Continue reading »]]> In moving forward, I have “retired” the scam-busting website, CobraCollectionScam.com.  While the site has been “retired”, it will not be deactivated or shutdown.  “Retired” simply means no effort, attention, energy, or thought will go into that website and the situation it reported on.

There is lot of negativity related to that site that is no longer relevent or pertinent to me.  And since it was a volunteer “public service” project in the first place, I have decided I have done more than my part.  The ultimate resolution of that situation will be in the hands of the Columbus Police Department and the follow-through of the plaintiffs.

It was an accidental project that had its purpose earlier this year.  Now it’s time is at an end.  If an arrest or prosecution is made by law enforcement, then I will revisit updating the site.  For now, there is nothing more to be done.

Continue reading »]]>  It appears persistence and momentum does pay off.  WRBL News 3 finally paid attention to the Cobra Collection scam story on June 14, 2007.  However, they called it the “Cobra Collection Controversy“.  Boy, is that an understatement.  I liked WTVM’s title much better because it was more bold but also accurate.  In their broadcasts, they titled it a “business scam” and “collection scam”.

I don’t really know how the process of getting a local story on-air at all.  I have managed to stumble my way through the process a few times but it has always been a chaotic process.  But I am happy Janice Park of WRBL finally caught wind of it and decided to move on it.

She said my email sounded like I was angry with them (WRBL).  Actually, I was more frustrated because I didn’t understand why I got a poor response.  I thought there was so much put together and the client accounts of $6 million would be large enough.

I was thinking to myself, does Cobra Collections have have to blow up a building or the client accounts to reach $10 million to make the news?  If it wasn’t going to be a good story, why not? I simply wanted to know.

Anyhow, after scrambling around making calls, I provided Janice Park a list of people who would appear on camera to talk.  Steve Klemetti of Central Print & Signs and Nancy Wilhite of Dr. Jay Brodwyn’s office were both willing to help the cause.  I was grateful and they did a fantastic job.

In my interview with WRBL, I attempted to be concise.  As always, it was interesting to see what they would choose to air.  I looked like hell after standing in the sun sweating while talking to the cameraman.  But we finally came into my air-conditioned private office and knocked out the interview.

The June 14, 6pm airing was nice clocking at nearly 3 minutes, however the 11pm airing was a bit more disappointing.  Nevertheless, it was far more than we were getting before.  You could see my website CobraCollectionScam.com in the news story.

I asked Janice Park to be straight with me after I thanked her.  I said if this piece was done and did not warrant an update, I would not supply her any new information.  I had said the same thing to Zaneta Lowe of WTVM.  Fortunately, both reporters were open to updates.  So, for now, I have a direct line and email to the two reporters if there are any significant developments.

If any of you want to see the WRBL news story, you can see the video on WRBL.com and CobraCollectionScam.com.

Continue reading »]]> When I first became a publisher and author years ago, my thoughts centered around producing books, manuals, and audio programs.  As the publisher of Ascend Beyond Publishing, I would focus on real estate investing and entrepreneurship. 

For years, nearly no one new about my publishing endeavors as I did not feel they were relevant nor of interest to the local Columbus GA / Phenix City AL market.  As such, the majority of my sales are done online through Amazon, eBay, and my own online store.  Practically, no customers are from Columbus, GA.  If there are many customers in Georgia, they certainly don’t come to my online store often, they must go through Amazon.  But I don’t mind, a sale is a sale.  And if the order goes through them, I don’t have to deal with the hassles of book fulfillment.

However, the whole Cobra Collection Agency scam story has forced me as both a publisher and author into a direction I could never have expected.  I would be doing work normally associated with journalists such as investigative reporting, fact-checking, writing editorials, and consumer advocate.

Aside from a minor elective I took in high school 23 years ago, I have no formal training whatsoever in journalism.  However, I did remember a few basic rules and guidelines.  Aside from that, I have had to learn on the fly.

It is gratifying to hear compliments from my friend, Jerry Bolt, and others who regularly read CobraCollectionScam.com.  This whole thing is strictly a local community issue.  I have traditionally never focused my writings locally because I have, as a general rule, tried to stay anonymous.  All of that seems to have changed in the last couple of weeks.

