Consumer complaint received 2024-10-14
Product: Debt collection — Medical debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt is not yours
Company: Merchants' Credit Guide Company (IL)

I went to the emergency room at XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I provided my name, personal information, and insurance information. The visit lasted approximately 35 minutes. I received 3 bills in the mail, and paid them. About 6 months later, I started receiving additional " medical '' bills for unnamed services from " Illinois XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '' in the amount of {$1700.00}. I contacted the hospital, who confirmed that they had no balance against my account, and they also referred me to a doctor 's association that the doctor who had seen me in the hospital was affiliated with in case there were additional charges they were unaware of, who also confirmed that I had no balance owed. I contacted my insurance company and went over the bills I had paid, which confirmed that I had paid everything they expected me to owe and that there were no additional pending claims. Further research revealed that one of the bills in the amount of {$520.00} I had already paid was in fact not charged by the hospital, and had most likely been fraudulent. This revelation persuaded me that this new bill for {$1700.00} was also probably fraudulent. Red flags that contributed to this assertion were : The insurance company, hospital, and contracting doctor 's association had never heard of " Illinois XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. Two bills were sent in the same month, dated XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. The bills had different information on them - different contact numbers, and only a post office box in a different state as the address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX. The bills had a website with a questionable URL, XXXX, to pay at which did not follow basic web site design practices ( pictures cut off, large margins and formatting errors ) and suspiciously minimal content. The bills had nothing on the backside and look somewhat amateur in composition. I therefore reported the bills to the FTC, the Illinois Attorney General 's office, FBI, and local police, and retained the bills in case they were needed as evidence later. The next correspondence I received is a debt collection notice dated XX/XX/XXXX from " Merchants ' Credit Guide Company '' for the same amount mentioned. I made a new report to the FBI and attorney general 's office. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call from someone claiming to be the debt collector at +1 XXXX. He tried to get personal information from me, and I asked for information from him about the supposed debt, and his debt collection company, which he refused to give. I told him I had already reported the fraudulent bills to the FBI, and he taunted me, saying they would have been in contact if they were going to do anything. He then said he knew my information, stated my birthdate and address, and the call seemed threatening. The next day, XX/XX/XXXX, I called the hospital again and spoke with 11 different staff members from the hospital, two third party billing companies, and the contracting doctor 's association, trying to find any evidence of additional debt related to the hospital visit and confirmed that no balance was owed, and there was no record of outstanding charges. They also confirmed that no entity named Illinois XXXX XXXX XXXX was affiliated with any of them. I then contacted the phone number listed on the Merchants ' Credit Guide Company website at XXXX I said I was calling for information about the company, after which the person on the other end of the line immediately identified me by name and asked for personal information. I said I was calling in an attempt to verify the legitimacy of the business and needed some basic information, which he refused and said would be in violation of the law without my personal information. I then called the two phone numbers provided on the " Illinois XXXX XXXX XXXX  '' bills and spoke with call center employees, one of whom described their location as " in the XXXX '' and the other said that they were located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX FL XXXX. They did not know that a XXXX XXXX is just a box and doubled down on that being their actual location. He also said that it was the offices location of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted " Merchants ' Credit Guide Company '' by the phone number listed on their correspondence, and told the person that I believed they might be a real company ( although I am not actually sure ), but that the debt was not real, based on my research. The person insisted the debt was real and then told me the last four digits of my social security number, he said " so you know this is legit ''. He stated that " Illinois XXXX XXXX XXXX '' ( Note this is a different name than " Illinois XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '' ) was a real entity that they do business with them all the time. I said that the doctor, hospital, and my insurance company had no record of this debt. He said that he had me recorded as self pay, no insurance, and he then tried to get my insurance information. I told him that if there was a claim to be made, it should be made to the same insurance information I provided at the time of service. He then said I was wasting his time and ended the call.