So I recently relocated to a new state, started a new job and had to switch insurance. (What a nightmare, by the way) I've been going through the process of paying the dreaded deductible (ugh!) and getting new prescriptions for my diabetes supplies. Unfortunately, I have had my Ping for about three years now and it was starting to show some serious signs of wear! I noticed the plastic casing around the cartridge cap was cracked and eventually broke off to the point that I could see the threads of the cap! Also, the buttons were very worn out and only responded after a lot of very frustrated presses :) Well you can imagine how stressed I was thinking, "How in the world am I going to afford the copay on a new pump AND a $1500 deductible??"
Then I went to my new endo (what an awesome crew by the way...thanks KU Med Center!) and the diabetes educator informed me that my Ping was most likely still under warranty. For some reason I thought it was a two year warranty!? I don't know what I was thinking.
As soon as I got to the parking lot I called Animas on my cell phone and to my surprise, it is a very easy process to request a replacement pump. Imagine that, a company that actually stands by their warranty :) They sent me a new one overnight and I was back in business the next day. I had no idea how bad my old pump was until I started using the new one. Who knew the caps fit so well and the buttons were so easy to press? I didn't remember how nice it was when I first got it! :) Now I'm back in love with my Ping again, and think I can stick with it for a while longer :)
Awe that's great, glad it all worked out. Most warranties on pumps are like 4-5 years. Medtronic has been really good to work with too. I had the clip break on my pump and literally the next day I had a new clip to me. Many others here have said they've been really good to with pump replacements when pumps have gone bad.
Just read your response to "Gary" and was about to respond with a "Bravo!" when I realized you posted this :) Don't know about you but I like coming to this site because it makes me feel good, so let's just remember those good vibes today :)
I went swimming with my pump and it died and Medtronic had a new pump in my hands in 18 hours. I had my new pump before the Dr. Office could write me a prescription for Lantus. That took 3 days evening knowing I had no basal insulin!
Isn't that amazing? I was using infusion sets for 6-8 days to try to avoid running out while waiting for my family doctor/insurance company to get their crap together and get my supplies approved! Finally I went to an endo with my LAST infusion set taped to my body to prevent it from falling off and they gave me some that they had in their office. Wouldn't you know, my supplies arrived the next day lol That figures :)
Hahaha yeah that's about the way it goes. I thought I was going to have some issues, but it all worked out. I got my pump approved by one insurance company around Nov of last year. I know I was going to go onto my companies heath insurance the first of the year so I wanted to get it while I knew my deductible and all that was met. LOL, it turned into a bit of an issue with my pump supplies because my new insurance didnt have any information of me having a pump but it all worked out. I get my pump supplies through Liberty Medical, and I've got to say I've really been happy with them.
I've had similarly good experience with Minimed. When my battery cap became an issue, they next-day aired me one just to be safe (even though I assured them I really could wait a bit). I haven't yet needed to have my pump replaced, but others have reported that Minimed is very fast to ship out a replacement pump when needed.
We recently had to have my son’s Ping replaced (only 1 year old), and I was very pleased with the response we received from Animas. During a site change on a Friday afternoon (when he was leaving for a 2 week backpacking trip at 4am Sunday), I noticed that the buttons on his pump were not responding quickly. It was taking a couple of pushes or pressing really hard to get the buttons to respond. My son said it had been doing that for a couple of days. I called Animas at 5pm on a Friday, and we had a new pump by 10:30 Saturday morning. I was quite pleased with the promptness of the response and the honoring of the warranty with basically no questions asked.
I'm glad, too! I'm so used to companies trying to figure out a way to get out of their warranties (cell phones, etc) that I thought I would have to argue with them about it. That was not the case at all. Glad to see when it's a life sustaining device it's taken more seriously :)
