A billing nightmare

I have expressed my annoyances with the dental school that we used to get Evan's teeth taken care of but my frustration level has now reached a new high.

We got a bill for the services rendered. We knew that a large portion of the bill would be covered by the insurance so we just ignored it, waiting for them to send us the real bill that had our portion on it. My husband did take it in with him to work so that the gal that helps people out with insurance issues could check on the status of the insurance claim. It turned out that a claim had not even been submitted.

We then get another bill, telling us that we were past due. Of course that freaks us out a bit so the insurance gal calls the dental school and tries to get them to tell her what is going on. They ignore the calls. They also ignore calls from my husband. Once my husband steps up the frequency of calls they finally call ME! at HOME! (in the middle of my attempt to nap) which is not where they had been directed to call.

I engage in an inane conversation where we establish after several repetitions that I am not happy that we are getting bills that are saying past due and I am very unhappy that we are getting bills before the insurance company is billed. My favorite quote of the conversation was "Well I am not the one sending out the bill, it is done by computer" I had steam shooting out of my ears at that point. I didn't care who precisely was sending the bill or how it was sent. I cared that it was being sent and that they were threatening our credit in the process. I did not want this bill to go to collections.

I found out after my husband got home from work that there were other issues that I had not had a chance to be told about. Apparently there are some lines in the bill that are quite shady, teeth that were worked on that I was not told about ect. They also stuck in a charge for the gingivitis visit. I knew that we would have to pay for that since it was beyond out coverage but I had thought they would bill us in a different bill instead of hiding it in with the bill for a different procedure. They are going to get an earful from my husband and a complaint filed against them with the insurance company. We are so not going to be using them ever again for any kind of dental work at all. I have had it and am tired of being talked down to and being cheated out of money.