King-American Ambulance Company

I had a motorcycle accident and these people showed up, asked me a few questions and gave me some gauze. I refused a trip to the hospital, which they asked me about repeatedly.
A while later I receive a bill for $ 500
The insurance company was supposed to pay them, and told me they did. Months later I get a collections notice for $ 734.
FOR BANDAIDS!
My advice: If you’re ever in a situation where King American shows up (and you didn’t call for an ambulance) refuse to speak with them, and do not give them your ID.

I would give zero stars. I am beginning to look into legal procedures as for the last year they have continued to send my family bills for an accident that was not our fault and was covered by those at fault’s insurance. This appears to be a greedy and illegal double billing. It would also appear they expect me to simply pay this bill so they will vanish. Instead i have begun looking into what resources i have with the city to have their license or business practice reviewed.

The worse emergency experience with an ambulance and the paramedics. Geez I was in agony after shattering my ankle. The EMT couldn’t find a vein to start an IV and give me a morphine shot, so instead injected me in my arm three times. By the time I got to the hospital I was vomiting. I couldn’t handle that much morphine. Then I got a bill for about 2000– for this emergency ride. If I could stand I should have waited for a cab. If I ever need a 911 ambulance response, I’ll tell the dispatcher do NOT send a King Ambulance. I’ll wait for any other ambulance company even if it’s to my detriment.

So. an update. It’s been about 3 years since I was told by King American that it would be taken care of. so imagine my surprise when yesterday I received a call from a collection agency telling me I know owe just under $ 2,000 (almost half is interest) for this outstanding bill.
I called King-​American today and they say there’s nothing they can do. To recap — we never asked for, wanted, needed, or used the service (other than the paramedics arriving on scene and taking vitals) yet they insist we owe them.
Take another reviewers advice (I will be) — contact the DAs office, the BBB, and the news stations about this companies fraudulent business practices.

I’d strongly suggest that anyone having these problems with K-​A complain to city authorities. I have. You can file complaints with the all kinds of city agencies including the District Attorney, The SF Grand Jury, various consumer watch groups and TV stations. Don’t just complain on Unilocal

Having been called by a third party, King-​American Ambulance showed up at the scene of my single vehicle accident on Van Ness Ave, Springl 2014.
I refused their service and was asked to identify myself and sign what was represented as a release of liability, which I did.
I got a bill for $ 495, a week or three later. I contacted them and asked that a copy of the document I signed be sent. I received a copy of something I had never seen with a tiny copy of my electronic signature on it.
ON THIS PAPER, there is a paragraph that is a financial directive for health insurance benefits and IN ADDITION, (Quoting) «this signature will be valid for all claims, past present and future unless revoked in writing.» MEANING THAT THEY CAN ATTACH THIS TO ANY THING. Let’s talk about fraud–
I told them that as they had already attached my signature to something I had never seen, and had misrepresented what the purpose was, I would be contacting their licencing agency and consumer protection… Maybe get a TV show to take notice.
So, on the phone, the manager said that King-​American would be writing off the debt. Instead, I get a letter from a collection agency. Now, the promise of credit damage and an interest charge is in the picture. King American’s manager has stopped answering the extension… I should leave my phone number with them? The credit people want the last four of my social before they will speak with me? I don’t think so.
So, yesterday as I was about to write a letter to the credit people that I was protesting the billing (must be within thirty days), I got a letter in the mail form King American
indicating that they will be dropping the charge. («Charity Care Discount»).
The whole point of writing this is to advise people in similar circumstance to not go along with the BS that these people seem to see as reasonable business practice.

i have received a bill that is not mine i received a bill in the mail that is not mine. i have never lived in San Francisco and have never visited there. when i called the company and asked why they are billing me they said they used public record to find my information and billed me. how can a company randomly pick a person out of public record that lives hundreds of miles from their services and send them a bill for $ 2485.00! this is Fraud and they should be punished for this type of harassment. I informed Joann the billing manager or that’s what she told me on the phone that they will continue to bill me unless i can prove it is not me. however when asked for her to prove it was me she refused and told me their company policy is to use public records to bill people and if i want to try to get it removed from their system i needed to prove it was not me.
i have filed a claim with the BBB and if this is not taken care of i will seek legal action this company should be put out of business for committing FRAUD!

