Right now I am not a happy camper…as in not at all. I can’t believe what you guys have done, it is shocking to say the least. But let me back up and explain.
In December I came to your clinic one friday morning because my hand was in agony and because the growth that had steadily been growing there over a couple of months had reached alarming proportions. The staff was absolutely fantastic. I spent the day being sent from emergency to X-rays to sonars and back to x-rays and finally to a specialist, who booked me for surgery 4 days later.
When I was admitted to emergency that friday morning I paid the fee required of me based on the coloured rating I got. I was quite happy to do this as I’m only on a hospital plan and a lot of things aren’t covered. I didn’t hear from you again. My bills for the actual surgery were mostly covered by the medical aid and the small amounts not covered by the medical aid were subsequently paid by me. The whole thing was rather pleasant as far as hospital visits go.
Since then I haven’t had one single statement, e-mail, sms, phone call or any other form of communication from you. Then my old office sent me a message stating that there were a number of letters that came in the post while I was in Namibia. So, as I was home for 5 days before heading back to Namibia I popped past the office to pick them up. Great was my surprise when there was an envelope marked ‘final demand’ from you guys. The really ridiculous part was that I had been handed over to lawyers and they were now demanding money from me, but the amount being demanded was R0.00. See Exhibit A:
Initially I found it rather amusing. So I scanned the document and e-mailed it to the person mentioned in the letter as a contact person, stating how ridiculous the whole thing is and explaining that this is the first time in almost 4 months they’ve contacted me and now they are demanding I pay them…well, nothing? I didn’t hear anything back from this person, so after a couple of days I resent the e-mail again, just to make sure that I did my part.
Then today I receive a sms informing me that a summons has been issued in the Magistrate’s court for an amount of R114 (Please note this does not agree to the R0 amount stipulated in the first and ONLY letter i got) and that my name will be published in the official debtors Gazette which is used by credit managers. It also states that I will be liable for all your legal fees.
Now excuse me….but in all the documentation I had to fill in when I was admitted to the emergency that day I had to fill my cell phone number and my e-mail address in on numerous occasions, so that you guys can get a hold of me. I also specified that I would like to receive any statements/invoices from you guys via e-mail. I remember this quite clearly in fact. So why, for the love of apple pie, didn’t you guys e-mail, sms or call me to inform me that there was an amount outstanding?? And then, why do you send me a final demand letter telling me that this is a final demand for an amount of R0 and then I suddenly receive a sms (oh wait! so you guys CAN contact me on my cell phone, so why didn’t you do so before???) to tell me that I will now be served by the magistrates court for a different amount than shown in the final demand.
Don’t get me wrong. If I do, in fact, owe you R114, I am quite happy to pay it. What I don’t understand is why you ignore me for almost 3 months. You had a whole array of communication lines open to you and you didn’t use a single one. And then suddenly you not only threaten me with legal action for owing absolutely nothing, you also want to blacklist me for an amount I never even knew I owed.
Trust me, this is NOT the last you’ve heard of me. I’ve e-mailed the so-called contact person again, and I WILL come and give you guys a piece of my mind as soon as I’m back in Jozi.
Regards
Angry Ruby
Rubyletters 
That is shocking. I would be really mad. Hope you fight them, that is so not okay.
I plan on taking them on as soon as i’m back in SA. It’s a bit hard to do from this side. For now i have to console myself to the fact that I contacted the people they told me to contact in the final demand. But yes…definitely shocking.
Ouch… hope you get this sorted… Seems like someone failed to do their job… 😦
Personally i think a whole whack of people failed to do their job…i mean how do these letters get signed and approved and typed up etc without anyone noticing something is seriously wrong? not to mention the fact that they NEVER contacted me about any money outstanding. Silly people
I’ve had a similar incident where I’ve followed up on a doc’s payment I’ve made & was told it’s been allocated, only to also receive a final demand a *month* later. With doctors it seems they always choose idiots to run their accounts (who also sometimes just lists you for a ‘default’) so I insist now on written confirmation from then that my account is paid, because I’ve seen what a bitch it is to get your name off ITC once they’ve taken a judgement against you… Good luck!
I’m just hoping it won’t cone to that and that this is sorted before we actually reach problems like that
Hospital accounts depts are teh sucky!
Hope you can sort it out easily once you back in Jozi!
Thanx lady…I hope so too. Just makes me so mad that they never once tried to contact me:/
It is utterly bizare!! If it makes you feel any better, it’s gonna cost them more than R114 to sue you for that amount… If I can help out, pop me an email – I’ve got a friend that specializes in this kinda crap. The whole thing is pretty damn wierd.
Problem is…they’re suing me for the legal costs too:/ thanx…I’ll let you know if I do…but I’m hoping we can sort this crap out before it comes to this
Kick their asses! Really this is very poor!
I’ll try my best:)
What idiots! I mean really now! Hope you give them a piece of your mind – GO RUBY!!!!
haha…thanx for the support:)
Grr, I hope it gets sorted out soon, and without any cost to you.
Thank you…i hope so too
Good grief, that is OUTRAGEOUS!!
Sounds like you need to call Carte Blanche!
Good Luck and keep fighting it.
Much love, Vanilla Blonde
hahaha…imagine that….little Ruby causing a scandal of Carte Blanche proportions….
Thanx lady…i plan on doing exactly that:)
there is new laws regarding final demands and fees levied on accounts. Not to sure everyone, but these are what we look out for :
1. Sufficient communications, eg, been phone twice, sms twice ect.
2. No extra fees can be levied on a statement to a medical aid, this is called split billing and may not happen. Unless your account is at a debt collector, they levy their own fees.
your victim of a poorly designed IT system, know a bit about it. Go kick their ass when your back!
Thanx for the info hun:)
You need to take these a-holes on in a big way! What a bunch of idiots.
How absolutely crazy!! Hope they’ve answered you by now
Actually they haven’t….will hopefully be able tonsort it out this weekend when I’m home
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