The Ambulance

May 2007

Someone born in 1986 with the identifier D. Martin takes an ambulance to a Santa Barbara hospital. He skips out without paying for the ride.

Dan Martin (your author), born 1946 is spending the week in London.

Nazy and Melika Martin are in San Francisco planning to drive to Santa Barbara for Melika’s summer associate work at ‘The Firm’.

Darius Martin, born in 1981, is ‘enjoying’ Iceland.

Mitra Martin is dancing in Los Angeles.

May 2009

The Bank of America sends me a note reducing the line of credit on my Visa card because of “a report of delinquency on a different account”. I immediately call to get more details and I’m directed to a collection agency. My interaction with them is mistake-filled:

“What bill are you talking about?” I asked.

“Just answer a few questions and I’m sure we can clear this up. What is your social security number and full name?”

Answering was, of course, a mistake. The credit agency appended this information to the history file – making it difficult to clear things up.

In the end – and it took a long time – the company admitted that they had made a mistake. The Bank of America apologized. My credit report was corrected. And..

February 2010

They’re back! A new collection agency has sent a nasty letter wanting to be paid for an ambulance ride by Daniel Martin (with my Social Security Number) in Santa Barbara during May of 2007. I explained the situation, noting that although I am much older than the purported patient, I’m not so old that I would have forgotten going to the hospital. The agency is understanding. “There is nothing you can do.”

“Can I speak with the Ambulance company?”

“You could, but they’ve sold this invoice to us and won’t have any information.”

“The police?”“I don’t see how they can help.”

The photo is a sunset - sort of like the sun is setting on my good credit history.