Merchants' Credit Guide Company

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/02/18) */
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Ms. [redacted] concerns. I was able to confirm that our client, [redacted] Services, performed the services on 11/27/09. Due to the age of the account and the billing...

service unable to explain what happened (or didn't happen), we are refunding Ms. [redacted] $53 and deleting any reference of this account from her credit report. I will send Ms. [redacted] a letter confirming this as well as the information I did receive from our client regarding the services provided.
I hope this addresses Ms. [redacted]' concerns.
[redacted]
President
Merchants' Credit Guide Co.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2014/02/18) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
With the help of Revdex.com and Ms. [redacted] from [redacted] Radiological Services who was also in contact with Mr. [redacted], this issue was resolved in a timely manner and I am fully satisfied with the outcome. Thank you very much.

Mr. [redacted] response requires direct communication between the two parties.  The previous account that was paid was for a [redacted] with the same address. The two outstanding accounts are for the same person. In order to determine if we have the right party, I would ask Mr. [redacted] to contact our manager [redacted], copied here, to work with Mr. [redacted] directly to establish whether we are contacting the right party. Mr. [redacted]'s direct phone number is (312) [redacted]. I will instruct Mr. [redacted] to resolve this issue as efficiently as possible.  [redacted] F. [redacted], PresidentMerchants' Credit Guide Co.

Ms. [redacted] account for $115 has been paid down to $15.00.  Unfortunately, one of the payments received on 12/28/17 for $15.55 to pay the balance off was returned NSF.  There is a $25.00 charge for NSF checks.  The balance remains at $40.55:  $15.55 for the account balance and...

$25.00 for the NSF fee.  On the other accounts she refers to, she was sent copies of these bills twice, the first time on 10/25/16 and the second time on 9/26/17.  At the time services were received, there was no insurance coverage provided.  She may need to double check whether she was covered on the dates of service or whether she can still provid the insurance information at the time of service.  If the insurance was not provided at the time of service, it may be past the required time to file a claim, thus causing the accounts to be moved to a self-pay status.  We remain happy to work with Ms. [redacted] to work out a manageable payment schedule or answer any further questions to resolve these accounts. Dan [redacted], PresidentMerchants' Credit Guide Company

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Response is awesome and expected could be better but it is satisfactory to me as I am on limited income.

Thank you for the opportunity to address Mr. [redacted] concerns.  The reason why Mr. [redacted] has not received any bills for these accounts is because they were sent to his old address.  Actually, Mr. [redacted] has three accounts in collection from [redacted] Emergency Medicine Specialists. ...

The first account is for services rendered on 7/14/14 by an [redacted] physician.  His current address was provided.  As soon as the account was placed in collection, Mr. [redacted] promptly paid this account.  The next two accounts for services rendered on 2/20/16 and 2/22/16.  An old address was provided.  Apparently, the bills sent were returned.  We will send Mr. [redacted] copies of both the invoices to his current address.Should Mr. [redacted] have any questions, we will be happy to help him.
[redacted], President
merchants' Credit Guide Co.

Upon further inquiry with our client, they have agreed to recall the account and adjust the balance to zero. We are taking steps to remove this collection item from Ms. [redacted] credit report and will send her a letter of confirmation of the removal.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Mr. [redacted]'s concern.  Our company, Merchants' Credit Guide Company is completely independent from [redacted].  In 2008, [redacted] placed an account for collection with our company for Mr. [redacted].  In 2010, they recalled the account.  We no...

longer have the account for collection.  Any collection trade lines placed on Mr. [redacted]'s credit reports by our company have long been removed.  We have no authority to cancel the debt and no control over [redacted]'s transcript policy.  Therefore, we are unable to help Mr. [redacted] achieve his desired settlement.  Any resolution would have to come directly from [redacted]. 
Dan [redacted], President
Merchants' Credit Guide Company

We received Mr. [redacted] complaint on 6/7/16.  On 6/8/16, we sent the deletion request to all the credit bureaus we previously reported to.  The Audit Control number we received confirming the deletion request was 79859549.  We do not have control over the timing of how fast the credit bureaus process these deletion requests.  Upon receipt of Mr. [redacted] latest response, and to ensure the deletion , we sent another deletion request on 6/15/16, Audit Control number 79961906.  Again, we do not have any control over how fast the credit bureaus process these requests.  We will continue to follow up to make sure these deletions finally get processed.  One word of caution, if Mr. [redacted] is using a "third-party" to monitor these deletions, and not the credit bureaus themselves, some of these third-party credit monitoring companies do not update their databases in real-time.  There may be further delay before they update.
Please let me know if Mr. [redacted] continues to experience further delay.  We will get these deleted as promised.
[redacted]
President
Merchants' Credit Guide Co.

