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Friday, August 30, 2013

Customer Service....

Oh Omnipod, you and good customer service are not words that belong together in a sentence, unless the word NOT is included.  I am a little bummed about this.  Why you ask?  I will share...

Prior to Omnipod Brianna was on Minimed pump and still uses their CGM and My Sentry.  Anytime of the day 24/7 and even holidays they would pick up quickly.  Sometimes- I mean usually,  within a few minutes.  Seriously.  Last time I was on the phone for 7 minutes TOTAL!!  Have we had issues with the pump?  Sure.  Have we had issues with the CGM?  Yup, but they always make sure they fix it.  I will say anytime we got an error I would call and demand a new pump.  Minimed would have me run tests on the pump to make sure it was okay.  If it passed the test they were okay with her continuing to use it.  But if I felt better they would send new.  NEXT DAY, BY NOON!  Did you hear that next day, obviously you had to call within a certain time to get next day but still most of the time you received a new pump (okay refurbished, but still.), the next day.  I think in the last 3.5 years I have asked for 4 new pumps.  Some probably didn't need to be replaced but I have to sleep at night and feel safe that the pump is not going to fail on her.  The last time we replaced it, two weeks ago, it was because she dropped it and cracked it.  OUR fault and they asked no questions, just agreed to send a new one.  They also let her change pump colors from purple to pink- you know pumps can be a fashion accessory right?!?  I received that pump with in 18 hours of my seven minute call. 

So welcome to Omnipod and their customer service or lack of.  I will go over the stats with them...  We have had one occlusion, 5 failed pods and SIX left stuck key detected.  Sigh, where do I begin with their hold time?  I think I have been on HOLD more with them then I have actually talked with people from Minimed, no joke.

Okay, of course in the middle of writing this Omnipod calls me from their billing department to try to work with me over insurance.  So I guess billing or claims department you rock, customer service, rant is continuing with you!

So back to the hold time.  I don't mind waiting, it can be expected I guess. But the other day I was on hold no lie, OVER an hour and a half OVER 90 MINUTES!!!   It got to the point I just wanted to keep waiting to see how long it would take for them to finally pick up!  There have been times that I am in a hurry and just want to report a failed pod and gave up.  Hey, I do have a life and am totally annoyed by their music.  The last time I called I talked with the representative about the hold time, she said they are overwhelmed with calls and are trying to keep up but just can't.  My thought is it might be time to add more people!  She did say the best time to call is the weekend and late at night.  That's fine and all but some issues need quick response time!


Not the text I wanted to get!

So back to all the issues.  I have called each time there was a stuck key, I was offered a new PDM the last two times I called, but turned it down as I didn't want to move all the information over and lose how it tracks all her data for averages and that.  Silly reasons, but I didn't want too.  BUT today's stuck key happened at school and she wasn't happy.  She said it wouldn't stop beeping in the classroom so went to the nurse.  The nurse called and I went there fix it and to call insulet.  I was only, on hold 8 minutes today.  Shocking!  I explained the situation and thought it would be a quick no problem we will send a new one, NOPE!  She wanted to know how many, what's happening to cause them and then said well maybe your daughter is holding the buttons too long at school.  HELLO!?!  They are happening to me too at home!  I was a little annoyed that she was thinking Brianna was causing this.  I reminded her she was in school and didn't like the attention the beeping PDM caused, so NO she was not doing anything wrong.  She then puts me on hold and talks with her supervision.  More questions, back on hold and finally says, we can replace it if you need us to.  Yes, that's why I called.  I want you to remember that with Omnipod the PDM is EVERYTHING, it is the meter and the way you bolus.  So if it dies you are basically out of luck!  So she says we can send a new one, is grounds that takes 7-10 days okay??  I said, no way.  This is interfering with her school and we need it to work properly, I can't be going to school to fix it.  She says fine how about Saturday? (today is Thursday)  I say fine.  Now do you remember MM and when they would send their products?  NEXT DAY!  I called about the same time so I know it is possible to get it here tomorrow, but Saturday works.

I don't regret switching her to Omnipod I just am disappointed in their customer service.  Pumping and supplies are not cheap, and kinda expect great customer service.  And yes, I probably should have taken a new PDM the first time it was offered, but thought and hoped it wouldn't be an issues.

Thanks again for reading!  Please leave comments we love reading them and follow my blog!  I would eventually like to start doing giveaways but need more followers. 





4 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing about the customer service issues and comparing to medtronic...Customer service is very important to us pumpers.

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  2. hmmm... we have considered the cut the cord program, but I dont have time to be on the phone for long periods of time. I think I have a min limit!!!!

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  3. Was just thinking about you guys and wondering how school was going with the pod. I hope that Insulet will take note and staff more people in their customer service dept. it is critical for those with life saving devices.

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    ReplyDelete