I Know I've Complained about Apria in the past...

[SleepyT]

But I may have to retract some of my complaints. I got a VM on my cell phone yesterday from Apria....saying my insurance provider had cleared me for supplies...and what would I like to have! So I called back and told the guy I really only needed filters for my Resmed. (In the past I had asked for nasal pillows for my Swift for Her mask but they told me they didn't deal with pillows...did I want to order a whole new mask! No, I didn't! That is why I only asked for filters this time around). THEN the fellow said...sure they would send the filters...but didn't I want some nasal pillows...and how about a replacement seal for my backup mask...Quattro! How crazy is all that? Just out of the blue these folks called to see what I would like to have shipped to my doorstep! What a wonderful position to be in. Hope this customer service thing continues!

[Flatlander]

Glad to hear that. My first CPAP was purchased through APRIA in 2000 and ever since then all they wanted was to sell me more, more, more. I personally don't like to be pressured and especially when all I need was parts and such. When I bought a new machine, I went to CPAP.Com. All the people I was dealing with were nice and made me feel "at home" but just had to move on. Glad that things might have begun to change for you.

[bdp522]

I hope you get what you ordered. Apria will call me, I will order, and get all stuff I didn't order and nothing I did order. When I call them about this I have to have the correct part numbers ready so I can give them the info they need to get the right parts to me. Then I have them send me a call tag to send everything that was wrong back to them. It usually takes a couple of calls to get everything straightened out.
Good Luck,

Brenda

[pratzert]

I hope you get what you ordered. Apria will call me, I will order, and get all stuff I didn't order and nothing I did order. When I call them about this I have to have the correct part numbers ready so I can give them the info they need to get the right parts to me. Then I have them send me a call tag to send everything that was wrong back to them. It usually takes a couple of calls to get everything straightened out.
Good Luck,

Brenda

Brenda,

You took the words right out of my mouth. That is EXACTLY how it goes with Apria.

When they call you and ask you if you "need" anything ( mask, supplies etc.) you have to remember that they are not doing it out of concern or as a cust. svc to the patient. They are making an unsolicited telephone sales call. If they can talk you into ordering something, it's money in THEIR pocket.

Worse.... when you agree to order a replacement mask, they wont' send you what you had before or what you order.... they will send you whatever they want. I have sent many items back and then have to fight with them to get what I actually ordered.

In summary.... Apria Sucks !

[SleepyT]

I hope you get what you ordered. Apria will call me, I will order, and get all stuff I didn't order and nothing I did order. When I call them about this I have to have the correct part numbers ready so I can give them the info they need to get the right parts to me. Then I have them send me a call tag to send everything that was wrong back to them. It usually takes a couple of calls to get everything straightened out.
Good Luck,

Brenda

Brenda,

You took the words right out of my mouth. That is EXACTLY how it goes with Apria.

When they call you and ask you if you "need" anything ( mask, supplies etc.) you have to remember that they are not doing it out of concern or as a cust. svc to the patient. They are making an unsolicited telephone sales call. If they can talk you into ordering something, it's money in THEIR pocket.

Worse.... when you agree to order a replacement mask, they wont' send you what you had before or what you order.... they will send you whatever they want. I have sent many items back and then have to fight with them to get what I actually ordered.

In summary.... Apria Sucks !

Well, you guys may be right....but I hope not. However! If you ARE right...I will change DME's next year. My insurance carrier changes Jan. 1....and I will be able to go back to the DME I had before Apria...and I was well satisfied with them. The proof is in the pudding as they say...so we'll see what lands on my front porch in 7 to 10 days.

[OutaSync]

My current DME is Health Management Services. I didn't think it could get much worse than this. They cannot get one order right.

10/11 I asked for two disposeable filters for my ASV.
10/15 I received two filters for an Auto M
10/16 I emailed them and clarified that I needed two filters for the ASV
10/27 Still hadn't received anything, so emailed again, Received a response that the filters were being shipped today.
10/28 Recieved a confirmation of order as follows:

Greetings Beverly,

Thanks again for your order! It has been shipped today via UPS Ground with the following items:

Product Quantity
Disposable Universal Filter for S8 Series Vantage, Elite, Escape, Compact, and Tango 2 #$%%$%^^%??? Not even the same brand!!!!

Every order takes a month to straighten out. Will they send me 6 filters every three months instead? No! Never more than two at at time and always 2-3 months late. My insurance covers 100% of my supplies so you would think that they would be all over getting them to me. $7 to ship two filters UPS Ground. I keep telling them to put them in a 44 cent envelope.

Apria is looking good to me.

[pratzert]

OutaSync,

I hope it goes better for you when you switch, but I think you'll get the same lousy service from Apria.

The story you told is very, very similar to my experiences with Apria to date. ( 3 1/2 years ).

It sounds like it's a hit or miss when dealing with most DME companies.... and unfortunately it's usually a "miss".

[OutaSync]

You are right. They all seem to be the same. This is the third company I have tried and I'm trying to be patient. But why can't I get two lousy filters? How hard can that be? The same thing happens when I ask for cushion repalcements.

[GTOJim]

My current DME is Health Management Services. I didn't think it could get much worse than this. They cannot get one order right.

10/11 I asked for two disposeable filters for my ASV.
10/15 I received two filters for an Auto M
10/16 I emailed them and clarified that I needed two filters for the ASV
10/27 Still hadn't received anything, so emailed again, Received a response that the filters were being shipped today.
10/28 Recieved a confirmation of order as follows:

Greetings Beverly,

Thanks again for your order! It has been shipped today via UPS Ground with the following items:

Product Quantity
Disposable Universal Filter for S8 Series Vantage, Elite, Escape, Compact, and Tango 2 #$%%$%^^%??? Not even the same brand!!!!