I’ll keep my review short as is it seems every other review here tells the same story of ours. In short my wife and son were in a car accident. The police and fire dept arrived and apparently someone said an ambulance was needed as well when in fact it was not. It was a stressful situation, we refused any treatment and any services from the ambulance and signed saying we refused service. Mistake number 1. DO NOT SIGN anything from the ambulance paramedics, they just want to get your information for billing purposes. 3 weeks later we received a bill for approximately $ 2600. They had falsified what they had done and said they transported my son to the hospital and even had exact mileage they had transported him. After several calls to billing, they told us it was an error and they would charge us the dry run amount of $ 495. We called our insurance company and they said they would cover the dry run amount. Our insurance company contacted King American for the proper details and low and behold a different story was told to our insurance company. King American told our insurance company that they did a check up on a woman at the scene and took her blood pressure and issued the insurance company a higher price. We’ve had to get this reduced back to the dry run price of $ 495 (which is extortion) for a service we never asked for or used. Meanwhile, they have sent us a notice that we are being sent to collections because it hasn’t been paid in a timely fashion… Please be weary of King American Ambulance, they do not appear to be there to help but to extort money from you. And one other note somehow they are also trying to bill my health insurance along with my car insurance. I don’t even know how they obtained my health insurance information. We’re notifying the BBB but based on my research, the BBB and City of SF don’t seem to care about the extortion happening here.

This was the worst medical service I have ever received. I had past out for a known medical condition. I woke up before the ambulance got there and I told them I did not need their help they took me against my will. They took my med out of my hand and did not bother to write down that I had taken it. They never build my insurance and charged me $ 12 576. This is a ripoff company.

Clearly plenty of other reviewers have given you an eye-​opening education of the unethical and fraudulent practices of this company, of which I became another stat. What’s just as bad?
MY FEAR AND HATRED OF ALL AMBULANCES NOW as a result of my King American trauma. I am literally afraid to go anywhere in an ambulance now, and next time it COULD be a life-​threatening emergency!
My story?
I fell on a city sidewalk and hit my head. I did not lose consciousness, was weak but alert, sober, in the company of friends, and three blocks away from SF General. An unknown party (not with me) called for an ambulance I guess. I repeated several times to the medics that their services were unnecessary. They ignored my repeated pleas, during which I emphasized that I had no coverage and could not afford their bill and that I would get myself to SF General with the assistance of my friends. They coerced me into the van under false pretenses. They also placed an IV in my arm without my consent. They then took me against my will to the farther and private St. Luke’s. There were no sirens, and there was no medical emergency. I never asked for the service that was forced upon me, and the medics even told me they would falsify the paperwork to show me as a «homeless Jane Doe” – saying they just «cared about me» and wanted to see me safe (even though my partner was standing by with my car in agreement he’d take me for my two stitches).
Two weeks later and ever since, I’ve been aggressively billed for over $ 2200 with threats of collections. They went so far as to find my former legal name and a different (yet incorrect) billing address to make sure they completed their shakedown.
Now, I’m afraid of all paramedics. If my life is ever *actually* in danger I fear equally unethical practices and decisions made on my behalf.
It’s just as bad that they aggressively bill insurance companies (see Terry J’s review) for their overinflated prices; it creates inflated costs for everyone. But why shake down an average lower-​income citizen who informed them from the outset they were fine and couldn’t afford the bill? Btw, the total of my hospital bills (you get two from ERs, oddly) was the same as the ambulance!
These practices make me really sad. What happened to me was not merely unethical; it was downright illegal.

