My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: North Carolina and Province of Ontario.
Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and have done some reading before creating an account. I live in the province of Ontario.
Last year, I was in North Carolina and had a medical emergency. I went to a hospital there, gave them my drivers license information etc. The lady at the desk told me that if I pay the bill within a set amount of days (ie. 7 days), then I would only have to pay 50% of the bill and gave me a flyer about it. The next day, I flew home to Toronto and I called into the phone number on the flyer and I was sent through a series of automated voice responses without being able to reach a human being. I looked up phone numbers for the hospital and called 3 numbers as they would continue to give me new numbers without reaching anyone who knew anything about what I was talking about. Long story short, I couldn't even find a place to pay my bill. Finally, over 2 weeks after the emergency, I got in touch with someone and I said that I wanted to pay it off within the 7 days to get 50% and explained my story to them. They said that was fine, but I had to wait for the bill. My medical insurance through my credit card agreed to pay it as long as it came in within a certain amount of time as well.
3 months later, I didn't receive a bill of any sort. I get a call from them and they started asking me to pay my bill. I was obviously frustrated at this whole situation and I told them I didn't receive the bill. She said they'll send it again.
Another month passes and still no bill and another call. I told them that this is ridiculous that I have to chase them to find out how much I have to pay. Now my insurance company won't even pay the bill anymore. So she says that they'll send it again.
I honestly can't remember if I got a bill now that it's so late. They continued to call me for months, and I eventually either missed their calls or ignored them seeing that number calling me.
The lady that I spoke to says I didn't get the bill because I live in Canada, which makes no sense since USPS, Fedex, UPS, Purolator, DHL etc. all deliver to Canada.
So I got a call from a collections agency today, and this is the only thing I can think of that would have been sent to collections as I have perfect credit otherwise. I picked up the phone and said hello, but they didn't say anything and hung up. I'm sure I'll get a call again and want to make sure I'm well prepared for this. Can anyone provide any advice on how I should approach this situation? It seems a little ridiculous since I was the one trying to pay the invoice in advance, my insurance company WOULD have covered the bill and I still don't know who to contact about this.
Should I call them back? The bill was just over $1000 I think without the interest. I would have gladly paid $500 right on the spot.
I appreciate all those out here helping others!! Great forum!

