Belt clip irritates, fails, Animas dodges responsibility

I replaced my 4-year old Animas Ping in December 2012. My 8-month old Ping belt clip broke yesterday getting out of my car. I didn’t snag it on the seat belt or anything. It was just the pressure of me bending and twisting to get my feet on the ground.

I just called Animas customer service thinking that they would replace the belt clip under a warranty. As many of you already know, the belt clip warranty is only 3 months. I put my old belt clip back into service but this policy irritates me.

Their clip design is very hokey to begin with. You would think that the clip that holds a $6k medical computer to a belt would have been the beneficiary of thoughtful design and sturdy construction. This design seems like more of an after-thought band-aid!

Instead of standing up and taking responsibility for their poor design, Animas has foisted this irritating burden onto the shoulders of its customers with its super-short three month warranty. Even though this issue is relatively small when compared to other performance parameters, I will remember come repurchase time!

I wonder if the Animas Vibe has the same vapor-ware belt clip. Anybody know?

That's one of the things I miss most about my first pump - a Cozmore. Too bad the Cozmore was a very different shape than the Animas Ping. It had a holster that was low profile, and rotated. I prefer to have my pump horizontal -I'm small. The horizontal case that Animas provides is too high profile - i.e. it sticks out a lot. And, with the changes in cell phones and smart phones, I can no longer just get a holster for a cellphone that fits.

To put it simply- its a piece of garbage and should be avoided. Ive had 3 or 4 of them that have all broken, and will not be buying anymore. Thanks to the recommendations of another user on here, I am using the SPI-Belt exclusively. I wish the clip was designed better, the concept is great, and when it is not broken it is convenient but they are really cheap and poorly designed, and have a 100% failure rate in my experience.

I looked at the Animas UK website and it appears that the Vibe uses the same clip as the Ping. It also appears that I am not the first one to complain about this. Animas regard for its customers just dropped in my estimation. I watched the Asante Snap live video today. This company, by contrast, appears to respect the experience of its users.

It's one thing to design and go into production with a crappy belt clip. It's quite another to relegate your customers to financial insult, especially since it's minor. It's cheap and without class.

By the way, I learned from the customer rep or somewhere else online that the original belt clip rivet was so strong that it could actually damage the pump. That lead to a design change that weakened the rivet. So now the rivet fails and Animas wants us to pay for the failure and their design mismanagement.

I originally had trouble with the clip when the pump was less than 2 months old. The hex nut screw that holds the piece that locks the mounting device to the clip loosened. This increased the width of the track, enabling the pump to separate from the clip.

I removed the hex nut screw completely and coated the threads with Loctite Threadlocker Blue 242 (Available here) and reassembled it. I haven't had any trouble with the reassembled clip in the 22 months that have elapsed since the repair.

Smart repair. I've used Loctite thread lock before with good results.

After reading about your pre-emptive mod, I took a closer look at the fastener that holds the clip assembly together. It looks like it may have been a Phillips head screw but the head is badly marred. The screw head definition is gone and a screw driver cannot engage the screw at all. It looks like it was over-torqued by a careless assembler with a power-driver.

Perhaps, if I buy a back-up replacement, I'll do what you describe. Thanks.

You're right. I checked the screw. You need a #1 sized pointy Phillips Head screwdriver or bit.

Sorry about the problems you have had with the clip, Terry, and worse, the lack of attention regarding it. I have had to up my hand eye coordination enough just to use infusion sets, I wouldn't have a clue what you and Dave just said..lol.

I've been reading comments about the poor clip since I got my Ping in 1/11, but I've been lucky and mine is still fine. But I don't understand why Animas wouldn't just send out a new one to someone who has one break, it's such a small thing! Hell, they sent me out a new pump when I told them I had to reset the date everytime I changed the battery! Of course, my pump was still on warranty. They should improve the clip or send a replacement if it doesn't make it for the life of the pump warranty!

Zoe - I guess their adoption of this petty policy really bothers me. Especially since the root cause of this problem stems from their poor design. The stingy adherence to this policy plays a larger role in my perception of Animas than it should.