A year ago I was taken to the hospital by King Ambulance, it was a 10 – 15 minute ride which they are charging me $ 1,992.96 for.
I never received a bill from them, but a few months later got a letter from a collections agency. You can imagine how upsetting it was to be contacted by them when I NEVER got a bill from the actual company.
I gave them my insurance information, and a few months later I get another letter from them saying that I now owe them $ 1,992.96 + $ 368 in interest!
My insurance company denied the claim because I wasn’t admitted to the hospital as an in-​patient (I was there for 8 hours, and would have been covered if I stayed for 24 hours (

This review is for the company — not the individual paramedics who responded to the call (which I did not place).
King-​American only gets one-​star because I HAVE to give it something in order to be able to write this review. Unfortunately, one does not normally have the luxury of visiting Unilocal to check out reviews before calling an ambulance, but What the hell. .. King America needs to be investigated for bogus billing and I would love to be called as the first witness.
On July 12, My minor cousin had the misfortune of needing an ambulance while visiting from oversees. She has insurance, but not the kind an American hospital can bill directly. So I signed for the Ambulance bill. BIG MISTAKE. A day or two after the trip cross town, I received a bill for $ 1,992.96. There is no explanation as to why a trip from downtown to Cal Pacific cost nearly $ 2,000 (which is almost as much as the ER charged for an EKG, xrays, meds, multiple doctors, blood work, etc.). Unlike the hospital bill, the King-​Ambulance bill is not itemized.
About a week or two later, I received a notice threatening me with collections if not paid. WTF??? Seriously — collections? After two weeks?
In any event, the overseas insurance company isn’t stupid. it isn’t going to write a $ 2000.00 check without some kind of explanation re the charges.
Since then, I have tried numerous times to call the number listed on the bill for more information about the bill, but that number is not staffed; it is answered by a machine. After I hung without leaving a message, I received a call on a Saturday from a woman who said she got my number from her caller ID. She said something along the lines of «you need to pay your bill.» This, without me leaving a message. Makes you wonder. Unfortunately, I was having my hair done when the call came so I couldn’t answer it.
That was my one and only «contact» with King-​American as I have been unable to reach a human since then. They obviously know how to contact me, but they don’t. And I can’t contact them because THEY DON’T ANSWER THEIR PHONE.
Today, I received a letter from a collection agency for the original $ 1992.96 plus $ 96.32 in «interest.» This when interest rates are hovering around .05%.
So, you can add «loan shark» to the list of adjectives used to describe this company. Fucked with the wrong person A-​holes…
See you in court.

I have been fortunate enough to have two experiences with this company…
Experience one:
My own personal experience after a ‘slip and fall’ in store x, rendered a huge massive gash in my head which required several staples.
Although I did not want an ambulance to take me to the hospital; the store’s policies required as such. *Rolls eyes*
I found the paramedics to be nice and were relatively concerned with me and my extremities. All in all the experience was a good one deserving of a higher star rating (perhaps 4, not 5 being that I never really wanted to go or be assisted by them in the first place.) They delivered me safely — however, I received a $ 1,400 bill from them.
Ouch! After informing them that I was seeking compensation from the store (or their insurance) for the bill — they still sent me into collections. Thanks a lot guys.
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Experience two:
Upon arriving at my house; they were completely rude and extremely abusive. My husband’s back was completely spasm; not allowing him to move an inch. They refused to put him on a stretcher, but instead rolled him out in one of our own chairs?
When he showed difficulty getting into the chair they told him to ‘hurry up’ informed him that there are not many ambulances in SF and what a waste of their time this call was…
They even told me I should be the one in the back of the truck (I just so happened to have a 101 fever and had been vomiting all day.)
It was a lovely night to be remembered.