Thank you for the opportunity to address Mr. [redacted] concerns.  The reason why Mr. [redacted] has not received any bills for these accounts is because they were sent to his old address.  Actually, Mr. [redacted] has three accounts in collection from [redacted] Emergency Medicine Specialists.  The...

first account is for services rendered on 7/14/14 by an [redacted] physician.  His current address was provided.  As soon as the account was placed in collection, Mr. [redacted] promptly paid this account.  The next two accounts for services rendered on 2/20/16 and 2/22/16.  An old address was provided.  Apparently, the bills sent were returned.  We will send Mr. [redacted] copies of both the invoices to his current address.Should Mr. [redacted] have any questions, we will be happy to help him.[redacted], Presidentmerchants' Credit Guide Co.

Ms. [redacted] has done business with our client, [redacted] Avenue.  We are a contracted collection agent for [redacted] Avenue and we were sent Ms. [redacted] account because she has not paid for the merchandise she received.  [redacted] Avenue is the original creditor and current owner of this...

debt.  She is welcome to pay [redacted] Avenue directly, or she can pay Merchants' Credit Guide Company.  Either way, she remains responsible for payment of this account.

Thank you for the opportunity to address Ms. [redacted] concerns.  First, on 2/5/17, Ms. [redacted] was provided notice from our office when her account was placed for collection to her last known address.  We never received return mail on this notice.  A second notice was sent on...

3/15/17.  Again, we never received mail returned.  None of our efforts to collect the account were in violation of the FDCPA, FCRA, or any other law.  On 4/13/17 we received a letter of dispute from Ms. [redacted].  We were in the process of requesting verification of the debt from our client when our client informed us on 4/18/17 that they had received payment in full.  At that time we updated her account as paid in full.  During the time since we received Ms. [redacted] dispute letter, we suspended our collection efforts to verify the debt, as is required by law.  On 4/25/17, we received a call from Ms. [redacted], upset that we were on her credit report.  Before we could confirm her address, she ended the call.  That same day, our client called and asked us to remove the collection item from her credit report.  On 4/25/17, we deleted the collection item from Ms. [redacted] credit reports.  A letter confirming the deletion will be sent to Ms. [redacted] to the address on this complaint. Dan Burtis, PresidentMerchants' Credit Guide Co.

I have never received any documents. I've contacted this company and also sent a letter. I've only received a response after filing a complaint trough the Revdex.com.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/05/20) */
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Mr. [redacted]'s concerns.
To clarify the circumstances, we are the collection agency for ER physician group. We are tasked with trying to resolve the self-pay balances that come to us from their...

billing department. The ER physicians are not part of the hospital. They are a separate group of doctors that provide and bill for their services apart from any other hospital and / or physician group.
Our earlier communication in December of 2013, Mr. [redacted] indicated that the insurance company had already paid. He was going to follow up with his insurance company. We were later informed that the treatment was due to an accident and that the details of the accident were holding up the payment of the claim. Recently we heard from Mr. [redacted] due to the account being reported to the credit bureau. Shortly after that, we heard from our client to put the account on hold while they investigate the claim. On May 9, 2014, we received a "recall" notice from our client telling us to close and return the account. At that time we also sent a deletion request to all the credit bureaus that we previously reported this account to.
The deletion request of the trade lines from Mr. [redacted]'s credit report has been completed. Sometimes it takes the the credit bureaus a few days to update their files. In addition, I have directed my staff to send a letter to Mr. [redacted] confirming the deletions. If Mr. [redacted] has any further problems with these accounts listed on his credit bureaus reports, he can contact me directly at ([redacted]
[redacted]
President
Merchants' Credit Guide Co.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Mr. [redacted] concerns.  Contrary to Mr. [redacted] account of his allegations, we have not had a conversation with Mr. [redacted] about these accounts since 2010.  At that time he said he was unemployed and cannot pay.  On 6/21/10, he called and asked if he could receive some financial assistance from the hospital at which time we directed him to talk to the hospital to see what he might be eligible for.  On 8/4/10, we spoke to him again and he said he had no income and could not make any payment at that time.  Now he claims there was insurance that should have paid everything?  Recently on 2/17/17, we received a dispute letter and stated he refused to pay.  Now, more recently, on 4/20/17, 12 days ago, we received a letter asking for verification on all the accounts placed with our company for collection.  We are currently gathering all the account information to respond to this last request.  As soon as we have it all, we will mail it to Mr. [redacted] to the address provided in this complaint.  Upon receipt, we will wait for Mr. [redacted] call to resolve these matters and come up with a manageable plan.  As for Mr. [redacted] HIPAA concerns, we are a contracted Business Associate of each of the clients we represent.  There have been no violations of Mr. [redacted] protections under HIPAA.   The reporting of Mr. [redacted] accounts to the credit bureau is accurate and within the rules set forth in the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Thank you for the opportunity to address Ms [redacted] concerns.  Upon receipt of Ms. [redacted] complaint we immediately contacted our client.  Due to the age of the account, they have agreed to write off any balance.  We have closed the account and sent notice to the credit bureaus to...

remove this item from Ms. [redacted] credit report.  Ms [redacted] will receive a letter from us confirming this deletion.

