I got a bill from American Medical Collection Agency. I thought I would get it from Quest Diagnostics only. Is this a real genuine company? It seems a bit like a scam. I got the information here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=201112... The website seems less professional. Should I pay the bill to American Medical Collection Agency? How can I ensure that I paid it off? Should I contact Quest Diagnostics and pay it from there instead? What should I do? I don't want it to affect my credit score but I am also afraid it is a scam.
Should I pay it with personal check or online through credit card?
13 Answers
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No, AMCA is definitely not a scam!
Quest Diagnostics most likely has written off the amount you owe as past due and uncollectible and sold the account to a collection agency, AMCA. From now on you will probably have to deal with the collection agency, not Quest Diagnostics, who have likely washed their hands of your account. Meanwhile, your credit will likely have already taken a hit, in which case there is nothing you can do until it ages off your report in 7 years. Meanwhile AMCA will continue to hound you for the money you owe and will probably take you to court and sue for wage garnishment if you don't pay up. The thing you need to understand is the debt you originally owed to Quest has been sold (at a steep discount, usually) to a third party collection agency, who now owns this debt. From their web site AMCA is, or appears to be, a bona fide medical collection agency in business to collect money owed from patients who, for whatever reason, have not paid money owe(d) to their medical providers.
It may help clarify if you simply called Quest Diagnostics (ask for 'accounts receivable') and make inquiry about your bill, as any prudent person in your situation would normally do. They will advise you if the account has gone to collections and why it has. Another reason for calling Quest is to clear up any mistakes, such as them sending the bill to the wrong address, etc. Even if that is the case, Quest isn't likely going to be able to help you now since the account has already been sold, and there is no way they can get it back again from AMCA, even if they wanted to. Quest will probably just say it is (i.e. was) your responsibility to give them the correct address for billing purposes and to make timely payment. Quite obviously, you haven't done that.
The problem is medical service providers tend to have a large number of patients and accounts payable but insufficient resources to collect overdue accounts. So they (i.e., the company who does their bookkeeping) will typically send a statement in the mail, followed by one or two 'past due' notices with payment deadlines, but if the client doesn't respond timely to those, then it goes straight to collections.
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I also got a collection notice from AMCA which I do owe from Quest Diagnostics. But first Quest Diagnostics needs to be put in the spotlight for not informing the customer. I had an annual checkup in February and had blood work done at Quest and everything was submitted through my insurance. Never received a bill from anyone so I figured my insurance had covered it all. So just two days ago I received a collection notice from AMCA. Hey Quest do you think you might want to send a bill to the customer before trying to ruin someones credit? There are other diagnostics places one can go to. I recommend everyone who needs bloodwork done to choose someone else, dont go to Quest Diagnostics for any services!!!! Amador........
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I got a bill from American Medical Collection Agency too.claiming I owe Quest Diagnostics . Don t even know what this is about or who Quest is, and there is no number to call. This all seems illegal. Anyone want to join in a class action suite! In America, you have a right to know who your accusers are, and that means a name and a number! Where is the attorney general in all this. Where are my rights? If this is a scam, it has been going on a LONG time, and nobody is in jail. I wonder why?
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Amca Collection Agency
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I too also got a letter from this agency stating that I owed $20.00 from services rendered from Quest Diagnostics. Sounded strange to me. Called the agency and the computer said the case was closed. I don't get it. Sounds too fishy too m,e especially when I only have a copay and everything else is covered. Do some research and hold off on paying it.
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With PayPal itself, no... with an eBay seller I paid through PayPal, yes, but that was neither company's fault. The seller scammed me, not them. I've been using the service for over 8 years, and have only had that one issue. Not saying some people don't have problems with PayPal, but of the online payment processing companies out there, it's by far the best of the bunch, with the exception of maybe Google Checkout.
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I had the same incident and it is not a fraudulent company. You can actually ask them for the company/Provider that the bill is accounted for. Give the company/ provider a call and verify that you have gotten these services performed and that its genuine.
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American Medical Collection Agency
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I got second letter from this agency stating that I owe $243.65 for services from Quest Diagnostics.
The date of service is when I had been living abroad.
There is no name of the doctor or practice.
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They tried to force me to pay for a treatment I never have received. Didn't even have an account at the lab I allegedly owe money.
They keep calling.
See also:
http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic...
Try this: