Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/10/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had an outstanding medical bill ($503) from ***************************. Ive been dealing with financial hardship managing other medical bills too. So, I have been behind on making the payment, and the bill went to the Thunderbird Collection Specialists. I received the first bill around Nov 15, 2022 from TCS. I was surprised the bill was $704.20. The $201.20 was added without any explanation. So I called TCS to find out how/why this large fee was added. The representative couldn't provide any information. Instead, she had a combative attitude telling me it is just the penalty fee because I didn't make the payment in time. I ended the call feeling hopeless, as I didn't have the means to make the full payment at that time. More importantly, I refuse to pay any unexplained fee that is based on no reasoning at all. I called them back a few more times to get some answers but I was unsuccessful and the calls were quite unpleasant. I recently had an experience with another collection agency *******, who offered to work with me on another medical bill by offering a payment plan and a discount if I manage to pay the full amount. Unlike *******, TCS does not offer payment plans or any other support to resolve the account. They insist on paying in full only with an abrasive attitude. This is a ruthless practice to charge a ridiculous fee amount for patients who already have problems paying medical bills, and this 40% penalty policy is an unruly practice that needs to stop. I managed to make the online payment finally on NVSC payment site to avoid paying the fee. In the past, NVSC's phone was never answered by humans and my calls didn't go through. I finally got to talk to someone @ NVSC and found out they are fully aware of TCS' unruly fee structure and turns out that if a patient pays in full within 30 days of the bill, they are supposed to waive this fee. This information was never provided by either TCS or NVSC anywhere but they claim this is their "policy."

  Business Response

  Date: 02/10/2023

  Hello,

   

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond. The collection fee is added from the client side. This fee offsets the costs associated with sending your account to collections. The fee is discussed in your patient financial document that was presented and signed at your initial visit to the provider. 

   

  The first letter we sent to your address also disclosed the fee. You called on 12.22.2022 and discussed the balance and the fee. We offered you a payment plan at that time plus we disclosed how the fee was calculated. You can make a payment via our website or by calling us at ************.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/06/2023

  The response from Thunderbird Collection Specialists is incorrect in that the explanation of the "fee" was never discussed or disclosed in the "patient financial document" they are referring to. I need to know from them what this "patient financial document" is. 
  
  The very reason why I submitted this complaint is the baseless and unruly policy of charging 40% of the bill amount as a processing fee, to begin with. Do you have the capacity to review this 40% fee policy to see if it's an illegal or unruly practice of the collection business? 
  
  No other collection agencies I've dealt with charge this high of a fee, and now I am getting a sense that this facet of the collection agency business is not regulated. 
  
  I've asked TCS, AND their client, ***************************, how this 40% fee has been justified and accrued, and they could not provide any answer other than, "that is just how it is." 
  
  After hearing from you about this claim with TCS, I planned to submit another complaint against the ***************************. If TCS insists it is their client, *************************** is why this fee has been accrued, I will for sure submit another complaint about the ***************
  
  I ask you to keep this complaint open as I will be creating a new complaint for the ***************

  Business Response

  Date: 03/06/2023

  Hi,

   

  We will request and send to you via US mail a copy of your signed patient financial document.  Thank you. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/07/2023

  I will wait to receive this document they are referring to.
  At the same time, more importantly, I need to see a document explaining why they need to charge 40% of the total bill to process the invoice/bill. They need to provide a breakdown of how 40% of the bill is used to cover their admin or processing fees and how their 40% fee policy is viable compared to the industry standard average fee that other collection agencies charge. I have not seen any other collection agency charge a high fee.
  
  Also, is this a company-wide policy enforced on all bills they take on? OR, as they claim, does each client they take on dictate or negotiate how much they charge the fee?
  I have a separate claim/case through BBB regarding their client, ***************************, who denies that they are NOT responsible for this 40% fee, and they state that it is Thunderbird Collection Specialists who sets up this one-time fee.
  Thanks.
  ***