There's no delaying on my part. I keep one box of 10 on the shelf at all times, and order a new one when needed.
They know when gen 2 pod inventory will be depleted, but won't say. This is bad behavior in my book. You are right, it ain't rocket science--it's bad business.
A pump model upgrade is an event which happens once in 6-8 years and you get upset for 2-3 months more waiting ? I don't understand this. And all is about a smaller size, not a CGM integration or some major innovation. I would be more upset by Animas Vibe not being in USA than this, but that's another story.
And if/when Insulet will deliver a PDM with Lifescan strips, or CGM integrated, do you prefer them to think twice about it and deliver thing later better than as soon as they can?
In Italy we are waiting Insulet products yet, many would love to use the just "old" omnipod.
They simply could not stand a drop in sales from new pumpers waiting to start only to be the first to get the new pods.
I wish the best for Insulet as they are among the few innovating diabetes-brand and not doing just "restyiling".
Please recalibrate the "judgement-meter".
My four year warranty is up in June, so my hope is to get a replacement before then. It is my understanding that the replacement unit does not reset the warranty period.
What will it cost to convert to the new OmniPod?When you purchased your OmniPod system it came with a 4-year limited warranty. When converting to the new OmniPod we will honor your existing warranty and simply switch out your System, and the remainder of your existing warranty will apply to your new System.
If your 4-year limited warranty has expired, we will work with you, your insurance and your health care provider to get you easily started on the new System. If you are unsure about the status of your warranty, you may call our Customer Care team at any time on 800-591-3455 (Option 2).
Once out of warranty, I plan to order a new pdm so I'll have a backup.
This is also how it worked when we converted to the existing color PDM when it was new - current customers were offered the new PDM at a reduced price, but the warranty did not reset.
Got an email today (since we are out of warranty by two years) that our insurance has been approved and we are all set for the new system once they have enough in stock. I'm sorry - that's not completely correct - we will have to complete an online training session before we can receive the new system.
I also understand why Omnipod made the decision that they did from a fiscal standpoint, my problem is with the fact that we were lied to and the company made promises that they were unable to keep. Had i known that existing users would have to wait longer we probably would NOT have gone with the omnipod. The pod is huge on my 10 year old and way to bulky!It is not an issue of greed, it is an issue of a broken contract, even if it was only a verbal contract. I guess i am naive that i still think someones word should mean something.
Just received our 3 month supply of pods yesterday. The manufacture date on the box and on the pods was March 2013. Sorry, but I really don't understand why they were still manufacturing the old ones 3 months after the new ones were approved.
the only reason i can think of is that they just don't have enough new pods yet. but that doesn't make sense since my rep said they have stopped making the old pod completely (and i think he told me that at the end of march). on a positive note.... if they stopped making them end of march, and your getting ones made in march, they have got to be getting down to the bottom of the stockpile.
Good point...maybe the stockpile is dwindling. I guess I was just thinking they had stopped making the new ones before March. Oh well, it is what it is...
Another reason may be that a supplier of key pod components realized they had obsolete inventory and sold to Insulet for a song. Insulet could then make older style for less than newer style and has a mechanism to milk existing user base until they are ready to transition the masses.
- or -
Insulet had to make a large buy from suppliers because the suppliers didn't want to get caught holding the bag once the 510k approval happened and now Insulet is working it's way through their contractual obligations.
and I'm sure there are hundreds of other scenarios which are versions of these.
Whatever the case... THEY KNOW WHAT THEIR SUPPLY CHAIN LOOKS LIKE AND CAN TELL US WHEN THE TRANSITION IS SCHEDULED. COME ON ALREADY!!!
I suspect the FDA is a factor here. They are too safety-conscious and may be a key reason why new podders will not be trained on the old and then the new system. Whether Insulet should be criticized for not anticipating this, I dunno. I don't fault them for wanting to use up old inventory.
I have been calling the past few days and found out a few interesting things.
My pods are on the way from Medco as we speak
After getting the "well the system isn't out yet'BS....Insulet finally admitted to me that there are "less than 100 brand new customers " Are they trying to tell me they dont have more than 100 PDMS's manufactured? I just wish they would get their story straight. The flat out lie that the system isn't out is the most irritating.
At the same time..i called pretending to be a brand new customer wanting to pay cash..and they were willing to sell me one for $500, so they DO have PDM's in stock
I don't think the FDA has anything to do with it. If they did, Insulet would be deflecting to "blame" them.
FWIW, my rep said that Insulet needs to make more than 1 million pods per month to cover all the people using the system worldwide. (I have no idea if that is accurate or not :) but it's an interesting statistic.) He said that they are trying to phase out the old and into the new and there is not much room for error (can't have not enough of either one; don't want too many old ones). I'm sure that people delaying or stopping their shipments on top of all the new users jumping ship to the new pods must make for a very interesting and complex algorithm.
I just spoke to a rep at Insulet, as I need a shipment and I am on month-to-month right now, waiting on the new ones. I mentioned that I know some existing users are getting the new pods from Edge Park (b/c I read threads like this) and he said that Insulet has told the distributors not to ship to existing customers yet b/c they don't have enough production of the new ones yet to support existing customers with reorders.
On may 6th we will know something more (link).
I read last year they had 3 lines of production, one setup for the new pod (at the time sold only in Europe), the other two for the original pod one.
It could be they are getting some problem/delay converting the production lines with the new machinery.
It's their interest too to sell the new pods, I'm sure they are doing as fast as they can.
Here is the document dated september 2012 (link):
Current OmniPod production is between 400,000 and
500,000 per month with capacity probably around 600,000 per month. The company is producing about 1.4 million pods per
quarter. The company’s next-generation product is a smaller version of the Omnipod, about 30% smaller in size, and about
an equivalent reduction in costs to manufacture. The idea for the new product is to have three lines operational by year end.
The capacity of those lines average about 300,000 OmniPods per month; therefore, allowing a total capacity of about
900,000 pods per month
guess what.... i just got my shipment and (drum roll), manufactured in april. so much for my theory. lol
Thanks for actual numbers! That is still a significant number of pumps being created. Can't wait to hear the 1Q report :)
I asked the rep I spoke with today if they were still manufacturing the old pods and he said he didn't know - yeah right. I just wish Insulet would be forthcoming with us and let us know what's REALLY going on...
The only part that frustrates me is the confusion concerning the rollout. If they had said upfront, the new pods have been approved, but we will transition new users first. I could have accepted that much better than old users will be transitioned beginning late February/early March...