Any last minute advice?

[Sleepless in Ca]

Tomorrow I am going to buy ResMed S9 AutoSet™ w/H5i™ Humidifier and ClimateLine™ Tube. The going price seems to be $923. I couldn't find any price less expensive.

My fear is I get a
1. Loud machine which I have read rarely happens.
2. The unit has been used -- "Run" hours (machine hours) How do I check for this?
3. Has an older software card. How do I check for this?

Who are your favorite online sellers?
Which dealers are good about returns?

Do all the H5i™ Humidifier have the dishwasher safe humifier chamber?

Anything else I should be concerned about?

Thanks for your help.

[okitoki]

have you checked secondwind? I just picked up a "gently" used S9 with new hoses, filter and water container for a very cheap price (look it up)

Off memory (since I only got it yesterday) I looked up the info setting and it shows the total usage hours on it pretty easily (mine said on 22 hours)
When I hooked mine up last night, it was, as advertised, super quiet... compare to my S8 which has a gentle whirling sound, like an air purifier blowing, the S9 was near silent... even using the F&P 431 FF mask, the masked had a darth vadar breathing sound (again, not loud) using the S9 seems to have made it easier to breath through it while Im awake... I dont seem to need to fight against the air to breath out... very gentle...

I think the Firmware version is displayed on the same info screen showing the total usage hours... can't tell you what is the most recent version though...

If getting a used machine, I would make sure I get new air filters, water container and new hoses to go with it... but then, at 2ndwind, they pretty much included all those items...

[kaiasgram]

If you're concerned about being sure your machine is new, you want to check Run hours, not just Usage hours. Usage can be reset to zero, but not Run hours. To check Run hours: Press the Info button, then scroll down the left side menu to SERVICE -- on my S9 VPAP, Run Hours is the first item in the Service menu, I imagine that's true of the Autoset as well.

If you're buying new, our forum host cpap.com is really great. I have purchased most of my equipment and supplies from them and have had great service. I have also purchased a machine from secondwind and had a totally positive experience with them too.

[Sleepless in Ca]

Thanks for your replies. I still have not ordered! Shoot. I called CPAP.com and they will never take a return for any reason. I do not know if that is standard in this industry. So I checked with the BBB and they have an F rating. So forget them.

My local place costs hundreds of dollars more than the online venders.

I just hate to spend so much money and be stuck with a lemon and have no recourse except to return to the manufacturer when the machine is brand new.

Has anyone used CPAP-Supply?

[Julie]

Cpap.com sponsors this forum - and have the best prices and variety and service of just about any other place. And no, I don't otherwise have any stake in the company.

[cpierc01]

I have purchased from cpap.com and have been extremely satisfied.

[sunnyway]

I'm astonished that cpap.com has a "F" BBB rating. It's true, I checked, but it's based on only 8 reports. Only 8 complaints? A drop in the bucket. I've never seen a complaint about them here on cpaptalk.com. (No, our host does not delete posts!) I've always been delighted with the service, but have always ordered online. Maybe all the thousands of us satisfied customers should write to BBB!

[kaiasgram]

Thanks for your replies. I still have not ordered! Shoot. I called CPAP.com and they will never take a return for any reason. I do not know if that is standard in this industry. So I checked with the BBB and they have an F rating. So forget them.

My local place costs hundreds of dollars more than the online venders.

I just hate to spend so much money and be stuck with a lemon and have no recourse except to return to the manufacturer when the machine is brand new.

Has anyone used CPAP-Supply?

I encourage you to rethink your decision about cpap.com (I have no financial interest in the company either.) With cpap.com, masks can be returned within 30 days if you purchase the return insurance. Some masks currently have no-cost 30 day return options. (I once let the 30 days expire on a mask I intended to return -- I called cpap.com and they graciously accepted the late return.)

I don't think any online retailer can accept a return of a PAP machine. Re your concern about getting a lemon -- If you buy your S9 from cpap.com and something is wrong with it during the warranty period, you would ship it back to cpap.com, not to ResMed. At least that's how it was last year when I thought my humidifier was malfunctioning. cpap.com handled it, no problem, and got me a new machine within a couple of days.

I'm sorry to hear about the 8 complaints and the resulting "F" rating at the BBB. But based on my personal experience with them, that won't stop me from continuing to buy my supplies from them.

[johnnygoodman]

Howdy,

We aren't a member of the BBB and I can't see us ever becoming one.

Call us old fashioned crazy Texans, but in our view the BBB is a pay to play organization that might have served a useful purpose in the past, but goes on existing largely to shake down small business. It would be easy to send them a $300 check and have those reviews washed away, but it would support a flawed system.

CPAP.com and the internet retail of CPAP equipment is itself the "new way" and an alternative to the existing, entrenched flawed system. It'd be pretty hypocritical to fight the good fight with one hand and pay off the flawed existing interests with the other. I'm not saying the world is perfect, nor that I am, nor that our business is, but come on - we've got the internet, the whole internet, and we need to listen to what the BBB has to say?

