Had a collection agency call me at work and it backfired

I was at my desk last Tuesday when my work phone rang and it was a debt collector for a $300 medical bill I never got. The guy was rude from the start, told me I had 24 hours to pay or they'd garnish my wages. I didn't even know about the bill because it went to an old address. I stayed calm and asked him to mail me proof of the debt. He got mad and said they don't do that. I hung up and called the hospital billing department instead. They told me the bill was a mistake and wrote it off right there. Has anyone else had collectors try to scare you at your job like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

charlie_roberts871mo ago

Damn that's wild. Did they actually say "we don't do that" when you asked for proof cause that sounds illegal as hell.

wilson.emma1mo ago

Maybe they've got a point though. Some small businesses don't have every receipt on file from months ago, and asking for proof of purchase from a random customer could feel like an accusation of lying. The owner might have been having a bad day or dealing with a dozen other issues. Plus, a lot of places put up signs saying "all sales final" or "no returns without receipt" for a reason - it keeps things simple and stops people from trying to return old stuff they never bought there in the first place. I've seen customers yell at cashiers over expired coupons and get super unreasonable, so sometimes businesses just stick to their policy no matter what. Not saying it's right, but I can see why a place would just shut it down instead of opening a whole investigation over a ticket that might not even be theirs.