3 replies to this topic

[Ang]

So I started working on getting a wheelchair in October of last year. The Health care provider sent out a man and asked me what I wanted.... I told him that I needed to be measured and he said no no he can tell what I need just by looking at me but I insisted that he send someone out. He said that he would send someone out but no one came. A few weeks go by and he tells me I need to fax him the measurements and what chair I wanted... Of course I have no idea how to get the measurements so I go online and look up a way to do and I do it the best that I can and i fax this to him. When I faxed it to him I told him that I wasn't sure the measurements were right and that I would feel better if someone came measured me. Of course he doesn't respond. So it takes a while for the chair to get here and I notice that the depth is too long. Yes I forgot to subtract something so I put 19 inches instead of 16. So I ask him if he could fix that and he takes it away to try to fix it. Of course it is a rigid chair so not much can be done about it without getting a whole new frame. Well he brings it back and it fits a little better at least the thing isn't rubbing against the back of my leg as much as it was. Not sure what he did to it. So I was using my chair for a few days and I had noticed what look like a paint crack on the leg where it bends. I don't think anything of it at first until I notice it get bigger and then a crack is on the other side as well. One day my sister and I were going around the block for exercise with our dog and she is walking behind me and she notices pieces of my chair falling off. Thankfully we were almost home. As we were going thru the door the front end totally collapsed. If my sister hadn't have been holding on to my handles I would have fallen out of my chair.

I called them and told them the chair had broken. Of course they tried to blame it on me doing wheelies and such but I don't do those because I am afraid of them. Falling on my head once was enough for me . Anyways he came and got and then brought it back fixed. I asked him if he had gotten a new frame and he said yes. I learned later that he had just had it reinforced for 450 bucks and he was complaining that the insurance didn't pay him for that. Well after that I didn't really trust that chair so I didn't use. I kept on using my old wheelchair until the wheels became wobbly. My old wheelchair is a quickie 2 that I have had for 10 years. The new one is a quickie GTI. When the wheels became wobbly I began using the new wheelchair. Lo and behold it began cracking again in the same spot as before. (I got the chair back fixed back in December/January. I didn't use it again until June). So of course I called him and called him and called him. He never returned my calls until I called the insurance and they called him. So he came out and looked it and was like I don't see anything wrong with this but he had a paper that I needed to fill out and fax back to him. I faxed it back to him with the dr's signature and all and I didn't hear back from him for a while. Again he wouldn't answer my calls until I talked to the insurance and they called him. They told me they had authorized it but he said that he didn't get the paperwork so they re-faxed it to him. He called me back that afternoon and told me he had to turn in some paperwork to the insurance because he wasn't in their system and that it would be 30 days before he would hear anything about it.

So I called the insurance back on Monday the 22nd of August. It had been about 2 weeks since I last talked to him. I talked to this nice insurance lady and told her what was up and she called him. I was listening to their whole conversation and he lied to her and told her I told him that I didn't want the chair fixed and that I insisted on getting a new one. He also told her it was going to be a year before he would be in their system and that I must have been doing some kind of tricks to damage my chair like that. The insurance lady sent out another company on Tuesday the 23rd and we are now working on getting the issues fixed as much as we can. I am hoping the insurance will pay for a whole new frame but I doubt they will so I will have to deal with the depth issue as best as I can. The second company said that they would work with fixing my old wheelchair as well if we can't get the new one fixed correctly.

The moral of this story: Don't ever sign for something unless it is what you want or you will get stuck with shoddy service. Also speak up for yourself! I have been in my chair since 1981 when I was 16 years old and this is the first time I have done this on my own and I had no clue what I was doing and I let them walk all over me because I was afraid to rock the boat. At least next time I know what to expect. And to all the parents, caretakers, friends and loved ones don't cripple us more by doing everything for us. It doesn't really help us in the long run. A lesson I am learning the hard way.

Whew long post

Edited by Ang, 27 August 2011 - 03:58 AM.

[Vanessamaee]

So sorry to hear that someone else is going through this!!! I've been in my chair for almost 4 months now (T3/T4 at age 16) and STILL do not have a wheelchair to call my own. They did my wheelchair evaluation before I had even been up and out of bed, so needless to say when I actually got "MY" wheelchair, it was not suitable. It was HUGE. THe loaner the company had given me is a quickie Q7, and overall Im pretty pleased with it. The depth of the chair is much to long just like yours and cuts into the backs of my legs (make SURE you watch out for sores, it gave me one, now I just have to knock me feet off the footrest when Im not moving). But they also told me that the loaner chair was going to be like the one I am getting, couldnt have been anymore wrong. The only thing the same is that their both Q7's. My chairs back was WAY to tall, width was to big, casters were HUGE, depth was to long, wrong brakes and wrong cushion from what was ordered and also the wheelchair itself sat 4 inches higher than the loaner wheelchair making all transfers awkward. We went to get it fixed and they told us there was nothing they could do about it. So we called insurance and had a meeting with a rep from the insurance company and they guy from the wheelchair place and it couldnt have gone any worse, the guy lied to the insurance rep right in front of me! He said that I had expressed how happy I was with the chair when given it and how everything it sized perfectly when clearly it is not. He also then told me that HE knows better than I do and that what he put on the wheelchair IS what would work best for me. I got mad and explained to them EXACTLY what I wanted, and then showed the insurance rep the paperwork of what we ordered and what we were given and how different they were, the guy took my wheelchair back to try and fix it (fingers crossed should get it back in about 2 weeks.) But before he left and took the back off my loaner wheelchair saying that a hard back is what would work best for me, so he put a hard back on and was out the door before I was even back in the chair. Needless to say the hard back is WAY to tall and uncomfortable. We called him, he said there was nothing he could do about it (hmmmm maybe give me my old back back!?) so we called his supervisor and complained, he turned around knocked on the door, handed us the old back and the pieces to put it back on and left saying that he didnt have time for this. Which I found extremley rude since he also showed up an hour late to the meeting.
All I can say is speak up for yourself and tell them exactly what you want and exactly what doesnt feel comfortable, this is how you get around and its something you use everyday, you want to make it as perfect as possible. Good Luck! Wheelchair companies are pains in the... butt. (:

[tomsov]

Fyi, insurance companies are going to screw this whole project into the ground. Bottom line is yes it is going to be better to be professionally fit for the chair. the reason is even after i was fit do to the added back that i over paid for the center of gravity changes which makes the chair tip happy. what i was taught was when you are sitting there should not be a gap between the chair and the under side of your knees. my recommendation is to get a chair that is fully adjustable. on to the facts. measuring the chair is complex. the most important items in measuring the chair are length and width of the seat itself. the angle of the footrest to the casters is part two. height of the chair back is usually adjustable. camber in the wheels should not be too agressive if at all. 0 or 3 at the most. when i purchased my second chair i added parts to fit it to me. i found a tilite zra on ebay for $600. I spend a few hours adjusting it and spent $1300 in parts to make it fit. i got larger casters and smaller rims to put the proper dump in. the only thing that i looked for was a 17x17 frame and made sure that it was adjustable. Like i said though if you are going through insurance be prepared to wait for at least 6 months. Most insurance policies have DME limits. when the order goes in you have to have the order from the doctor, the diagnosis, the measurements, and probably an eight page essay on why you need the chair. my advice on that is stay on them like flies on crap. ask to see the order form. if things need to change, such as rims from standard to spox, or caster or side guards you pick what is going to be best for you. My first chair out the door was $3600 I was getting charged for two different backs. the first chair is the learning curve. and you will find out what you want. I found looking at multiple online distributors was a good thing. Internet sites like sportaid, spinlife, 1800wheelchair are good ways of finding out cost of everything. they give you an idea of how to measure your own wheelchair. believe me about 5 months ago i was still asking for help on getting my first chair. good luck. anyone needs more info i will try to help you out as much as possible. pm me. i only get notifications through my phone for messages.

[tomsov]

wheelchairs need to do wheelies ang. who ever tried to blame you is an idiot. like i said any other questions i have dealt with these people. i had a conference call with my insurance company rehabtech, my a.r.t therapist, my father and me. needless to say, my chair was built and delivered to my house and all adjustmenst were done in my home. i hate these people and honestly if you are not getting a power chair they don't give a shit.