Weee! I’ve been dogged by one of these. I was in a car accident on company time. A Workers Comp claim was filed, but the ambulance company decided to try collecting from me. On the phone, I told them it was a workers comp claim. Gave them the case number. Responded to their letters with a letter of my own and a case number. Mailed their letters/bills also to the workers comp insurance company. The collections agents always insisted that it’s my responsibility to pay the bill and then seek reimbursment from workers comp. (Not at ALL hour workers comp works here in CA) When I tell them that collecting this is illegal, they then hang up on me. Eventually, someone calls back.
The insurance company has since gone out of business, which complicates the matter. That still doesn’t make it my problem-- possibly my former employer’s, but not mine. This has been going on 2 1/2 years now.
I’ve done collections for many years, but I’ve done mostly commercial collections. It’s easier to collect from a business that’s still in operation, and still wants your product. Small businesses don’t always have the money, but will often make a good-faith effort to work a payment plan. Large businesses (I’ve collected from Kroger, Costco, and other large retail outfits) will often put on the “do you know who we are?” attitude, but at least they have the money to pay you, and if you provide them with incontrovertible proof of the claim (like a signed proof of delivery for the shipment in question) they’ll usually pony up the money. At one point, the A/R I was dealing with for Kroger alone was about $45 million. The job itself wasn’t particularly soul-killing - it takes management to do that.
Right now, we’re going through a situation where the statute of limitations has long since expired, but this agency has been doing their level best to try to get money (and I mean a LOT of money) out of us. It got to the point where we had to hire an attorney to get rid of it.
I think this is probably a good idea, since you are demonstrating exactly what is required to do successful collections - dogged determination.
And people do lie. You lost six invoices? Really? Maybe you should look into a better system. You mailed a cheque, but somehow you forgot to sign it. Oops. And say it all together - “The cheque is in the mail!”
I worked with a lady who loved accounts receivable (and I do mean “lady”; she is a super nice person). I suspect that she enjoys the thrill of the hunt.