I still like the pump and am happy that it performs its basic function well. That's the important thing. The pump clip lesson is life's reminder to not sweat the small stuff!

I agree that the pump clip is not a great design the breaks. I joking suggested to the customer service person that Animas should offer a buy 5 get the 6th one free offer, and she laughed and said she would suggest it. That said, as an engineer, I have to ask you; Would you rather have clip that is so sturdy that the pump broke before the clip? I personally think that they could improve the design a little to make it last longer without it being so strong, that when the clip gets stressed, the part of the pump where the clip attaches brakes before the clip. I also seem to remember that they were experimanting with a clip design a while ago.

Joe - I agree with you. If faced with either the pump or the clip breaking, I would choose the clip. The part that irritates me as a customer is that they made upstream design decisions that forced them into choosing between a sturdy clip or the pump breaking.

Their initial decision to go with this clip was a poor one, from my point of view. It looks to me like it was made more due to economic reasons; it's simply a cheap clip.

Anyone who has tried to attach this clip to a belt understands the effort it takes to get one's belt into the correct spot in between the outer and inner clip pieces instead of between the pump body and the inner clip piece. Maybe that situation introduced stresses that contributed to some pump bodies cracking and violating waterproofing.

As a non-engineer but discriminating product user with over 10,000 hours of direct experience, I see this clip as a poor performer and a direct result of poor design decisions made early in the process. To add insult to injury, Animas decided to incorporate this clip into the Vibe pump that they released in Europe in 2011. I fear that that very same clip will accompany the much anticipated Vibe release in the US.

Don't read me wrong. I think the Animas Ping is a very dependable pump that enables me to get incredibly good control; it's a great tool. I bought a second one after living with the first one for four years. I knew about the clip/belt mating problem; I was unaware, however, that clip construction after my original clip was designed like a mechanical fuse to break and protect the much more important pump body integrity.

If Animas had just made a stand up decision to provide warranty coverage for all broken clips, then I would not be offering this criticism. As I said before, this policy by Animas is a petty one that irritates way beyond what it should.

I just purchased the Roche Accu-Chek Spirit Clip Case from Roche. It arrived today. I have ben wearing it about 8 hours, so too soon to tell. But it is a lot like the holster that I liked about the Cozmore pump. It rotates so the pump can be horizontal. I called Accu-Chek and got put through tp their "store" I believe you can find the Accu-Chek store online as well. More news as I give it a good test drive.. So far I'm happy with it.

artwoman - Thanks for posting this Roche clip case idea. I look forward to your comments as you wear it more. If I break my only Animas belt clip, I don't want to just buy another replacement, only to have that one fail. I hope your new clip/case performs well for you. Please update when you can.

I too am very disappointed with Animas. I have ordered 2 cases in the past year, and neither of them made it past the 6 month mark. Animas charges almost 60 dollars for a new case but warrants them for only 90 days. The first case that came FREE with my 2020 lasted 6 years. Stop getting these items made in China they are cheap and useless. I checked on my 2020 case, and it said made in the USA but the last two are proudly stamped made in China. Next thing you know the pump will be made in China as well. One more reason I'm unsure I will stay with Animas when this pump is out of warranty. Does anyone else feel the same way I do?

I agree that so much of what comes out of China these days is cheap, and sometimes toxic, in the case of dog food. I'm old enough to remember, however, when we thought "made in Japan" was synonymous with cheap and poorly made. That attitude changed 180 degrees over the years. I've extracted a ton of value out of Japanese cars. They're well made and don't often break down.

I do fault Animas for not managing well the accessories like cases and belt clips.

Hey Artwoman,

Quick question; does that case fit on the Animas Vibe/Ping pumps?

Thanks!

Apologies for resurrecting a dead thread

It worked pretty well. I have since switched pumps, but I did like that it went horizontal. Supposedly there is a new holster coming out (or did along with the relEase of the Vibe).

Is this the one you're referring to?

https://estore.animascorp.com/ProductDetail.aspx?groupid=4502&topcategoryid=50&subcategoryid=140

Also, not sure if you saw my other question...where you actually using the Roche Accu-Chek Spirit Clip Case with the Ping?

Thanks!