MIRAGE SWIFT LT QUALITY POLL--THE RESMED CHARADE???

[BleepingBeauty]

At Peggy's (plr66's) request, I'm posting an "update" on my contact with ResMed over this issue.

I sent two emails, the first one on the 1st of July to the generic email address on ResMed's site, the second one on the 7th of July directly to Jennifer Baum. I've gotten no response at all. That says a lot about this company, and none of it is good. This is a case of amazingly BAD customer relations, especially for such a large corporation.

I subsequently called ResMed to voice my concerns over the new flimsy pillows. They offered to send me some more pillows, which didn't really interest me, because I figured they'd be the new crappy ones. But they sent them, anyway. Of course, they ARE the newer, flimsy pillows. Useless, and a big disappointment.

My DME (along with a few others I contacted in an effort to find some older replacement pillows) is totally unaware of this problem. My RT told me today that they will no longer be supplying ResMed products to new customers. (That's a corporate decision and has nothing to do with this pillows issue.) However, she said that because I've gotten ResMed masks in the past, if I want another one in the future, I should be able to get it. But I won't be asking for another ResMed product. The way the company is dealing with (or, more accurately, NOT dealing with) this pillows problem, they've lost me as a customer.

I've been an avid Swift LT user and extolled its comfort, design and quality to other PAPers. I'll no longer recommend it to anyone. Shame on ResMed.

[twokatmew]

I'm still waiting for the ResMed quality engineer to call me back....

[brucelegs]

Also at Peggy's request here is a paraphrased response I got from Resmed

Thank you for your email. ResMed strives to provide the best quality in all our product.

We are currently investigating the nasal pillows and based on the investigation results ResMed will take appropriate actions. As soon as I have the investigation results I would be willing to share the information with you.

If you would provide me with your current address I would be happy to send you replacement pillows at no charge. I would also like to have your pillows returned to ResMed so they could be properly investigated.

this was from a Quality Assurance Engineer. I will be sending out my "defective" pillows on Monday.

[mdintx]

Well, I guess it had to happen to me as well. The pillows simply stopped working a few night ago. I could no longer maintain a seal. It was as if they just collapsed. I went from a leak rate of 0.00L/s and an AHI of 1.4 to .20L/s and 6.5. This particular set only lasted 7 weeks! My first set from Jan is till usable. That's pretty poor performance.

[neverbetter]

I sold mine for 25.00
didn't care for it

[kolchak]

Wow, I've been using a swift LT for almost a year and have recently noticed problems with my pillows. I came to this site looking for info & thankfully found this thread. My oldest pillow, which i got with my 1st swift LT mask (and fell in love with it) is a medium #6 and my newer (bad) pillows are 1 & 8. I can easily tell the difference in quality between the different pillows and Iim pissed. I have a bunch of old pillows in a box somewhere & will check the numbers in hope of turing up one of the older, quality pillows.
My sleep has suffered because Resmed decided to save a few pennies per pillow and is now leaving it's loyal customers out in the cold? I don't need to be a marketing exec to know this is bad business and I will vote with my (insurance companies) XPAP dollars.
$30.00 is excessive for a good pillow, but $30.00 for a cheap flimsy pillow is simply price gouging.
Since a resolution isn't anywhere close can someone direct me to a similar mask to the swift LT, made by a competitor with good customer service?
Thanks

[twokatmew]

The number on the pillow is supposedly the number of the mold in which it was made. Interesting that the few of us who've noted the mold number on our "good" pillows is 6. I'm using a small though.

There's the F&P Opus 360 mask, but it hasn't worked for me. Next I'll be trying the Nasal Aire II courtesy of Babette's free trial when my turn comes around.

[Hawthorne]

I am using the small Swift LT pillows as well. I have 3 with the small number 6 on the back of the pillow that work very well. I have several others (different numbers -same size) that did not work for very long (maybe a few weeks).

I have been trading off the number 6s - rotating them and have very good data with them.

Sometimes I try the other numbers just to see but, I am up changing to a number 6 pillow or a different mask, after an hour of trying to get it to seal!!

[BleepingBeauty]

Just following up and wondering if anyone who contacted ResMed has heard anything in response? Nothing here, which is exactly what I expected.

[twokatmew]

A quality engineer (David Duley) called and left me a message to call him back. I did, had to leave a message, and he never returned my call. So much for ResMed....

[Hawthorne]

No response to my email to Resmed either!

[brucelegs]

Just following up and wondering if anyone who contacted ResMed has heard anything in response? Nothing here, which is exactly what I expected.

I got a response from David who had me send him a couple of the pillows I felt were lesser quality. I figured I would get 2 in return. Then I got an email from Nyrene in Customer Service:

This email is to notify you of the complimentary one time courtesy replacement Swift LT mask requested on your behalf from our QA Engineer, David Duley. The replacement mask will ship out today via FedEx and should arrive within the next 2-3 business days under confirmation # 332463

Please let us know if you continue to experience any problems with the pillows on your replacement. With that said, we also need to stress that any further concerns you may have with any ResMed equipment should always be addressed first with your current Home Care Provider (DME). Although we understand that this can be burdensome at times, because we are a medical manufacturer and are bound to very strict HIPPA laws, we are restricted from performing continuous business with the public directly.

Should you find that you are having difficulties with your current provider, please feel free to contact Customer Service at (800) 424-0737 opt.1 and we will be more than happy to either contact your dealer on your behalf for any warranty issues or assist in finding another dealer in your area who may be able to better assist in your needs.

