I worked for this company several years ago when they were in Peoria, IL.
If they call you for anything other than Magazine Collections then if it is your debt I suggest you pay if you have the means to do so.
Now down to the gritty.
If they call you in regards to a Magazine Debt DO NOT PAY. Don't pay even if it is your debt. They have no SSN's on these accounts. Half the time they are calling the wrong people. They CAN NOT report this on your credit report nor can they sue you the debt. There is absolutely nothing they can do to force you to pay or to hurt your credit.
To get them to stop calling you tell them when they call you that you dispute the debt and request validation. They won't be able to provide the validation so they should stop calling you although they probably won't. If the do stop they will send you letters constantly.
To get every collection effort to stop simply write them a Cease and Desist letter. Simply giving your name and the account number they have and saying Cease and Desist any and all further collection activities on your account will suffice. However, there are many examples online of Cease and Desist letters if you want help. *Send the letter Certified Mail*
If they continue to contact you non-stop after you have the above then you can simply speak with a Consumer Attorney and each violation is a min $1000 in your pocket.
Be sure to keep details of any and all correspondence they have had with you even phone calls. Their calls are recorded and if they don't record it or "lose" the recording it is your work against theirs and yours is stronger against a Collection Agency.
If they say anything about your "Credit File" that is implying Credit Report and since they can't report Magazine debts then this would also be a violation of Federal Law and $1000 in your pocket.
If they imply any legal actions against you in any way over Magazine Debts that would be another 1 or 2 violations and keep adding the $1000 to your pocket for all of these things.
There are numerous other violations that can garner you even more money.
Bottom line is you do not need to pay these magazine debts no matter what. There are also numerous ways to make money off of this company by letting them Violate Federal Law. Speak with an attorney and fill them in and see what you can do. Maybe you and your attorney will make a bit of money just by sending them a letter. They rarely fight these and attorneys can get you great sums of money because both your attorney and the collection agency knows that there is little benefit for the agency to go to court fighting.
For 1. If they fight it it becomes public. 2. They will most likely lose and have to pay more than if they settled with your attorney.
Normally just a letter from your attorney threatening suit for 10-20 thousand dollars will get you several thousand in a settlement with your attorney to not go to court.
Just an FYI they moved to Georgia because of violations and investigations by the FTC.
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