Consumer complaint received 2019-11-18
Product: Debt collection — Medical debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: Io, Inc. (VA)

I took my daughter to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX for treatment. I gave my insurance information and also scanned a credit card per XXXX XXXX policy that would only be charged for any balance not covered by the insurance. I never recieved any other bills or notices. Around XXXX XXXX I received a collections letter from Receivables Management Systems attempting to collect a balance from XXXX XXXX plus a collections fee. I sent a written dispute letter to Receivables around XXXX XXXX as I believed the collection attempt to be fraudulent and asked for verification in writing of the validity of the debt. I received a collection phone call from Receivables XXXX XXXX around XXXX XXXX. During the call I mentioned the dispute letter which the person on the phone claimed to have never received. I then notified the person that since this is being recorded I am also making a verbal dispute and requesting written validation. She would not agree to send written validation. Furthermore, I stated that I believed that the call was a fraudulent attempt to collect because I scanned my card at the time of treatment. She said that I did not scan my card and I said that scanning a card is required before receiving treatment and she again said that I did not scan a card. I again asked for written validation but she would only read information from my alledged bill and would not agree to send written validation so I ended the call. I then called XXXX XXXX and spoke with XXXX on XXXX XXXX at around XXXX XXXX. She confirmed that I had scanned the card and that there had been a glitch. I stated that I had not recieved any bills. She confirmed my address and I paid the balance not paid by the insurance company as this was the first time I knew of a balance and was able to receive an explanation of what happened. I refused to pay the collection fee as I had acted in good faith and paid the balance as soon as it was communicated to me in a valid medium. My complaint against Receivables is that they willingly chose to ignore my dispute and continue debt collection activity. When I heard the employeen claim that they had not received my dispute letter I immediately stated that I am therefore making a verbal dispute and asked for written validation. The employee ignored my request and continued the call and began to " read '' me the statement of charges. I explained the XXXX XXXX  policy regarding the card and again communicated my suspicion that this call was fraudulent. That's when she repeatedly accused me of not scanning my card which is tantamount to accusing me of lying. If she had stopped the collection activity as soon as I made the verbal dispute and called XXXX XXXX she would have received confirmation that I had indeed scanned a card and thus made a good faith attempt to pay any balance that may have been charged. It was unnecessary for me to be treated this way and it was my understanding the dispute process put in place by the Fair Debt Collection Reporting Act was to prevent this. My written and verbal disputes are valid and require that all debt collection activity and reporting cease until the dispute is resolved. Receivables Management Systems refused to respect my rights and refused to simply give me a written validation of the alleged debt.