quote:

Originally posted by agony:
Update:

Called the hospital. They removed my name from collections and will send a letter regarding this to me. I paid the bill in full with my HSA card...they even knocked off 25% of the bill.

Thanks for all the advice folks. I think I worried too much about it, but stuff that affects my credit freaks me out.

Excellent news! I'm the same way. I have an 820+ credit score, worked hard to get it that high. No money, but damn fine credit. I'd be pissed/worried if some other person had the ability to affect it.

Since it's such a small town and everyone knows everyone, maybe you can sweet talk the billing person to call you if the wife ever gets in arrears again?

Good to hear. These mixups are common. Discounting the bill is great, you must have approached it well. The typical person who calls about a billing error acts like a jerk, so being nice pays off. Thanks for the followup.

agony: I'm glad to hear that your unexpected collection notice worked out well. If your problem had been with UPS, you might been in a "no win" situation.

ZSMICHAEL: I can't tell if you were referring to me, but those two refused bills were not exactly billing errors. A few polite conversations did precede my first refused bill. As an attorney told me, "Don't ignore the bill."

Thanks for the clarification.