Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/31/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This bill was almost 7 years old. Didn't even know I still owed this. The first time I talked to them was in court when they sent me a summons. I did set up to pay them $20/month. I missed a couple of payments but they NEVER attempted to call me, send me a letter or even a notice saying "Hey remember us", even though I KNOW they have my address AND phone number because the guy repeated it to me twice over the course of a 30 minute VERY unproductive conversation. Wouldn't let me talk, kept over talking me. Laughing when you ask a question. Won't listen to me at all. When asked why they couldn't call me to remind me, I got told "Thats not their responsibility". I owed $690 and I would've gladly paid what i owed to catch up n make another payment. Now its up over $1000 and all they say is its caused by attorney fees. Now they Levied my bank account and tried to draw out the whole amount, leaving me with no money for gas to get to work or anything. My husband was super mad they took HIS money because this bill is from when my daughter was 19 and she is now 26, before I ever met my husband. They waited almost 7 YEARS to contact me to let me know I owed this.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/31/2023

  This bill dates back to 6/1/2015. The account was listed with L&M on 2/07/2018. We spoke to ***** on 2/22/2018.  She informed us she was a student and only working part time. She said she would see if she is able to set up payments and call us back the following Monday. ***** never called back. We called her on Tuesday, 2/27/2018. She claimed her ex paid the debt. The debt was never paid.We called her back several times, but she never answered. Several years later,****** account was reworked towards the end of 2022. We spoke to ***** on 10/10/2022, she refused to set a payment plan and told us she doesnt have any money. We then requested authorization from our client to move forward with legal action.  ***** was served with a summons, she appeared in court and agreed to a $25/month court ordered payment plan, which also awarded L&M Accounts a judgment. ***** only made 2 payments, 1 in February and 1 in March. Our attorney gave her until 5/23/2023 to make her April payment before he filed a garnishment. We tried to explain to ***** that her husbands money was also frozen because ****** name was on his bank account. ***** didnt want to listen and instead resorted to calling our attorney a fraud/liar. At that point the conversation was over leaving ***** to figure things out on her own. ***** has owed this bill for over 8 years and has made very little effort to resolve the debt. She is under the assumption that it is our job to repeatedly call her until she decides to pay. That is not how we operate, which is why our attorney filed a small claims case against ***********Payment plans are a courtesy, we dont have a problem working with consumers,but after they are court ordered to pay an amount and fail to follow through,we do not continue to call. ***** was also upset about the court costs that she must pay. ***** was notified of the court costs on the summons she was served.***** also appeared in court, which gave her another opportunity to ask the judge to explain why she is responsible for all costs incurred to recover the debt.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/01/2023

   
  Complaint: 20400511
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/25/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My husband had surgery in January 2019. He was diligent about paying his medical bills and paid them off. For four years we never received a bill from this ************************ We are a family that pays our bills. If we owe something legitimate, then we pay. However, my husband starts receiving phone calls from L and M accounts. The first phone call was extremely aggressive. My husband thought the phone calls were scam. They were rude. He said they would call them back. When he did it was to a voicemail just stating *******************. No business name. Again we both thought it was a scam. I think we also received one little postcard in December 2022, but it did not look legitimate and that was last piece of mail we received until we got bombarded with calls. Today I called this *********************** and have been for 4 weeks. I always get a busy signal. I also called L and M accounts and was advised the name of the person the debt collector has been dealing with and the phone number for the company. Same phone number. I finally got ahold of someone at the hospital and was advised the business that we are paying this debt for has been closed since September 2021. I called L and M back and they would not provide the last date of correspondence they had with this company. I was advised we dont buy debt. I dont know what you want me to tell you. L and M confirmed the business was closed. I asked L and M accounts to send me an itemization and a validation of debt letter multiple times. I was laughed at and said No, we arent sending that to you. This company is completely unprofessional in how they handle business and you can see it on their reviews. Im still wondering how a company who has been closed for almost two years can send an account to a debt collector for a surgery from 4 years ago. There is legitimate concern with the business they conduct and the threats of court.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/28/2023

