Busamed Hospital and Group Errors and Claims

On 2 December 2017 I went to Busamed Hospital Paardevlei emergency section to get stitches for a dog bite. It was a Sunday and the accounting system was down. However, in order to get access to a doctor I was told that I had to complete registration and pay the FULL amount(s) of R250 plus R1260, which I did. A week later I received an Invoice for an additional R611.52, which I then disputed as Busamed had already advised that full payment had been made on the day of treatment, being 2 December 2017. No invoice was issued to me on date of treatment because the system was down. Despite a number of email and telephonic attempts to resolve the issue the credit controller only re-contacted me in August 2018 after a call was put through to him regarding the disputed amount. A compromise/settlement was suggested and the credit controller said via email that he "would revert with feedback". He was never heard from again. 12. The next communication received was on 29 September 2020 from Mr Lesley Prins of COLMED, the inhouse debt collection agency for the Busamed Group. This was almost 3 years after the treatment date. Since then I'm now being harassed weekly by Colmed and am being threatened with a “blacklisting within 48 hours” in order to coerce her to pay. Mr Prins is not interested in the fact that a dispute was raised. 18. Since the advent of the Covid lockdown I have been unemployed and not earning any income. How can I defend my position? Lack of response by Busamed itself in term of either settling the account or accepting any settlement terms cannot be laid at the feet of myself, or, I cannot be beholden to the ineptitude of Busamed’s own credit department. Furthermore, an error or breakdown in Busamed’s accounting system cannot be excused when I was requested to make full payment on the date of treatment. Busamed failed to exercise reasonable care in insuring that the right payment was received on date of treatment. What can I do?