Trouble Getting My Diabetic Supplies

Does anyone else have struggles getting their supplies? Costs? Delivery? That person on the other end of the help line? Isn’t it enough that we have to deal with managing all the problems having diabetes itself but now we need to juggle through all the insurance redtape to get your products to your front door….so you can use them! So you can stay alive! Mine has been the delivery and reorder of my Dexcom. Now don’t get me wrong about Dexcom…their people are great…the product is awesome…I love their support system…but I hate the company that they use to distribute through. Edgepark. Ok hate is a harsh word. What I immensely dislike is their unorganized process. If you don’t know what I am talking about, Dexcom is the manufacturer that creates a continuous monitoring device. I wear it for ten days straight on my belly and it continuously reads my blood sugar levels. Like every 5 minutes! Without having to stick yourself in the finger a million times! Amazing right! It also provides those updates automatically to my smart phone. I know my readings and can predict if I’m going to drop or spike by reviewing the graphs. It also provides me with alerts when I am too low or too high. This bit of technological breakthrough is important to me because of all the marathons I run. I used to have to stop at a med tent around mile 18 or so and see if they had a glucometer to check. Half the time the didn’t. Once a crashed before mile 13 and had to stop running because I dropped too low. It’s not safe to have to rely on others this way. You can see how the Dexcom has made my running career so much easier as well as safer. The order is never automatic. They always have to call me and say are you ordering again. That in itself isn’t bad. As a matter of fact probably a nice thing. Not as easy as my Omnipod units but understandable. I’ll share my recent experience this last few weeks:

1. I’m about to run out of my three months supply. 9 units that last 10 days each…three months. If all goes well. So I get a voice mail with the generic message to call them. They are on the west coast, I’m on the east….but I manage to make the call.

2. Nice lady on the other line asks me how she can help and I say I got a voicemail to call. She looks it up and says that it looks like I’m ready to ship. I say yep and hopefully I can get it quick. I have a marathon to run this weekend. (This was Tuesday) She responds that it isn’t a problem but I have an overdue balance of $317 that needs to be paid. I don’t have my card with me at the moment but she says they can bill me. Great! Have a nice day and I hang up.

3. The next day I get another voicemail, same message, same bat time, same bat channel. This lady says that the product can not be shipped because I owe $407! That wasn’t what the lady yesterday said….what has changed? She is absolutely uncaring and with frustration I hang up to get it paid online. Note: I received an invoice dated October 10 through the mail (yes snail mail) which arrived on the 16th. I never get any real important mail….why are you so outdated Edgepark? Mind you this is now the 20th, my units will expire on the 24th! Not to mention the invoice was for $317 but the online says $407….that paper invoice still hasn’t arrived. 4. My wife goes online that same day and pays the $407 so I can get my product.

5. Another voicemail. The guy on the other end says I still owe $407 and he can’t ship the products. I try to explain to him the story but he begins to cut me off without listening…until I tell him that it was PAID! Patch me through to someone else. Note: When I get irritated with incompetence I am sure my sugar rises. Another Note: It is obvious that I’m not getting my shipment in time for my marathon. I call Dexcom direct and tell them that I am having a problem with my shipment. I also explain that I had one units that got knocked off and I lost a day and a half use. Not a big deal but now since I can’t get my new shipment it is a big deal. They handled it quickly and swiftly and sent me out another one….overnight when I told them I had a marathon in two days. 6. Nice lady on the line says she can help and reviews my account and it says I owe $407 for this shipment. Again I explain to her the whole story AGAIN! She says she sees what happened. Since my wife paid it online it was for the past amount due…not the amount for the new shipment….HUH? So, you can’t ship me the new supplies because I paid the outstanding invoice that I just received the invoice for and I need to pay the amount for this upcoming shipment….How did you ship out my previous order?

7. Okay, this is where it gets good. She says she can take an additional payment of $407 right now over the phone. I can’t do that again, I just paid that last week. She responds that she can arrange a payment plan for the past due amount and change this recent payment to apply for the new shipment….okay? Great. HOWEVER, she cannot set that up right now because her system won’t let her do that for 24 hours. HUH? She will set it up tomorrow. And in the meantime you will get the shipment on Friday since I’m going to be out. Great!

8. I am writing this on Sunday….no shipment arrived Friday or all day Saturday. Here is another issue. They say they will send it out when in fact they cannot send any product out earlier than when my previous order expires….insurance rules. Okay. They also will often times mention that they cannot send it out yet because they haven’t received the doctor’s authorization. Again, okay. HOWEVER, wouldn’t it make sense that if all of these restrictions were being placed on them sending out an order (With no allowance for running out of the product) that you might consider doing all of this in advance? Getting all your approvals in place so the order can actually SHIP OUT ON TIME! Here is another issue…..I know…I know. I have another marathon this coming weekend. Yep another! My 13th this year….I’m running the Outer Banks marathon on my birthday…happy 54 years old. The question remains…..will I be running with a Dexcom or not. …to be continued