Roberto Frias was pushed to the hospital in a wheelchair by his wife and son after a car accident. A few months later, he received a $1,700 bill in the mail for an ambulance ride. Tired of being pestered by a collections agency, Frias reached out to NBC 7’s Consumer Bob and the NBC 7 Responds team for help.
A San Diego man said he was charged for an ambulance ride he said he never took. In fact, Roberto Frias said he got to the hospital on his own with the help of his wife and son but the bills keep coming.
“I was making a left turn and the car came from this direction and hit me,” Roberto said, showing us the police report from a 2014 car accident.
Roberto said the woman driving the car that hit him was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
“They asked me if I wanted to be transported and I said no, my hospital is close by,” Roberto said.
In fact, since Roberto was already in a wheelchair, he said his wife and son pushed him up the hill to the Kaiser Permanente emergency room about a block away.
“A few months later I received a bill for $1,712,” Roberto said.
The bill came from Rural/Metro Ambulance and stated Roberto was picked up and taken to Sharp Hospital about six miles away.
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Roberto contacted Rural/Metro to explain that he not only was never transported by an ambulance that day, he also had never been to Sharp Hospital as the bill indicated.
“I called them several times and explained, they insisted I had been transported,” Roberto said.
Eventually, Rural/Metro turned the bill over to collections. That’s when Roberto called NBC 7 Responds.
“I want them to acknowledge their mistake,” Roberto said.
We contacted Rural/Metro and explained we had paperwork showing Roberto Frias was treated at Kaiser Permanente not Sharp Hospital. Rural/Metro dropped the charges.
In an email, Rural/Metro’s Media Relations Manager Tom Milton said, "We have reviewed Mr. Frias' issue and have taken action to correct his account. He was billed incorrectly in 2014. We removed this charge and apologize for any inconvenience this has caused him."
