They Tried to Scam Me Out of $300 and They are Scum, They're Called Berkeley Cardiovascular Medical Group

The Berkeley Cardiovascular Medical Group is a bunch of blood sucking parasites with no morals. Allow me to elaborate.

Last summer I went to my GP as I was experiencing occasional heart palpitations. She referred me to Stanford Health Care which placed a monitor on me for two weeks to record what my ticker was up to.

A few weeks later they called me in for an appointment and I was advised that I should get a pacemaker.

Subsequent to that I got an unsolicited phone call from a doctor with the Berkeley Cardiovascular Medical Group who somehow had gotten a hold of the readings of my heart monitor. I told him that I’d already visited with a doctor from Stanford Medical and a had agreed to have a pacemaker installed. He said that in that case he was offering a second opinion that I should indeed have the procedure. It was a pleasant enough chat of no more than twenty minutes.

All well and good.

In October I had the procedure and am now the proud owner of a hunk of metal in my chest. Joy to the world.

But subsequent to that I got a bill from Berkeley Medical Cardiovascular Group for $320. That was the cost of unsolicited phone conversation. Mind you, thanks to my insurance I paid only $200 for the entire operation in which the pacemaker was installed. And here I was being asked to pony up more than 100% more than that for a phone conversation. And I reiterate that it was not one that I asked for nor for that matter needed.

I suppose it is no surprise that I was shocked and not a bit outraged that a health organization would try to bilk me out of $300 plus. I gave them a call, chatted with someone who I told in no uncertain terms that the bill was ridiculous and I’d not be paying it. I asked to speak with someone who could try to explain the bill to me. 

I did not hear back and assumed that they’d realized their mistake and the charge would disappear. 

Nope.

A month later they sent the bill again. This was truly unbelievable. So I called back, talked to someone about how insane the bill was and asked for a call back from someone in authority. 

Never got one.

Instead, a month after that they sent the bill again. I then made my third and final call. I was told there was no one available who could help me and that I should call in a week or so. I pointed out that this was my third and final call and it was high time they called me back. 

No one ever did.

Time passed and a fourth bill arrived. I mailed it back with the following note:

I have made several attempts to talk to someone about this bill over the phone but no one has called me back. This is my last communication on the matter. If I don’t hear from anyone I’ll simply toss out any future bills sent from you. This outrageous charge is for an unsolicited phone call that lasted less than twenty minutes. It was also superfluous as I was being treated by another doctor with whom I’d scheduled a procedure to install a pacemaker. Incidentally for the surgery I was charged $200. Here I am being asked to pay more than a $100 more for a short phone call made to me that I did not request. You will never see a dime out of me for it. At least I have made the effort to talk to someone.

When two months passed with no word I assumed that they had FINALLY accepted the error of their ways and the matter was settled.

Instead I recently received a notice from a bill collector demanding the $300.

I can only conclude that the people at Berkeley Cardiovascular Group are greedy, money-grubbing monsters who prey on senior citizens and are not above trying any form of chicanery they can conceive of to separate people from their cash.

Imagine how low a medical group has to be to revert to scamming people out of their money. Imagine the guile of supposed health care professionals who have doctors call people and then charge them $300 for the privilege. Why not pick random numbers out of the phone book, call people and then send them a bill? Of course they never called me back. How could they have begun to justify the bill?

Berkeley Cardiovascular Medical Group is beneath contempt. They are soulless cowards who never even attempted to explain the bill they foisted upon me. 

Berkeley Cardiovascular Medical Group tries to take advantage of senior citizen with heart problems. That’s who they are. Scum.