CPAPtalk.com

BillR wrote:

nanwilson wrote:Guys...you CAN buy a Resmed mask in Canada. clinicalsleep dot com...I've already bought one there.

No one said you couldn't. What they are talking about is buying one at a reasonable price. At medigas they are telling the quattro for over 300 dollars. You can buy the same mask from the USA for around $180.00. I just looked at clinicalsleep dot com and noticed they don't post their prices. Experience tells me that any place that is afraid to display their prices charges too much and just wants you to call so that they can put the hard sell on you. Because clinicalsleep dot com doesn't post the prices of their goods online is a good enough reason for me to stay way clear of them. Any place that is not up front with you cannot be trusted in my books.

The reason they can not display their prices is .... RESMED!!! They are only allowed to give the (good) price over the telephone. Cpap dot com also has some restrictions that way.

Guest wrote:Another alternative would be to get a Resmed machine from the CPAP auction site. I've done this with masks...the price is right and, in my experience, shippers are happy to send to Canada (so far).

BTW. While I agree with all the grumbling about NAFTA and overpriced medical devices in Canada, there is one thing to consider. An online site that doesn't provide personal service of any kind can afford to be cheaper than a DME that does provide service and incorporates the fee for that service in the cost of the device instead of charging the client. Of course, you have to be happy with the service...

1. Very happy with cpap.com. Very helpful on the phone. Good pricing (they will match other Internet prices). Fast delivery.
2. Very unhappy with Crapria, Lincan't, and one local dme. No service, wrong info, no followup, could care less attitude.

...

hi all ... started my cpap trip back in Oct 12/2012 ,dealt with 4 different Ontario Goverment payed 75% cost for mask/machine.. the price range was $1040 too $660.. the highest price was too d-load infow for the sleep lab 1year.....mirage Quattro full face mask..$320...was included in price scheme.I took the $660 grab bag and started my trip and was told to call them if I had any troubles and they would do a followup in 30 days..so instead of sticking my head back in the sand, used the mask and resmeds s9 elite and when I found cpap was really happy,i ordered a back up Quattro mask and few other apnea things from cpap.com,,woow mask was around $175 compared to$320 in Ontario.DME so put it on credit card ..got a phone call from cpap .com they couldnt ship the resmed mask here too Canada. so any how I caneled the order and found http://www.clinicalsleep.com throw this forum and i went took a name [password] registered ,,now I just go too the site sign in , click on what i want too buy,it goes there,,yes the price is there..if your logged in... I ordered the Quattro FX full face ,complete was around $180 ,free shipping here to my door in ontario..The lady I spoke too on the phone was awesome as well as the service done over the net...NO i have nothing to do with the company,,got my order four days before christmas,,got some things need to order from them and just hope that the Resmeds didnt take over like some places are..Oh the $660 was my share..head back in the sand mean mask. lol

it'll cost an additional shipping charge but why not just get someone in the states to order them and then ship them on to you

johnthomasmacdonald wrote:it'll cost an additional shipping charge but why not just get someone in the states to order them and then ship them on to you

....... because when you include the cost of shipping, it's actually a few bucks cheaper (than cpap.com) to order supplies from clinicalsleep.com here in Canada. Also, because the shipping is more direct, it's faster to order from a Canadian source. Also, most Canadians do not know anyone in the USA to ship products for them.

I have nothing against cpap.com and have ordered from them in the past with great satisfaction. However, I use Resmed masks and they cannot ship to me. Fortunately, there is an alternative here in Canada and it works out to be less expensive too!

Upsides for Canadians ordering from cpap.com are that they carry some products that are unavailable from Canadian suppliers and as far as I know, they still may be much cheaper for machines.

With cpap.com, I am able to buy return insurance;
so if a new mask is not a match for me, I can return it
and cut my losses. Does clinicalsleep do that?

chunkyfrog wrote:With cpap.com, I am able to buy return insurance;
so if a new mask is not a match for me, I can return it
and cut my losses. Does clinicalsleep do that?

No idea. I've been using either Resmed Activa, or Activa LT, masks for 5 years. These masks work for me; no need to try new brands.

IF I wanted to try a new mask, I'd probably go back to my local DME. It's been a long while, but their policy used to be that they'd let me trial a mask for free for a week or two. I always purchased a new mask from them after such a trial, just to be fair. But I've also always shopped online for replacements, as needed. Shopping online also is less hassle than having to go to the local DME.

I can understand a company trying to both corner its market, and do everything legal (or not) to get its prices (profits) as high as possible, but when Amazon.com becomes party to it, that's enabling price fixing, in my opinion. When the provincial government goes blithely along with the scheme, that's just a plain 'ole waste of taxpayers' dollars, and a form of collusion (be it unwitting, or not) with a marketplace that is anything but free. The whole sleep apnea service provider business smells to high heaven, and I think shows how introducing private enterprise into a public health care system attracts the vultures, and greatly increases costs to individual citizens, in order to save a much smaller amount of money for OHIP.

As more and more people are being diagnosed with sleep apnea - and this will grow exponentially when the insurance industry gets its way and requires testing of all commercial drivers - it's time we each lobbied our provincial representatives and the health ministry to review and rein in the treatment and equipment costs related to sleep apnea.

That's just my two-cents worth . . . not that there are going to be any more cents; they're going the way of sense, common and otherwise.