Respironics

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:24 am

Does anyone see the connection between the lack of help, or I should say the refusal to provide any help/support to end users of Encore Pro software to people like us who are not quote/unquote healthcare providers (which I could start another debate on) and the fact of what they are doing with sthnreb's malfunctioning machine?

I will make this short (which is usually difficult for me to do) and just say, I am finding Respironics' customer care, or lack thereof, to be quite disconcerting. Maybe we're not professionals, but we did pay retail to purchase software which IS sold to us and they just sit on their thrones and say, "No, we won't help you. We don't care that we've allowed you to purchase our product at full retail price. We still won't give you any assistance at all."

Not all of us are computer illiterate, which I think they are afraid they'll have to deal with, and to take such a stance on this AND the lack of help they've extended in replacing sthnreb's machine thereby honoring the policy that was in effect when he bought it that has since been changed, to their advantage, of course, gives some pretty good insight into just how nice a group of money-hungry ****s we're dealing with. Sorry I have the Remstar when I think about it. My next machine will be the PB, even if I have to carry it up to my office to get my data out of it. It will be worth it not to give my $$$ to Respironics.

Guess that wasn't so short after all (see?).

sthnreb · Post by **sthnreb** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:55 pm

One person on the other thread said Respironics DOES give support for the software. When I called, they asked if were a healthcare provider or vendor. When I said I purchased it from cpap, they promply told me they did not offer support to individuals and hung up. I can't speak for others, but that was my experience. th said they answered all his questions everytime he called. Maybe they changed their support policy? (chuckle)

chrisp · Post by **chrisp** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:06 pm

I hear the B word on the horizion.............................B

B.....B..............Bo..........BO.........................

BOy..................BOY.....................

BOYc....................BOYCo.........................BOYCOTT..........BOYCOTT

BOYCOTT respironics

BOYCOTT RESPIRONICS

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:10 pm

They don't know you're not a provider - just tell them you are a provider. They don't know who ultimately purchases their software and they will not know if you give them an altered name.

johnnygoodman · Post by **johnnygoodman** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:10 pm

Greetings,

How do you justify this position in the face of the fact that Resmed and PB have similar warranty and software policies?

You guys are too much!

Johnny

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:14 pm

You guys are too much!

No, I think companies who will sell you their product and then tell you to fend for yourself are what's too much, not us, Johnny.

sthnreb · Post by **sthnreb** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:19 pm

[quote="johnnygoodman"]Greetings,

How do you justify this position in the face of the fact that Resmed and PB have similar warranty and software policies?

You guys are too much!

Johnny

chrisp · Post by **chrisp** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:28 pm

My policy is: If its a good product I tell everyone its good. If its a bad product I tell EVERYONE that is BAD. If the service is good I tell everyone its good. If its BAD I tell EVERYONE it BAD.

Try to rip me off and I go for the throat. Letters to FDA, Congress, waste their time till I'm satisfied . Broken record routine. It works both ways.

One of my best was when I bought a car. I had a trade in . Well my new car had BIG problems that the dealer refused to fix. I got evenbytalking to the customers in the showroom while my car was being fixed. Told them "This is what happened to me.... They will do it to you too"

Then I made lots of notes wit problems I had with the car and put then in my trade that was on the lot. Above the visor. In the ash tray. Glove box. Trunk. You nane it Ihad a note there. Yellow sticky notes . I laughed my *ss off when the salesman got out with notes stuck to his butt.

They agreed to fix my car....

sthnreb · Post by **sthnreb** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:37 pm

Sorry, I looked, there is quite a bit of software for different machines. I don't suppose any are interchangable. And the PB (Puritan Bennet). Well, I can't speak for any of them, regardless of similiar warranties. I don't have one or their software. I like that message Chrisp. To bad more people don't have a similiar attitude. If you roll over and play dead, they will run all over you. The $$$ rules.

capt · Post by **capt** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 6:29 pm

All these companies have almost the exact warranty and return policy. When anyone thinks that only $$$$ apply to this situation, or to almost any medical device, I think they are mistaken. All you have to do is look up the total number of manufacturers that make these machines, and you will quickly see how limited the number of manufacturers that are in the marketplace.

I know that I took flak for suggesting that getting a refurbished machine would be fine for me. My point in accepting a replacement, would be to show that I was being flexible. I strongly feel that the most important thing for me is to be getting and maintaining my necessary treatment with my medical device. I feel that taking this action is important, just in case something terrible happened that made it necessary that I or my survivors needed to take legal action at a later date. It is quite possible that a new machine will be sent, as many times they do not have refurbished machines to replace a new model. If it was a refurbished machine that I got as a replacement, there honestly would be no way that I would be able to detect it, unless the company advised me of it. The important thing is that I still have established and maintained my legal rights. The company still has liability for its product, which goes far beyond what I or others think is the initial cost of such an expensive machine is. In fact I would suggest that this liability adds significantly to the cost of each sold machine, and especially in the United States.

sthnreb · Post by **sthnreb** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 7:21 pm

"All these companies have almost the exact warranty and return policy."

