If it isn't one thing...

[Kay/NC]

...it's another. In the moddle of making all this hay, and moving tons of stuff out of the store for the tenant, i have had a couple of aggravations.

Two weeks ago Thursday, I got a robocall, telling me to call my local LP company about " my" bill. MY private account is a fill up every 3-4 years, for the clothes dryer and emergency genset for the house and office. i had that filled last fall, and knew I paid the bill within a day or so of receiving it. ( Yes, I AM OCD!)

The robot said to call my local Amerigas office, so I looked up the number called, and found my account balance was zero. That left us with the farm gas, which is bought by tanker, via a national account belonging to our integrator. called the contract liason guy, explained the problem, was emailed back that it was being handled.

Well apparently not. Got a call from a collections agency on Tuesday, saying I owed the $4575 plus change...tried to explain it isn't "my" account...I made sure she told me the billing address, which is the integrator's office downstate. Keep in mind, this system has worked perfectly well for about 20 years, so someone somewhere had to have fixed a problem we never had before.

The snotty kid on the phone informed me my account was suspended..so, I guess a good thing it's not zero degrees in January. Called the contract liason guy back...not in. Call transferred to a voicemail in Accounting...oh, Hell NO! Decided to hit up my production manager, and expressed how they were ruining " MY" credit.

Took a couple more days, finally got message yesterday that things have been resolved, I am receiving a written apology from Amerigas, and " my" credit isn't affected.

Great relief...until my dumb butt went to the mailbox here in VA today, between unloading/ organizing the stuff moved from the store and raking hay. Why, oh why, do I check my mail?!?

Mail carrier has griped about having to back up in the lane here " several" times. Mike met her once with a wide load of hay on...if she had looked before whipping out in front of him at the fork in the lane, she would have had to wait maybe thirty seconds for him to pass...but, no! She had to rush out and try to force him and fifty feet of truck and trailer 1/4 mile backwards and into a very dangerous, curvy road.

Postmaster says: "Carrier isn't allowed to back up."

Weigh in here, please! That is a new, ridiculous one on me...claims it is a safety issue.

Oh , Crimony! Now, right after the last duck stopped trying to peck me to death, this one starts. Now, the B of a carrier wants our boxes set in the middle of a very nasty curve, on a road where 95% of the drivers do not stick to the 55 mph speed limit...and we couldn't see them coming, even if they did.

Alternative: build a pullover halfway between the road and the boxes. Okay we have tractors, blades and rock. We just need one more thing to do this week like we needed one more hole in the head.

I hate it when someone lies, just so they won't have to do their job. This affects our tenants, too...so, I had to text them to ignore the letter...Mike is handling it.

The mail has come here as long as ther's been RFD. Why can't this grouch - who will not wave hello - just do her stinkin' job?!?

And, IS IT AGAINST THE LAW TO WAVE??

[turkey feather]

I understand your frustration!  I got a letter from a collection agency too and for about the same amount. No bill from the health care company. The charges were from my accident in 2013. I was told it was paid by insurance but is now seems that the company did not bill the charges correctly and it was not paid. Is that my fault? That law suit was settled without that charge since it was unknown and now they want all this extra money. Attorney is working on it.  What is it with these bills going straight to collection? Scary and damages credit.

[wt51015]

That is a long time for the health care company to not have contacted you for an outstanding bill. Glad your attorney is working on it. I've had more problems with my parent's Medicare than my own, because their statements come out only quarterly. So if you have a bill, how do you know if it is correct or not without Medicare's statements? However the health care company doesn't want to wait for you to get those statements to compare; they want their money now and will send it to collections within 1 month if they don't. On the other hand, I've seen bills come for items that should be covered, but weren't for the lack of a proper diagnosis label. You have to stay on your toes on everything, since it seems they expect you to be an expert of everything!

[wt51015]

Sounds like your VA carrier didn't have the mail count go her way. We are technically not allowed to back up, but there are many places we have no choice but to back up into a driveway, which is supposed to be safer than pulling in and then backing out onto the road. Maybe you can work with the postmaster for leeway on the time the new box location would be required? Like you said, it's been there for a very long time, so what difference would a month or two make? If you really wanted to make a statement, you could rent boxes for all on your property. That would take care of the problem carrier in your driveway.

[Kay/NC]

No way these boxes are moving...the hard surface road our lane intersects with is 55 mph, and most are well above that. Boxes are on the opposite side, so everyone in four houses would have to turn in and walk across, with no clear line of sight either direction. Neither of us can hear worth a darn snymore, and have no desire to become roadkill.

Mike is going to drag the pullover halfway between boxes and end of the lane. There is pullover at the end, and a turnaround at the boxes themselves already. That was the option to moving the boxes the letter gave us. That is satisfactory...he will probably get it done this week, or at least by next weekend.

Just tractor time and a scoop or two of gravel...if that shuts this sourpuss up, it is worth it.

[Kay/NC]

Turkey, I am not so sure you pwe that bill. I think insurers require that providers bill in a timely fashion, or disallow the charges. Check with your insurance carrier, and ask if two years isn't too late. I think the limit is a year or less.

[Kay/NC]

Turkey, I googled the question of how long a provider has to bill you. If they are a participating provider with your insurance, it looks like you would probably be in good shape. That appears tobecovered in their contractual relationship with the insurer.

[turkey feather]

Thanks for info I will check it out.

[Kay/NC]

Your attorney will be the one to check this, but in most states, a bill has to be posted within certain statutory time limits, too.

What would be pertinent, I think, is if this was a participating provider at the time services were rendered, even if not today. Medical billing is a PITA...our physician has a billing service, but it cannot handlr HSA debit cards...keep in mind, the bill is printed to accept them those are mailed back to his office, which will sit on them for months.

I have actually paid one twice, and got billed a third time for it. They don't like me very much in the billing office, because a very dear friend os his former boss amd close friend. He brought his wife on, to shape up the business staff, after the situation above was related back to him....

[Kay/NC]

Also, it mat very well be that the practice kniws it waited too late, " sold your debt" to a collection agency, and they get whatever they can weezil out of you. Get your attorney's advice...they are hpoing you willanice, to save your credit, and agree to pay them something...which acknowledges that you have a debt.

We had some issues with this kind of stuff after Jenna passed. The only thing that san make losing your child worse, if that is posdible, is to gave creeps like this crawling out of the woodwork. Fortunately, our family attorney was there, to protect me as her administrator, even when that multi-million-dollar lawsuit for her wreck fell on my shoulders, even though I had no real liability under any theory of law.

It is all about extorting money out of unsuspecting people. Have your attorney handle the collections people. It's his job to have found all the bills and sued for enough to cover them.