Thank you for the opportunity to address Mr. [redacted] complaint.  The allegations presented in the complaint are inaccurate.  Mr. [redacted] has never called our company asking for verification of the accounts listed in the complaint.  His insurance did not cover all these accounts. ...

There are self-pay balances after insurance.  Regarding Mr. [redacted] HIPAA concerns, we are a contracted Business Associate of the clients we represent.  The information provided by our clients to collect payment is well within compliance of HIPAA.  On January 29, 2017, we received a faxed letter stating he disputed the debt and refused to pay.  On April 20, 2017, we received a letter from Mr. [redacted] asking for verification of the accounts placed in our office for collection and reported to the credit bureaus.  We are gathering the account information from our clients to provide Mr. [redacted] the information requested.  Upon receipt, we will forward the information to him.  There has been no violation of Mr. [redacted] rights.  We are happy to work with Mr. [redacted] to come up with a manageable solution to these accounts.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Mr. [redacted] concerns.  We have two accounts under Mr. [redacted] name from the hospital.  One for $283.56 and one for $145.17.  After speaking to the hospital about these accounts, they have agreed to close the account for...

$283.56.  We have deleted this account from the credit bureaus.  Please be aware that sometimes it takes the credit bureaus a few days to process the changes to their database.  The other account is the result of an unmet deductible.  The $145.17 is the balance after the insurance payments and adjustments.  We are sending Mr. [redacted] a copy of the account statement so he can verify this with his insurance company.  The $145.17 is still due and will remain on his credit report.  We will be happy to work with Mr. [redacted] with a manageable payment plan if needed.  [redacted]PresidentMerchants' Credit Guide Co.

The following is the response to Mr. [redacted]'s compliant with the CFPB:Upon receipt of Mr. [redacted]'s complaint, I reviewed our account history and asked our client to review their account history and send me an account statement. In addition, I reviewed the call recordings of all the conversations we had...

with Mr. [redacted]. After review of this information, Mr. [redacted] version of the facts is not accurate and is not the truth. We received this account from our client on 7/14/16. Initially, we sent Mr. [redacted] the validation notice. We attempted to call him several times. We sent another letter and called several more times. We never received a response, until 8/11/17 when he called and informed us that [redacted] had paid this bill. On 8/14/17, we called our client and they indicated they had not received any payment form [redacted] or anyone else. We have since received several [redacted] from the credit bureaus. We noted the account as disputed and verified the information as accurate. On 9/8/2017, Mr [redacted] called us again and said this account was paid. Again, we checked with our client and they said they did not receive any payment on this account. As recently as 2/19/18, we spoke to Mr. [redacted] again and he asked for a copy of the bill. On 2/22/18, we received this complaint. I have now received a copy of Mr. [redacted]'s account with our client. Our client's notes indicated Mr. [redacted] initially claimed this account derived from a work related injury. At that time, our client spoke to Mr. [redacted]'s listed employer and they had indicated his employment was terminated for months and he tried to send his ex-employer the account as a workers comp claim that was rejected by the employer. I will send him a copy of that account statement. For the record, Mr. [redacted]'s version of his experience with our representatives blatantly inaccurate. I have the recording of the calls to prove it. There was never a 3-way call with Mr. [redacted], our company, and [redacted] County Hospital. Mr. [redacted] was never threatened in any way! We never threatened him with suit, or the police, or treated him disrespectfully. And he never faxed the information he claims to have that shows the account paid by medicaid. Again, I will send Mr. [redacted] a copy of the account statement today. If he sends me information that shows this account has been paid, I will follow up with our client and verify the payment. Until that time, the account will remain reported to the credit bureaus as a disputed item.   Again, I have mailed Mr. [redacted] a copy of the account showing the balance due.  He needs to send me a copy of this documentation from [redacted] County Hospital and [redacted] Medicaid.  I ask him to mail it directly to my attention.  Dan [redacted], President, Merchants' Credit Guide Company 223 W. Jackson Blvd., Ste. 700, Chicago, IL 60606.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]