*warning, this is long-winded*
Let me preface this by giving a brief background of may families situation. After the birth of our son we started to receive multiple bills from different hospitals and doctors due to his numerous issues because of an inverted chromosome. Every time we received those bills my wife and I would sit down and create a specific folder for each one, pay off the small one immediately and set up reasonable payment plans for the larger ones. Needless to say we were very meticulous about making prompt payments.
On May 17 my wife received a call from Allied Collections Services Inc which she missed incidentally a man named Ronnie left a message. My wife called back immediately and spoke with a women, unnamed, who told her we had a outstanding debt and that if it was not paid immediately, same day, it would go on her credit report that next day. My wife tried to get the name of the hospital or doctor in question and phone number. ACSI would only provide the name which was Med School Associates. Fearful due to the threat of a immediately tarnished credit report my wife provided her bank routing and checking number.
When I returned home from work the evening my wife informed me of what happened and how she felt. We went through all of our records, bills and statements and were not able to find anything under Med School Associates or a intent to collect or collection notice. Our initial thought was this was a scam. Next morning I woke up and called ACSI and proceeded to ask for the same info my wife asked for. I was transferred to three different people and finally out of sheer frustration and how we were being treated I let my anger get the best of me. I cursed a man out and called him a fu$@ing Di%!
I was completely wrong to call that man that. Though to my defense he was being purely condescending to me and was twisting my words. He even went so far as to say I called him a homosexual, which I did not, and went on to argue about what I said or did not say. All I was simply trying to do was verify a debt. The conversation ended with him of course getting the last work and hanging up on me. I had to have my wife call back and ask more than several times for the information so that we could verify the debt. She was finally able to get the Doctor who the bill was invoice under.
We knew the doctor was with UNSOM, University of Nevada School of Medicine NOT Med School Associates. We immediately called because we had record that we paid the bill on time and that it was withdrawn from our checking account. UNSOM informed us that it was an error in their system and that the account was closed out and that we did not owe anything more. They were kind enough to call ACSI and deal with them directly after I told them how we were treated.
Luckily for us we were not charged anything because we dealt with it immediately with the assistance of UNSOM. I believe that ACSI violated the FDCPA by threatening my wife and also not providing us with proof of the debt. We never received a notice of intent or a collection notice. Additionally ACSI's debt was off by 37 cents which lead to more confusion.
I have traversed the internet and have found numerous consumer encounters with ACSI all of which have been terrifyingly horrible experiences. They treat people with disdain and contempt. The are condescendingly rude and lack empathy. They're conversational and problem solving skills are grade school. They illicit severe distress, frustration and anger because they won't listen and answer questions honestly.
If you are unfortunate enough to come across them to no avail please do everything you can to get an attorney involved as ACSI will provide no resolution. Good luck!
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