When I have a problem with my medtronic pump where the infusion sets doesn’t last the 3 days or the sensor is inaccurate, medtronic usually send me out a replacement (thats if I bother to call their support line). Also when my clip broke, they sent me out a replacement.
Will Tandem do the same?
I just called Tandem because the DEX transmitter plunked out not 5 minutes after I replaced a sensor. Apparently, I had missed the t.slim x2 warning that the transmitter was approaching its end of life. Tandem sent out a new sensor even though it really had been my fault. I would say that’s pretty good customer support. From now on I am marking my calendar for when the transmitter is due to stop working.
I’ve had excellent customer service experiences. They won’t just send a replacement pump because you asked, but they have pretty loose guidelines. Unless the pump threw a specific error code for them to reference, you’ll have to be patient enough to go through their troubleshooting steps. If you really feel like there is a problem you can’t prove, they have a loophole. They’ll have one of their CDEs contact you to talk about the problem. The CDE can request a warranty replacement pump for you, despite not meeting any specific criteria. They even offered to replace one pump I didn’t even notice there was a problem with, just because a tech support person noticed that the battery behavior didn’t meet their standards (they’re not supposed to discharge more than 50% in three days).
When I first started using the pump, I had some issue with the bolus wizard. Apparently being largely self-trained I was using it differently than seasoned pumpers. Anyway, tech support couldn’t answer my issue/complaint, so they actually had the design team call me. I loved that I was actually able to talk to the people that come up with this stuff and implement changes! And they really wanted to learn about my interface issues, because they want to make pumps that people love. That was very much a “we’re taking care of our family” moment, versus a big corporate enterprise.
By the way, customer service is American (I don’t know if there’s a local customer service center for every nationality,or what), and you can tell thar Tandem takes good care of them. They always seem legitimately happy to help. I’ve never come about a crabby, irritable person who is obviously reiterating a script.
Just been a Tandem customer for a week. I called a few numbers and when you get to automated phone menus I never heard any message referring to customer support.
It looks to me that Customer Support and Technical Support is one department or at least one call (phone number). In fact I am just looking at the training material I received and it says, "Customer Technical Support (877-801-6901, available 24/7).
I called it today as I needed two infusion sets replaced, which I ruined, because it a very difficult installation and insertion process for a beginner (at least for me).
compare to Medtronic.
If this newbie is wrong, hopefully someone will let me know.
This is a MT problem. I do not anticipate you seeing the same level of failure with Tandem sets once you get the hang of it.
I’ve been on Tandem over a year and haven’t had a need for technical support.
So that is good.
I bet you have this down within the month.
Never appreciated how great the Medtronic design was. I could change insulin easily in 3 minutes. My T-Slim time is down to 23 minutes from about 75 minutes. I did everything wrong including losing items, misplacing items (found the filled cartridge in the pump) and even hitting Fill Tubing when the new infusion set was already in my body. Luckily survived that one. Good new is that I made so many mistakes but will never make them again.
Oh no, that’s terrible, and even more terrible that I laughed. I promise it only takes about five minutes once you get used to it. But I too have a tendency to misplace the new cartridge. The easiest way to keep them straight is to not attach the tubing to the new one until after it’s loaded in the pump, and attach it right before the fill tubing step. That way any cartridge with tubing on it is waiting to be discarded, and not the one I’m looking to load.
OMG, I can’t stand adjusting to new tech. Makes me never want to change again, lol.
I had no less than 4 Tandem pumps fail on me within a 2 month period which is why I gave them up and now use an Omnipod Dash. It may not have the bells and whistles that Tandem does but at least it works every day!
I rarely hear anything negative said about Tandem. I’m an old school (non Dash) Omnipod user. What do you think caused the failures?
The first one threw up an error code on day 2 - Tandem tech asked had I being working in a cold store or a bakery because the code was related to temperature - they replaced it. Pump 2 wouldn’t accept either a 0 or a decimal point when inputting my bg. Met with the Tandem rep in the hospital and it worked perfect for her! Then the Doctor tried it and he got the same error as me so the Tandem rep phoned their tech line and they said it was because our fingers were too big (I kid you not!) - they sent another replacement. Pump 3 wouldn’t talk to the sensor, just threw up a “sensor error” message. So I phone Tandem who say that I will need to phone Dexcom because their pump is saying the Dexcom G6 is faulty but I say to them that the G6 is fine because my Dexcom receiver and my phone have no problem reading the results from it but they insist I have to phone Dexcom!
So I phone Dexcom and tell them the story and they say this is typical Tandem! In the US Tandem pay Dexcom to sort their problems but here in the UK they have no such arrangement and Tandem tech don’t know how to sort the bluetooth coms prob but the say they are not allowed to help me because it is clearly a Tandem problem (and I agree with them). So eventually Tandem pay Dexcom for a new sensor which I put on but still the pump won’t speak to it although both the Dexcom receiver and my phone pair with it no probs! By now I am very unhappy with Tandem and let them know how I feel and they promise to express me another replacement.
So they sent another replacement which worked perfectly FOR 24 HOURS! then it locked up solid and wouldn’t do anything. I tried making it hibernate, did a hard reset but nothing worked so I gave up and contacted the hospital and told them I had enough of Tandem and wanted to switch to the Omnipod. It may not be as new as the Tandem but at least it works every day.
My experience of Tandem (UK) is that they are rubbish and I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy!!!
Very interesting and detailed info. Thank you.
I’ve had exceptional service from Tandem. The product for me has worked extremely well and is well documented so I haven’t had to use them too much. But in one case I had read (here) that I might have better luck with Fiasp if I used steel infusion sets. The TS rep connected me with the local rep, and she personally delivered a box to try FOC to my front door the next day and discussed the issue. Above and beyond in my book.
Recent calls haven’t been as satisfying because of the long phone wait times. That started when they introduced Control-IQ and I think they were unprepared for the product’s success. Hopefully it’s improving.
I definitely agree with this. Between the Control-IQ success and Medtronic screwing up the 670 so badly that their upset users flocked to Tandem instead, they’ve definitely exhibited some growing pains. I usually only call for Dexcom issues, and my last wait was only like ten minutes The previous one was like two hours. I think they’ve finally getting there needed help trained. Someone told me the callback que was different than the wait on the phone que, and you’re better off waiting.
I called the sales line back today since I missed their call this morning and was on hold for about a minute before they picked up and then they transferred me over to the rep that’s handling my pump order. Very professional, answered every question I could think up and arranged for me to get several different types of infusion sets when I get my pump so I can try them out. Just waiting on my Dr.s office to provide the RX and recent chart notes. They also took my Dexcom log right then as well since my Dr.s office won’t have a recent one. Fingers crossed on my insurance approving 
.
My son has used a t-slim for 6 years now. Our experience with customer support has been awesome. One time he dropped the pump just right (or just wrong, I guess) on a tile floor, and it broke. That was Saturday afternoon. I told them he had a backup pump, so no huge rush, but we had a new one in our hands by SUNDAY afternoon. They put it on a commercial airliner from California to O’Hare, and then hired a courier service to deliver it to our house in the suburbs on Sunday. I was floored. They’ve been very good on other occasions too. I agree that they’ve struggled a bit with wait times since they’ve integrated with Dexcom, but everyone is still very knowledgeable and polite. They’re just super busy.
Wow - That’s awesome.