[jjbeck]

Hi all. I am sure I am not the only one here with mountains of medical bills.
After my preg, i was going though all of my bilss ( a $90,000 preg) and came across a number of problems.
One office kept double and triple billing the ins company even though the ins paid the bill. Then when the ins denys because it was already paid, they woud send me the already paid bill. this happened a number of times. Then another group submitted a bill to the ins ( 5000) but in said there was an error in the report that needed to be corrrected. I called the office andtold them, They told me they would fix the report. But they never did. Instead the billed me the $5000. This went on for months before they finally just fixed their mistake and ins paid them.
Since this time, I never just pay a medical bill. I always need to check bills against my EOBs and even against my bank statements. The thing is this all takes time. So over the past couple of years I have done a terrible job keeping on top of med bills. Some have gotten paid, but lately with everything that has been going on, going through a huge stack of bills has just been a back burner for a bit.
Well, over the past few weeks I have been trying to get caught up on all our past medical bills. I have paid off many and plan to pay the rest.
Now there was this one bill from my preg that I just had not gotten to. About 200. Went to collections fine. This summer was heck with AVa in and out of the hospital for several status episodes.... i just did not have taking care of this debt collector on my mind. But I do now. I have called them several times this week.
This is where things get strange. I first called Monday and told the rep I wanted to pay my bill, but needed something in writing first and that then I would send a check. I had misplaced the initil statement ... again my fault.
Anyway, she says no it is too late, that bill was going to judgment unless I paid right then and their w/ a Credit card. I asked to speak with supervisor.
I tried to explain to the guy i have had a lot going on this summer with a disabled child in and out of the hospital with seizures and so on. He starts screaming at me ... I DONT CARE ABOUT YOUR DISABLED KID... you need to pay this bill right now! I told him i would gladly pay it once I had a statement or anything from them . Any type of bill at all. I really just want to get this taken care of. he just keeps screaming at me, calling me a baby, bad girl, all sorts of stuff. I just could not believe what I was hearing. My gosh, I am the one that volutarily called them to tell them I wanted to pay them. Just please send me a balance. they jsut kept saying no and today was my last chance or else! I told him at this point I did not feel comfortable giving my credit info over the phone to him, he says to me " MAAAAAN, if I wanted to steal your info, I would steal you SS number and I could .... he then read off my ss number. UGH! It went on like this forever. He finally said a few more mean things and hung up. I called and left a message as to what happened, told them I wanted to take care of this bill, I just needed something in writing.
Next day they call again...well their machine did. I called back and spoke with someone else. I had explained what had happened, he apologized and said he would put in a request to send somethin gin writing. I am thinking great... can finaly be dne with this. Then YESTERDAY, I talk to yet another guy. He starts yelling. He said he didnt know whotold me they would send somethin gout but the would NOT! He said it was my last chance and I had to give them my credit card or else. Again I told them once I had somethin gin writing I would send a check. Was not sinking in ,. He just screamed and screamed. When I asked to speak with his manager, he said he was the manager. I was done talking to those crazy people. I went to better buisness beureu site and this agency was rated as unsatisfactory with several complaints.

What should I do about these people. I know they were just tryingto scare me, but they have my social security number and know where I live. They are total thugs! I really want to take care of this bill, but there is no way I am giving them my banking info over the phone. These poeple are crazy!

What should I do?

[WorkinMom]

They do sounds nuts!!

If it were me I would call the "original" biller and explain the situation to them and the response you got with the collection agency they are using. What you have written here is a perfect explanation of the situation and what has caused the delay in payment, etc. You could even print this out and send it to the "original" company as well as the collection agency manager.

I would be apprehensive giving my banking info to these people as well. Very unprofessional.

Best wishes in getting this settled

Jennifer

[Beck]

I would write a letter. Put everything in writing.

You have most of it in the original post. Cut and paste.

Send a copy to:

Original medical facility you owe
Collection agency that ragged on you
Better Business B.
State Attorney Generals Office

Call and find out who the bigger dog is at the Collection agency. Bigger than the dog that screamed at you. Get the name and contact of a bigger person. Send the letter to them.

State that you are more than willing to pay what you owe but you require a bill to do so. (That is reasonable)

Be sure and state in the letter that they threatened you with your SS# (Attorney Gens Office will be VERY interested in THAT threat.)

