PDM Durability and Warranty

On Saturday, half-way across the state from my home, I brushed my PDM off a cafeteria table and it crashed to the tile floor. When I picked it up and looked at it, only the top half of the screen showed and that portion was pixelated like an old dot-matrix printer. I immediately called Insulet who told me that their reorder department does not work on weekends,(apparently we are not supposed to be diabetic on weekends!) and that I could call at 8:00 AM Eastern standard time on Monday. Also, since I have had my PDM since August 3, 2009, it apparently is “out of warranty.” I was surprised because I thought I would have at least a year’s warranty, but apparently that is not the case.


I am heartsick because up until now, my PDM has worked beautifully and faithfully for nine months. In reading some of the other posts, I am now wondering what has happened to the quality control on the PDMs. For those of you who have had to get a new PDM in the last year, how have they been working? I had a colored-screen, generation 2 PDM, and I am scared to death that the new one I am going to have to pay $500 for will not work as well as the old one. If and when the new slimmer Pods come out, will we also have to pay for a new PDM at that time? Does anyone know?

Don't you think that Insulet could make the case on the PDM a little more durable? I know that my husband and I have both dropped several different types of cell phones numerous times, and none was worse for the wear. If the manufacturing world can make cell phones fairly indestructible, don't you think Insulet could make a stronger case to protect something that literally controls peoples' lives?

Please let me know how the latest crop of PDMs has been working. I am upset that a new one will cost me $500 when the last one was not study enough to last even a year.

I am also concerned about this. Sam had a night where the PDM shut down itself three times in a row and I panicked that we wouldn’t be able to use it, so I called Insulet at 2 AM, and they “overnighted” me a new PDM. So their service in that case was great. The new PDM on the other hand, wouldn’t work!! After one pod’s worth of trying to use it and having the brand new batteries “die” over and over, we went back to the old one and it hasn’t given us a single issue since. I called them and told them I was returning the new one and that was fine with them, but it makes me a little nervous.

Also - we got ours in August also - do you think the reason they sent us one was because we didn’t “do” anything to it? Did you tell them it dropped on the floor?

When the new PDM’s came out those of us who bought them did so under the remaining warranty of our old PDMs, we did not get a brand new warranty. I don’t know if you had a previous 1st gen. PDM that was nearly out of warranty or not but I know they were very specific about that when I bought mine. I’d only had the old one for about 6 months. The warranty is good for four years. Warranty details can be found here: http://www.myomnipod.com/about-omnipod/system-overview/pdm-warranty/ and does specify that things such as “acts of God, negligence, accidents, and abuse” aren’t covered. (of course I’m pretty sure you could make the case any malfunction is one of those but they seem to only cover programming errors and hardware errors.)

Sorry you had the accident. The PDM is still on Gen 2 so you should receive the same unit. From your post it is hard to tell if your PDM is functioning? I am surprised that if you told Insulet it was not working that they did not send you one overnight. I am guessing it works and you have some pixelation which makes some sense they will wait till Monday. I say this because the reorder dept doesn’t sound like a dept that is involved in urgent care.

As far as warranty, please take this the right way but it " crashed to the floor" in your words. My experience is that if I am responsible for anything I own “crashing to the floor” it is unlikely that it will be covered by a manufacturers warranty. They usually do not warranty such events since the products are not intended to “crash to the floor”. There are different components in a medical device when compared with a cell phone. Also, I have dropped a cell and had it die so it depends on your situation.

One thought might be to call your insurance company (homeowners) depending on your deductible that would be your best shot. Perhaps Insulet could organize an insurance program for the PDM like cell phones? That might be a good option for people.

The new Pod should work with any PDM however the CGM upgrade may require a new PDM.

I realize you are upset but lets be honest if the PDM did not crash to the floor it is very likely it would still be working today and into the future.

good luck

i had my pdm for about 4 months and they replaced it i think they are cover for 4 or 5 years and i know for shore that there is 1 years replacement on call them and tell them it stop working thank you roy

Yes, the warranty will cover “manufacturer’s defects” and since you did not “do” anything to the PDM, it is under their four-year warranty. I was raised to always tell the truth, so I did not hide the fact that the PDM fell off the table. To me, one three-foot drop to a tile floor DOES show a “manufacturer’s defect” because it certainly is not made very well to withstand any kind of drop or bump! I am glad that they tried to serve your needs, but you reaffirm my uneasiness with getting a new PDM. The first one worked fine for so long, and now this… I just called this morning, and they are overnighting a new one. Of course, I just added $520 to my charge card to get it, so I certainly pray that it will work fine.

