Hung out to dry.. Any advice on poor customer service?

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jimmy
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:29 am

Hung out to dry.. Any advice on poor customer service?

Post by jimmy »

Long story short. I originally called Health Port to negotiate a very small bill on principal. They basically do the billing if you order medical records and are contracted by the hospital we used. With a week long stay in a hospital and an ambulance ride to the ER my insurance paid over 40k. It took awhile for the ambulance to get covered because it took the hospital months to get them the information to show it was medically necessary. In the meantime I ordered the medical records to get to the insurance co. so the ambulance would be covered. When I got a bill from Health Port for $60 I called and explained to them the hospital took to long and I had to get the medical records myself to provide them. I told them my insurance has paid over 40k (myself 5k) and out of principal I didn't want to pay another $60 for medical records which shouldn't have had to be ordered if the hospital sent them in a timely manner. The customer service offered a 20% discount and I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was connected to a voice-mail of the supervisor who mentioned he would return the call in 24hrs. 3 days go by and I left another message. No return call and I left another message. I then called customer service again and they mentioned the supervisors are in lots of meetings and busy. I said it's been 2 weeks and his voice-mail says he'll call back within 24hrs. I got more attitude from another customer service rep after another and nobody could get me to somebody who could override the measly bill. Like I said earlier it's not the money but its the principal and now its become personal. I even sent an e-mail on the company website to see if that would help get a call back explaining the inexcusable customer service. 3 days later and nothing. My bill is a couple weeks before it goes to collections so I'm going to throw in the towel and pay it. I never thought I would get so upset over such a small bill...
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OnFire
Posts: 382
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:48 pm

Re: Hung out to dry.. Any advice on poor customer service?

Post by OnFire »

Your best bet BY FAR, is to report them to the Better Business Bureau. If they are a business, they almost certainly care about their ratings. I've had companies jump through hoops to satisfy me after filing a complaint. Or pay with a credit card, and then disputed the charges. The credit card company acts as the arbitrator in these situations. They might put you in collections as soon as they find its in dispute however. If its paid and you go through BBB, they may pay you back to settle the dispute.
Where are all the customers yachts? | | “The most powerful force in the Universe is compound interest.” -Albert Einstein
dickenjb
Posts: 2941
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 12:11 pm
Location: Philadelphia PA

Re: Hung out to dry.. Any advice on poor customer service?

Post by dickenjb »

I think you are being cheap. You ordered a service, the provider provided the service. The medical records firm is not responsible for the hospital being slow.

You were offered a 20% discount and should have taken it and moved on. Life is short. Don't sweat the small stuff.
katnok
Posts: 217
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:36 pm

Re: Hung out to dry.. Any advice on poor customer service?

Post by katnok »

I think you should have contacted the hospital rather than Health Port about your $60 because it was their delay that prompted you to order your records. Health Port simply charged for the services they provided. Whether $60 is too much (I think it probably is, but I do not know how big your medical records bundle is) is a totally different issue.
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runner9
Posts: 2260
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Hung out to dry.. Any advice on poor customer service?

Post by runner9 »

I agree you should try to get the hospital to cover it or refund to you, etc. They dropped the ball, not the people billing you.
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