Consumer complaint received 2021-11-18
Company: Midwest Service Bureau, Inc.
State: KS
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly
Sub-issue: Contacted your employer

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX agent XXXX with Midwest Credit Bureau in XXXX, Kansas called my ex-husband at his place of employment to collect a medical debt I owe to Kansas XXXX XXXX from XX/XX/XXXX. My ex-husband gave me the number this agent called him from and I immediately called the agent back. My ex- husband is a XXXX XXXX XXXX and this agent called the office at his school during business hours and interrupted him from class to answer this call. This agent was extremely rude and threatening to my ex-husband and he was forced to take this treatment over the phone in front of his cXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  even after my ex-husband explained that they are contacting him at his place of employment and they are no longer to be contacting him there. When I called this agent, I explained the same thing to him and he continued to tell me that he tracked my ex-husbands work number down in order to collect this debt and stated that he has a right to do that until the balance is paid, which is absolutely harassment, unprofessional and completely uncalled for over a {$600.00} medical bill. I also explained that I did not have any missed calls from that number on my phone and since it is my debt, they need to be contacting me directly. He stated they have tried several times to call me but I have no recent history of it on my phone 's call history. He then continued to make several threats to me that if I did not make the payment in full, they would take further necessary steps to collect my debt. When I asked him what he meant by " further necessary steps '', he refused to tell me and said he is not obligated to provide me with further explanation. I offered to make payments to them as I can and he tried to tell me payment plans were not an option. I continued to question this because I know my rights as a consumer and he then offered a payment plan that was not feasible or realistic for my current budget. I then offered to make a payment of {$50.00} today towards my total balance to start the process of making it right, and he refused to take this payment. When he refused my payment offer, I told him I would need to look at my budget and figure out if the payment plan they offered me would work and he told me I have 1 hour to call him back with a plan or he would ( again ) " take further necessary steps to collect my debt ''. At that time he stated that I either needed to make the payment in full, follow their payment plan within the hour, or again, he would " take further steps to collect my debt ''. Along with the threatening behavior, throughout the entire conversation this agent questioned what I spend my money on and even at one point told me that the government has provided me with plenty of money over the last year on top of my wages and should have had no issues paying this bill. Although I did not owe him this, I explained to him that I was unemployed for 3 months and the stimulus money we received went towards food and shelter for me and my child. Kansas XXXX XXXX is a hospital that I frequently go to, they have saved both my grandparents lives and helped me through many of my medical issues. My intentions are not ill. I always have the best intentions to pay my medical debt but the last year I have not only faced a pandemic along with the rest of the world, but I have been through a divorce, became a single mom, and unexpectedly lost my job and was unemployed for 3 months. I understand it is not the debt collectors job to give grace, but the way this situation was handled today was absolutely not okay.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation