Consumer complaint received 2021-03-03
Product: Debt collection — Medical debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: AAA Collections (ND)

AAA Collections Inc of XXXX XXXX, SD has sent numerous collection notices to me for a bill that was never outstanding. AAA Collections has also called my telephone number several times per week, even after I have told them to Cease and Desist verbally and by post. I've blocked the first number they called from and then they started calling from a different number, which I also blocked, and they just start using a different one again. 
The bill they are trying to use to scam me out of my money is from an emergency room visit in XXXX, ND about 18 months ago. Because I am a XXXX Veteran rated at 100 % Permanent and Total the ER visit and all subsequent labs, imaging, tests, etc. are covered by the Veterans Affairs Administration. After the ER visit I called the VA to let them know about it, and the co-worker that drove me there had informed our supervisor she was doing so. Our supervisor had informed the VA at that time that I was on my way to the ER as well. The VA informed me that veterans rated at 100 % NEVER need prior authorization to go to a community ER and any attempts for a debt collection agency to try to claim a debt is owed from any ER visit is a violation of federal law. 
I have written to AAA Collections more than once to inform them that they need to stop attempting to collect this debt of {$200.00} and to stop doing so under the guise of being a representative for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, ND. I have called the billing department at XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX to discuss this and no one there had ever heard of AAA Collections and went into detail about how they have their own collection department that deals with outstanding debt. The person I spoke with said the letters and calls I've been getting from AAA Collections is most likely a scam. The XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX department searched my records and found that there were no outstanding bills and that any service I'd ever received from them had been promptly paid by the VA and also VA XXXX XXXX 
I have informed AAA Collections that if they are going to insist on continuing with this scam they should contact the XXXX VA XXXX XXXX XXXX and Billing departments to seek out the money they claim is owed, as one of those departments is responsible for covering any and all bills that relate to non-VA ER visits that I have had. AAA has told me they will not contact anyone besides me because it's " not their job to verify if the debts or debtor information written in collection notices they send are correct, their job is to keep notifying debtors of money they owe until it is paid in full, and to take legal action against the debtor the notices are mailed to if the debt goes unpaid. '' Due to the FACT that I do not have, and have never had, any outstanding bills with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ND the letters and calls I've been receiving from AAA Collections are legally defined as Harassment, but even more than that they can also be legally defined as Extortion. When a company harasses someone in an attempt to extract money from them without any proof, and upon request for proof they refuse to furnish any, and that company also refuses to attempt any form of mediation to settle the matter, it moves beyond simple harassment and becomes extortion. I have sent them information from the VA as well as XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in which both hospital billing departments clearly state that ANY and ALL bills for services at non-VA hospitals and ER 's have been paid in full, therefore I do not owe the amount claimed by AAA Collections. 
I have attempted to settle this matter with AAA Collections but they continue their attempts to extort money from me, a XXXX veteran, by using harassment and scare tactics. They have probably paid someone thousands of dollars in wages to attempt to steal {$200.00} from me, where is the logic in this scam they are operating. I do know this is a scam they run on many XXXX veterans and that a lot of those veterans become scared when they get a collection notice so they forgo purchasing food or paying their light bill to pay off the " debt '' AAA Collections bullies them into paying. Why are there no education programs from the federal government or the VA to teach veterans about companies like AAA Collections and the tactics they use to make them think they owe money to someone? These " debt collection '' companies need to be investigated, fined heavily and shut down. They should be made to pay back every veteran they've scammed, not just for the amount they scammed from them, at least 1000 % interest should be added to the amount they scammed when they pay it back. 
Veterans already have to worry about being subjected to the worst healthcare in the country, difficulty in finding or maintaining work that provides a living wage, not being able to work due to service related XXXX and the amount of XXXX they are paid is at poverty levels. Veterans deserve better than what they receive after what they've been made to endure, yes it's considered " volunteer '' but what we have volunteered is to lay down our lives to protect our country and it's freedoms. For that reason alone the United States should be proactive in punishing companies like AAA Collections so they aren't able to further erode what little veterans are left with, not just financially but also mentally.