Consumer complaint received 2024-09-14
Product: Debt collection — Medical debt
Issue: Written notification about debt — Didn't receive enough information to verify debt
Company: Bonneville Billing and Collections (ID)

I hesitate to even submit this because when I looked at the BBB, the responses from Bonneville Collections in XXXX, Idaho appeared to be very condescending and almost rude. I do have a medical debt that I am paying ; I am not disputing the original debt amount. I have done my best to make payments to Bonneville to resolve the debt. However, they have charged me over {$300.00} in interest fees on a medical bill that originally had no interest. They didnt not disclose this information when I agreed to make payments to them to resolve my debt. They never sent me a form of written communication disclosing the additional interest. When I called the hospital from the original debt came, I realized that the amounts didnt match. So, I called Bonneville and asked about the difference and was told that they had charged me interest but we could negotiate later on. I have tried to research to find out if charging interest on a medical debt was legal and my understanding is that if the original debt had no interest charge from the hospital, then the debt collection agency could not create interest charges on their own. I explained this to the debt collector and she just said that they could. ( I was not rude to her when I explained my understanding. ) When I said that I wanted to look into that matter further, she very rudely and condescendingly said, yeah, you do that. I set up my next three months of payments ( they stop the payments after three months and are supposed to contact me to set up the next three, but they did not and then told me I was behind. I do automatic payments if {$130.00} which I am also charged a fee for and they insist that I increase my payments every three months which is difficult because I have no increase of income every three months and my expenses are the same every month creating more of a hardship ) and when the payment on the XXXX of XXXX was supposed to be deducted, it was not. I just received a voicemail telling me that I am behind on my payments because the payment was declined in the XXXX. However, I get paid on the XXXX and I know that the money was in my account if they tried to deduct it that day. I dont feel like I have been treated fairly. This seems very shady to me. All of the corespondents have been via phone calls or text messages with no paper trail. How can there be any accountability for a collection agency that refuses to provide complete information online or a paper trail for the person who is paying off a debt? Lastly, when I talked to the hospital, they explained that they only receive a portion of the debt collected and that Bonneville keeps a large percentage. So, it seems wrong to charge interest on a medical debt with no original interest from the hospital just so they can make more money off of my debt. As far as dates of payments and amounts, it is difficult to provide that when Bonneville Collections refuses to provide me with a statement even after I requested it. I was told that they dont do that, so I am left in the dark on the actual amount owed. I worry that without any payment statement, I will not know when the account has been paid off or that more fees will continue to be tacked on. I dont like doing things in the dark. Nor do I like being made to feel like I have no right to question the charges or talked down to. People fall on hard times, it doesnt mean that they are bad people or uneducated people who just want a free ride. I have done my best to pay this debt but Bonneville Collections in XXXX Idaho has not been easy to work with. I dont think it is unreasonable to request an accurate statement to keep informed of the charges and amount still owed. I also would like a better explanation of why it is legal to charge interest on a medical bill than, we can do that, when everything I have read indicates that it is not if it was not part of the original contract.