Every order takes a month to straighten out. Will they send me 6 filters every three months instead? No! Never more than two at at time and always 2-3 months late. My insurance covers 100% of my supplies so you would think that they would be all over getting them to me. $7 to ship two filters UPS Ground. I keep telling them to put them in a 44 cent envelope.

Apria is looking good to me.

If I didn't know any better I would have thought you were describing perfectly my experiences with Apria. I've been in Apria hell for the past 7-8 years. Although
I can add to your description spending at least 8 hours on the phone in the last 6 weeks attempting to get Apria to correct billing errors. Errors that always seem to be in Apria's favor. Example, Apria threatened to turn me over to a collection agency if I didn't pay a past due bill that very day. This was for items returned (Apria shipped wrong items) and had received a refund check for my co-pay. The first time I knew about this is issue was calling them regarding a different billing issue.

Many times I have just gone on-line and paid out of pocket to avoid the frustration.

Maybe we can trade DME's? I can't imagine things getting any worse.

[Janknitz]

I got four items from Apria--three shipped on the same day were charged to my credit card on file. The fourth item was shipped the next day, and instead of putting that on the card they sent me a bill. What is with them???

[OutaSync]

Okay, Jim, you win!

Actually, I haven't had time to check with the insurance company to see what they have been billed for. I did get an aurhorization from them saying I was authorized for a full face mask. What? I never asked for a FFM. Who knows what the DME is doing?

It's not rocket science, folks. I wonder what their warehouse looks like if they can't even tell the difference between a Respironics filter and a Resmed filter. Once they even sent me filters the size of a sanitary napkin, and always by UPS for another $7.

Sigh!

Bev

[GTOJim]

Okay, Jim, you win!

Actually, I haven't had time to check with the insurance company to see what they have been billed for. I did get an aurhorization from them saying I was authorized for a full face mask. What? I never asked for a FFM. Who knows what the DME is doing?

It's not rocket science, folks. I wonder what their warehouse looks like if they can't even tell the difference between a Respironics filter and a Resmed filter. Once they even sent me filters the size of a sanitary napkin, and always by UPS for another $7.

Sigh!

Bev

I can't imagine some of these DME's would be in business if it wasn't for the insurance companies. Not trying to one up but it's the same problems I'm having. I'm always sent the wrong filters.

For the first time I ordered a replacement cushion from my DME, previously I always purchased on-line out of pocket. My DME billed my insurance for a face mask instead of a cushion. Next week it will be six months since I received my last new mask. I think it's easy to predict what is going to happen when I order a new face mask which I really need as I'm having problems with leaks into my eyes.

Apria denied my insurance was billed for a face mask, offering to send me a copy of the payment received from my insurance company, showing the lesser amount for a cushion. I said no, ended up doing a conference call between my insurance and Apria. Insurance verified they reimbursed Apria for a face mask, thus reimbursing a larger amount than Apria claims.

Not trying to one up you. Apria is the only DME my insurance will let me use. Some of these DME's sure don't depend on customer service to stay in business. Nor do they give a rats aXX's if you can use the equipment.

One more rant. When I picked up my first auto CPAP I was handed a brand new factory sealed box, the RT couldn't be bothered to set the pressure per my doctors prescription which had just been determined by spending a night in a sleep lab. It took the RT 45 minutes to go get my new machine. Then he described how to install the filter on the back of the machine, stating if I wasn't capable of doing it myself, he would do it for me. I responded, I was capable of installing the filter and took my new machine home.

As far as I'm concerned some of these DME's should not be allowed to dispense medical equipment.

[OutaSync]

[quote="GTOJim]
As far as I'm concerned some of these DME's should not be allowed to dispense medical equipment.[/quote]


Agreed!

[Lindapat]

I just got a bill from Apria for half of the costs for my CPAP. Now, when I got my machine, I knew that I owed 50%. That's my coverage. Fine. I gave them my credit card and expected to be charged. They would bill my insurance for the balance. The bill I got (listed as 60 days past due) said that if this was the first bill I had seen, it was because my insurance had 'denied' my claim.

So, I called my member services only to find that the insurance had paid their portion - even got the tracking numbers. So, I checked my credit card statements. Sure enough, they never charged me. I had a lot of charges that month due to summer vacation stuff, so it slipped my attention to look for the Apria charge.....

End of the story, I sent the payment information with a copy of my original receipt documents from when I picked up the machine. I don't want them thinking that I didn't want to pay.....

I think that I will stick with CPAP.com for my mask and machine parts instead of Apria.

Lindapat

[GTOJim]

Linda I'm having the same problems with Apria.

Apria failed to put the authorization code on the last 4 claims to my insurance, insurance company denied the claims. Apria hasn't resubmitted some of these claims dating back to May even after contacting them several times.

Tuesday I received a $275 refund check, per Apria it's because of a credit on my account. That money was the final payment for a new CPAP machine I received in June. I called the billing department and verified I have a zero balance, the machine as been converted, Apria speak for I now own it. I then gave my insurance company a call and verified Apria still had not resubmitted the denied insurance claim from August. So I drove out to my local Apria office and asked to speak to the branch manager. She was busy and would phone me later that day, she never called. I've opened several grievances with the corporate office, I'm told management looks at everyone, takes them very seriously. The grievance call backs have been from India which have not been resolved. I've spent at a very minimum 8 hours on the phone over the past 6 weeks attempting to resolve billing errors.

Just like you I gave Apria my credit card number for my new CPAP to pay it off all at once just as you did.

Your not alone with this type of billing issue.