  The outstanding account that ***** is responding to is not her responsibility as she was not married to ********************* on the date of service. We have spoken to her since they are now married, but it really does not have anything to do with her. Our client turned over this account on 12/09/2022. The services were provided on 01/11/2019. Our client has sent multiple letters to their home address. The insurance company would have also sent an EOB which explains what the insurance will pay and the patients responsibility. *** must have received their letters since he originally set up a payment plan with our client. When the account was listed with our agency, we initially sent two letters. (We do not send postcards, they are actual billing statements that include all the information ***** has requested.)  The first letter was mailed on 12/09/2022,the second letter was mailed on 12/27/2022. Neither letter was mail returned. A collector then reached out to *** on 3/23/2023, *** said he consolidated all the debt on his credit report and that this should have been paid with the loan. We tried to explain to *** that this account was not credit reported so it would not have shown on his credit report. *** then said he was busy and will call back. ***** called on 3/27/2023, first she claimed this was fraud,then she claimed our client told her the bill has been paid. However, after speaking with our client, *** was making regular payments from 02/26/2019 through 10/06/2021. Our client tried to reach *** to restart his payments, but *** never responded. ***** was primarily upset because she is under the impression our client held the bill for 4 years before turning it into collections, which is not at all the case. As previously mentioned, *** was making payments for 2 years before his payments declined. We mentioned that she may have this bill confused with another one of their creditors, but she was adamant that she did not. Kacies husbands validation period to request an itemization was from 12/09/2022 through 01/10/2023. We never received any sort of request from ***** until 04/24/2023. According to the law, we do not have to send a validation letter after the first 30 days have expired. However, in most cases we will still send the itemization when requested. Again, ***** has never requested the itemization until 04/24/2023. If the ******** claim they have never received any of the previous bills, even though *** was already paying, what good is it for us to send another bill? We have also told ***** to contact **** insurance company to verify the date of service and claim filed, which she has also refused to do. To address ****** final complaint about the business being closed. The business is closed, but they are still operating the business office to collect payments for the services they have provided. L & M Accounts has managed their collections since 2014, and we continue to help them clear up any unpaid accounts.We have explained this to ***** multiple times, but she is under the assumption that the debt should not be due if they are closed. After multiple refusals to pay we mentioned the possibility of legal action. We informed *** and ***** with the authorization of our client; legal action may be taken, which means *** may be served with a summons to appear in court for non-payment. We have thousands of small claim filings that are public knowledge on Iowacourts.*********** for ****, and on ********** for ******** courts. *** called back on 4/24/2023, he paid $101 and set up $20 weekly payments which is all we have been trying to accomplish from the beginning. However, the first $20 payment declined. We understand most people do not like dealing with collection agencies, but ***** has been extremely rude and belligerent on several occasions which never helps solve anything. And, as you can see, she has also been very dishonest. The ****** review ***** posted I dont usually wish bad upon a company but L & M Accounts can burn to the ground with all employees stuck inside shows the true character of an individual and should diminish any credibility ***** may have had. To wish death upon an entire company and its employees because of her inability to manage their finances is disgusting and very disturbing.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/28/2023

   
  Complaint: 19977775
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  There are several responses that are false. This is the most information L and M accounts has ever provided to my Husband and I, which is quite coincidence now that BBB is involved. I have never denied the fact that my husband did have these services done during 2019. My husband was diligent in paying all of the bills for this surgery every month. As of October 2021, we were both under the assumption that these bills were completely paid off. Its also false that my husband ever received any communication from your client to restart his payments. Especially since the client has been closed since  September of 2021. I understand they can continue to try and get their accounts up to date,  but we have not received any communication since your first phone call that we had a debt to pay. There is a huge amount of fraud in this world today. I work at a bank and we warn our customers of this every day. Why should we not think that a bill from 4 years ago now trying to be collected is not fraud? As you can see L and M accounts way of thinking, why should we send them another if they werent getting the previous ones? This is false. We got every single bill and we obviously made payments, but then not getting another bill until a phone call in 2023, why would we think we still owed. My husband has had the same account and card and not one payment for this client has ever been declined. I would like to hear the phone calls of them ever advising us to contact our insurance provider for any date of service. We know the dates. The particular problem is we STOPPED receiving bills from their client so how are we supposed to know we owe something? And we arent able to contact their client because they are closed. They also saying that this has nothing to do with me is confusing as my name has been on the letters we received only after the first initial call. If I am on the letter and its addressed to me, I think it does have something to do with me. Last and but now least. I have NEVER wish death upon anyone nor any business. I did not make that review and I would like to see where my name appears with this review! If you ****** L and M accounts, there is nothing but horrible reviews. These people in particular, ***************** and *********************, treat people like loan sharks. They dont even have the ability to start out respectful or nice. They are demeaning and aggressive and I have never worked with a company that is so disgusting in their behavior. The only reason I have been rude and uncooperative is because of the way my husband and I are treated every single time we have the pleasure of talking to them. This is disgraceful. I would like phone records of any time any of this information has been provided to us. And I mean every single piece of information that was provided in the first response to my complaint because this has never been said.  And again I would love to see where my name on the review of me wishing death upon a business. Thats defamation and we have no problem going to court for this. This business should be closed. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business Response

  Date: 05/01/2023

  Our response is true and accurate. We have provided the itemization as requested even though we did not have to, and ***** has still rejected the response. We had a productive conversation with her Husband *** who made a payment and set up a payment plan. We were under the impression everything was resolved. Then ***** managed to unnecessarily involve herself again, which is when everything went south. Even though it is irrelevant to the situation, I have attached both reviews *****, and according to ***** (aka ***********************), her husband *** wrote even though the last conversation with *** was surprisingly pleasant. We are unsure what else ***** and her husband need to resolve this case?