Ask HN: Online therapy TalkSpace lied about IRS tax rules. What can I do?
After having an rough few months I decided to try out an online therapy service and went with one of the most popular ones, TalkSpace. During my initial "intake" chat session, I asked if their service qualifies for the IRS HRA plan. An HRA is similar to a FSA, but the money is supplied by your company. The TalkSpace representative told me their service did qualify, and I have a record of this. However, my claim for a total of over $300 got rejected by BlueCross for not being a valid medical service. I spoke with BlueCross on the phone and they said they can't do anything because that's the IRS rules. I emailed their customer support with a screenshot of the conversation where their representative said this, but they told me I need to talk to my therapist even though I cancelled over a month ago, and then their customer service stopped replying when I asked more questions.
What can I do? They lied to get me to sign up for their service, and now i'm stuck with a $300 bill for a service that I have since cancelled and was (almost completely) useless.
I don't know anything about any of the organisations you mention, but:
Is it possible they didn't lie, but got it wrong? Seems to me your assumption they lied isn't entirely warranted, and possibly it's counterproductive talking as if you're certain about that.
Move on. You’re not getting your money back. Just accept it and remember this the next time you ask anyone a question with an answer that has higher stakes for you than them.
Small claims court, possibly?
I'm not in the US, but it sounds to me the sort of thing that the FTC gets involved in...