buying secondwind products to canada

[photodork]

hi all,
longtime lurker on this site, but decided to join and ask a question or 2.

my remstar auto m series a-flex died and i brought to my local dme who will send it away for an estimate. it is out of warranty. 3 yrs old, 8900ish hours on it.
they told me it would most likely be $500-600 to repair based on what they see with repairs. as i dont have insurance to help replace it, it will come out of pocket.
to me, 500-600$ for something 3 yrs old with a 6 month repair warranty doesnt seem worth it.

ive looked into getting the s9 autoset w h51 humidifier. by all accounts, a great machine.
locally, they want $1900, and i found a couple of online canadian dme's who sell them for around $1100 new. while 1100ish for a new one is doable, id rather spend less if i could.

i noticed secondwind selling the s9auto and humidifer used for 549 and a new open box unit for 799.

i was wondering if anyone here has purchased from secondwind and had a device shipped to canada? what was your experience like and would you do it again? did you incur any customs/broker fees at the border? time it took for delivery?
or would you have the remstar repaired and continue to use it?

id be most grateful for any info you good folks might provide.

best regards,
greg

[Guest]

There are no brokerage or customs fees on medical equipment...which this is. Resmed will not allow their machines to be sold in the US and shipped to Canada...you have to buy their product in Canada or.......do you know someone that lives in the US and can have it shipped to them and then they in turn ship to you? or...talk to secondwind they are a VERY reputable company about another brand like PR or Devilbliss. It does not hurt to talk to them, they may have some ideas as to what your choices are. If you have anything shipped to the states from Canada or vice versa...the package must be clearly marked "medical Equipment" so that there are no fees attached.

[Pugsy]

Secondwindcpap.com WILL ship ResMed products outside of the US.
Call them up and talk to them about what is needed for the customs forms. They will know how to handle it. There shouldn't be any customs fees involved. If they use the USPS to ship (like priority mail) no brokers are involved like FED Ex or UPS.
I know several people who have bought S9 machines from them and had them shipped from England to Australia.

[rosacer]

Hi Photodork

What Pugsy tells is 100% correct. I live in Canada and once I contacted secondwind, they told me I didn't need even a prescription and they would ship to Canada.

As Pugsy told you ask them to use USPS other way you will pay brokerage to Fedex and the other private companies. Ask them to clearly identify the machine as a medical necessity. Depending on where do you live and if the machine is new or second hand you will need to pay taxes (that's the rule here in Quebec ).

They are sounded very nice.

All the best

Rosie

[sol]

secondwind and 1800cpap, both will ship Resmed stuff outside US

if looking for used machine, check out here
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83637&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

[justpam]

Hey photodork,,,
I just want to share my opinion of secondwind service and products. Mark is extremely helpful and honest.
I had questions that I emailed him with and he was very quick to reply. He was also very helpful and pleasant
on the phone.
I purchased a Resmed S9 that was advertised on his site as "gently used" and "low hours". I was very pleased when I
received the shipment.
1) the S9 was in a new Resmed travel bag.
2) inside was a new slimline hose AND a new climateline hose.
3) a new tank for the humidifier.
4) "gently used"-- looked brand new
5) "low hours"--run time hrs. 139

Anyway, just wanted to weigh in with my personal experience concerning any trust issues you might have
doing business with virtual strangers. He's good and trustworthy

(no disrespect intended to our hosts @ cpap.com ...I've done business with them, too. They just don't sell "gently used" S9 machines.)

[WearyOne]

Just wanted to chime in about how nice Mark is over at secondwind (the owner and an RT). I'm looking to purchase a machine from his "new, open box" section and he has been more than helpful by e-mail with my many questions! Haven't purchased yet, but getting ready to (Cpap.com doesn't have any more of the machine I want and since it was recently discontinued will not be getting any more.)

And it's great to read positive posts from others who have purchased from them, especially justpam's experience with a gently used machine.

Pam

[kaiasgram]

I just purchased an open box zero hour S9 VPAP from Mark at SW -- I haven't received it yet but my experience with Mark and his staff has also been very positive. I had trouble with my doc's office losing track of my prescription for over a week, and Mark very kindly held onto the machine I wanted until the matter was straightened out and the Rx was finally faxed to secondwind.

[photodork]

thank you one and all for your timely and most helpful advice!
ill be checking into a few things and sellers you folks have suggested.

as an afterthought, does anyone here use the devillbiss intellipap auto? they seem to be quite less expensive than the pr and resmed devices. do you need the smart link data kit to be able to look at your data? or can anyone use the smartlink webpage to see their data?

thanks again friends!

