Recommended DMEs? Apria is awful

[tierdal]

Any recommendations for DMEs in the North East USA? One that has competent staff ?

I can't seem to find one that doesnt have like 1 star reviewws talking about horror stories.

Right now Im on Apria and they are garbage all around.

Any recommendations from personal experiences would be appreciated

[Big Guy]

Rotech Healthcare......out of Murray, KY. 

I use them. They are great! Not sure if they are considered to be NE enough though. 

[hegel]

I had a terrible, awful experience with Apria...at first. they are Kaiser's provider and I get terrific discounts with them. But they were a nightmare in terms of customer service and even billing and shipping. But then, I figured them out somehow, and got the correct phone number to call for supplies, and my experience now is fantastic. they ship almost immediately and I've had no issues with orders for about a year now. But Apria took a while to solve! I can't say if your experience will eventually mirror mine, but you might try futzing with them to see if you can finally solve how to make an order and get billed correctly etc.

Or not! For me, it was worth it because of Kaiser and the major discounts I get through them.

[joeb]

I entirely concur with hegel.

Apria is a challenging vendor to work with, but my Kaiser Advantage Medicare Plan ties me to them.  I have somewhat figured out who to call and how to contact them. Their automated telephone voice response system is atrocious. Eventually, I asked obtained the correct numbers to call and in what circumstances. However, I always call them with a measure of trepidation that I'll get lost in the phone menu and spend an inordinate amount of time on the phone with no productive result.

Once I connect correctly, there's 24x7 phone coverage for equipment support and good people who are pleasant and happy to assist. Order fulfilment is quick and reliable.  Scheduled delivery times have been accurate without fail.  

When I needed a O2 Concentrator, they sent me a rental that was old, malodorous, and noisey.  I asked for a brand new, never-used one, the customer service rep agreed, without any pushback,  to one as a replacement.  When the delivery truck arrived, the only equipment on the truck was a older unit.  I accepted that one because I needed it that day.  I called Apria, and received assurances that a new unit would be tagged with my name specifically and that the warehouse manager would insure that it would get delivered to me.  It was delivered the next day, and it was new, quiet, light weight, and wonderful.  However, it failed to power-up within a few days.  I phoned them again and requested a brand-new-never-before-used  replacement. It arrived the next day, and has been working flawlessly and effectively since then.

So, there's a  few stories here:
1. A business/customer relationship with Apria requires a certain amount of oversight and management by the customer.
2. Apria was willing to satisfy my special request when I  remained friendly and focused.
3. Their phone system, online billing and online order systems are weak.
4. All-in-all, I like the staff.  Aprea's systems are not serving their customers nor their own staff very effectively.

A few hints:
(Of course, these hints relate to my experience.  Yours will be different)

* I keep track of the options that I have selected as I work down through the menu tree.
   (My memory is not so good)
* When I speak to a person, I ask for their name, role and title, and if they are an employee of Apria or of Kaiser.
   Most often, they are a Apria employee who services Apria's Kaiser account.
   Sometimes, I'm connected to a Kaiser employee.
   It seems to depend and the options that I selected as I worked through the auto response system.
* I'm  prepared to give them any of my identifying information. Customer number, address, phone number, date-of-birth, etc.
* Ask how to  phone back to the representative directly.
   They will likely provide a central phone number, not a direct one.
   I ask for the voice-prompt options that must be selected to reach them.
   Most likely they will not be able to answer this question, but asking the question is still beneficial.
* When phoning Apria, the most reliable option to select is "all other". 
    From that option, it might be able to say (or ask for a), "Representative".
* I have obtained the name, phone number and location of the local Apria branch that services my account.
   Usually when I call that branch, I'm connected to the main Apria voice prompt system.
   If someone does answers the phone at the branch, then I chat to establish a relationship with all of my "Customer Representatives"
   If no one answers the phone, and I am re-routed to the main Apria voice prompt system. then I might as well hang up.
   I'll call back later until someone at the local branch picks up the phone.
   When I talk with my Customer Representatives, I ask them for instructions on how to reach them directly.
   I maintain a log of our conversations.

-joeb-

[tierdal]

I had a terrible, awful experience with Apria...at first. they are Kaiser's provider and I get terrific discounts with them. But they were a nightmare in terms of customer service and even billing and shipping. But then, I figured them out somehow, and got the correct phone number to call for supplies, and my experience now is fantastic. they ship almost immediately and I've had no issues with orders for about a year now. But Apria took a while to solve! I can't say if your experience will eventually mirror mine, but you might try futzing with them to see if you can finally solve how to make an order and get billed correctly etc.

Or not! For me, it was worth it because of Kaiser and the major discounts I get through them.

Ya - to be honest have had no problems with shipping, they are pretty quick.

But their customer service is complete garbage. Every new rep on the phone tells me different crap , like they are trying to gaslight me or something.

They also sent me a USED/REFURBISHED CPAP when mine broke down (had only had it 6 months so well within warranty). Some dude showed up at my door with it in a bag. It was terrible. And it broke down like a day later and i had to get another one. 

Now they threaten I am only allowed 1 more exchange, which sounds like a scam in itself - a warranty is a warranty. You don't just choose to stop sending replacements. If anyone has had any experience with this please let me know.

[SleeplessinPgh]

I was very lucky to find Monongahela Medical Supply here in southwest Pennsylvania.  It is in network for my insurance and they have been so easy to work with.

[tierdal]

anyone had issues with warranties on their CPAP machine? Can they really arbitrarily just limit the number?

[SarcasticDave94]

They could if you let them. Be proactive, call your insurance about it. While you're on the phone with them, get a list of about 6 DME's that are in your plan in-network. Maybe start close and go further out. Then work the phone a bit. Call this DME list with your questions of machines, masks, shipping, do they accept your insurance and then will they accept insurance dollar agreements.

[tierdal]

i wont let them do anything but this is more about what are my rights

[anderson5420]

Apria is Kaiser's contracted DME. Best to learn to live with them...you are not going to be able to deal with any other DME if you are a Kaiser insured. My experience with them has been trying from time to time but has not been awful. You can of course call Kaiser directly to register any complaints.