Hey jaba122, I just recently went through the same thing. I just bought a new house and was forced to get a land line for the first time in years. It turns out that my company provided blackberry gets like zero signal in my new house. Since I am on call sometimes and work from home 3/5 days, relying solely on my blackberry for business was no longer an option.

So we signed up for a new Rogers home phone. I swear the tech was barely in his van and down the street when the phone rang and surprised the heck out of me. Who in the world could be calling? Turns out it was the first in very, very many calls from collection agencies for a long line of previous owners of this number that still owed money. At first I thought it was easy to deal with and politely told them that I had just had this number assigned and that neither I, nor my wife, are the person they are calling for. Simple, case closed, or so I thought.

The calls continued to come day in and day out for various different names. Oh yes, they will tell you that they will "update their contact records" and assure you that no further calls will be made. Hmpf, well you can guess how that ends!

Long story short, we just changed the number. We called Rogers and requested a new number. To date, which is only admittedly 4 days, we've only had one call from a collection agency. I'm not feeling very encouraged. One call will undoubtedly lead to more. I think our next, and only option, is to DEMAND a non-recycled number from our provider, Rogers. And if they cannot GUARANTEE that our next number is not a recycled one, then we simply change ALL of our services over to Bell.

I guess my only message to you is not what you want to hear. Changing your number to a non-recycled one, if that's even possible, we'll see, may be the best way to avoid these calls. A cease and desist may help, I don't know, but I do know that once an agency has your number as a contact number they will call and call. And even if that agency stops calling, the next agency that buys up that debt will start calling you. Once your number gets on a credit file as the last contact number, you can bet everything on the fact that you will never be able to dodge those calls. My advice, ditch the number, post haste!

I don't know about you, but I personally do not have the time or inclination to file a cease and desist to every collection agency or "debt management" company that calls. It seems to me that I would be spending way more time than I should filing these C&D orders than I would updating my business contacts. Your case is probably different, but for me, I just update the company directory and I'm done. Much easier than sending a letter to every vulture out there that wants to contact me simply because my number used to be owned by a long line of debtors. You send a letter to one agency, then the debt moves to another one, then you have to send even more letters. It seems easier to just nip it in the bud and change the number.

Go here and D/L my Cease and Desist template that's generic for all of Canada:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/47236056/Cease-and-Desist-letter-for-Canadian-residents

Tweak it to your specific situation and then fax it in to those goons.

Go to your local electronics store ( The Source, Future Shop, Best Buy ) and purchase an audio unit ( about half the size of your computer mouse ) and attach it to your telephone. When the phone rings, it will announce the phone number of the caller. If you don't recognize the phone number or don't want to answer the call, then ignore the phone call. If you are curious about the call, do a reverse call lookup. If you can't locate or determine who called, the call wasn't that important. If the caller wants you that badly, they can write you a letter, send you a fax or e-mail you.

Several years ago, I purchased such a device from the CNIB ( Canadian National Institute for the Blind ) because I am legally blind, and it works terrific. I can hear the audio anywhere in my apartment and if I don't want to answer the phone, I ignore the call. It's almost like having your own private secretary who takes your calls when you can't or don't want to.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

Well you do have a few options.

You can file a complaint with your provincial consumer services against all the agencies.
You can send a cease and desist letter or some sort of letter from a lawyer telling them to stop calling or else you will sue them for loss of revenue for your business.

Or what you suggested, disconnect your number but that may not work since it will put a big ding on your business.

Bought a new house, got a new phone number. Turns out the number was owned by some guy that owes everybody everything. I have explained to different collection agencies over and over again that I am not the person they are looking for. I explain the phone number issue. They tell me there will be no more calls yet after call them multiple times, I am still on everyones automated calling list. Now I have TCR bugging the hell out of me with private name and number display and a threatening message. Any suggestions? I'd like to change my phone number but it's been used over a year now for my home based business. Obviously I am hesitant about changing it although I am tempted. Talk about BS!