Deadbeat Dilemma

Because I was commanded to call the questionable collection agency by Farmer H, I did so on Friday afternoon

Before even one ring, the phone was answered by a recording. It was a man with a southern accent (so I suppose it really IS in Georgia). He stated the name of the collection agency, and said that any information given WOULD be used to collect a debt. All calls are recorded. Then he said to stay on the line for the next available operator.

Eight rings later, I got a recording that said "...JACQUELINE... is not available to take your call. Please leave a message--" I hung up. I am NOT leaving a message with my name and phone number. Nope. No way am I giving them a way to call me. They might have my number on a caller ID, but what good does that do, without a name or reference number?

I'd had my info written down in front of me. I was NOT giving my name, only saying that I was Farmer H's wife. And the reference number. I wanted to know the DATE, FACILITY, DOCTOR/ANESTHETIST, and SURGERY. If they asked me anything else, I was ready to say, "I am calling to GET information, not GIVE information."

I called at 1:34.

I called at 2:10.

I called at 3:02.

Always the same messages, and JACQUELINE unavailable. It seems odd that they have only one person to take these calls. You'd think a collection agency handling claims from providers in multiple states might be a larger operation.

Anyhoo... I am still suspicious of this charge. You'd think that if the collection agency had Farmer H's address, then the anesthesia office would also have it, and would have sent multiple statements in an attempt to collect their $40.91 before turning it over to collections.

I believe the next step will be sending a letter to dispute the charge, asking for a copy of the original bill from the anesthesia office.

Really. It would be so much easier just to pay the $40.91 and be done with it. But I don't want to risk sending a check with our banking info to a scammer!