Yeah, after I wrote my post last night, I read the warranty in the PDM manual. My husband wants me to buy a “skin” for my PDM, but I am not sure that a skin would have helped much. Maybe I am wrong. I am thinking perhaps three or four layers of bubble wrap…

I know that dropping it on the floor was my own fault, and I have just paid for that error. I just wish that with a medical device they would have spent a little more time on the case to make it more durable. Customer service told me to ask for a “hard case” PDM which supposedly has a “hard screen.” When I mentioned that to the reorder person, he did not know what the customer service person was talking about! He said all generation 2 PDMs have a hard case on them. As an instructor, I think that Insulet needs to get all of their people together and give them the same training so everyone knows what everyone else is talking about.

I also think that Insulet should have a couple of representatives in their reorder department on weekends. Heaven knows people need employment, so I am sure that they could find people who would be willing to work weekends to send out PDMs on the weekends. If that were true, then my new PDM would be in shipment now and I would get it today rather than tomorrow. However, it is not my company, and I am just happy that I will have a new – and hopefully working – PDM by tomorrow.

I tend to disagree with the people saying oh this shouldnt be covered… Since this is a medical device, it should be expected to have some bumps and drops and not be made of glass… If i dropped a conventional pump… it should be expected to get some wear and tear… I can understand them playing the “Well its your fault card” but meet people halfway at least… This is a device made for active people, it should be expected to be beaten up… and as long as its not malicious/intentional it should be taken as a warranty issue… That said, im surprised they dont meet you partway on a replacement PDM… ok you broke the display, heres a refurb/replacement PDM for HALF of what they would be if you werent an established customer…

Between the way theve treated some users with batches of failed pods and that they arent standing up to the durability of the PDM… It makes me wonder…For the price of the PDM, id expect some ruggedization similar to some cellphones, rubberized connectors, extra padding, etc…

Hi Sherry Ann,
We’ve had to replace one PDM after about 6 months but the new one works fine for the most part. We’ve had to reset both of ours multiple times, bu that is the main issue. Both our PDMs have skins on them and I will say that it helps tremendously. We have tile/wood floors and have dropped the PDMs from 3-4 feet and never encountered the issue that you are having. Good luck!

Actually, they supposedly DID meet me halfway. The reorder person told me that as an established customer, the new PDM would “only” cost me $500, but that if I were a new customer a PDM would cost me $1050. Then, of course, they would bundle in the case and the first batch of Pods which is why the start-up kit is something like $1750 … or at least it was a year ago when I first go on the Pod.

Yes, the PDM is a complex machine with many internal capacities that make it more complex than some phones, but basically it is a computer that is no more complex than my Blackberry, and my Blackberry has withstood more bumps than this PDM did.

I am just glad that I will be able to get a replacement. My dropped PDM is still somewhat functioning, but each day the screen seems to fail more and more. Soon, I am sure, it will be totally inoperable. Also, my blood glucose has been higher, so I test more often because I no longer trust the bolus. Does it worK? Well… yes and no. I look forward to getting and setting up the new one. Keep your fingers crossed!

Try purchasing skins for your PDM. This might be useful in the event the PDM hits the floor again.

Don’t rule out all the stress you are having affecting your blood sugar levels. Sounds you are getting a decent deal from them considering the damage is not under warranty. If I recall correctly that was the promotional price for the last upgrade.

I would suggest that medical testing devices are more sensitive than cell phones. My son dropped his Itouch (same as an Iphone) and the screen cracked so the rule is be careful or put a skin on it. It was 3 months old and Apple said dropping on the floor is not a warranty item. I drop my iphone and with the skin I have had no problems.

Good Luck

When I got my initial shipment in September of 2009, it included a white translucent skin. I use it all the time even though it doesn’t fit under the strap in the carrying case. Did you get one too? If not, maybe you’ll get one with the replacement PDM.

While I’ve been lucky so far in that I haven’t dropped my PDM, I have had problems with this 2nd generation PDM. My current 2nd generation is the 3rd one I’ve had and last night it failed…period…did not deliver a correction bolus. I checked my bg at 2:00 a.m. and because I have just stopped a steroid medication my bg numbers are still high. So the PDM told me I needed a “correction”. I pushed the confirm button and went back to bed. When I got up this morning at 6:00 a.m. the PDM screen said “failure to deliver bolus.”

Earlier in the day I had spoken with customer service about the need for removing the batteries and repositioning them in order to get the PDM to turn on and work. I’ve been needing to take the batteries out and put them back in before the PDM will come on. And of course I get the talk about not using lithium batteries and always using fresh batteries. Fortunately for me I still have the 1st generation PDM that I received with my initial order and it works fine. What is it with the 2nd generation PDMs?