I had a pod failure yesterday when activating a new pod. I got a communication error during priming and when I called Insulet last night to get the pod replaced they told me it would be shipped out at the beginning of next month. I was told that Insulet now sends out all replacement pods at one time. If you get your supplies from Insulet they will ship it with your next order. If you get your shipment from a 3rd party vendor then they will ship them out at the beginning of the next month. I asked the lady what happens if you are running low on pods and need them sooner and she told me that they will send a note to see if they can ship them out sooner. Has anyone had this happen to them? This is the first time that I had to wait on a replacement pod. Makes me wonder if they are having too many pods being replaced.
I recently experienced a POD failure and when I called for replacement, they told me the same thing.
It’s been that way for a while in my experience (I first noticed it approximately around the beginning of this year). They’ve usually asked if my supply was OK; one time I was nearing the end and had called in 3 replacements at once, so they sent them right away in that case.
I think this is just a simple cost-cutting policy; it costs a lot less to send them with the regular shipment than just one pod by itself.
I’ve had all my replacement pods for the past 6 months shipped with the next pod order I receive. Saves on having to make an extra shipment so that’s OK with me. Oh, and I do get my supplies directly from Insulet so it works out well for me.
I get my pods through a third-party supplier (Edgepark), and so far Insulet has sent all of my replacements immeditely. Starting about two months ago, they asked if they could ship replacement pods with my next order, but when they found out my insurance company uses Edgepark, they said they would ship the replacement right out, and have done so since. I can’t imagine they won’t ship immediately if you tell them you are running low.
I was told the same thing when we had a pod failure. I had 3 pods from the same box fail during priming. They said it was because the insulin wasn’t room temp when I put it in. I have never had this problem before so I have been very careful now to make sure the insulin is room temp before loading.
Spooky,
The policy has always (at least, since I started over a year and a half ago) that pods worn more than half of the expected life are not replaced. In fact, I think they don’t normally replace occlusion pods in general (maybe if you complain enough they will a special exception). Think about it: it is not a malfunction of the pod if it detects an occlusion, it’s just dumb luck in most cases.
The last time I called in a bad pod, I noticed that they asked for a lot more information than they used to; I chalked it up to them trying to gather as much info as possible in order to improve the product.
We all have to keep in mind that there are an infinite number of combinations of physiological, environmental, and situational variables; each body and each situation is different and I don’t expect the pod to avoid occlusion all the time; it just can’t do that.
I speak for me…I had a pod error when putting a new one on, first one. I called insulet, they sent one out right away. I received it within a few days…
I’m glad to hear they are holding off and sending them with regular shipments where possible. I’ve been holding off calling on any errors bc it pains me to think of them spending the money to ship a single Pod or two. Of course, if there is an issue of running low, I agree that it should be considered in deciding when to send replacements.
well, that sux! i have ten bad pods sitting at home right now, that i need to call in but haven’t had time…i will be a box short for the month…oh great! i guess i have to call and get an attitude with someone!! lol
Jim, I used Edgepark also and now Insulet is telling me that they will ship out the replacement pods at the beginning of the next month. The lady told me is was something new that they have started and when I asked if you are running low she told me that they can send a message asking for a quicker shipment.
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one that doesn’t always call them immediately. I try to call next day but sometimes a week or so goes by…
I actually just got off the phone with insulet before checking the forum to replace some pods.
I wasn’t sure if they would replace occluded pods (didn’t think that they would but figured that I would ask anyways since I was already calling them with other pod issues) sorry … where was I 
… anyways, they said that they wouldn’t replace them, but that it was good to report them because that way the will be counted. Meaning that if your insurance pays for 50 every 90 days and you haven’t reported any occlusions, they may take issue with you running out of pods at 85 days. On the other hand, if you had reported 5 occluded pods then the would let it go through early.
… at least that’s my understanding of what the person on the other end of the phone at insulet was tellin’ me.
I have started my second box of pods…First box, not one problem. THIS box, I have had failures, (no beep), and last night after 4 hours, POD FAILURE!.
Insulet has been sending me the pods as we are traveling for a couple of months and I would run out if they made me wait, We are in one place this week and next, so they are sending them to where I am now.
It seems they will make exceptions if you need the pods sooner.
Just not happy with the way this box of pods is “working”…
Dee,
That is good to know. The lady was nice to me on the phone, I just got the feeling it was going to be a problem if we needed the replacement sooner.
I have only had two pod failures since I started the omnipod (over a year ago) but both times they sent me a replacement at the begining of the next month. My insurance pays for enough pods that I never run low so I never thought about it but I can see how that could be bad if you were running low on pods.