One piece at a time

Apparently when you have a piece of medical equipment, one that you need to have for the rest of you life, billing you for it is special.

Here's what happened. I received notice that I was being sent to a collection agency for non payment.

I was confused. Hadn't I just sent a check for $130? And the month before that? And the month before... You get the idea. The months when the statement came just 3 weeks apart and the months when the statement came 5-6 weeks apart. I paid. I promise I did.

I called the company.

ONE of my accounts is paid in full, ONE is current and almost paid off, but THE REST are delinquent.

The rest???????????

Um, exactly how many accounts do I have? I only have one machine.

Well, there is the account for the motor, (paid off)

The account for the humidifier (up to date and the machine does not work without it)

The account for the monthly filters (I have never recieved filters other than what came with the machine, oh, and this account is one of the delinquent ones- $1)

The account for.....

Are you kidding me? I have to pay for this stinkin' machine one bolt at a time? And you are sending me to collections over 1 stinkin' dollar.

Apparently it is ok to bill for medical equipment this way. And it is also ok to not send a statement every month for each part, but every stagger them so that each statement comes just as you have paid the last one. And it is ok to change the account number on each one by one number in the middle so when you just glance at it, you don't notice the difference. And it is ok to put only the mysterious account number on the statement and never ever identify what the bill is for. Because believe me if I had seen that this statement was for filters and that one for the motor and this one for the electric cord, and this one for the humidifier....

And when the customer asks for a supervisor to discuss this- the supervisor is never in the office. And she doesn't call back when the customer is told she will.

And apparently I am stupid and it is my fault. Ma'am.

So if you ever need a piece of medical equipment and the dr. uses Homelink as their billing agency- be warned.

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Indeed.