Nearly every day, a few people are either leaving me phone messages, faxes, or emails.  They are either other businesses or debtors.  I get calls and interruptions to my business at inopportune moments but I do my best to accomodate people who are upset and need help.  Simultaneously, I am interviewing people, corroborating information, and organizing the mass in my mind.

I have worked for hours on this case with no financial compensation.  I have to admit, it gets mentally draining.

I am trying to be responsible and powerfully effective.  I have to decide what is the right thing to say publicly and things that I must keep to myself.  I second guess myself all the time because I am trying to anticipate the moves of someone who I now regard as a criminal and has very little moral fiber.  I am also trying to find out what crucial piece of the puzzle needs to be found to try to advance this case.

And so as the Publisher and head author for Ascend Beyond Publishing, I feel like I am now a member of the press except that I am simply covering a single story.  And I know there are a small but hard-core group of people following CobraCollectionScam.com daily.

The single blog post I wrote months ago became several blog posts.  Then it became an information webpage.  Then an information website.  Now, I regard CobraCollectionScam.com as the “go to” source and authority on this case.  It has become an online news source focused on one story, the Cobra Collection Agency scam.

With that revelation, I am more than a publisher.  I feel like I am now getting a taste of what it is like to be a member of the press and news media.  I have become a journalist-of-sorts, an investigative reporter-of-sorts, and editorial writer-of-sorts.  I have no formal credentials and yet here I am doing the job with no financial compensation whatseover.  In fact, it is actually costing me time, energy, and some money.

However, maybe when this is all over (hopefully very soon), I will have garnered some goodwill and  respect from a whole bunch of new friends and acquaintances.

I have most certainly had to live up to the namesake of my publishing company, Ascend Beyond Publishing.  Yeah, baby, that is certainly what had to happen to make CobraCollectionScam.com a powerful news tool.

Continue reading »]]> Zaneta Lowe has quickly followed up on the heels of her June 1, 2007 story on Janice Ledden and the Cobra Collections story by doing a revisit and expansion of the original story.

In today’s story, Zaneta Lowe interviewed a previous landlord of Cobra Collections.  Additionally, she recapped the previous story while introducing my newest website, CobraCollectionScam.com.  You can view the newsclip on that site.

CobraCollectionScam.com continues to grow with the surge of new reports and information coming in.  The stories has helped trigger 3 ex-employees to read the website and come forward.

Zaneta has once again done a great service to the local business community.

Continue reading »]]> I have to tell you, I am really tired.

The onslaught of information being submitted for CobraCollectionScam.com has taken a significant amount of my time this past week.

I obviously am not required to volunteer my time to sort, organize, and report the new Cobra Collection Agency and Janice Ledden information being submitted to me.  However, I also realize very few people have the flexibility of time, the skills, the means, and the internal fortitude to commit to this course of action.

For years, I have lived and worked in Columbus, GA relatively anonymously.  And now, I find myself in a more visible position in the local area.  Not to mislead anyone to think that I am “famous” locally, but I have met and interacted with more new local people this past week than I have in 3-4 years time!

I think (and hope) I will soon hit a stopping point where I do not have to continually update information.  I believe I have captured most of the important background information but new information and stories could be submitted.

The upside to all of this is that I do not think my time is being wasted.  This new website has shot to the first page within Google on various search names and phrases within a few days.  Obviously, this blog has gathered a lot more local interest than it ever has before.

Sure, I don’t mind being better known but for leading the charge on scam-busting?  That will be an interesting title to add to my resume.

Continue reading »]]> With the volume information that is now coming in from various sources around the Columbus GA area, I had to launch a dedicated website appropriately named CobraCollectionScam.com.  Interestingly, I did not come up with the word “scam”.  I avoided the word because I felt it was too “negative”.  But in light of a recent wave of new information and WTVM calling the story a “collection scam”, I thought it was appropriate.

All the content of Cobra Collection Information Page will be moved to CobraCollectionScam.com.

