I just had my first experience with diabetes customer service.
Isabella’s blood tests have been really flat today. This-can’t-possibly-be-right flat. Her first test this morning was 279.
Followed five hours later with 271.
A couple hours after that? 283.
And just now: 283. Again.
I’ve seen her numbers stay flat before, but really, this was crazy. So out came the control solution to test the meter and the strips … and Bingo! Slightly out of range – the test number was too low. Then I realized that the solution had been opened far, far longer than its 90 day shelf life, so I rummaged around in my supply box and found a new bottle of control. Another test – and the new result was also out of range, this time too high.
Sigh. The control solution was not expired. The strips were not expired. The meter has new batteries. What the heck is going on??
Abbott Diabetes Care, the makers of my beloved Freestyle Flash, promises 24 hour customer service. I decided to call, vowing to answer only the questions asked without volunteering anything extra.
The first surprise is that I’m in their database. When, exactly, did that happen? They knew my phone number, address, even the serial number of my meter. Ohhh-kay. In the back of my mind I’m wondering if I’ve filled something out saying that I use the meter, or would I have said a family member? Don’t ask, don’t tell. Just stick to today’s situation.
I explain about my out-of-range tests. I tell Barbara, the nice gal on the phone, that I just opened a new control. I give her lot numbers for the strips and for the control solution. I answer her questions.
Did I shake the control vigorously before each test? I say: yes. I think: gosh, I don’t know, and shake the bottle vigorously (better late than never).
Would I run another test, please?
Of course. I laugh and say, it’s been high, it’s been low, do you want to bet that this one is in range?? (Ahem, now that the bottle is shaken.) Test number three was in range.
Wee!
It could be just about anything, Barbara says. Did you discard the first drop of control before you ran the tests?
I say: yes. I think: uh, probably not.
Shoot, says Barbara. We can’t tell if your meter is messed up, or the strips, or the solution. (I think: or it could be operator error…) I can send you a new meter and more strips. And replace your control. How many strips do you have?
I’ve prepared for this question. I tell her there are about 25 left in the vial I’m using, plus I have an unopened box of 50 from the same lot number. (Cha ching! New strips! For free!)
Barbara tells me that a meter, 100 strips, and new control solution will be sent out FedEx overnight. Except that with tomorrow being Sunday, and Tuesday being Christmas, I won’t see my bounty until Wednesday. I assure her that I’ll survive, and start to rise from my chair for the happy dance.
Her next words slap me right back down on my butt.
We’ll include a prepaid envelope for you to return that possibly-wonky meter and the possibly-wonky strips.
I say: OK, great. (Dang, I still woulda used those unopened 50… ) We wish each other the merriest of holidays and hang up.
So I’m not hitting the test strip Lotto after all. Odds are that Isabella’s numbers really are just as flat as the pre-Columbus earth, but I guess it’s better safe than sorry. I’ll crack open a new vial of strips from a different lot and send the probably-not-wonky strips back to Abbott, along with the meter. I’ll be sort of sad to see the meter go, since it’s the one we started this crazy trip with. It’s just a little piece of electronics, but I feel rather attached to it.
I now also know some of the questions customer service asks when there is a possible problem. It’s good that they don’t question the species using the meter, because somehow I don’t think Barbara would have ordered an overnight shipment of new supplies if she knew it was for my cat.
Isabella’s blood tests have been really flat today. This-can’t-possibly-be-right flat. Her first test this morning was 279.
Followed five hours later with 271.
A couple hours after that? 283.
And just now: 283. Again.
I’ve seen her numbers stay flat before, but really, this was crazy. So out came the control solution to test the meter and the strips … and Bingo! Slightly out of range – the test number was too low. Then I realized that the solution had been opened far, far longer than its 90 day shelf life, so I rummaged around in my supply box and found a new bottle of control. Another test – and the new result was also out of range, this time too high.
Sigh. The control solution was not expired. The strips were not expired. The meter has new batteries. What the heck is going on??
Abbott Diabetes Care, the makers of my beloved Freestyle Flash, promises 24 hour customer service. I decided to call, vowing to answer only the questions asked without volunteering anything extra.
The first surprise is that I’m in their database. When, exactly, did that happen? They knew my phone number, address, even the serial number of my meter. Ohhh-kay. In the back of my mind I’m wondering if I’ve filled something out saying that I use the meter, or would I have said a family member? Don’t ask, don’t tell. Just stick to today’s situation.
I explain about my out-of-range tests. I tell Barbara, the nice gal on the phone, that I just opened a new control. I give her lot numbers for the strips and for the control solution. I answer her questions.
Did I shake the control vigorously before each test? I say: yes. I think: gosh, I don’t know, and shake the bottle vigorously (better late than never).
Would I run another test, please?
Of course. I laugh and say, it’s been high, it’s been low, do you want to bet that this one is in range?? (Ahem, now that the bottle is shaken.) Test number three was in range.
Wee!
It could be just about anything, Barbara says. Did you discard the first drop of control before you ran the tests?
I say: yes. I think: uh, probably not.
Shoot, says Barbara. We can’t tell if your meter is messed up, or the strips, or the solution. (I think: or it could be operator error…) I can send you a new meter and more strips. And replace your control. How many strips do you have?
I’ve prepared for this question. I tell her there are about 25 left in the vial I’m using, plus I have an unopened box of 50 from the same lot number. (Cha ching! New strips! For free!)
Barbara tells me that a meter, 100 strips, and new control solution will be sent out FedEx overnight. Except that with tomorrow being Sunday, and Tuesday being Christmas, I won’t see my bounty until Wednesday. I assure her that I’ll survive, and start to rise from my chair for the happy dance.
Her next words slap me right back down on my butt.
We’ll include a prepaid envelope for you to return that possibly-wonky meter and the possibly-wonky strips.
I say: OK, great. (Dang, I still woulda used those unopened 50… ) We wish each other the merriest of holidays and hang up.
So I’m not hitting the test strip Lotto after all. Odds are that Isabella’s numbers really are just as flat as the pre-Columbus earth, but I guess it’s better safe than sorry. I’ll crack open a new vial of strips from a different lot and send the probably-not-wonky strips back to Abbott, along with the meter. I’ll be sort of sad to see the meter go, since it’s the one we started this crazy trip with. It’s just a little piece of electronics, but I feel rather attached to it.
I now also know some of the questions customer service asks when there is a possible problem. It’s good that they don’t question the species using the meter, because somehow I don’t think Barbara would have ordered an overnight shipment of new supplies if she knew it was for my cat.
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