We know CPAPtalk is free. We know CPAP.com reviews are free. We know this because both the good and the bad shows up from these mediums. It looks and feels legit because it maps the way we know people express opinions. When the good and the bad is out there, then YOU get to decide. When just one or the other is, you are getting fed a line. Have a look at the BBB feed. What does its content tell you?

We publish our return policies. We honor them. We work with people to bend them even further where ever we reasonably can. We want you to be happy.

We do insist that you honor your agreements and be responsible for your actions if we do business. If you cross that line and find us not willing to totally discard the expectation of an agreement relating vaguely to the terms agreed to, then you'll likely be angry enough to go file a negative BBB review. If you do, know it will live a long life.

We've been successful without paying the shake downs. We'll keep on. I'd love your business and I give you my word we'll deal with you honestly - but if I hadn't, you could expect the very same because that's the kind of business we're running. And also because if I didn't, a lot of CPAPtalkers know where I live and would come give me a richly deserved what for.

Johnny, BBB negative review bulk import agent, tilter at the windmills of flawed systems, misses Liam's posts.

[zoocrewphoto]

Howdy,

We aren't a member of the BBB and I can't see us ever becoming one.

Call us old fashioned crazy Texans, but in our view the BBB is a pay to play organization that might have served a useful purpose in the past, but goes on existing largely to shake down small business. It would be easy to send them a $300 check and have those reviews washed away, but it would support a flawed system.

I agree. I started a (very) small business several years ago. I still get mail from the BBB trying to get me to sign up and pay for their service. Until then, I didn't realize it was a service for businesses. I thought it was supposed to be independent and be a service for customers. It seems a lot more like a mob deal. Pay and you get a good rating. Don't pay, and you probably won't get a good rating.

[kteague]

I take all reviews with a grain of salt. They can be bought pretty cheap. They can make a company sound heaven sent and make their competitors sound like demon spawn. Just recently I met a physician who had fake complaints posted against them on YELP, and it turned out a competitor had hired a service to move them up in the ratings, and that is accomplished by fake reviews. it's big business, not just in sales and services, but in social media the numbers that supposedly represent the popularity of a person are largely fake.

Whether you choose to buy from cpap.com or not, I'd take the reference of a long standing member here before other sources of stories. However, I'd still want to be very sure of the terms of the purchase of the specific item. Sounds like you are pretty clear on the terms from cpap.com but it wouldn't hurt to talk to them one more time and ask what the procedure is for replacing a defective machine and what your replacement options are if a machine is returned for repairs or replacements. Guess you just have to weigh the risks vs the savings. I have found them to be more than fair in my dealings with them, but I have not bought a machine so my experience isn't very relative except for their great service.

[Iowamv]

in our view the BBB is a pay to play organization that might have served a useful purpose in the past, but goes on existing largely to shake down small business. It would be easy to send them a $300 check and have those reviews washed away, but it would support a flawed system.

Exactly right. I almost wrote this yesterday. I'm a guy who does a TON of research when making purchases, and I have never used BBB as a source of unbiased information. Do a Google search for "BBB controversy."

Search the archive of this group to find hundreds of unsolicited comments about CPAP.COM service, and virtually all are glowing and positive. Based on those comments, I've placed two orders so far in the short time I've been on CPAP. They ship promptly, and the products are exactly as described. So I'll lend my voice to the chorus of those saying that CPAP.COM seems to have competitive prices and great service. And yes, they make this incredibly useful forum possible-- for free.

[SleepyCPAP]

Thanks for your replies. I still have not ordered! Shoot. I called CPAP.com and they will never take a return for any reason. <snip> ...I just hate to spend so much money and be stuck with a lemon and have no recourse except to return to the manufacturer when the machine is brand new...

The first machine I bought from CPAP.com in 2010 had some problems. I got directions on how to send it to CPAP.com, and they had the manufacturer check it out. The Manufacturer then had a new replacement machine sent to me by CPAP.com. So from my experience, if you get a lemon and it checks out as a lemon it will be replaced. I've bought plenty from CPAP.com since then (including a back-up machine this year) and have nothing but praise for them.

When I was first starting the process of being diagnosed I remember being worried about getting the right machine, and whether buying on the internet would be a problem. Looking back, I can tell I was not thinking too clearly and that was because I was very sleep and oxygen deprived. I'm hoping to reassure you that when I listened to the folks on this forum and went ahead and got my machine (and then used it), things got better. I hope the same for you.

--SleepyCPAP

[Jeannh]

Do all the H5i™ Humidifier have the dishwasher safe humifier chamber?

No, only one does-order by RedMed product # to be sure. Go to Resmed.com and look at the product catalogue.

[StuUnderPressure]

The ResMed H5i Humidifier WITH the cleanable water tub (dishwasher safe) is 36901.

WithOUT the cleanable water tub it is 36900

You can see the entire Product List (updated to 9-3-13) at http://www.resmed.com/us/documents/product-list-usa.pdf

The H5i humidifiers are at the top of page 34