A new person, Jerry Bolt (with some strong feelings regarding this case), surfaced last night and contacted me by email with some startling and revealing information on this case.  I have also spoken to Jerry on the phone.  I can confidently say that based on Jerry’s information alone, the information content will double in size.  That necessitated the launch of the new website CobraCollectionScam.com.  However, I will not recklessly post the information without some degree of fact-checking and verification.

Continue reading »]]> Two days ago local TV station WTVM Channel 9 got wind of the brewing Cobra Collections story here in the Columbus GA area.  Zaneta Lowe, reporter for WTVM, paid a visit to Janice Ledden and several “victimized” business customers.  I was one of those unhappy business customers.  I was informed that a fellow business associate, Lisa Mize, of Coldwell Banker Kennon, Parker, Duncan, & Key’s Rental Department, passed my name along as the keeper of the Cobra Collection Agency web page.

Zaneta Lowe left a message for me yesterday morning.  I returned her call around 1pm and she said she was doing a story that would appear at 5pm.  I thought to myself that was very quick but they were committed to doing it.  I informed Zaneta that she needed to be aware of the web page which had more complete information than any one person would know.

Initially, I did not plan to meet with her.  However, seeing as she was going to run the story, I thought I had to accomodate her.  They came over to my home and we sat discussing the situation and story.  While the cameraman was filming, the camera ran out of film which interrupted our flow.  Then, the camera ran low in battery power which caused another interruption.  I bring that up because I provided far more information than what was displayed on the aired story where I stumbled on my words.  I suppose you just never know what will make it on camera and what will be left behind.

In any case, the TV story meant that people are starting to take seriously the Cobra Collections situation I reported months ago.  Surprisingly, Janice Ledden volunteered to talk to Zaneta.  I suppose if she tried to avoid it, it would have made herself look worse.

In any case, the story was covered several times between Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2 on the various newscasts.  I was informed it also made it to the news FOX affiliate (and sister station) WXTX-54 broadcast at 10pm.  A good number of people I know saw the story.  I had no idea so many people watched the news.

The videos have been posted to the Cobra Collection Agency Scam website.

Continue reading »]]> What started out as a complaint placed on the Internet has now grown to a collection of information and business horror stories over dealings with Janice Ledden and Cobra Collection Agency (aka Cobra Collections Inc.).

I have begun receiving information from many different disgruntled and dissatisfied parties.  It was getting too much to keep posting the new Cobra information on my blog.  I don’t want my blog to become unnecessarily polluted with such entries.

Having said that, the information I have assembled is badly needed and had to be listed somewhere.  And so, in simplistic format and name, I have created “The Cobra Collection Agency Information Page”.  That way, I do not have to spend much time while serving a greater good.  The 24-hour nature of the Internet and the Google search engine will ensure this page ranks high to anyone who searches “Cobra Collections” or “Cobra Collection Agency”.

I hope that some ex-employees will step up and share this story.  Until that happens, we have a bunch of pissed ex-clients standing up to do something about it.

The direct URL to this page is:  http://www.matthewchan.com/cobracollections.htm

I tried so hard to tell Janice Ledden to come clean last year but she wouldn’t.  So now, her ex-clients are coming out more and more to tell their story.  What goes around, comes around.

Update:  For the latest information, visit The Cobra Collections Agency Scam website.

Continue reading »]]> I received an unsolicited email today from Jennifer, an office manager based in Sumner, GA.  Her company is the latest victims of Janice Ledden and Cobra Collection Agency.  It appears she Google searched Cobra and found my blog report.  I spoke to Jennifer earlier today and received permission to share her information.  Jennifer provided me information to follow-up with our local Better Business Bureau (BBB).

As I suspected, my company and I are not the only victims of this crooked collection agency.  I knew victims would eventually want to start looking for ways to take action against Cobra Collection Agency. 

Essentially, all anyone has to do is contact the Better Business Bureau in Columbus, GA to submit a complaint.  If you do a search on “Cobra Collections”, you will find all the contact information made available to the general public.

 It would appears that they confirm the address as:  3500 University Ave, Suite 4, Columbus GA 31907.  I placed a link to the Google map for anyone who wants to visit them personally.

