Kill The Bill

This happened to me a few years ago. I was owed a significant sum of money by the company that handled my doctor’s billing (she worked at a large healthcare system, which outsourced billing to this company). For months and months, I tried via email and phone to get the money back… but each contact treated me rudely or ignored me. They would either say they were still working on it or would act like I had never requested the money in the first place and needed to start the process over. It was maddening.

One day, after receiving another rude email from this company, I decided to leave a Yelp review on my doctor’s page. I essentially said that while the doctor and her staff were helpful and professional, the billing company they used was atrocious and made the entire experience not worth it.

Lo and behold, the very next day, I get a call from the CEO of the billing company.

CEO: “What’s the problem?”

Me: *Explains the situation.*

CEO: “Okay, I’ll make sure the money gets sent ASAP. Could you please take the review down?”

Apparently, he was getting angry calls from my doctor, and he seemed pretty pressured to get it taken down.

Me: “I can take the review down… after I get my money back.”

He gladly accepted my offer. A week later, there was my check in the mail.

Here’s the thing, though: I never specified how long after I got the money I would take the review down. 

So, I wait a week. I get some calls and texts from the CEO. I ignore them. Wait another week. Respond that I’m having “technical problems logging into Yelp” but should have it resolved soon.

After about six months of him reaching out and me being as unhelpful as possible, I finally took it down. 

The next time I returned to that doctor’s office, it was a whole new billing system. I’m not sure if my review made the difference, but it was sweet malicious compliance regardless.