Apria sent mask and hose unsolicited. How to deal with them?

I know many of had great difficulty working with Apria. They sent a swift FX mask to me, which I don't use any longer since I've been using the tap pap for the past year.

I've read of great difficulties getting them to work out billing etc., and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for me to how to resolve this with the least hassle.

Do you happen to have Medicare? That's a big no no for Medicare patients. No more auto shipment of anything for Medicare patients. If you have Medicare you can report them to Medicare.
Otherwise I am no help...never used Apria but just wanted to mention about how Medicare doesn't allow auto shipment.
Patients are supposed to ask for what they want or need and DMEs are not supposed to send any auto supplies anymore just because it is withing allowed replacement schedule.

Nope, not Medicare. Thanks for the post nonetheless.

I have Apria and never had a problem with them. Have you called them about this auto delivery? They have only sent me things when I initiated the order. Call their 800 number. I am sure you can return the mask. 1-800-310-3363.

Carrie

Bummer...I would love for Crapria to feel the heavy hand of a Medicare investigation.

If you won't/can't/don't want to use the mask and any co pays you may be required to pay then maybe someone who is familiar with them has some ideas to whether you can return the mask package as long as it is unopened. Once it is opened they are unlikely to be very helpful about returns.

Another option, if they won't accept a return, would be to maybe offer it for sale here for what your co pay might be...that way your costs are covered and it might help someone else out who doesn't have insurance or is uninsured and paying out of pocket for supplies and their pockets aren't very deep.

Apria nightmare stories...some people have had nothing but good things to say about their dealings and other have had nothing but problems. I guess it remains to be seen what you will be having.

Call and tell them you never authorized automatic delivery and that you will not authorize payment from your insurance. Call your ins co and tell them.
If I had to use Apria I would rather pay out of pocket. I started out using them and had so many billing/shipping problems that I got out ASAP.

I have been kind but firm with them; and so far they have been reasonable.
A month ago, they got impatient for my co-pay from my insurance, and tried to charge it to my card.
I told them my supplement will pay them and they do not need my new card number.
I also told them that I will NOT be ordering anything not covered by Medicare from them
unless they can shoot me a competitive price.

chunkyfrog wrote:I have been kind but firm with them; and so far they have been reasonable.
A month ago, they got impatient for my co-pay from my insurance, and tried to charge it to my card.
I told them my supplement will pay them and they do not need my new card number.
I also told them that I will NOT be ordering anything not covered by Medicare from them
unless they can shoot me a competitive price.

That's all good info CF, Pugsy and everybody else. I've got Apria and Medicare - I really hope they don't start sending me 'auto-shipments' on stuff I've discontinued using or even stuff I am using. It's also good to know Medicare takes a dim view of that practice. Maybe on my next monthly phone order, I'll tell Apria to make sure I'm not set up for auto-shipping. BTW, no problems so far with my Apria experience (one year into it).

Pugsy wrote: Another option, if they won't accept a return, would be to maybe offer it for sale here for what your co pay might be...that way your costs are covered and it might help someone else out who doesn't have insurance or is uninsured and paying out of pocket for supplies and their pockets aren't very deep.

I had a long conversation with my Apria rep about their return policy and she said "No returns, open or unopened, period". Next I asked to talk to the office manager and waited five minutes, then got disconnected. Sadly I never called back and they didn't call me so who knows what the manager's policy is on that? I sincerely doubt they'd be interested in working with any other companies like CPAP.com for example.

It's funny how a bad thing (the dust-up at Target) kept me from using my card (waiting for new card)
for the last 10 days before Christmas, (saving me a fair piece of change)
---also removing my debit card from the reach of Apria.
{{I made it clear that they do not need my new number--at all.}}

Chunkyfrog, I would definitely tell your insurance company all of this... they shouldn't have to pay for stuff you didn't order or don't even use... just costs everybody in higher ins. premiums.

LSAT wrote:Call and tell them you never authorized automatic delivery and that you will not authorize payment from your insurance. Call your ins co and tell them.
If I had to use Apria I would rather pay out of pocket. I started out using them and had so many billing/shipping problems that I got out ASAP.

I got my initial order, machine and mask from them about 18 months ago. Since then, ive used cpap.com exclusively for hassle avoidance, but contacted apria and I ordered a hose and filters (they will only send two at a time!) about six months ago. I asked them to order tap pap, but they declined.

About a month ago, I went to sleep doc for annual rewriting of the prescription and got doc to specifically order tap pap, no substitutions. I hadn't done anything with it yet, but the intention was to go toe to toe with apria, and today, a swift fx shows up. Come to think of it, it probably arrived yesterday, but since I hadn't been expecting anything, I hadn't looked on the porch!

Annual rewriting of the prescription? Oh you poor thing! No one needs a new script every year. It's cool if you want to visit your doctor and get one, but no need to do that. Your PCP can write a script too - doesn't have to be a sleep,doctor.

When I called Apria they had NO problem getting me a Tap Pap. I think you might have a communication problem with Apria. Call that 800 number that I gave you in the prior post and ask.

sleeplessinaz wrote:Annual rewriting of the prescription? Oh you poor thing! No one needs a new script every year. It's cool if you want to visit your doctor and get one, but no need to do that. Your PCP can write a script too - doesn't have to be a sleep,doctor.

When I called Apria they had NO problem getting me a Tap Pap. I think you might have a communication problem with Apria. Call that 800 number that I gave you in the prior post and ask.

It wasn't a requirement, but since my insurance changed, and I wanted a prescription written specifically for the tap pap, I made an appointment. At this visit, he said, "See you in five years unless something comes up."

I tried getting the tap pap six months ago, but they refused. I'll try your route, thanks.

library lady wrote:Chunkyfrog, I would definitely tell your insurance company all of this... they shouldn't have to pay for stuff you didn't order or don't even use... just costs everybody in higher ins. premiums.

So far, Apria hasn't been able to do anything wrong in my case. And I'm staying on their case to see they do not.

LSAT wrote:Call and tell them you never authorized automatic delivery and that you will not authorize payment from your insurance. Call your ins co and tell them.
If I had to use Apria I would rather pay out of pocket. I started out using them and had so many billing/shipping problems that I got out ASAP.

I do, and I do.