So, on June 18, 2006, I get a copy of my credit report from Experian and find that there's a medical bill on there from a female in Florida with the last name of Ford. And her Social Security number is now also included on my credit report. WTF!!?? How in the hell did some idiot manage to do that!!?? I've been living in Virginia since July 1998, and at this same address since December 1998! I haven't changed my sex, my name, or my SS#! So how in the hell did they manage to screw this up in this manner!!??
Supposedly the bill came from;
Allmed Anesthesia Assoc.
(863) 314-5847
3600 S. Highlands AVE.
Highlands Regional Medical Center
Sebring, FL 33870-5416
Obviously I contacted Experian to dispute both the bill and the SS#...But that's another story for another page...Coming soon!
All Experian did was contact AAA's collections company, MCB Collection Services Inc., and ask them if this was indeed my bill and of course they said yes. Great job actually attempting to truly verify this info Experian!! *grrr!*
So, I find MCB's phone number Online and gave them a call this past Tuesday, August 22, 2006. I explained to the young lady who answered that I live in Virginia and that this is not my bill. She tells me to contact the credit reporting agency and dispute it with them. I explain I already did this and they did not correct this, so now I'm contacting MCB directly to attempt to fix this mistake. She tells me once again that I'll have to dispute this with Experian since there's nothing MCB can do to "fix" this issue. I asked to speak to her supervisor while biting my tongue and trying to breathe normally.
Jason gets on the phone and I decided to ask him for a copy of the "agreement" that I must have signed to be held legally responsible for this bill. He tells me to contact Experian and dispute it with them.
I then asked him how they managed to just "pull" my name out of thin air, and from VA at that!!?? (I dunno how many Bill Fords there are in the USA, but there has been at least ONE Bill Ford in Every City that I've Ever Lived In!! And, there are FIVE RIGHT HERE IN THE RICHMOND AREA!! Obviously, it's a VERY common name!) He says they don't just pull names out of thin air and that the girl said I was responsible for her bill. I explained that she can't do that, and by law, I must sign an agreement with a company saying I'll be held legally responsible for another's bills and asked for a copy of that agreement, once again. (I mean, that's their legal proof that I owe them that money, right!!??) He says I'm not listening to him and again says that I need to contact Experian to dispute this with them.
I told him that he was stupid, wasn't listening to me, and that I'd contact the FTC instead, and then hung up. I find it very difficult to believe that they'd be allowed to refuse providing legal documentation to someone they claim owes them money, but we'll see what the FTC has to say about that as well.
I should have contacted Allmed Anesthesia Assoc. instead of MCB, but that was my stupid mistake. I'll be doing exactly that shortly as well so they'll know just what kind of a job their collection company is doing for them.
It's taken me a coupla days to calm down before I could finally do anything with this. I have already contacted the FTC about Experian recently and have a case number with them and will be contacting them real soon to sic them on MCB.
However, I am also gonna send MCB the URL to this page so they can see what kind of employees they have working for them. And, hopefully, they might realize that they may have some stupid and/or ignorant company policies that need some serious revising if they allow anyone to claim that someone else is responsible for their medical bills without first CONFIRMING that info.
Oh BTW, they did not include a contact phone number on the credit report information they originally submitted to Experian and it even said "No phone number available" on my credit report. IIRC, the FTC said this was/is illegal. We'll find out shortly when I report them.
Just in case anyone is having difficulties finding contact info for MCB, here's what I found Online;
MCB Collection Services Inc.
Private Company
2066 14th Ave. Ste. 200
Vero Beach FL 32960, United States
(772)567-7300
(772)564-2000 fax
www.rocassociates.com
I found that info on this web site;
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0001271710-page.html
And I found this info;
President-Elect
Education
Mandy Hall
MCB Collection Svc.
2066 14th Ave. Suite 200
Vero Beach, Fl 32961
Tel: 800-749-8811 E 115
Fax: 772-567-2229
mandyh@rocassociates.com
ACA National Director
By-Laws Chair
Grievance Chair
John Rockhill
2066 14th Avenue, #200
Vero Beach, Fl 32960
Tel: 800-749-8811 E 111
Fax: 772-567-2229
johnr@rocassociates.com
On this web site;
www.acainternational.org/fl/default.aspx?cid=143
Google is our friend. :-)
OK, so I just sent an e-mail (...08/25/2006 2:52AM...according to my computer's current time...) to client.services@rocassociates.com, mandyh@rocassociates.com, and johnr@rocassociates.com simply stating;
RE: Account Number 146xxxx
Instead of repeating myself, once again, here's the info that you'll need in order to understand what my complaint is about this particular account;
www.stupidorjustignorant.com/MCBCollectionServices.php
Sincerely,
William A. Ford
Glen Allen, VA
Hopefully they'll "fix" this mistake ASAP. We'll see.
August 25, 2006: Well how 'bout that!!?? I already got a call from Mandy Hall this afternoon. That was fast!
She explained to me that they do not have any personal information on the person taking financial responsibility for this medical bill and that all they did was submit the person's name and address to Experian who, supposedly, screwed this all up by adding it to my credit report.
She says she'll investigate this further and will even attempt to get Experian to remove this incorrect info from my credit report.
However, I will still be contacting the FTC to report Experian and make sure this gets removed from my credit report.
As always, I'll update as soon as I get more info.
September 12, 2006: I just received a call from a William Usher at MCB and he assured me that it was indeed a mistake and that the bill has been removed from my credit report.
Thank you Mr. Usher!
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