Third phone call proved to be charm

Monday morning's phone call promised to be a lulu.

I had already called an out-of-state medical lab business office twice over the past several weeks requesting a receipt for a bill I had paid.

The first time, a nice lady said she'd be happy to mail me a receipt.

Ten days later, I was still waiting.

So I called again and got a different nice lady. She said she'd mail me the receipt and fax me a copy, too.

I never saw a fax and 10 days later I got a form letter saying my balance was paid in full.

Which was fine, but what I requested was a receipt.

So I tried for a third time this morning. Only it wasn't just a missing receipt I had on my mind.

It was a bill from the lab for $150 that, according to the cover letter, resulted from my health insurance company's decision not to pay up.

Great.

So I called for a third time and -- ta-dah! -- the third time was the charm.

Not only did a different nice lady fax me a copy of the sought-after receipt, but she told me the bill for $150 was in error.

My balance had been paid in full.

What a great way to start a Monday.