Pulse-Oxy meter

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 8:01 am

Yep, pretty pathetic! I've learned an [most likely] expensive lesson. In the past I've always been very careful to read the fine print but have gotten sloppy lately. I had checked out the BBB-Online report which looked ok.

Sigh!

Mindy

Nodzy · Post by **Nodzy** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 8:36 am

Online there are many rip-off stores, but hundreds-of-thousands of great places to get what you're looking for. My gripe is that many with good to fantastic prices gouge the buyer on shipping costs.

Many eBay vendors are notorious for doing that, so it's not often that a buy there really saves me money. But sometimes what I want can only be found there, without intensely searching the web for weeks.

I often use http://resellerratings.com to check out an online store before buying, though most stores listed there sell computer related items and techie toys. In fact, I've posted complaints there about two major rip-off online vendors, but not under "Nodzy."

I have to guess at the total, but I've made somewhere well above 600 online purchases since 1998, and I've had only two really painful experiences and four that were iffy but worked out ok.

Nodzy

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 8:38 am

Nodzy,

I guess I shouldn't complain - I've made many online purchases and this is the first that's been a problem. It's just that for me it's a lot of $!

m

roncron · Post by **roncron** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:07 am

Mindy,

I wouldn't be too discouraged (yet). Others here have purchased this item from Med1Online, eventually received it, and seem happy with it. The problem you and I are having right now is that Med1Online was out of stock for a month and failed to keep us informed. I do not believe they are trying to jerk us around. I think it's likely that we will get the oximeters we ordered, and that we will find them useful.

I think if we or anyone in our position wants to cancel our orders, we should be able to avoid the 3% cancellation fee. Their website says we should have received our order in 7-10 business days, and it's been roughly a month. Plus, Julie and her supervisor Wes seem sincerely sorry about the poor customer service we have received. It's hard for me to imagine they would not give us a 100% refund if we requested it.

Yes, Med1Online's policies are ridiculous. I laughed when I saw that blurb at their website about "we have best return policy in the industry!". Best for who, the seller or the buyer? But I don't think Med1Online is unusual for this industry. The market for specialized medical equipment is a lot less competitive than, say, the market for books or DVDs - there are few sellers and they sell unique products in low volumes. They don't have to go out of their way to make the customer happy, and because of the low volume, they have to tack on all these ridiculous fees to be profitable.

Med1Online raised the price of the spo 7500F from $250 (the price they say they should never have had) to $375 (the price at which I ordered the oximeter) to $500 now. I cannot find this item anywhere else for less than $500, and I cannot afford to pay $500, so for me the choice is to wait for Med1Online to deliver or not buy the oximeter at all. I do not believe Med1Online is trying to screw us. I don't fault Med1Online for the delay - they stocked out and had to wait for their supplier to ship more. I only fault them for the lack of communication, and Julie and Wes have been contrite about this. So, I'm going to give them a bit more time.

Ron

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 11:47 am

Turner Medical currently has it for $399.

SithLord · Post by **SithLord** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:41 pm

Roncron wrote:Med1Online raised the price of the spo 7500F from $250 …

Ron,

Check your e-mail receipt. When I ordered mine on Jan 9th, the website showed/adverstised the F model. My receipt says the H model though.

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:58 pm

Ron,

You make some excellent points. Like you, I can't afford to pay $500. I ordered it when it was $373.50 and I felt that was as high as I could go.

Patience has never been my strong suit - and age hasn't helped with that

I will just try to sit on my hands and keep busy with other things and hope that, as you say, they will probably come through.

Thanks for the wise words!
Mindy

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:59 pm

ps Jeff - my receipt shows the "F" model.

mindy

Arizona-Willie · Post by **Arizona-Willie** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:24 pm

I ordered another oximeter late last Thursday and received it about noon today.

How nice to work with a company that does what it says.

I tried to call Julie but she isn't answering her phone.

So I left her voice mail canceling the order and sent a cancellation email to her also.

Now we'll see what happens next.

Will I get my money back?

Only the Shadow knows ( obscure reference to old radio show )

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:35 pm

Hi Arizona-Willie,

Julie isn't answering her email, either. I'm giving them until Friday.

Glad you got your other one!

Mindy

Arizona-Willie · Post by **Arizona-Willie** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:50 pm

She did return this email!!!!

What a surprise.

She said she would forward my cancellation request to Customer Service.

Then said that they received their shipment of SPO 7500 oximeters today.

It would not surprise me if my oximeter gets shipped before the cancellation can make it's way through various peoples desks.

Oh well, if they ship it I will get to compare the two and keep the one I like best and sell the other one.

The one I got today is the CMS50E from Southeastern Medical Supply.

I am presently charging the rechargable battery but have installed the software.

It looks like a fairly well made unit -- at least on the outside.

Only problem so far is that the directions are in Englese -- combination English and Chinese

It contains such things as " after black screen if finger falls off, the alarm works continuously, -----"

I sure as hell hope the alarm goes off if my finger falls off

Of course they mean if it falls off of your finger.

Actually, it is some of the best directions I've seen on a Chinese product. I've seen a LOT worse. It is not too difficult to figure out what they are saying.

So far so good.

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:54 pm

Whew! Well, hopefully this is one of those cases of "all things come to s/he who waits"! I know I've been pretty nervous about it ... made me do some rethinking about my sloppy shopping habits of late. I've gotten so used to internet shopping that I'm not nearly as careful as I used to be.

So there's a silver lining after all .... I have resolved to be much more cautious!

Here's hoping your finger doesn't "fall off"

Mindy

roncron · Post by **roncron** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:04 pm

Willie, I'm so happy you at least got one of the oximeters you ordered. If you are willing to share, please let us know whether Med1Online handles your refund request to your satisfaction, and whether they charge that 3% cancellation fee. Also please let us know how you like your new oximeter.

I emailed Julie today to check on my order. She quickly replied, and said they received their SPO oximeters today from their supplier, they will ship mine tomorrow, and will email me tracking information Wednesday.

Since she returned to work a week ago, she has returned every one of my emails very promptly (usually within an hour - even when I emailed her during the evening). Her emails have been very respectful and she seems to sincerely want to make things right.

Hopefully, the rest of you with outstanding orders at med1online will get your merchandise soon, or get full refunds. Then, we can shift our focus to more important things, like monitoring our O2 saturation levels.

Best to you all,
Ron

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:07 pm

Thanks for the updates, Willie and Ron!

It's amazing how much easier this has been with all of us sharing info.

Ron, you've really helped to keep this relatively positive in tone which has certainly been helping me over the rough spots.

And yes, I'm looking forward to being able to monitor my o2 sat levels

Mindy

roncron · Post by **roncron** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:18 pm

If you ordered from med1online, especially for $250, you'll want to read this email I just now received from Julie:

-------------------------------------------------------------
Ron

To follow up with more news.

We are shipping the 7500 units out tomorrow, overnight delivery. We are shipping the units that everyone is anticipating receiving, the units with software and the download cable.

Something else we want to offer is; to 4 people via cpaptalk.com site to call me this week and reference this email and I will honor the $249 price for them as well.

Again, thank you for your patience and hanging in there while we sort through this.

Julie M. Schaffer
4403 Table Mountain Dr., Suite B
Golden, CO 80403
Office: 720-889-1591 Ext. 201
Toll Free: 888-MD-SHOPS Ext. 201
Fax: 720-889-1596
Email: jschaffer@med1online.com
-------------------------------------------------------------

Pulse-Oxy meter

Second order

Julie

news flash! news flash!