8 replies to this topic

[KimAndSophie]

I just thought I'd give everyone a suggestion! I ordered a new wheelchair from Sportaid the end of March. They didn't actually send the order on to Invacare until April 3rd (10 days later!) I finally got the chair today, after we paid an extra $400 for shipping over night. When we opened the box I realized that the chair didn't have the ergonomic seat that we had ordered! With these type of frames the last 6 inches from the back or your chair is level so your pelvis tilts into the right position and makes your posture better. On closer inspection we realized because of this HUGE mistake there wasn't enough dump in the seat for me to sit up! We were also missing the underseat pouch, and the width between the footrest was an inch wider than what I had ordered!



We called Invacare, and they informed us that we would have to take this up with Sportaid and appologized for the mistake, but because they make chairs to the specs they are sent it wasn't their problem. Fair enough. We called Sportaid and the girl there after being slightly annoyed that we were calling to complain realized that they had made the mistake when filling in the order form for Invacare!



The process goes like this. You fill in the order on their website and they fill it in on the order form for Invacare. The person who filled in the order messed up by not filling in the right boxes and we get a new chair that is custom made that don't fit! We were NOT happy at all. We had paid cash for this chair, so we were really worried we wouldn't be able to get the money back for it!



Sportaid decided to get back to us on Monday and let us know more about things, but said that we could ship the new chair to them and they would sell it in the "Bargain Basement" section of their website. It's ultimately their loss because they said they would get Invacare to build another wheelchair for me, so they have to pay Invacare for that chair too and they won't be able to sell the new one I got today for anywhere near the price we paid. I noticed on their website they have 3 basketball wheelchairs listed that were measured wrong. They have GOT to be loosing a lot of money by making mistakes liek this!



I feel like a little kid who woke up on Christmas morning only to have their tree and gifts catch on fire! I've been waiting so long for this chair! Here is a picture of it. It's a Invacare Top End Crossfire Titanium. I'm hoping they can get another new chair that is actually right to me in a week or less. They make racing chairs in 3 1/2 days, so I'm hoping they can make my chair in that amount of time! I really like the quality. All of the welds are nice and clean (unlike my Quickie GT) and the screws are really strong.



Now Sportaid has to try to sell a chair that is 16X17 has 4 inches of dump, fixed carbon fiber side guards, and a fixed 90 degree backrest that is 16 inches high. Plus my lower leg length is 15 inches (which isn't that tall). The only adjustments you can make on the whole chair is moving the footrest up and down and the rear wheels backwards or forwards. But, again it's their own fault. Wish me better luck this time!



So the moto of the story is when ordering a new wheelchair call the manufacturer and make sure they were given the correct mesuremments!



Here are a few pictures.








LOL! Julian couldn't do this with my old wheelchair!

Edited by ~lilnewfie~, 13 May 2007 - 12:09 AM.

[Tim13]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, sometimes things just go wrong, at least SportAid was good enough to admit their mistake and correct it, many companies won't do that (General Motors, I'm looking at you).
Three of my five wheelchairs have come from SportAid, plus cushions, tires, casters and all manner of accessories with never a problem except on my last chair a terrible error in measurement was made and the seat depth was wrong, fortunately for SportAid, the mistake was clearly my fault but i was able to use the frame from my parts chair to correct it.
Guess what I'm saying is that while the form you fill out with the details and options you want is much better than having a sales person telling you what to order, mistakes can be made.
While it wouldn't have helped in my situation, calling the manufacturer to make sure they got the right measurements is good advice.

Edited by Tim13, 14 May 2007 - 09:00 PM.

[Bulky]

How's the whole chair thing going ~lilnewfie~ ?

[KimAndSophie]

Bulky, on May 20 2007, 05:15 AM, said:

How's the whole chair thing going ~lilnewfie~ ?

Well, I wont be getting the new (fixed) chair until June. It's being shipped on June 7th (as far as I know). They said thye put a rush on building it, but the guy who builds them is on vacation for 2 weeks. The really crappy part is I have to go to Canada on that date, and I can't change it, so I wont get the chair until I get back. We also wasted $400 getting the first chair shipped over night (which ismoney we wont get back now), We did this because my old chair is totally falling apart. It's a Quickie GT and the footrest wont stay in the poisition I need it in and falls to the ground, the sideguards wont stay at the angle I put them, the backrest keeps falling back on the left side because the teeth wont hold on that side.... The list goes on! We already paid around $500 to get a set of camber tubes to keep my wheel from falling off, and we really don't want to have to spend hundreds more to replace the parts that need replacing just to use it for a few weeks.



I still have the chair they messed up and Sportaid wants it back within 30 days. Invacare said they should let me use it to go to Canada because they have messed the order up. I've been using it inside, but I can only use it when the ground is level because there's not enough dump and I will fall out if I go on uneven ground. At least this way my old chair wont fall apart on my as much.



I'm still really worried about Canada though. I know my old chair wont survive the trip there! I have to tighten things and djust parts just when I take my dog outside, or even after a day of moving around inside my apt.!



I have noticed how well this new chair fits though (except for not having the ergo seat and not enough dump). I can sit up straight for the first time since my injury and I can actually breathe and not get as tired during the day! In my old chair my hips keep slipping so I'm only sitting on one hip and the other is halfway up my sideguard, and I keep slouching really bad and sitting with my back twisted to one side. With my new chair I also don't have muscle spasms like my old one and my feet stay where they are suppose to instead of being twisted. With my old chair only the front of my feet could touch the footrest because the front of the frame was angled and out too far too.



Thsi just goes to show how badily it was measured. I had 5 "seating specialists" involved, and not ONE measurement is the same on my new chair! Not even the wheel or caster size! The OT I saw before Xmas wanted me to get a 19 or 20 inch wide wheelchair. I didn't loose any weight since, and my new chair is 16 inches wide and I can still put my hands down either side and not slip around. My old chair was 17 inches with an 18 inch cushion (because they said you couldn't order 17, but you could!



It's just a world of difference! Anyway, sorry for the long post!

Edited by ~lilnewfie~, 20 May 2007 - 09:47 PM.

[Hype62]

The chair in the pictures that you posted looks sweet with nice lines, even though its made to the wrong spec, but it still looks nice and sporty. Hope you get your new chair soon with the correct spec. By the way, whats the front and rear seat height, and the rear wheel size for that chair in the picture? Good day!

randy

[KimAndSophie]

Hype62, on May 31 2007, 03:27 AM, said:

The chair in the pictures that you posted looks sweet with nice lines, even though its made to the wrong spec, but it still looks nice and sporty. Hope you get your new chair soon with the correct spec. By the way, whats the front and rear seat height, and the rear wheel size for that chair in the picture? Good day!

randy

Thanks! The new new chair (lol) is suppose to be shipped on June 7th. It will be here a day or two later, but I wont get it until a few days after it's here because I have to go to Canada.

The front seat height is 19inches and the back is15inches. The rear wheel size is 25inchs. It's the biggest wheel size I could get in order for the chair to still fit. I think 26inches would have been too big as I would have needed a higher front and wouldn't have been able to get under tables with a 4 inch cushion.



The seat is also 16inches wide by 17inches long. The new chair will be 18inches long. The main thing that they messed up on was that I was suppose to have an ergonomic seat. Because the seat would have been level with the ground towards the back (about 6 inches of it) and then the dump would start 4 inches of dump would be enough because only the front part of the chair would have an angle. I really need about 5 inches of dump without the ergo. seat though.



If this chair would fit anyone it's brand new and you'll see it in the "bargain basement" section on Sportaid soon. You could get it for a LOT cheaper than you normally would.

[Hype62]

Thanks for the info. Post some pictures when you get your new chair.

randy

[Bulky]

Any info on the new chair . Read the post about 4th of July...grrrrr...rude people.
Hope you are having a good one.

[Ben]

Bulky, on Jul 7 2007, 01:19 AM, said:

Any info on the new chair . Read the post about 4th of July...grrrrr...rude people.
Hope you are having a good one.

I had been injured on my birthday in june 90'. Being 18 and possibly stupid I didn't want the standard quickie chair. I went with the old rigid quadra. Anyway I didn't screw anything up but the dealer or my therapist did! I got it, but it was supposed too have a folding back and it didn't so I never really used it since I couldn't get it in my truck. The dealer was or is a loser. Which is too bad since he was in a chair too. He should have given me some service but was more about the money. I think he's almost out of the buisness. I think 18 years later my mom donated it too someone too get it out of the house.

Ben