I wanted to note that I never received my replacement pods for the ones that malfunctioned - and I called today, and they had a record they’d been talking with me, but no record of those pods being sent out. The lady assured me we’d have them 2-day air this week. Just wanted to note that folks might want to follow up with no pods magically appear. She was very friendly.
It’s nice they do record detailed phone call notes - I really appreciate not having to re-explain everything, and having a record that makes it seem like I did do what I said I did! It’s great!
I don’t think I’ve ever had them shipped immediately, though usually they ask what my current supply is like. They keep a tally of the number of replacements owed, and they get sent with my next order. Maybe it’s a different system in Canada.
I think the reason that they don’t ship them with the next order is because we are on pharmacy coverage and have to use a distributor instead of working with Insulet directly for our monthly supply.
Also, I wouldn’t have expected them to be shipped immediately if each of the representatives I had spoken with hadn’t said that they would be sent out.
Thanks for splitting! It seems like lots of useful comments have come from people.
I wanted to update that my replacement parts arrived today, which is pretty speedy. I found myself on the phone with a Insulet service rep again for our third replacement today and I heard the following:
There’s a learning curve to pod placement and success
This happens a lot when you first get started, and there is no problem with us shipping out a replacement, call any time
Shipping replacements abroad is possible, there’s an international phone number on the back of the PDM, however certain countries like Russia probably will cause a problem, so try to take extra supplies
So, despite repeated failures and some seriously bumpy procurement of the OmniPod and subsequent training, I’m still going to put this in the positive experience category.
My first month was truly awful. I got nine replacements in that month. Not putting enough pressure on the pod at insertion time led to many leaking sites (not like the slow leaks we’re talking about elsewhere). Finding comfortable and “safe from door frame” sites was hit and miss. And a trainer who was petrified of lows meant I spent most of the month way too high. It was very, very frustrating, but then overnight I became a fan. Which could just be Stockholm syndrome …
My first few months were a bit rough. Just took me a while to figure out the differences between pumps and MDI. There are some quirks, like doing a bolus after activation to get it “started” well. And watching for “day 3” problems.
But I am throwing down some good numbers now. This was yesterday. Almost the whole day between 55 and 100, with one little drop after exercise when I dosed and pounded chocolate milk. Not the pod’s fault, just my aggressive post-exercise insulin and carbing
You just gotta learn the tricks and it can work well.
Thanks for the heads-up on thiis, @TravelingOn. I will follow-up with them again if necessary. The rep with whom I spoke was very friendly and helpful.
