Consumer complaint received 2015-08-24
Company: Grant & Weber
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: Used obscene/profane/abusive language

Complaint:
My name is XXXX XXXX and I would like to file this complaint against Grant and Weber. The way they have treated me these last 5 months is completely shameful and they have caused me plenty of grief and have left me feeling complete despair. 

I recently found out that there was a judgment on me for my deceased husband 's medical bills. I became real ill because I have no money. My mother saw this and said she would give me money to try and settle this debt. Because of this, these last 5 months I have been attempting to settle this old debt that my deceased husband left me with. Grant and Weber has the judgment against me and my deceased husband. My husband died many years ago and I am XXXX years old and have been living on nothing but social security for many years. I have n't worked in nearly 20 years. The only thing I have left of value is the home my husband left me with. 

5 months ago I initially communicated with an XXXX XXXX about this account and she told me that this judgment was {$11000.00}! Upon hearing this I was mortified. The original amount owed to the hospital was {$4700.00} dollars and even after reviewing the documents there was only {$800.00} in attorney fees. When I spoke with her she said that they wanted {$9500.00} and nothing less. 

Upon hearing this I was distraught. I do n't have any money and I ca n't come up with {$9500.00} so I decided to talk to someone who may be able to assist me. I spoke with an individual named XXXX XXXX who attempted for months to negotiate with Grant and Weber. He spoke with XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, another individual named XXXX, and an XXXX XXXX. They kept giving him numbers until XXXX XXXX finally told him {$8500.00} bottom line. Now when he calls they say they do n't even have records of that number. How convenient. 

During these last months I have borrowed money from my mother, from my feonce, and have sold many possessions I held dear just to try and come up with the amount I was told. In the end I came up short. I was only able to acquire {$7200.00}. I have nothing left to give and no one else to ask for money. When my representative called to offer that amount is when things with Grant and Weber got ugly. 

Had Grant and Weber simply said no I would have been OK with it. Distraught but OK with it. What I am not OK with is the things they said. I heard the conversation XXXX XXXX had with the representative and I was appalled at the way XXXX XXXX XXXX dealt with this matter. Truth be told, he was very cordial initially but towards the end he said some very hurtful things. 

In the conversation, XXXX XXXX XXXX implied and then later stated that I could beg for money to pay this bill. As a 64 year old woman living on social security I was very hurt at the notion of being told to beg for money. He also stated that I was offered {$50.00} a month years ago to pay this debt and that is why they would n't lower the amount. That 's not true. Furthermore, he wanted to make an example of me. He stated that they would n't lower the balance because he was " calling my bluff '' whatever that means. he also stated that " he does not reward people for not paying promptly. '' He even gave an example of how when people go get a XXXX XXXX credit card you do n't get rewarded for paying late. 

This debt is from my husbands medical bills right before he died. I was solely dependent on him and I do n't have money to pay them with. I do n't know what all the laws for collecting are but you should not be able to belittle people by saying they should beg for money to pay their bills. Also, they should n't be punished now simply because they could n't pay their bills in a timely fashion when they were completely destitute. I understand this may not help me in the settlement, but these people should not be allowed to disrespect and belittle people in their time of need. Thank you for looking into this for me and god bless you

Company public response: Company can't verify or dispute the facts in the complaint
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation