DO NOT BUY FROM CPAP.COM

If your neighbor graciously invites the whole block over to socialize and you unfairly criticize the neighbor in his living room .... how popular will you be?

I hope Krystal3001 will learn from this experience and come back to be a good member. Gosh, all of us know a patient needs a forum like this and I don't want her to miss out on it.

Krystal,

You will find the members here are easy to forgive and do want to help anyone who asks for it. You did not ask for help but just came in blasting away unfairly at the host.

When someone comes shooting with a 20-gauge shotgun, I love to fire back with a battery of 18-lb. cannons. But when the smoke clears, I would also try to help you.

BTW, that was fifth graders, not five-year olds.

All the best,

Still not SharkBait wrote:This might be a little off topic, but do we get paid this week? I called HR but they haven't returned my phone call. They're kind of like customer service...

TIA

I got paid. I think they laid you off.

To chime in with rooster's points:

I too say welcome.

My OSA has caused me some confusion plenty of times about what I had and had not done. I made some bad decisions. I've gotten irritable. I've said some things I regret. And people have been very forgiving with me. And I appreciate that.

So you may have gotten a little confused in buying a mask. Maybe you could have done more research. Whatever. But, hey, it happens. And it is totally correctable. You could, for example, as has been suggested, change the subject line of your original post to change the title of this thread to something like "Mask Insurance at CPAP.com" or "Misunderstanding With CPAP.com." And I think you will find that if you have any questions about dealing with online companies or brick-and-mortar DMEs, people in this forum will be glad to help you out for free in giving you information you may use when making future decisions. The people here have saved my hind end a few times that way.

You are not alone in having trouble getting all this stuff straight. And the frustration level all of us have when we are in the midst of getting the right mask and getting our therapy on track is enough to make any of us mess up a little and go off now and then. We've all been there. No biggie.

Our unpaid "job" is to be helpful to you any way we can, whether it is understanding CPAP.com's policies or understanding anything else related, even remotely, to PAP therapy. It's why we waste our days here.

Welcome. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help.

jeff

ps--If CPAP.com starts sending me checks, I promise never to cash them.

polysomnoman wrote:Here are my feelings about this. I have worked at 3 labs with DME companies. We have given aways masks to we are blue in the face trying to get someone comfortable with a mask. This goes way beyond 30 days. I work with a DME company that has actually given masks away for a over a year before. The idea of paying an insurance fee of almost $13 seems excessive to me, since we pay $12-$18 a mask at the lab. I understand that DME's pay more for them, but the masks themselves are cheap. CPAP.com could always make a good portion of their money back by selling the equipment that isn't damaged on their acution site. So, yes there are companies that will work with their clients until they are happy. Now on saying this, I also see CPAP.com's point since shipping and handling is involved. They can't just keep shipping masks back and fourth and expect to stay in business. I guess my question would be, did you buy your CPAP from them? If you did, I could see you being upset that they aren't working with you. If you didn't, then you aren't really their original customer, and they would take a hit by returning masks constantly. I should point out that the DME's that I have worked with that have a good return policy only applies if the patient bought their machine from them. Thats my 2 cents worth, if its worth even that. BTW people, don't you think you were kind of harsh on this lady? I think members should atleast TRY to be a little nicer to newbies. Now I will probably be thrown under the bus too. Oh well. Just thought I would share my feelings.

I'll trade your 2 cents for a dollar. My lashing out yesterday set a tone on the thread that made you afraid to post what you thought. You did anyway, you made some very valid points and I tip my cap. That said, I don't agree with everything, so let me go through it.

1. If your DME is committed to giving CPAP users masks until they work, period, all I can say is thank you and well done. Also, have your GM call if he's willing to show me his balance sheet, because I'm interesting in turning that water into wine as well.

2. Manufacturers give Sleep Labs masks at those reduced rates as a marketing expense. They used to give them away for free but litigation now prevents this practice. If you are part of a hybrid Sleep Lab/DME group, the mask policy makes sense.

Johnny

polysomnoman wrote:Here are my feelings about this. I have worked at 3 labs with DME companies. We have given aways masks to we are blue in the face trying to get someone comfortable with a mask. This goes way beyond 30 days. I work with a DME company that has actually given masks away for a over a year before. The idea of paying an insurance fee of almost $13 seems excessive to me, since we pay $12-$18 a mask at the lab. I understand that DME's pay more for them, but the masks themselves are cheap.

Hmmm, yet the DME seems to bill the same amount for the different pieces.

Looks like a mask is always $147, headgear is always $55, and nasal pillow is always $51. (though there was a contractual write-off on the $147 part and the $51 part, which seems to vary...or its changed between getting OptiLife on December 29th and ProfileLite on January 14th) So they billed $253 for an Optilife Mask, it lists for $140 on cpap.com [w/o price code]). ProfileLite they billed for $55 + $147 = $202 (cpap.com lists $115)....recently got a new pillow for ComfortLite II, again insurance billed $51....cpap.com has it for 29.95). Of course, co-insurance is only 20% (was 10% last year)...so my cost to get it from the DME is cheaper than online. Though to me the ProfileLite was more expensive than the OptiLife, because I to first meet my deductible for 2009 on it.

The white filter is pretty expensive too....they billed $6.99 each. (that's almost as much as I pay for the white 3M furnace filters I use) I thought I saw them < $20 for a dozen on cpapauction.com.... Though I couldn't tell if the white filter needed to be replaced by looking at it. But, I guess the washable foam filter in the front plays a part....

Though after contractual write-off my 20% co-insurance share x 12 would be the same price as cpapauction (without shipping)....so I guess I'll keep getting filters from the DME. I guess pretty much as long as I have insurance....DME is the way go to for the stuff I can get from them....

The Dreamer.

Hmm, HR just announced free health screenings are coming again....last year's don't feel that free.

TheDreamer wrote:..........

Hmm, HR just announced free health screenings are coming again....last year's don't feel that free.

Hello TD, It would be interesting to know if they are including SDB screening.

elader wrote:

Still not SharkBait wrote:This might be a little off topic, but do we get paid this week? I called HR but they haven't returned my phone call. They're kind of like customer service...

TIA

I got paid. I think they laid you off.

Doh!!!

ETA: Meh, I forgot to log out and back in as my alias. Doh, again!!!

rooster wrote:

TheDreamer wrote:..........

Hmm, HR just announced free health screenings are coming again....last year's don't feel that free.

Hello TD, It would be interesting to know if they are including SDB screening.

The things they check are cholesterol (total, LDL, HDL, triglycerides), glucose, blood pressure, and weight/BMI. I wonder who to ask if they would throw SDB screening into it.

Though, when I went last year...the result was that I had high cholesterol and high blood pressure. I'm now on a statin for cholesterol...and BP has come down since I started CPAP.

Also there was a $50 gift card incentive, but they took all the taxes and stuff out for that in a later pay check.

The Dreamer.

Guys, give her a break, she is new to this. I did'nt know everything my first week in, and now that i'm in my second week i still don't know!! Not everyone reads the fine print, and this is not a policy that most people are used to, and to assume everyone knows the difference between medical equipment (which is very expensive) and overstock is just an assumption.

Now she knows, but you don't need to be mean about it. I didn't know or understand that last week either. Thank goodness Ihadn't ordered anything and my dme got in what I wanted.

Good luck to you

spottydogspot wrote:Guys, give her a break, she is new to this. I did'nt know everything my first week in, and now that i'm in my second week i still don't know!! Not everyone reads the fine print, and this is not a policy that most people are used to, and to assume everyone knows the difference between medical equipment (which is very expensive) and overstock is just an assumption.

Now she knows, but you don't need to be mean about it. I didn't know or understand that last week either. Thank goodness Ihadn't ordered anything and my dme got in what I wanted.

Good luck to you

Have you even read the posts in this thread?

spottydogspot wrote:Guys, give her a break, she is new to this. I did'nt know everything my first week in, and now that i'm in my second week i still don't know!! Not everyone reads the fine print, and this is not a policy that most people are used to, and to assume everyone knows the difference between medical equipment (which is very expensive) and overstock is just an assumption.

Now she knows, but you don't need to be mean about it. I didn't know or understand that last week either. Thank goodness Ihadn't ordered anything and my dme got in what I wanted.

Good luck to you

Hi, spottydogspot,

Although I wasn't mean to her, I did suggest she take some responsibility for her decisions. She didn't read everything she should have, and then found out she couldn't return it after it didn't work for her. I'm sure most of have done that at some point in our lives. New at this or not, she started the tone of this whole thread, and continued that tone in two other posts. If she had come here with questions about the policy, or posted a polite disagreement with it instead of using the tone she did, I do believe she would have been responded to differently.

Still not SharkBait wrote:This might be a little off topic, but do we get paid this week? I called HR but they haven't returned my phone call. They're kind of like customer service...

TIA

Ummmm.....They called me instead, I told them to deposit your paycheck with mine into the joint account.....

spottydogspot wrote:Guys, give her a break, she is new to this. I did'nt know everything my first week in, and now that i'm in my second week i still don't know!! Not everyone reads the fine print,

Ya know, if it was fine print, I'd agree with you....but what about this is "fine print"?



She had to see this screen.....and there is no fine print that I can see. First she denied knowing anything about insurance, then after it was pointed out to her by a number of people that she could not help but see the insurance option and have to click on the decline link to proceed without it, she changed her story to 'oh, well I did buy insurance", yet CPAP.com has no record of that apparently, and she did not mention that her invoice showed it......

Sorry, she tried a fast one, and it didn't fly. I'd have tanned my son's bottom for something like that.

I didn't know you two were even dating! What's really funny is the OP is probably long gone but we're left with a lot of laughs which is very good for our health.

DoriC wrote:I didn't know you two were even dating! What's really funny is the OP is probably long gone but we're left with a lot of laughs which is very good for our health.

Shhhhh.....I don't think he knows either....and we REALLY don't want to tell my husband.