The Man on the Phone

Sometimes I wonder what in the heck is the matter with the man on the other end of the phone. In this case, I just want to know who raised him and who in the heck taught him manners, or if anyone did for that matter.

Yesterday we recieved a letter in the mail from a credit collection agency, stating that they could get us a settlement on a $289 bill. It stated there was further information regarding the creditor on the back, but all the back stated was the name of some company I've never heard of and the same dollar amount as the front stated. There was nothing at all that would tell me what in the world this supposed debt came from. So, I called them up today because I felt it was important to resolve said debt if it is indeed ligit.

So I call in and I describe to the man who I was and why I was calling. I provided him with the correct numbers and codes on the letter so he could pull up the account. I asked, very politely, if he could provide me with information on the creditor their company was representing because neither myself or my husband had any knowledge of this debt. The man was not very communicative - I could tell that he was either not practiced or just not any good at this telemarketing-type job. He said his name about 5 times, stumbling and stuttering in between, and going on to read the little thing they have to tell you about how the call could be recorded and that it's an attempt to collect a debt. I say this not to make fun of him but to point out that I noticed his uncomfortable aire and was going to make it a point to be patient with his fumbling.

Once he got all that out, he pulls up our account and tells me about the settlement arrangement that they were offering. I told the man, very politely, that I was aware of their offer but just wanted information on where this debt had origonated because I did not recognize the names on the invoice. The gentleman told me "Emergency Services." Well, I don't know about you, but there's alot of things that could qualify as emergency services and that doesn't exactly stick out in my mind like "oh this is your victoria's secret credit card" would. I ask him who that was. The gentleman repeated the name again two or three times and I finally tell him that I understood the name he'd stated but that I didn't know who that was. I asked him if there was an incident date listed. So, he goes back and pulls up record of an emergency room visit from May of 2006 and gives me yet another name - Medcore something-or-other that was clearly an abbreviation. I told the man, very patiently, that I remembered this visit and had not recieved anything with this amount on it as far as I could remember and asked, AGAIN, for clarification as to what this bill was for. (this is the 6th time at this point that I've asked who was billing me and why).

Well the gentleman says the Med-something name again and says that it was some kind of bill from this emergency room visit and goes on to offer me the settlement sum again. I tried to interject several times that I still didn't understand. Well the guy starts to get rude - I guess he was frusterated that I wasn't taking this spectacular deal he had to offer. Eventually I raised my voice a bit and asked him if he'd let me ask a question please. He finished whatever he'd been saying and told me to go ahead. I explained very simply that I did not know why we would have any remaining bills from this incident because we'd resolved them all with the hospital back in 2006. He said that Med-core-whatever had taken care of alot of the debt but that we were left with a bill of $289 and then (again) offers the settlement.

OK, I don't know about you, but I believe I've told him about 15 times that I don't understand this bill and I don't know why I'm being charged it and by this point I'm getting frusterated - mostly because he's CLEARLY not listening. I'm not asking him to make it go away, I'm just asking him to tell me who is billing me and why before I dish out any amount to some random person that I'm talking to on the phone with some random collection agency. The man goes on to ask if I'd like to go ahead with the settlement. I told him no, because I had never recieved a bill for this amount and I needed further information before I was sending anyone a check for anything. Well, he continues to get more hateful with me and says that it was probably the ambulance call that we made and I owed this money.

I begin to tell the man that I wasn't paying anything until I had further information about this debt but he interrupts me and says "here's what I'll do for you" and tells me that he's sending my account back to these Medcare people with the request for information and they'd bill me out the full $289 and I'd owe that to them. I tell him I just need to know who they are and why I'm being billed and I'd pay the debt if I really do owe it. He interrupts me (again) and tells me that he'd just explained he'd send it back and they'd give me full detailed records of the event and the billing action and get it signed by us etc. He wouldn't listen to me at all. I didn't need the full detailed report, I just want to know WHO IT IS!!

I'm not entirely convinced that this was anything but a scam. I didn't provide them with our ss#'s and did nothing but verify the information that he stated. They had all the right info so I don't really know if they were real or not. It was stupid that he couldn't simply say "oh we don't have that information, let me get it sent to you" or tell me what it was.

The thing that gets me is that he wouldn't let me talk. At all. Every time I began to ask a question or explain that I remembered the incident but had been told all the debt was resolved, or anything at all, he'd interrupt me and treat me as if I was dodging the situation. If I really do owe these Medcore people $289 from that emergency room visit, by all means, I'll pay it off! But, I've never heard of them, don't remember getting any bills after we talked to the hospital, and don't know why I wouldn't be recieving bills if I still owed these people $289 from 4 years ago. And, plus, who is he to treat me that way? I was decent enough to call in when I got a letter from them about it instead of just throwing it away. What in the heck was he so upset about really?!?!?!

Sorry, I had to vent about the man on the phone.