Second fitting w/ Apria

[doctordeb]

Hello Friends,
You heard my tale about my first fitting at Apria. The RT didn't allow me to try on any masks, only crappy one and didn't hook me up to the machine. So I developed severe sores on the bridge of my nose. When I called customer service they sent me a Gecko, basically a nose bridge guard that stuck out of the mask and caused leakage because they never asked me for my size. It appeard to me that trying to get anything done with Apria via their Central offices is impossible. You must deal with your local branch. Although they won't connect you to your local branch. So I made an appointment for a second fitting. That way I could speak with people face to face.
When I arrived at the local Apria branch in San Diego the first thing I told the receptionist was that I wanted to speak with a supervisor. Prior to my fitting my I told the supervisor of my terrible first experience and that the last 2 weeks have been horrible for me. I told her now that I am educated (due to this forum) I want to meet with a veteran RT. She was very apologetic and had no idea why I wasn't allowed to try on masks. She set me up with a wonderful RT who spent an hour with me going over every detail of how a mask should fit. We both agreed on the Quattro FX, which by the way wasn't even on display. When I tried on the first mask I said, 'what do you have in the warehouse?' (again I learned this from the forum) When I tried on the Quattro FX it was very refreshing. I know some people don't get a good seal, but I slept pretty well last night.
Never take no for an answer and speak up when you are being treated like a number. If I find that this mask doesn't work in less then 30 days, you can be dam sure I will be back to get another one!

[Janknitz]

Yay for you, you did a great job of self-advocacy!

The sad part is all that you had to go through to get the decent service you should have been given in the first place. Most of their customers will not find this forum and become knowledgeable and empowered to demand what they need.

I still don't get the DME's reasoning. People who don't make the effort to educate and stand up for themselves will fail CPAP and the DME loses a lifetime repeat customer. Penny foolish AND pound foolish!

[archangle]

Very good. One thing I find often helps is to be so sweet and polite that you give them a diabetic coma, but don't take "no" for an answer.

[Otter]

Well done. Apria has an abysmal reputation, so getting good service from a knowledgeable RT there is quite an accomplishment. Watch out for their billing dept, though. It's not over yet.

[TalonNYC]

Quite a good story! I find that Apria becomes much more helpful when you correct them on a few things. For me, once I started telling them exactly what I wanted, they stopped fighting me and just gave in. It's a horrible state of affairs that we HAVE to be knowledgeable before we can get help, though.

[archangle]

I find that Apria becomes much more helpful when you correct them on a few things.

Good point. Let's not forget that even if they go to the trouble to give good service, they still make tons of money on the equipment they're selling.

[TalonNYC]

Good point. Let's not forget that even if they go to the trouble to give good service, they still make tons of money on the equipment they're selling.

they're a business, so I'd expect that. The company I work for offers excellent service, and makes a lots of money off our product sales =)

[Janknitz]

Good point. Let's not forget that even if they go to the trouble to give good service, they still make tons of money on the equipment they're selling.

I don't have any problem with them making an honest profit. The thing I object to is the fact that the service the OP got the second time around is how EVERYONE should be treated ALL THE TIME. They make tons of money by treating the vast majority of their customers BADLY--and since it's a captive audience, it is patently not fair.

[DoriC]

Good job, doctordeb, sorry they gave you such a runaround!. I'm famous for the "I want to speak to a Supervisor" line. My family and friends always tease me about that but it usually gets the job done, but sometimes I "play nice" too long until I give myself a headache!