Hi,
Almost a year ago, my dentist claimed I "missed" an appointment and sent me a $136.25 bill. I have no record of such an appointment and don't understand how they can send me arbitrary charges for services not provided. I had many, many arguments with them about this and they eventually threatened to send the fake bill to a collection agency. I refuse to pay for a service I never asked for and never received.
Perhaps unrelated, there were also several times when they booked me at the wrong office and attempted to give me "missed" appointment fees, which they eventually dropped. Both locations have the same name and the voice messages they send me merely say I have an appointment; not where the appointment is (which should be an important distinction, because the two locations offer different services so I used them both equally). However, I don't believe that to be the case here - I was and still am unaware of ever having established an appointment with them for the service and date they allege.
Today, I received a debt collection notice from Absolute Credit LLC, informing me that "our client has given us the authority to request payment in full". Authority? So a company can just call up any of these ass hats and say someone owes them money? There have to me more rules! They're going to ruin my credit history!!
What can I do to protect myself from a malicious entity sending fake bills to collection agencies? Do I just have to dispute it and hope for the best? What constitutes "proof" of debt (I never signed anything agreeing to this dentist appointment)?
Anyway, I'm kind of freaking out and am just looking for the best course of action. If dispute is my only option, I'm aware of the Collections Wiki at http://ift.tt/1vUgxIT and can follow the advice there.
On a side note, what should a "Debt Validation Letter" actually look like or contain? The one they sent me just has the dollar amount and name of my dentist, but no account number or evidence of proof that I owe anything.
Thanks!
Submitted July 17, 2017 at 01:47PM by Serkys http://ift.tt/2uslVHt
