It was over six years ago and all four sons were still living at home. Being a stay-at- home mother, I was home schooling a special needs child. My husband has just started back to his job after being laid off and the mortgage company foreclosed on our home. The financial situation was very tight and depressing for both my husband and me. I was looking for anything that would help us out so that I could continue to stay at home with my children. We had tried Amway and although we believe it to be a great company and still use the products, it takes a certain type of erson to make that business work and neither of us are that kind.
We needed the extra income to help provide for the family. One day I picked up the paper, and there in the employment section was an ad for Medical Billers to work out of their homes. I called and immediately received a sells pitch, with my questions being skillfully avoided. “You will receive our proprietary software which was created by an expert team of developers and billing consultants with more than 20 years experience in the healthcare claims industry, and it is free to you as a network member.
You will also receive free updates to this software s long as you are a member. We will provide you with free training created by experienced medical billers to teach you the practical tools you will need to be a successful medical biller or medical claims processor. Upon completion of our training program, you will receive a free certificate proving you have been trained in advance procedures. Once you have completed the training, and filed for a DBA then you will have access to our database of doctors that can benefit from your service.
You can join our network and benefit from all of this for only three hundred dollars and a $50 annual fee. The operator also provided a lot of so called facts about how the changes in Medicare have allow for this new technology and as more and more doctors do their billing electronically there will be a lot of money to be made. This was a special for first time callers. I talked to my husband and I used the last money in my account to purchase the membership. I was very excited. It was four weeks later, the package arrived, and I opened it with anticipation.
There inside was a simple three-ring binder with a twenty page manual, a CD-ROM, and a return envelop. That was all. Well, my heart ropped in my chest. I read the manual, took the ten-question test, and received my certification three weeks later. After writing letters and making phone called to the doctors in the database that they provided, I was frustrated. For three months, I worked in the evening after the boys went to bed and still did not have a single client. I was also receiving nasty responses to my communications.
It turns out that these poor doctors had been getting phone calls for months from other Medical Billers who were working off the same database. I called the company to complain and get my money back. They informed me that they had met all of the obligations, and no intentions of returning my money. I had been scammed. Many underlying factors contributed to my falling for this con game. Both my husband and I were depressed with the financial situation and were letting the stress of the situation cloud our clear thinking and listening skills.
Had I been really listening to the person on the phone and her reactions to my questions, I would have realized that there were points she was avoiding and was not telling me the whole true. Yes, this company had told the truth and provided everything they said they would. The extent of the training was not explained in the original phone call, nor was the accuracy of the database. I also noticed that the logos that were on the ad and on the paper work were adaptation of the Medicare logo and not the original.
I even found out that this company was selling the same software to the doctors’ offices that it was putting in the databases. This company was just in the business of selling it software and was doing so by deceptive practices. It did not intend to support its customers. I did not see the deception here because I was focused so intently on y goal that I was in denial to the fact that I really need to go to work. I was not willing to look deeper into this opportunity before wasting my money and time.
I wanted so badly to have my cake and eat it to that I was wearing blinders. I also believe that growing up in a sheltered lifestyle, I have an unrealistic perception that everyone is good and there for I put trust in people that I should not. I have learned that if you are doing business with a legitimate company they will not pressure you to buy impulsively. I have also learned that I need to sit back and think about purchased before acting impulsively.
