Frustration!

I am ALWAYS amazed how frustration can creep up and ruin a perfectly good day or week! I was having a perfectly good day, despite knowing it is bill paying day...until one bill turned into a mess! Enough of a mess to cause frustration to take over the rest of my day!

Since Ed & I are normal folks financially, we have to pay big medical bills over months instead of in a lump. Today as I sorted and organized the monthly bills there was a bill from St. John's that I had been waiting and checking in on since Nate's October ER visit. So I called to set up payments only to find out that the hospital sent in to collections months ago! We had not received any notice or anything. After I expressed my concerns about this business practice, I was told it was sold to collections as bad debt so soon because the hospital sold November 1st. The lady from hospital billing, who worked for the hospital before and after its sale, gave me the number for the collection agency that they sent it to and I called them. Then the FUN began!

I admittedly do not know much about collection agencies, BUT I am confident that most people do not call them up and say, "I have a bill that you are collecting on, but I have not heard from you and I want to get it paid off". With this simple statement, I was lower than trash and was amazed that trying to make a payment was so hard! First they had to find the bill, then they wanted to know why I hadn't responded to there letters or calls. Turned out that they had an address from 4 years ago and a phone number from 7 years ago on file. Then they wanted to get info to garnish Ed's paychecks because this bill was "so far outstanding". I just wanted to make a payment, but "no". I asked to talk to a supervisor, but no one was available. I finally got them to take 10% of the bill electronically, which I was told would not stop them from garnishing Ed's check and got them to agree to send me a statement in the mail since I just have a 1-800 number and not even a name for the collection company.

Now I am trying to calm my mind and return to the happy place that I like to live...knowing I now have a new "friend" at a collection agency....aye yi yi! What an afternoon!