topic Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :) in Rebuilding Your Credit

Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 21:24:05 GMT

For the past month & a half I've been cleaning up my collections by PFD. When I pay something off, I request a satisfaction letter to keep in my records in case I'm dealing with a shady agency. So I just paid an old medical bill that I totally forgot about & because it was small I paid it to get it off my reports. . . . The guy on the phone told me that the letter would be sent to me immediately (this was almost 2 months ago). Well ..... I never received it. In fact, I called & spoke with them 6 times asking about where my Paid In Full letter was as it never came in the mail.

So when I called again last week, they told me the reason they never sent it is because they don't send those anymore as they are not required by law & had the audacity to tell me that if I call again, I would be harassing them.... Please know, I've been very polite by this point.

So I got frustrated & called the hospital & asked to speak with the collections manager. They said that this person does not take calls from customers. I got frustrated so I hung up & made it my mission to email the CEO a long lengthy letter about what happened. I didn't expect to receive a response. In fact, I got a call the next day from I guess the Director of Collections telling me that this agency had been contracted to handle all past due accounts of their patients. She let me know that it is my right to receive such documentation & there is no reason for the collections agency to tell me something like in which they did.

She told me she researched my account & contacted the collections agency. She told me that she has requested the transcripts of the recorded calls that I had with this agency & has launched some type of investigation as their approach in handling their customers accounts. Today, she left me a voicemail telling me that she listened to the calls & told me to call her back. I called her back & she basically said that they did a number of things wrong especially of disclosing confidential information. She chose to email me my paid in full letter from the hospital as well as one from the agency. At the end of conversation, she told me that the Hospital chose to end the partnership with this agency due to this conflict.

.... The basis of this is, don't allow collections agencies to bully or intimidate you into thinking that you are doing something wrong. Stand your ground & never give up. Because they chose not to do a simple task for me & got nasty with me over the phone when I've been patient & polite has cost them a BIG job on processing millions of dollars with this Hospital (that I will not name). Our voices CAN be heard as long as we continue the fight, remain professional & stand our ground. Good luck to all my credit builders & acheivers in your individual credit goals for the day. .... I'm no expert, but I WILL succeed.

Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 22:54:32 GMT

Im sure it was not your intention to have their contract to be broken. But if they were not doing things right, then they got what they deserve. I work in retail and do collections as part of our everyday business. And you can certainly collect for your company and be nice about it at the same time. Sounded shady that they wouldn't send you a Satisfaction letter, anyway. We give it out anytime a paid customer wants it. Even if its a second or third copy, because they lost the original.

Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

IOBA — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 00:55:46 GMT

Thanks for sharing your collection story.

And good for you!

Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

CreditCuriosity — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 00:59:32 GMT

Guessing the CA violated HIPPA, just a guess thus causing the hosipital to fire the CA. All speculation, but when you get involved in medical collections it is a very sensitive area what can be discussed.

Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 02:18:23 GMT

Medical or not, more people need to go back to the OC when the CA's are violating rules, laws or policies. Think about it, even though they consider the consumers targets and deadbeats, they are still representing the OC in that continuing relationship with the consumer, and it's possible that the OCs, like this one, might not appreciate being linked to this type of behavior. Nice work and nice example of follow-through.

Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 04:53:57 GMT

You go, girl! I love it when a sleazy CA gets kicked to the curb....

Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

driftless — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 12:57:43 GMT

Nice going! I think we need to reach out to the OC more often when CA's are bring too aggressive or otherwise out of line.

Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 13:10:51 GMT

Nice work! It sounds like you "encouraged" the hospital to finally do their due diligence on the CA. Hospitals/medical facilities take potential HIPAA violations VERY seriously as even if it is the contracted CA disclosing the information, the government still sees it as the hospital's responsbility to protect the data and will skip right past the CA and go after the hospital.

Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 14:00:02 GMT

Thank you all for the encouragement ... without this forum, I probably would not have had the strength to stay on them. Honestly, I planned on letting it go, but thought of the # of people here that get collections coming back on their report years later.

Re: Collections Agency Got FIRED :)

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 14:14:30 GMT

Fantastic