Consumer complaint received 2022-06-10
Product: Debt collection — Medical debt
Issue: False statements or representation — Attempted to collect wrong amount
Company: Professional Finance Company, Inc. (CA)

On XX/XX/XXXX, I set up a payment plan with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX after stopping treatment to pay off the {$140.00} balance I owed in monthly payments of {$20.00} due by the XXXX of each month. I paid {$20.00} each month by the due date in XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX and in XX/XX/XXXX, I received bills that said my account was seriously past due even though I was making my payments on time. The statements also did not reflect the payments I had made. In those months, I made multiple phone calls to XXXX XXXX and left several voicemail messages with their billing department complaining about those bills. It was not until XX/XX/XXXX that I got a hold of a representative from XXXX. She told me and my wife that the statements would be corrected and that I was not in any danger of being sent to collections. She instructed me to continue making my payments online through the patient portal and assured me the problems with my account would be taken care of. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to make my monthly {$20.00} payment on XXXX 's online patient portal as I had done every month, but the patient portal would not accept any payment because it showed a XXXX balance owing on my account. By that time, I had paid {$100.00} toward my debt, leaving only {$40.00} owed. However, on XX/XX/XXXX, Professional Finance Company , Inc. sent me a letter indicating my XXXX XXXX account had been sent to collections and incorrectly stated that I owed {$90.00} on my account. Upon receiving the letter, I immediately called XXXX XXXX to complain. Again, I left several voicemail messages, without response. I also called Professional Finance Company , Inc. to dispute the debt and I mailed them a request for verification of the debt. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I finally got a hold of the billing department at XXXX XXXX. The representative there said that there were no notes on my account regarding any payment plan or arrangement to pay the debt. She also said that the person making the payment plan for me should have sent it to the billing department but failed to do so. To get my account out of collections, I made a {$20.00} payment over the phone with her. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, my wife sent an email to the billing department demanding that my account be removed from collections immediately. She also requested confirmation that my account had not been reported to any credit bureau. She attached all the receipts of my payments to that email as well as screenshots of messages in the patient portal between me and the XXXX XXXX XXXX and Payments department showing that I had established a written payment plan in XX/XX/XXXX. To this day, I have received no response from XXXX XXXX and I have confirmed my account is still in collections. I only owe {$20.00}, but Professional Finance Company Inc. states that I owe {$90.00}, and the patient portal on the XXXX XXXX website shows that I owe {$80.00}. 

I am a 100 % XXXX XXXX Veteran and I suffer from XXXX XXXX  XXXX. Dealing with XXXX XXXX has caused me great aggravation instead of helping me in any way with my XXXX XXXX issues. I am in constant worry that my good credit rating I have worked so hard for will go down all because of XXXX XXXX 's errors and neglect. I am writing this complaint to hopefully shed some light on the bad billing and debt collection practices of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX so that others do not have to go through the stress and XXXX  they caused me, and continue to cause me.