, for a non-existent debt. A recoded message purporting to be a Jacob Weinstein (Oh, that's just a recording, said a company rep) says he has an important matter to discuss and asks me to call an 800 number and that "this is not a sales call". Each time I call them they tell me my cell number (where they leave all these messages) is not in their system, they check my home number and tell me it is not in their system and then they check my last name and say it is not in their system. I may not be in their system for debts, but I am certainly in their auto-dialer's system and they haven't lifted a finger to get my number out of there.

They are rude, obnoxious and uncivilised, which apparently is the norm for debt collectors from what I have been reading on the internet. The last time I asked for a manager and told him that I was recording the call and he was all politeness. And then there were these two calls from a gruff name-less voice saying "you must call back today". I would never believe it if you said that you can somehow convey an "or else" just by intonation. But this guy manages it and I've saved the message.

In any case, I've told them each time to take my number off their calling list but to no avail. I thought of sending a cease and desist letter for which there are many samples online, but those are all for instances where they have tried to collect some debt. In my case - they haven't tried to collect anything because I am "not in the system". Am at my wits end. Short of changing my telephone number (which I refuse to do - I don't see why I should change myself or my life to accomodate the harassment of an irresponsible entity), I have filed a complaint at the FTC's Do Not Call site (where I am already registered) and plan to make one complaint for each instance. The FTC also does say it does not deal with individual complaints but gathers data to verify patterns or some such gobbledygook.

Can anyone suggest what I can do? (Please do not ask me to change my phone number - that's a cop out and this is still a free country and I refuse to be badgered in this manner.)

Thanks in advance!

[aaron]

Perhaps a consumer complaint with the Illinois Attorney General's Office?