A private ambulance service with both emergency medical technicians and paramedics. If you are in need of a «quick» ride to the emergency room by ambulance, consider yourself lucky if you get picked up by this company. I find ambulance people have an honorable profession. I have read the reviews and it’s sad what people call an ambulance for, when they could just walk or catch a cab. Yes the ambulance bill can be very expensive but when you are really hurt or you’re mother is having a heart attack, it’s worth it.

HORRIBLY ABUSIVE AND FRAUDULENT BILLING PRACTICES. What a DISMAL experience I had when I needed to call 911 due to excessive bleeding. I am disabled and there were multiple serious medical problems before and after the bleeding to consider in the diagnosis, but the paramedic from King American decided I was «just a nosebleed» and treated me like a criminal. He was MEAN, YELLED at me over and over, and then lied in his reports and medicare billing (I got copies) Neither paramedic could spell my medications so they gave up and didn’t even write them down. King Ambulance blew me off when I complained so I am proceeding with Unilocal,the Better Business Bureau, and Medicare. I’m wondering why SF City and County Emergency Management would contract with a company that has such abusive paramedics and inethical billing.
ARROGANT, BULLYING, ABUSIVE, INCOMPETENT, and FRAUDULENT.
Dear Unilocalers: Complain to the City and County you have to hit a company like this where it hurts… their paychecks

Wow this company is awful. I realize if you’re in need of an ambulance you probably don’t have time to log onto Unilocal and check out the reviews but in the chance that you do, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.
1.) Incompetent — I was taken in after I had a diabetic reaction. I wear a med alert bracelet, necklace describing my condition; have blood sugar kit and insulin in my possession. But instead I received and was billed for oxygen $ 115, oximeter sat $ 145, ECG $ 145, IV set up $ 197, mask (???) $ 48, cervical collar $ 95, seat in the ambulance $ 1,600, blood sugar test $ 32-​this is the only test I actually needed and if they would have looked at my med alert bracelet they would have realized this. Funny how they gave me that test last.
2.) Customer service/​Payment– After I received my bill I called for 3 weeks everyday and left a message inquiring about financial assistance to a $ 2000 bill that was due 2 weeks later. I received a call back 3 weeks later the day my bill was due asking how I would like to pay. I was shocked and told them so, then, dial tone. They had hung up on me and told me they were sending a bill collector after me. I have called and emailed back hoping to talk to someone about payment options and still have yet to hear back.

I already contacted 7 on your side about this company and will call BBB as well. Adam Z got a $ 247 bill for taking a look at him. I got a $ 1500 bill for being asked my name and if I was hurt. Oh and also who the president of the United States was. Even after contacting them, the still think I should pay this bill. BEWARE of this company…

Zero stars. I was in a bike accident on Market Street. I’d lost about a pint of blood from a nasty cut on my forehead. I walked up to an ambulance to ask how bad it looked and what I should do. They said it looked pretty bad, told me to go to the St. Francis ER for stitches, and gave me directions.
A paramedic asked for my address. Even though I was feeling woozy and half-​shocked, I said whoa, I don’t want to get a bill for this. He said, don’t worry, you won’t get a bill. So I gave him my contact info and walked to the ER.
You guessed it – a week later I get a bill for $ 247.77 saying «From: 1272 Market Street, To: St. Francis Hospital ER» although they hadn’t transported me anywhere and also that I received treatment of «oximeter sat.» and «ECG,» whatever those mean. I called to complain and was told the bill had been submitted to the dispute department. Beware all ambulance companies, and especially these guys!

WORST COMPANY EVER. I have been discriminated against for having insurance that poor people have and was hate crimed for being a queer person. I call 911 due to a very urgent medical emergency due to chronic illness. They arrived and I received hateful looks and no help in getting into the ambulance. Then I got the bill and they are refusing to file with my out of state insurance even though they would only need to file paper work and it would be completely covered. I have debt collectors calling daily and they are so hateful and rude every time I call to try and get them to file with my insurance. BEWARE when calling 911 they are the worst company ever with the worst business practices.