The latest phone and FAX numbers (which were previously unknown to me) are: 706.562.2343 and 706.562.2347 respectively.  It appears I was correct in my last post.  They changed their phone numbers.  I suspect their old phone lines were simply getting “too popular”.  Imagine that.

Because I foresee more updates from various people coming out of the woodwork, I have created a new Category just for Cobra Collections Agency on this blog.  I truly hate dwelling on the negativity of it all.  But I cannot stand idly by and do nothing when it is in my power to help the situation.  By comparison, I have lost relatively little money compared to the reports coming in.

Up to this point, I have kept my personal opinions to a minimum.  But as more information comes in, I will be providing more insights as to what I think is happening.  For now, I will continue collecting and reporting information for my fellow business community members in Columbus, GA and Phenix City, AL.

 Update:  For the latest information, visit The Cobra Collection Agency Scam website.

==========================

 Matt,

    I unfortunately last year had Cobra Collections to work some delinquent accounts of mine.  You can only guess what has happened.  They have collected my monies and I in return have got nothing.  I am now going through my accounts and getting them to get me all the cleared checks so I can pursue a suit against this company.  I did make a call into a Nicole Dickerson at the attorneys number you had listed on your site.  I just wanted to say thank you for listing this info.  I would not have had any other way of knowing who to call.  I have been on the phone with the BBB and they have been very helpful.  I also wanted to give you COBRAS new number.  I have not called them because I didn’t want to scare them into changing there number again until I can get all my info together.  For your info 706-562-2343.  I may not be able to get any of my money out of them but I would like to let them  know they cannot do this to people.

   Again, thank you so much for your blog.

Jennifer xxxxx (Last name & company name deleted intentionally)

Continue reading »]]> The last post on Cobra Collection Agency, I wrote to make clear that I no longer have any association with Cobra Collection Agency through a Cease & Desist Order back in December 2006.  While that has cleared my name, I have since discovered more clients are being taken advantage of.  The few people I know who were clients with Janice Ledden and Cobra Collection Agency are not getting paid, nor are they getting reports.  In fact, Janice Ledden is practically unreachable according to people working with me trying to contact her.  If any collection money is being received by Cobra Collections Agency, those monies don’t seem to be disbursed to any client.  I suspect there are many, many, unhappy clients in Columbus, GA.

A few days ago, I was informed by 2 people that Cobra Collection Agency (Janice Ledden, Owner) has moved.  Apparently, Janice/Cobra wrote a few bad checks to their previous landlord of their office suites and got 3 months behind.  The ex-landlord is obviously not happy.  Being stiffed is bad enough but to deal with bad checks is even worse.  It is actually prosecutable and a felony if the amount is over $500.00.  I was informed that the landlord spent a ton of money to remodel the suites.  Many months ago, Janice led me to believe that she made all the modifications.  Of course, I read into that.  It turns out that she managed to convince the landlord to do it for them.  Amazing.

Cobra Collection Agency has moved to:  3500 University Ave #9, Columbus, GA

The previous address had been:  3228 University Ave, Suite 109, Columbus, GA

This office is only a block or so away.  No telling how long they will be there.  A friend had stopped by their office and told me what he saw.  Their old phone number (706-568-8800) and fax number has been disconnected with no forwarding number.  They are 3 reasons I can think of for this.

• Cobra voluntarily disconnected the phone and chose not to leave a forwarding number.
• The phone company disconnected them for non-payment.
• They are in transition.  However, I have moved 3 times in Columbus and have managed to keep the same number and no drop in service.

I am using Meacham, Earley, & Fowler (the law firm we use for business-related services) as my exclusive collection firm now.  They do an excellent job and have been following the Cobra case closely.  Any client who has been stiffed by Cobra Collection Agency and Janice Ledden should contact the Law Offices of Meacham, Earley, & Fowler!  They are getting to know this account very well.  In addition to a full-time collections clerk, they have a full-time Collections Attorney.  Apparently, word is getting out that they do a good job on following up and collecting debt, they had to expand.

I dislike using my blog to disseminate such information.  However, I have no other means of contacting any Cobra Collection Agency clients except through the web.

Update:  For the latest information, visit The Cobra Collections Agency Scam website.