Thank you again for contacting ResMed.

A complete new mask arrived last week. The pillow size I use, the medium, seems to be like the thinner ones I sent back. I will try this pillow later this week for a and see how it goes. Oh well, I very unexpectedly got a new mask and do appreciate their attention.

[plr66]

I got a response from David who had me send him a couple of the pillows I felt were lesser quality. I figured I would get 2 in return. Then I got an email from Nyrene in Customer Service:

This email is to notify you of the complimentary one time courtesy replacement Swift LT mask requested on your behalf from our QA Engineer, David Duley. The replacement mask will ship out today via FedEx and should arrive within the next 2-3 business days under confirmation # 332463

Please let us know if you continue to experience any problems with the pillows on your replacement. With that said, we also need to stress that any further concerns you may have with any ResMed equipment should always be addressed first with your current Home Care Provider (DME). Although we understand that this can be burdensome at times, because we are a medical manufacturer and are bound to very strict HIPPA laws, we are restricted from performing continuous business with the public directly.

Should you find that you are having difficulties with your current provider, please feel free to contact Customer Service at (800) 424-0737 opt.1 and we will be more than happy to either contact your dealer on your behalf for any warranty issues or assist in finding another dealer in your area who may be able to better assist in your needs.

Thank you again for contacting ResMed.

A complete new mask arrived last week. The pillow size I use, the medium, seems to be like the thinner ones I sent back. I will try this pillow later this week for a and see how it goes. Oh well, I very unexpectedly got a new mask and do appreciate their attention.

Great. So you were sent a new mask with headgear which is no improvement on the two pillows you sent them. You are thus expected to be grateful and shut up. You are instructed to not bother ResMed, but to go through the tedium & uselessness of notorious hassles with a DME which hasn't got a clue about product quality, and will tell you you're nuts if you think you have a brain to figure out otherwise, that this is simply a defective product. ResMed "customer service" and integrity just blows you away, doesn't it?

I have intentionally not written on this thread for several weeks. But after all the song & dance charade of an "investigation under microscope" and ResMed's engineering team's claims of correction of the problem with their manufacturing in China---I want to document that the 8 replacement pillows sent to me by Jennifer have proven to be complete garbage. They leak from the second night, and no adjustments I have found with 5 of them, have been any different. They remain flimsy and collapse at the nasal cones. These were batch number 12, for whatever that could be worth.

This is a mask that ResMed will apparently continue to make big bucks with through the DME's for patients who haven't got any idea about mouth-leaking or nose-leaking, and will gladly choose the mask for its minimalist qualities, completely dependent and victim to whatever they are told by the DME who "mask's em up." Their therapy will be completely useless, but hey. ResMed and the DME's continue to pull in the bucks.

I did send the following email to Jennifer Baum on 8/9/09:

Jennifer,
As you are aware, I am completely disillusioned & disgusted with Resmed's lack of any effective or consumer-centered response to the continued quality issue with these pillows. It's very difficult to imagine that a serious investigation of this quality issue ever took place, since there has been almost complete denial, rationalizing, and lack of consumer response from Resmed ever since admitting that there is in fact a quality issue with the Swift LT pillows.

I have refrained from making any comment to the thread on the cpaptalk forum for the past 3 weeks, to see if something positive would appear. It has not. And in fact, the complete lack of response to the 2 or 3 who have bothered to contact you, is pretty stunning. I do see that many previous Swift LT users on that forum are now listing a different mask.

I'm actually writing to say that despite my initial hopes that the 8 replacements you sent would be an improvement (all numbered 12)--I have found that they are absolutely not. The nasal pieces collapse after a few nights, and begin leaking, continuously keeping me awake. I've tried a number of them for 2-3 nights each, and all are exactly the same. Junk.

I'm fairly certain that I made you aware of this already. As have many others on the forum.

ResMed will suffer eventually when not bothering to respond appropriately to those who actually take their therapy seriously and aren't a bunch of mushrooms. ("keep 'em in the dark & feed 'em manure.")

Peggy

[twokatmew]

Great. So you were sent a new mask with headgear which is no improvement on the two pillows you sent them. You are thus expected to be grateful and shut up. You are instructed to not bother ResMed, but to go through the tedium & uselessness of notorious hassles with a DME which hasn't got a clue about product quality, and will tell you you're nuts if you think you have a brain to figure out otherwise, that this is simply a defective product. ResMed "customer service" and integrity just blows you away, doesn't it?

Peggy, I thought the same thing when I read Brucelegs' post. Yes, ResMed sent her a mask, but it's the same defective junk that I have sitting on my dresser collecting dust. Plus they told her pretty pointedly not to bother them anymore.

I'm disgusted too. I've returned to wearing my F&P nasal mask nightly, and I just received Babette's Nasal Aire II to test drive. After fitting and testing it this afternoon, I'm eager to try it out tonight. Looks like this may be a promising option.

Margaret

[mdintx]

Like you Margaret, I have given up on the Swift LT. I've gone back to working with a nasal. The quality of the pillows is suspect and I've been struggling with fatigue off an on for the last few weeks. As a whole, I'm EXTREMELY disappointed with Resmed. They pulled the software and have lowered the quality of their product.

I wish I knew more about all this before going in. I would have definitely bought the Respironics machine. Live and learn. Resmed has lost a customer...period.