Dexcom frustration....with the company

Dexcom does not deal directly with patients, they sell through medical supplies houses.

Anjoru. Ive been using Dexcom G5 sense Nov 2017, I to have felt like Iā€™m pulling teeth to get my order shipped The Mail order house Adanced Diebetic supplies will not except e-mail orders I have to call then directly.
I replace my sensors on Friday. I call them and they make me feel like there doing me a big favor is shipping them on Monday for a three da delivery.
The latest out of this group is that there last check of my Medical Record on behalf of Medicare , is that that m Endo. Dr. did make the specific statement That she saw me wearing the G5 Tx.

Not true. We get our Dexcom supplies DIRECTLY from Dexcom. What makes you think that Dexcom doesnā€™t supply patients directly?

Dexcom does not work directly with all insurance companies. However if your insurance company happens to be one for which Dexcom DOES have a contract then you should be able to deal directly with Dexcom.

The easiest way to find out is to call Dexcom Customer Support and ask them.

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Just hit 3 weeks with no Dexcom (or any CGM). I was told at the end of last week Iā€™d get a email update, I did not get an email update. Iā€™m not impressed with them (customer service side) at all. I donā€™t know what my blood sugar is doing most of the time, which is pretty darn scary considering I work in remote areas.

Hi @ginny_e, I had similar problems this year, it took bloody forever to get my first order of the yrear. I found that calling/annoying them every 2-3 days speeds things up, but does add to your frustration level. Personally I feel that the people doing the insurance verifications are undertrained as I have to correct them almost every time which results in them having to check again. Given the variety of plans available to their customers, I admit it canā€™t be easy to keep up, but they have records for a reason.

Call them, daily if need be. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, no? At least you wonā€™t be waiting around for an email.

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Thanks. Iā€™ve been calling almost every other day for 4 weeks. I have the number of a representative at Dexcom- he usually doesnā€™t answer. I finally got an email saying that they submitted the paperwork to my insurance last week and a message from the rep apologizing (but I still donā€™t have my transmitter). I went to my endo on Friday, she was not happy with Dexcom, and also saw the drā€™s office had submitted their paperwork 2 weeks before!? For some reason Dexcom thought it was appropriate to sit on the paperwork for 2 weeks before sending to insurance. Iā€™ve already contacted my insurance and told them about this, they offered to reach out to Dexcom to try and move it along. As far as I can see, itā€™s Dexcom that is so ridiculously slow. Itā€™s irresponsible of them.

I should say, my insurance is usually pretty good. They have yet to be the slow ones in the process.

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@ginny_e So very sorry you are having such a difficult time getting something so simple (to me). I get the billing nonsense, but seriously. people have come to rely on their products.

My troubles with Dexcom are numerous. I have gone so far as to have conference calls with Dexcom and my insurers (2) to try and get things going. I have to assume itā€™s growing pains and will get better over time. I wanna believeā€¦

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Ugh, yeah this sounds familiar. I hadnā€™t gotten to the conference call point, but did call my insurance then Dexcom to tell them my insurance covered my cgm. When I talked to the rep, he told me they would send out the transmitter and overnight it tonight ( weā€™ll see about that). But they are also sending me the g4, when I requested the g5. I donā€™t care at this point, I just want a cgm.

I just looked up reviews of Dexcom, they are pretty bad. I guess I had previously been insulates from them because I ordered my supplies through a durable medical supply company, which I will be doing again as soon as I get through getting my transmitter.

I also saw MiniMed is coming out with a stand alone cgm this summer. Iā€™m definitely going to look into that. I had been on a MiniMed pump for 10 years and their customer service was always great. The only reason I switched pumps was the waterproofing issue. Iā€™m a biologist and am frequently get rained on or work around water.

Anyone else thinking of jumping ship to MiniMedā€™s stand alone cgm?

When MiniMed comes up with a CGM that is as accurate and robust as Dexcomā€™s Iā€™ll take a look. But so far they havenā€™t come anywhere near that level.

Not if you gave me $5,000 for stepping down from the accuracy of the G5 to the random number generating sensors that have plagued MM for years. Iā€™m not about to step back into that snake-pit!!