Reiterate that there is absolutely no way that you will provide your credit card number to an agency that threatens you with fraud with your SS#.

Once you have received the bill showing the charges, payments, and amount owed, you will be more than happy to either pay in full or discuss a payment plan.

Be professional, objective, and removed. Don't get emotional in your letter.

If you need to be emotional in the letter, do it in the first draft. Let that draft sit for a few days then go back and revise it removing the anger.

BTW, your post didn't sound angry it sounded amazed, confused, and stunned that these people behaved this way.

BTW, the next time you get on the phone with one of these folks and they decide to scream at you. Gracefully tell them that you will be more than happy to talk to you when they can do so with respect, dignity, and a calm voice. Then, hang up. You don't deserve to be screamed at.

The BBB and the State Attorney Generals Office will be very interested in the exchange.

Sigh... I don't envy your position at this point. Writing letters and doing all the hoops to get a friggin bill is just plain ridiculous. If you don't turn them in with a letter, they are going to continue to treat other people this way and it is unacceptable.

Good luck.

[jjbeck]

First ... so sorry the original post was sooooo long.

I sent a message to the BBB. If I do not hear back w/i a few days I will call.

According to the BBB, this company has had a number of UNRESOLVED complaints.

BBB has listed the three higher ups including the pres of the company. Now I just need to get the address that i know it will reach those people.
Also wondering, should i really include the names of the men i spoke with? these thugs have my home address.

Thanks for you input on sending a copy to the attorney general. I had not even thought of that.

I did plan on calling the office that sent the bill to this agency to let them know. We actually still go to that office.

I do not think I feel angy about this. Just stunned I guess. For several days I am practicaly begging these guys to allow me to pay them. It is so strange to me.
According to the FDCPA, they have made they have violated so many terms.
It just all seems so crazy.
I wonder how often these tactics work? I wonder if management encourages this or is even aware of this?
I also wonder .... how do I know this group does not participate in some inmate program and these callers are inmates?
UGH!

[langansmom]

I saw a story just a week or so ago about this exact situation. Seems like it was on the Today show but I'm not sure. Anyway, it was a collection thing and they were calling and threatening the debtor. In that case, I think the man may have even already paid. But they wouldn't leave him alone. Threatened him. It was all taped by the supposed debtor- who also happened to be a JUDGE. He was taking the company to court. I saw him interviewed and he was so concerned, saying if they treat a judge that way then there is no telling how they treat people who don't have the power and resources he has. Anyway, the story included several other situations with other people- I think there were even death threats. It was so scary.

I would definitely consider taping the conversations with these people. As I understand the current state of the law, it is not illegal to tape a phone conversation as long as one of the parties (that would be you) knows it is being taped. Seems like you can get a device to tape it at Radio Shack.

I agree, also, with the thought of letting the AGs office know.

(((hugs))). I am so sorry you're having to deal with this, with everything else going on. I hope it resolves soon.

[Beck]

Yes, by all means, do include the thugs names.

The Attorney Generals Office will be interested in their names.

The AGO is the legal gun you need behind you that won't let them get away with fraud. If they are threatening with fraud, I would think the AGO would be in a position (of anyone) to shut them down.

Who knows the AGO may even investigate them for other frauds. They can't do anything without a formal complaint and something in writing.

Even if there isn't enough for the AGO to either investigate or shut them down, just having them CCd on the letter SHOULD be enough to wake up the company and make them take notice. "Hey, this lady means business".

If the thugs DO do anything, you have already sent a letter off to the AGO and have reported the threat. They make good on their threat. AGO goes into action against them if they do anything to do.

(Wendy, correct me if I mispoke on anything.)

You may not be angry, but I am angry for you.

[just laurie]

Definitely file complaints. I'd even complain to the AG of the state where that collections company is and to the hospital you originally owed the bill to (since they may want to change who they do business with). Under no circumstances would I pay the bill to that collections company. The hospital has already written off the bill and sold it to the company for pennies on the dollar. Everything you send in goes to the collections company. I'd be stubborn enough to wait until that collections company sells the bill to someone else--again for pennies on the dollar--and then pay the next collections agency. If they are going to be doing collections of medical bills, they need to have some compassion.

Laurie