Shifting to a longer transition for existing customers... and abandoning "fair"

Wow really?? I’m amazed at the rudeness of these people. I luckily have never experienced anything like that from their customer service department…

In any case, when these new pods were confirmed for use in the US I prepared myself for a potentially long wait, so I don’t really care at this point. Still loads better than MDI, so I’m just grateful to be pumping.

He even suggested to help me move to another pump...should have said "ok you can buy me that OTHER non tube pump..."

He gave 3 reasons the PDM isn't in my hand:

1: "the FDA is making us train over 9000 doctors offices so they can write scripts for the new system" CHECK...my pods are on the way from Medco due to a new script

2: "We have to get a TRANSITION KIT printed and boxed up" WRONG...all the transition info is available on the wonderful (not) website

3: " Not even our employees and their family are using the new ones yet" ANYONE buy that?

Fact is..they are sitting in a warehouse not helping anyone..in the hope that they can get paid by NEW customers to use them

I have the same thoughts regarding a competing patch pump. As soon as another company releases one, I'll be first in line to try it out and won't hesitate to switch.

My next shipment is due in June. That is the last shipment that I will accept old pods. If I'm not on the new pods in September then I will cancel Omnipod. That is all I have to say. I'd rather use insulin pens then be jerked around. If everybody had the same resolve then the situation would rapidly alter in our favor.

I respect your decision, but I also don’t think it’s a matter of resolve - I just think that some people (myself included) don’t care as much. Verizon jerks people around by writing phone bills to be borderline impossible to interpret and charging overage fees for anything possible, but I still have my cell service through them because they have the best service for my area. Using the omnipod is so exceptionally better than MDI - even the current incarnation of the pod, with all its flaws - that I will stick with it, regardless of the annoyance of not knowing when we’ll actually have new pods in hand. I don’t appreciate the lack of transparency on Insulet’s part, but I do appreciate the extent to which they’ve made my diabetes easier to handle, so I wait. Even though it’s inconvenient.

seconded, markeezy. They know they have a captive audience with some of us, MDI is no longer an option for me and the minimed infusion sets simply didn't work on me. I'm gonna keep my focus on being grateful for what I have because if I think about this stuff too much it really affects me

Glad we're on the same page, Cat. Yes, of course it's frustrating and oftentimes it feels like we're needlessly being deprived of the new technology. But patience is the name of the game here, and I've waited far longer than this for far more trivial things, so I'm good for now.

What we really need is competition in the patch pump market. I have a feeling that it is on the way - at which point we, as consumers, will have a choice and can expect more accomodation. Omnipod is the only act in town for the time being so we must be patient.

Agreed. I'm looking forward to Minimed's entry and also a few others I've read about. More competition is the best thing for the consumer, and I am excited about what will happen when manufacturers are forced to innovate even more.

I'd like to know if Insulet's hands were tied by the FDA forcing them to ship to new customers first.

Also a good point. We don’t really know what kind of bureaucratic BS is behind the scenes in all this, or even how much control Insulet has over that stuff.

The C.O.O tried to tell me their hands were tied requiring training of dr offices, blah blah blah.

All that info is available on the website, which brings us back to the fact that they have PDM's sitting there in a warehouse not helping anyone, all because they want to try to SELL them to new customers

I've read every forum one could possibly find on the internet concerning the transition date for existing OmniPod users. I've called their support lines multiple times - and the answers are always scripted and the same, "We don't have a release date yet for the new OmniPod for existing OmniPod users.". I find it extremely disappointing the company cannot give a release date to all of us out here that are existing OmniPod users. I for one switched to OmniPod and did not wait for the new one to come out because the sales rep told me specifically, "EXISTING CUSTOMERS WILL BE MIGRATED FIRST TO THE NEW OMNIPOD", and how easy the transition would be. I get it, it's sales, sales people lie to sell - but about a device that is required to live? Just seems unfathomable to me...

Yeah they even have the C.O.O on the script...he tried to tell me how tough it is to learn the new system for an existing user? I really dont think so..the difference is a few more screens, and that info is available on the website.

Truth is..they are in a box ready and able to be sold to a new user

ugh - September for us. The sad thing is that the smaller pod and integration with Dexcom were "just around the corner" four years ago when we got it.

Interestingly enough...I was shipped a 3 month supply from Diabetes Specialty Company of the new pods (which means I have the new prescription from my doctors office). I was told I would have to work with Insulet to get new PDM they were only shipping the new PDMs to new users. Insulet was horrifically rude when I called asking for my new PDM and told me to ship the pods back (prescription written durable medical supplies...RIGHT). I called DSC, got a supervisor in that department - and she actually called me back apologetic stating "they had mistakenly shipped me the PODs" - 2 weeks later I get a 3 month supply of the old PODs. Maybe it's just bad management - but they really need to quit being disingenuous and simply state the facts of the matter.

I don't think that I am going to make friends but, be patient as the "old" version works fine and the "new" version is only smaller.
Ok I am using the 2nd gen since November 2012. I received the first mail in June and got the new PDM in august. Then I waited till November to receive the first pod's.
The Netherlands was the first(try-out) country. It work fine and I had 4 errors so far (3 occlusions+ 1 time no cannula insertion).

A new user starts using it the same way as we all did. Start with a dummy and then setup the PDM. Start using it and get help in case of problems/questions. That process can handle a certain number of customers.
The present users also need some help to setup the new PDM and get some support. So handling thousands of customers extra in a short period is not the way to do it accurately.
Please be patient, keep asking to keep them sharp, but realise that they can only handle a certain number of customers extra.

^ this.