See MDT 5xx, 7xx … just sayin’
@Jason99 based on your posts, I can see my experience with Tandem is almost the opposite of yours. When I called Tandem about a pump malfunction, I had a pump in hand less than 10 hours later, with Tandem calling on a regular basis to check bg levels (i actually found that quite annoying).
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They eventually give up and send a new pump out. I hate the whole process Tandem makes you go through. They play 150 questions, then demand I connect the pump to my MacBook and download the pump, which I refuse to do, then after screaming at them for 20 minutes the pump gets replaced. I fully admit I’ve been spoiled by Medtronic over the last 20 years, who ask 3 questions and then overnight a new pump to me.
@Jason99, I get the question part since if they can fix the pump remotely it’s in everyones favor. Connecting to a computer I would assume is to validate some aspect of the malfunction which is part of the many hoops the FDA requires for failure reporting. Regardless of the pump company, they all have the FDA looking over their shoulder demanding information, some information seemingly useless some possibly with value.
While we as the user can generally figure out the issue, not every user has the same skill set and because of this the manufacturer has to assume a “lowest common denominator” approach when troubleshooting or determining a failed unit. As annoying as it seems, the person on the other end who gets these same calls for 8 hours a day is still in the middle. I adapt the old adage “you get more with honey than with vinegar”. That said, there is definitely a time and place for vinegar.
OMG! That is the nonsense that MM made me do for a year when I called to report yet another bad Enlite! They wanted me to download the very latest pump data to Carelink. Then they would interpret the data to try to make it my fault the sensors weren’t working as designed. Some techs were not as bad as others as wasting my time, but there were a few that I wanted to reach out and wring their aggravating necks. I’d love to get all the many hours back wasted with Enlite support. I hate MM sensors!!
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No, it is a case of them not wanting to replace defective items. They can do a tear-down when they get the item in their grubby hands. It shouldn’t be up to the user to do an in depth analysis with a tech on the phone. A user should just report the condition and the tech should quickly decide if it is anything the user is doing wrong or if the item is at fault. It generally isn’t that hard to determine which is at fault. I did all sorts of tech support for a living for a couple of decades, both in the field and by phone, so I know of what I speak.
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Hi Tim, I am looking into pumps. Thank you for sharing your experience. I enjoy the honesty of others sharing their own trials and tribulations. As you know, we as diabetics all have different experiences. I don’t think that a fellow diabetic’s experience could possibly be factually wrong. Thank you for your feedback. I am so happy for you in finding a pump you love and works for you. It may not be working for others.
It WAS factual wrong. Everything in his post about the Tandem cartridge was grossly incorrect. There is no bar moving and squeezing the bag inside the cartridge. This is a fact, and not disputed by anyone but him.
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A moving bar? Who said that? I missed it!
7th post
thanks. Holy crap. 
In my Tandem pump, there is a tiny person who turns the crank on the wringer that pushes the insulin out of the bag.
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The soon to be released t:sport will have magic elves hugging the bag to dispense the insulin. Tandem is currently working on the problem of having a hot oven so close to the insulin. Cookies are yet to be determined.
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The 670 seems comparable to my previous Medtronic pumps in that I can go below zero. Happy to report, however, that I changed my infusion set tonight with 4 units remaining. I could have waited until morning.
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This is exactly what I do. I fill the cartridge with 300u which lasts me about 3.5 days.
Maybe they could just pay the elves in cookies rather than risk a worker’s comp claim by letting them bake too. Keep them busy with their primary job function as bag huggers…lol
I have considered doing a prefill of a t:flex cartridge for special occasions, such as when I would be at the hospital. But I’ve never done it because I don’t know how to maintain sterility at the end of the cartridge pigtail. With the old-style luer-lock cartridge, I could have bought sterile luer caps from Amazon. But I don’t think they would work with the t:lock cartridges. I’m still using the Luer-lock stuff but running out fast.
How do you protect a prefilled cart from all the creepy-crawlies out there?
Thus far, I have not pre-filled a cartridge far in advance of using it (although there have been some posts about those who prefill 3-4 at a time and store them in the fridge). Usually, I prefill the night before if I anticipate an early morning or middle of the night change or if I know I will be away from the house all day and need to do a change later that day. As for the issue of maintaining sterility, my method may not be perfect but I keep the sterile packaging of the cartridge and wrap it around the cartridge after filling it and then I have special slender zip lock bag and place it in there so that the original cartridge wrapping does not unfurl. It may not be 100% sterile but thus far it has worked for me. If I don’t foresee me having to cart the prefilled cartridge around all day, I just keep prefilled cartridge in the sterile packaging and have it on my dresser. Keep in mind, I have only been using the Tandem T-slim for a relatively short time but I used a similar process for my prefilled Animas cartridges all the time because life gets in way some times and I cannot always control where I will be when I need to change the cartridge.
We prefill all the time 1 or 2 cartridges in advance and keep them at room temp. No problems.
I am responding to this post solely to relate my 6-year relationship with CCS Medical Supply. Six years ago we had Humana, private insurance, through my husband’s employer. Humana contracted with CCS for my Medtronic Supplies. I had no choice but to deal with them. They were and are the most unprofessional group of people I have ever encountered. The untold number of hours I spent on the phone with them and on hold was so stressful that it literally affected detrimentally to my diabetes. From not receiving supplies on time, to calling and being told we need approval from your doctor, Humana, and any number of other excuses; there was no end to the problems associated with that company. I could not get an itemized statement for my supplies and had no idea what they were charging my insurance company. I would call during the year asking if I had an outstanding balance; explained that I can pay you as we go but do not wait until the end of the year to bill me.
This past February; we were forced to leave Humana and go on Medicare. Last December I received a bill for charges incurred a year prior, yet never did they send me a bill. I tried to reason with them that they sent me a surprise bill and I needed to be able to pay it in several payments. I even worked out an agreement with someone in their billing department. A few weeks later I received a call from someone else who said no such agreement had been reached and they wanted the whole $1200 now. No amount of discussion resolved the problem and I was told, and they followed thorough with turning my account over to their credit collections department. I was determined not to pay the bill but in the end decided it was not worth anymore headache or stress and paid them.
I feel they are dishonest, have no respect for their “customers”, we are patients but first we are customers.
Fast forward to three months ago and I got a Tandem pump and Dexcom G5. My supplier is Diabetes and Management Supplies and my experience has been daylight to dark different. These folks are efficient, caring, helpful, and I know what I am paying for my supplies.
I did everything I could to convince Humana to cancel their contract with CCS, and largely the staff agreed it should be done. This was based on complaints received from people like me. If you are forced to deal with them, God Bless You. You will need the patience of Job and then some.
I went online and looked up CCS complaints and there are numerous complaints just like mine, and likely like yours. I talked to Humana a lot about the problems but maybe it is going to take a lot more to get these people out of business. Don’t falter and don’t let them intimidate you.
Best of luck.
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