Liberty Medical Specialties, Inc.

Liberty Medical Services has been non-responsive to my customer service issues and its staff is bordering on rude whenever I talk to them.Before I retired from the [redacted] I was referred to Liberty Medical Specialties for [redacted] supplies. After waiting a few weeks with no contact from Liberty, my wife called to get the process started. The customer service rep she talked to was very rude to and said Liberty would need a copy of my sleep study and a prescription from a doctor in order to send me the supplies I needed. When I called to confirm, I spoke to the same woman and she was also very rude to me. She also told me that she didn't have my referral. She said something to the effect of "I don't keep everything on my desk" when she couldn't find it. I asked to speak to her supervisor and the supervisor, Ms.[redacted], gave me her e-mail address to send all of the paperwork. This was the beginning of Oct. Ms.[redacted] was not getting my e-mails so finally, after another 6 weeks of waiting and trying to get the info to Liberty, I contacted Liberty's Durham office and talked to Ms. [redacted]. I e-mailed her my sleep study and a copy of my ID card. On Nov 26, I found out that Liberty still did not have my sleep study so I had my [redacted] fax everything. On Dec 11, after my retirement date, they finally sent me supplies along with a bill for $107.38. When I called [redacted] to find out why I was billed they told me it was because Liberty processed my order after my retirement date. The [redacted] rep told me that Liberty Medical Services could change the date on the invoice to correctly bill it to [redacted] and not me. I called Liberty Medical Services Billing department and talked to billing rep who told me that Liberty could change the date Nov 26 to fix the problem. She was very helpful and told me that she would let me know if there was a problem. I never heard from her but I have since received two more bills from Liberty Medical Specialties. During the same call, I spoke to a supply department rep because my [redacted] machine wasn't working correctly. She said that a part would need to be replaced and that she would have to find it as my machine is out of production. She also told me that should couldn't do anything without an authorization from [redacted]. I asked her why, when the company was already assigned by [redacted] to provide me with [redacted] supplies and she told me that "[redacted] doesn't always pay." So I called [redacted] and the [redacted] rep told me that Liberty Medical Services should be able to provide what I needed without an authorization but, if they were asking for one, all Liberty had to do was send the info to [redacted] and [redacted] would provide the authorization number. I was disappointed that Liberty's representative either didn't know this or didn't want to do the necessary work to get the authorization number. I called back and asked to speak to someone else in the supply department and was transferred the voicemail of a man in the department. I left him a message but haven't heard back from him. This was right after Easter in April. I called again today, June 4, 2014, and spoke to someone in the billing department about the issue with the bill. She told me that they couldn't change it because that would be fraud. If that is the case, why did they tell me they could do it when I called previously? I asked her to destroy my records and told her I would be finding another company to deal with for future products and services. She was rude in her response and I hung up. As a retired veteran I don't expect special treatment but I do expect to be treated with the respect due any person. The lack of professionalism on the part or Liberty's staff leads me to believe that they do not value their veteran customers. While I understand that the timeline on my complaint is spread out, that should not prevent Liberty's staff from doing their jobs. I wanted to give Liberty the opportunity to make this riDesired SettlementI want Liberty Medical Services to contact [redacted] to see what can be done about this bill. I don't want them to tell me that I have to do it as they have been doing. They deal with insurance companies all the time and they should know what to request. That should not be left up to the customer as the go between. We should all be on the same page. I just want them to do their job as a service provider.Business Response Dear Ms. [redacted]I wanted to address MR [redacted]'s concerns regarding service from LMSI.Maybe the best way is to describe the process required of us by [redacted] Benefits verification office, keeping in mind that we talk to the benefits department and customers speak with customer service departments - two different groups.For [redacted] supplies we are required to have a prescription, copy of the clients sleep study, and complete insurance information found on the clients card. After getting all this, we contact [redacted] Benefits and request an authorization. Once we receive this we then provide the equipment to the client. It does seem like it took a bit of time for this to occur . Mr. [redacted] notes a six week wait between calls to us. I would certainly think a week to ten days to be adequate. However due to the changes taking place with the affordable care act, [redacted] reform, etc. our paperwork requirements are becoming increasingly burdensome and it is difficult at times for all providers to operate in the fashion customers were used to in the past.As to the issue of changing the date, I will agree with our other staff who have stated this would indeed be a case of fraud. With a new deductible starting on January 1st I am sure [redacted] would not want all its providers to change January invoice dates to December, for example. That defeats the entire purpose of the deductible concept.Finally, I personally work out of the Durham office where most of these conversations seem to have taken place, and personally supervise the staff mentioned in the complaint. While I cannot comment on Mr. [redacted]'s feelings regarding our response and behavior, I feel very strongly that the Durham office of Liberty Medical Specialties is very customer oriented and professional. I would also like to point out the Revdex.com letters and correspondence and letters are being mailed to our [redacted] NC office. To my knowledge they had no involvement in this situation. Our Durham address is [redacted] # [redacted] Durham, NC XXXXX.