I agree. that up front they do all look the same and many lead you to believe they are the same. However, Resmed's warranty their machine to the end consumer at the time of delivery to the end user according to a previous post of their warranty. Respironics warranty their machine to the dealer at the time it is delivered to the dealer. Therefore if Resmed's warranty is for 2 years, it starts from the time you receive your machine. However with the Respironics machine, it's warranty starts when it is delivered to the dealer or wholesaler, according to the posting of warranty in the same thread. (Direct from Respironics, the warranty starts from the time it leaves Respironics dock.) Now, the way I see it, there can be quite a difference in the warranty span according to how long the dealer stores the machine in their warehouse. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. If they store a Respironics machine for 8 months and you order a Respironics machine and a Resmed machine, you will have a 24 month warranty on the Resmed and only a 16 month warranty on the Respironics. To me that could be a big difference. To someone that has a machine fail after they think they have a 2 year warranty and don't, it could also make a difference and is quite deceptive. This is the third time I've addressed this same question on the forum with no responses saying otherwise. I keep hearing the warranty is the same, but in fact it is not.

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dsm · Post by **dsm** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 7:44 pm

johnnygoodman wrote:Greetings,

How do you justify this position in the face of the fact that Resmed and PB have similar warranty and software policies?

You guys are too much!

Johnny

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): resmed

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): resmed

Johnny,

I fear this one is a no win situation for anyone.

The debate is cross-purposed.

UPDATE#
My original post accidentally went in without any comment - I quickly added one then sent it so I could then add this longer bit.

The problem I see with this and the other thread that the emotion behind them is real and generally justified but the expression of the emotion is being done at cpap.com's expense. cpap.com are caught between a rock and a hard place and to have the issue of Respironics support being thrashed repeatedly in cpap.com's website in a way that just keeps hurting cpap.com and not really impacting Respironics.

I am asking folks to give cpap.com a fair break as all the evidence is that they tried to do their best for their customers esp in the case we have seen here recently.

The place these issues should be fairly dealt with is Respironics own forum but we all know they don't have one so what we see happening is cpap.com taking the brunt of it all and being beaten up with their own very generous facilities.

So I agree that Respironics have some answering to do. But should cpap.com be the one paying the price ?. I think not !. About time to give them a break.

Cheers DSM

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Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:00 pm

I had a resmed spirit go south on me. They fixed it anyway as it was 3 months past the 24 month period. It was their policy they said. I was happy. I did need to take it to a DME to have the resmed rep pick it up and send it to the factory . Pretty painless by it still took 5 weeks.

Turned out they had a software glitch . Guess they wanted to fix it to keep it below the FDA radar.

Would I buy a resmed again ? No, because it didn't work well for me. It was a good unit and the service was excellent.

Respironics was just being jerks about it IMHO . They should have done the right thing instead of pointing to the fine print.

As a New Yorker would say. TRO DA BUMS OWDA DARE .

:twis ted:

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:16 pm

DSM,

I am not finding fault with cpap.com. I was not thrilled with the last post Johnny wrote on this thread. I guess, like the rest of us, he is emotionally involved and is maybe not thinking too clearly when he wrote that because PB and Resmed have the same warrantees, we guys are wrong to find fault with Respironics, or we're "too much," as he put it. The topic at hand was only with the unfair or unreasonable customer service of Respironics, not that of PB or Resmed. It will forever bother me, though, when I think of a company that will accept your money, but then couldn't really care what happens after that, especially with the software they allow to be sold to the public. Who ever heard of a software company that won't offer support for their product dependent upon who you are? They are discriminating against end users who are not professional healthcare providers. If they are going to sell to us and take our money, offer the support, at least for 60-90 days, if not indefinitely.

As for cpap.com, I have no gripe with them. Anything I've ever done with them has been a pleasure. I know a lot of people think they should be placing pressure on Respironics. Personally, I feel that is up to them to do what they feel they should do, and it's not anyone's place to tell them how they should conduct their relationship with their business associates.

This has been a really eye opening topic. I think, though, it's time for everyone to put it to bed since all it does is raise people's BPs and is not helping to further what this site is all about, helping each other get through our cpap experiences. We all need to relax and take a deep breath. Myself included.

sthnreb · Post by **sthnreb** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:34 pm

[quote="Sleepless on LI"]DSM,

I am not finding fault with cpap.com. I was not thrilled with the last post Johnny wrote on this thread. I guess, like the rest of us, he is emotionally involved and is maybe not thinking too clearly when he wrote that because PB and Resmed have the same warrantees, we guys are wrong to find fault with Respironics, or we're "too much," as he put it. The topic at hand was only with the unfair or unreasonable customer service of Respironics, not that of PB or Resmed. It will forever bother me, though, when I think of a company that will accept your money, but then couldn't really care what happens after that, especially with the software they allow to be sold to the public. Who ever heard of a software company that won't offer support for their product dependent upon who you are? They are discriminating against end users who are not professional healthcare providers. If they are going to sell to us and take our money, offer the support, at least for 60-90 days, if not indefinitely.

As for cpap.com, I have no gripe with them. Anything I've ever done with them has been a pleasure. I know a lot of people think they should be placing pressure on Respironics. Personally, I feel that is up to them to do what they feel they should do, and it's not anyone's place to tell them how they should conduct their relationship with their business associates.

This has been a really eye opening topic. I think, though, it's time for everyone to put it to bed since all it does is raise people's BPs and is not helping to further what this site is all about, helping each other get through our cpap experiences. We all need to relax and take a deep breath. Myself included.

Machine

Additional Comments: Resmed AirCurve 10 VAuto BiLevel with HumidAir