Have you used the MM cgm before? Iā€™m curious about it, I definitely have heard that it is less accurate, they look like they are releasing a new one this summer, I am wondering about it. Right now I canā€™t even get Dexcom to deliver the transmitter to me despite insurance approval.

They just sent my transmitter overnighted to Texasā€¦ I live in Massachusetts. They just sent me replacement sensors a month ago to my MA address and verified my current address multiple times yesterday. During my 40 minute phone call, the customer service rep told me they would have to see if the FedEx guy could pick up the package, and then express it to me. I asked why I am the one being penalized for Dexcomā€™s mistake? I told them I could die without this, and I should have received it 4 weeks ago (that was being generous- I am approaching week 5). I ended up insisting on talking to a supervisor, which I didnā€™t get, but finally was told they are going to overnight a transmitter to me and I should receive it tomorrow by 10PM. Iā€™ll believe it when I am holding it in my hand. This experience has been a nightmare. I have many outstandingly horrible medical system experiences in my 31 years with diabetes, this is making the cut of one of those.

Just needed to let off some steam about this.

I am so sorry to read all of these postsā€¦ Iā€™ve had nothing but good experiences with Dexcom, so Iā€™m wondering if it is indeed growing pains? Iā€™ve been using the Dexcom for about 6 years. Yikes. And here I thought they were still in the ā€œgood guysā€ column.

If in fact there has been a significant decline in customer service, I wonder if thereā€™s a way to get this message to upper management (as in a note to Kevin Sayer, CEO & President) as a group of customers.

I know, I should probably be more cynical about this having any impact. I lived in San Diego when they were just starting out there years ago, and I always saw them as the ā€œsmall guyā€ next to the Medtronic booth.

I would love to get this message to upper management. I am currently crafting a letter to some of the board of directors to tell them about my experience. Iā€™ve emailed my doctor at Joslin, and am planning on contacting JDRF as well. Iā€™ve been on the Dexcom CGM for 8 years with no issues and I too had always viewed them as one of the ā€œgood guysā€, but not anymore. I also had gotten my Dexcom and supplies through 3rd party suppliers, I will definitely be returning to that again after I get through this experience. Hopefully they will get their heads screwed on straight in the future. They have a great product, but it is no good if I canā€™t get it, or it causes this much stress.

Omnipod used to be a pain to deal with, and they seem to have improved dramatically. I actually just switched back to their pump and was really happy with how quickly they got everything to me as well as the level of personal customer service. Edgepark, also seems to have improved (though still a lot of room for improvement), I was frustrated with them so I thought Iā€™d go direct to Dexcom since my insurance allows it. That was a mistake, Edgepark is a breeze to deal with compared to this. Maybe they will get better? I hope so.

I am curious, how much does a transmitter cost- I had thought ~$400. Dexcom lost money for over a monthā€™s worth of sensors since I havenā€™t been on it for that long. They should have just shipped me the transmitter, they would have earned back the money quickly.

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The saga continues. I arrived home from work today, cautiously looking for my transmitter. No transmitter. I debated on calling, thinking ā€œthey couldnā€™t really not have sent it to me, it surely will arrive laterā€. And then I thought about how awful it has been, and so I called. They hadnā€™t even sent it, the rep I talked to today said the request was submitted to management and it was pending approval which could take 24 hours. It was supposed to be overnighted, arriving today. Another 40-50 minute phone call, in which I told them they missed out on $ from 5 weeks of sensors, and if I die they get no money from me. Supposedly the rep was going to go down to shipping and send one off and then is supposed to call me back. He did call back and said it was to ship and arrive tomorrow. Weā€™ll see. At this point I am assuming I will not get a cgm despite having been on one for 8 years, despite having insurance approval, and despite having doctorā€™s letters of medical necessity.

I finally got my transmitter.

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So your say, that because Dexcom sent me toADS. That Dexcom does not deal with Medicare.

@ginny_e Wonderful news, Ginny!

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Yay @ginny_e! It finally arrived. Woohoo!

I am waiting for my Insurance to respond to a request for the Senseonics CGM. Dexcom has been greatā€¦ Up until last spring. Hopefully the customer service side of the business will mature like the product side has and they will grow beyond their current inefficiencies.

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