Consumer complaint received 2015-08-05
Company: Medical Business Bureau
State: TX
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical
Issue: Improper contact or sharing of info
Sub-issue: Talked to a third party about my debt

Complaint:
I was contacted on XXXX/XXXX/2014 by the Medical Business Bureau ( MBB ), a debt collections agency, and was told that I owed a hospital bill for an ER visit to XXXX XXXX 's XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX TX for the date of XXXX/XXXX/2014. I was told by MBB that my insurance at the time, XXXX, paid {$110.00} towards this amount and the remaining balance ( {$700.00} ) was my responsibility. When I asked for a bill listing each charge, MBB could not provide it to me and said I should have already received the bill from XXXX XXXX XXXX, the medical billing company that handled separate charges for the ER visit on XXXX/XXXX/2014. When I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX, they said that the address they received from XXXX XXXX 's XXXX XXXX XXXX, and the address that they sent their separate billing charges to, was also XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Tx, XXXX. Still, I must stress that I had not lived at this address for 2 years at the date of service, but they still forwarded the bill to the outdated address. The debt was then sold by XXXX XXXX XXXX to MBB who then contacted me by phone to collect the debt. The amount of the debt XXXX XXXX XXXX said that I owed was {$440.00}, but when they sent my debt to collections ( MBB ), MBB said that I owed {$700.00}. How could I owe MBB {$260.00} more than the debt that XXXX XXXX XXXX said I owed? Was MBB charging interest on the debt that they collected from XXXX XXXX XXXX? 

I contacted XXXX XXXX 's XXXX XXXX XXXX and they admitted that they forwarded the bill to an outdated address. I asked XXXX XXXX 's XXXX XXXX XXXX why they did not contact me by phone, mail, or email to confirm my address for the bill. I know at the date of service that I gave XXXX XXXX 's XXXX XXXX XXXX my most current address, XXXX XXXX XXXX . XXXX . XXXX, XXXX, Tx, XXXX. For some reason, XXXX XXXX 's XXXX XXXX XXXX had XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX . XXXX XXXX Tx XXXX on file for my guarantor, my father. When they did the billing for the XXXX/XXXX/14 visit, they sent the bill to an outdated address. This amount in question ( {$700.00} ) should have never gone to a collections agency. I am beyond upset with XXXX XXXX 's XXXX XXXX XXXX for billing me to an outdated address and also upset with XXXX XXXX XXXX for billing to the same outdated address. I have already contacted MBB through a complaint with the XXXX and they are issuing me a refund and closing my account with them, but I am submitting this complaint to make other people aware of the medical billing errors that XXXX XXXX 's XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX made. A billing error that has caused me months of stress, frustration, and numerous calls of harrassment from MBB to collect this debt. I will not use XXXX XXXX 's XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX or any affiliate again in the future. I will also post to every consumer protection agency I can about the serious inconvenience that I have had to deal with for the past year.

Company public response: Company believes complaint caused principally by actions of third party outside the control or direction of the company
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation