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Piter
September 18, 2010
"Free" isn't "Free"
My wife and I had flu shots at the local WalMart (store #1765) provided my Mollen Immunization Clinics on 10/10/2009. We were both reassured that it would be at no charge to us. They asked us to see our insurance cards, which we did, and we were told that they accepted all Blue Cross / Blue Shield cards. We each got a bill for $28.00. I called their 877-279-3588 and talked to a Heather at ext.333. She confirmed that they do take all Blue Cross/Blue Shield policies and we were told to disregard the bill. If we had any other problems, to contact her. Several months later, we each got another bill for $28.00, stating that this was our second notice. I called Heather and she said to disregard this bill. It was a billing error and she apologized. We both recently got another bill, our third notice, for $28.00 each. I contacted Heather once again and this time she said that it was a valid bill. There was a mis-communication between BC/BS and that I had to pay the $56.00. This was advertised as a FREE Flu Shot. We double checked to make sure that it was free. They checked our insurance info and confirmed that we would owe nothing. I have sent them a check for $56.00 so that I would not be sent to collections. I thought that "Free" meant "at no charge". This is false advertising. We asked for them to verify everything. They did. They told us to disregard 2 bills, and now it is a valid bill? An error in their part should constitute us having to pay for something they said was free. (Heather said that my wife and myself have an "individual" policy with BC/BS--it is not individual--it is a group policy through my employer. They do not cover "individual" policies.)
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