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Most DME provider employees know very little about the equipment they sell.

When I buy anything (machine or supplies), I always provide the exact Item No. of each item I need - just so they can't tell me it doesn't exist OR you can't order it that way.

I am going through the same lack of knowledge with my tire dealer about some very expensive 19" tires. It is appalling how little some people know about the primary product(s) they sell.

DME's are retailers, and their employees are sales clerks, for the most part.
Sales clerks concentrate on "closing"; product knowledge takes away from that, or so I was told at J C Penney.

Thanks everyone for the great advise. You've given me some things to try and think about. I'll talk to my sleep doc about it in a few weeks and see if he can recommend a different DME. Again, thank you all.

chunkyfrog wrote:DME's are retailers, and their employees are sales clerks, for the most part.
Sales clerks concentrate on "closing"; product knowledge takes away from that, or so I was told at J C Penney.

Just to illustrate how times have changed.

MANY years ago when I was still in college, I had a part-time job as a shoe salesman at Montgomery Wards.
Can anyone say "Bundy"

The Manager of the department was always harping about how the sales people had to become very knowledgeable about each & every shoe in the department.

I was not only part-time, but I was graduating soon & would not be there for very long.
Plus, I did NOT get paid on commission.
So, I thought, why should I waste my time with that.

But, I had a sister who was a Manager in another department & didn't want to reflect badly on her.

So, I did begin to "know" the products I sold.
Not only were the customers happy that I could help them more, but it also made selling shoes a little bit more enjoyable (at least as enjoyable as selling shoes can be).

Now that I am the customer, I just get really ticked when I know more about a product than the person trying to sell it to me.

I sold fine jewelry at "Jack Penury" for 4 years back in the 80's.
It was supposedly commission vs draw, but basically, it was nearly impossible to make more than "base",
(minimum wage) unless you had a "gimmick" (ref: "Gypsy")
I was advised that "chatting " with the customers was counter-productive, but knowledge was my strong card,
since most big sales went to the male dept. manager or the ditsy girl with the D-cups.

chunkyfrog wrote:the ditsy girl with the D-cups.

I think I sold her some shoes once.

Didn't she also wear very short skirts?

I was always amazed at what some women wore knowing they would be trying on shoes.