[Hawthorne]

I use the Devilbiss Intellipap auto (for about 2 years now) and love it! I do not use the humidfier since it is "finicky" to fill for someone with with bad RA. I use the Fisher and Paykel stand alone humidifier. It all works great together and I can turn the Fisher and Paykel humidifier on before I hook up to the machine so the air is warm right away.

I use the smartlink module and the memory card with Sleepyhead software and it works fine. You do need the module with the card (any memory card will work) though to use Sleepyhead. I used to use the software from Devilbiss but, with the last upgrade, I cannot get it to work on my computer.

I also use the webpage to check it that way. Two things - the smartlink module sometimes does not sit right and you don't get data. Most times, if you reconnect it and put the card back in it will transfer the data if it's before noon. The other thing is that the website rounds the AHI off and it is not as accurate then as Sleepyhead. Sleepyhead gives graphs and the website does not. For example, this morning the website said my AHI was 0.5 but Sleepyhead said it was 0.26 and I also had the graphs, etc with Sleepyhead.

Anyway the Intellipap auto is a great machine and I like it very much. I have used Respironics models before this (have had sleep apnea for almost 11 years) and like the Devilbiss Intellipap auto much better. It seems to breathe more in sync with me when I got the "i" and the "e" rounding just right for me. The rounding is not available on the Philips Resprionics or the Resmed machines.

[photodork]

thanks hawthorne.
ive heard great things about the devilbiss auto intellipap. i decided to order one today from 2ndwind. i didnt get the smartlink module as i want to see how their website works with the smartcodes, and im.sure i can get one 2nd hand for cheaper.
im looking forward to the new machine!

[cosmo]

Is it too late to cancel and order a Resmed or PR machine? The data off of those two are a lot more useful. By the time you order the modules, price is going to be similiar to PR 1.

[Hawthorne]

Why do you say that cosmo? The data on the Resmed and PR System One, is more involved but I used the PR SYstem One for a few years before going to Devilbiss. All that extra data, to me, was not really that useful. I find the Intellipap with the data module gives plenty of data, using Sleepyhead, to manage a person's sleep apnea just fine. Of course, you can also get very good data (slightly less accurate using since the website for Smartlink rounds it off) using the smart code. Go with the Intellipap Autoadjust and use the Smartlink on the website for a while. If you want more data, get the module later.

Also, the module is just $99. That is all that is needed if Sleepyhead is used so it will not be similar in price ( not as expensive) to the other 2 big name machines.

Bashing the Intellipap, if one had an Autoadjust, is not justified, in my opinion. It is a great machine - gives great therapy and very good data for managing sleep apnea. It can be fine tuned to an individual much more that the the 2 big name machines as well. To me, that has been worth a lot. It's the only machine I have used where I feel like it fits my breathing because it has that rounding option that I can dial in for me. Others with Intellipap Autoadjust find that a great feature too, I read here.

[photodork]

i decided on the devilbiss for a few reasons.

ive been a user of respironics m series a flex for 3 years.
somehow water got into it and caused an error. its never been tipped over or had liquid spilled into it, i can only guess its rainout or some kind of condensation issue... and its going to cost $500-600 to repair it...and of course, its just out of warranty. spending $5-600 on a repair didnt seem worth it on a machine with 8900hrs and 4-5 year old technology.

when i brought my unit in to be repaired back in december, the dme loaned me a remstar auto a-flex system one model 551. ive had to exchange it twice in that time. now, it being a loaner im sure they have seen some use, but in 2 months, to have 3 fairly new machines go ass up, is a warning sign to me.

i looked into resmed and i REALLY wanted an s9. but they are pretty pricey new and i wasnt sure i wanted to go with one used and have a 6 month warranty only to have something go wrong.

i live in a small town and im unemployed at the moment. luckily, i have savings and could pay to buy one new, but that kind of cost isnt something i can justify.

i get a 5 yr warranty with the devilbiss. its a fully data capable machine with the option to get the smart module for sleepyhead graphing later. im ok with that. it has features the big 2 dont have such as the inhale/exhale rounding. i didnt have graphing with the m series as buying the data card reader and such was expensive at the time and as long as i can see my ahi, pressures, leakage etc, i can manage my osa fine.

by all accounts, the devilbiss units are fantastic and have everything anyone could ask for. all for a lower price, and a much better warranty than resmed and respironics.

this is a great board. ive lurked here for a few years and i value everyones opinion.

[JO'M]

Have you checked into any assistance programs through your provincial health plan? You may be eligible for help in purchasing a new CPAP set up, probably have to purchase in Canada. In ON it's the assisted device program.