What is their deal?! I’ve been on the phone with them every day for a week trying to get them to overnight a new transmitter to replace my last one that failed. They promise it will be shipped for next day delivery and it never shows up. Today someone finally told me that there is a delay in the warehouse because the return kits are on back order! What? Heartless and cruel come to mind, as well as a dangerous medical decision on their part. I still have no idea when I will get a replacement. It failed after only one month of use so I’m worried I’ll be waiting two months until my next prescription. Anyone else having terrible customer service with Dexcom??
3 Likes
As a fellow G6 user I want you to know I understand and appreciate your frustration and justified anger over not being able to get a replacement in a timely manner. However if the problem is with back orders that’s a behind- the-scenes issue, not customer service, although they certainly should let you know what’s going on. They can’t send what they don’t have.
The big question - please don’t take offense - is why you are having so many issues in the first place. You didn’t say how long you’ve been using it but one thought that comes to mind is the further training may be in order. Don’t hate me: this is part of the process of elimination to determine what’s going on and sometimes it is a user error. Another possibility - and I’m not a doctor or scientist - is that for some reason it’s incompatible with your body. Heaven forbid, and may be a longshot, but occasionally some people simply cannot use a certain product that most people can. My mother once tried a skin care product that was touted as hypoallergenic and had an allergic reaction to it. She never had allergic reactions to anything else. That’s a poor possibility comparison but I would guess body chemistry could cause issues in rare cases.
If that isn’t the case a few suggestions come to mind:
- Call your Dexcom rep. I don’t know if they keep a supply or have connections behind the scenes, but it’s worth a shot to see if you can get a faster replacement.
- Notify your insurance. As individuals we have every right and even expectation to complain - and document issues for product improvement. Individually we are little fish in a big pond and our input matters, but Insurance companies may hold even greater sway if the company they are doing business with is producing a faulty product.
- If your insurance will allow it see if you can get 2 transmitters in your order rather than one. Although you would order every 6 months rather than 3, one could serve as a backup as you wait for a replacement to last the remaining months. I hope that makes sense. You may need to get special authorization from your doctor.
- I have an RX for a Freestlye Libre in case of emergency. I use CIQ so of course must go into manual mode, but it still beats pricking my fingers over and over. I personally have found it coincides closely with my fingersticks when I’ve done random tests but you would want to ensure that for yourself (in other words, don’t take my word for it). And
- I needed a product that was on back order. My pharmacist told me that pharmacies in the same area tend to use the same supplier, and recommended I go to a location a little further from home. Voilà - I got it! Perhaps you could try a different DME provider - they may use a different Dexcom supplier than the one you have now, and if it’s a production issue that supplier may get them from a better producer so you don’t have to go back to Dexcom in the first place.
I’m very sorry for what you are going through and wish you the best. Please keep us posted.
1 Like
I hope you don’t have to wait 2 months. I had to wait 4 or 5 days earlier this year for a replacement. And getting replacement sensors this year has been a challenge until about the last 45 days. Hopefully Abbott and Medtronic will see these opportunities to speed their updated cgm offerings to the US market, because Dexcom doesn’t really have any competetion right now.
@wadawabbit Do you have a dexcom rep? I don’t or even know if there is one in my area. Thanks for the idea of a FSL prescription in case of g6 failures. l am definitely going to ask my endo for that in our upcoming appointment.
I do have a rep - I think I was assigned one when I started with the G4. I’m not sure but they may be assigned to doctors’ offices or areas, so your doctor may be able to connect you with one if you need.
1 Like
Thanks for your advice! This was for a failed transmitter not sensor. The back order was for return kits not the transmitter itself. They wouldn’t send the transmitter without a return kit. Ridiculous. I’ve had the G6 since it came out and the problem is not with user error. I’ve never had such poor customer service in my life.
1 Like
When the tech support was based out of San Diego, the support was of much higher quality. The overseas techs don’t seem to be able to operate any way other than off a flowchart type script; there’s no critical thinking, just step by step troubleshooting (to be fair this is not exclusively a Dexcom problem- many overseas support centers operate this way, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating).
This problem of delays in replacing malfunctioning parts is further compounded by DME providers like Byram healthcare who have adopted a “ship on day 91 policy”, leaving patients with gaps in therapy as we wait for FedEx. (My insurance will pay for a shipment after 80 days but it is Byram’s policy not to ship until day 91).
One helpful Dexcom rep told me to simply lie about a malfunctioning transmitter prior to reordering so that I could get a fresh replacement prior to battery running out on the old one, and effectively have 3 on hand instead of just 2 that the insurance will pay for per 90 day period. That’s what I did, so now I have a buffer.
3 Likes
Shelly,
I had a similar issue with DexCom in July of this year. I placed a new transmitter in June, at the three month point. Not even four weeks later it gave me a “failed transmitter” message and stopped functioning. When I called they assured me they would replace it immediately. In the next week they sent me a new sensor and then a plastic container in which to return the transmitter, but no transmitter. After a total of four or five phone calls, they assured me they were overnighting it. That did not happen. I did finally receive the new transmitter, but it had taken almost two weeks. In the meantime I had used my entire allotment of test strips for the month! Medicare allows only one vial because the DexCom does not need to be calibrated. Fortunately I have a stash. I have not had any problems since then, but it does concern me that they seem to have ongoing issues.
1 Like
Thank you for sharing your experience. I wish the people in customer service actually understood their customers!
So sorry for the bad experience. I’ve just had fantastic support from Dexcom regarding a bad transmitter. We went through all the steps to determine that this was the problem including downloading new upgrades to my phone, removing and replacing the app, etc… The device and return container came just when expected. All my contacts with Dexcom support have been equally helpful.
Their product is not as good as it should be as they don’t have direct competition as a stand alone. Libre isn’t quite the same. I had issues as well and don’t even try to get a response from their app folks. I left several messages and NEVER received a return call. The app is cheapest old tech they could get away with. It’s why I stopped using. Too much money for that.
1 Like
wow now that you mention it this makes way more sense. didn’t realize they had expanded to overseas though i did notice some accents changing. Sometimes i will get someone in san diego still though.