Apria....

[TeraNicole]

I'm wondering why month after month my order is wrong. Things are forgotten, things are not right in quanity, things are the wrong brands. What is it with Apria and not getting orders right? We've been getting monthly orders for 15 months straight and still...they are wrong. Its not like I change it monthly, its the same month after month. Once again today I had to call and remind them...we don't use trach care kits and we don't want these cheap ass suction kits.

Is it just me or does Apria have a problem getting orders right?

[LeslieML]

I take it Apria is your DME?
It isn't any better with PSA, girl let me tell ya!
I just make my self believe that they are doing the order wrong to see if we really know what is going on.
SERENITY NOW

[Doug-Iowa]

Oh, gosh, do I dare tell you all that we haven't had problems with Apria. (knocking on wood) Every month I call up and talk to the receptionist, she knows me, she knows Mason, and I tell her what I want, and it arrives in a day or two. They keep extra things on the shelf at the store for us, like mason's trach size. The store is just about 2 miles from the house, and I go up there on occasion just so they don't forget who I am.

Maybe you shoud order the things you don't need, and you might get the items you do.....

http://www.tracheostomy.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sarcasm.gif

Jarita

[joshsmom]

Every since APRIA went to centralized warehousing we have had problems. They have very little on the shelf at the local office. You would think that after 16 years they could get it right. They have gotten much worse in the last few months. We ordered a box of Thermovent T filters and they sent one filter in a manila envelope. Who uses just one? Sometimes they don't een have a record of us placing an order.

[Karen S.]

I think we have all had our share of problems with Apria. They seldom got my monthly orders right under recently. I finally wised up and obtained the model number of all the items we use on a regular basis (this is not the product #, but a number that Apria assigns to each item in their warehouse). My nurses fill out an order form that I created on my computer and I fax it to Apria each month. When the order is keyed in using the model number, if any item is not in stock, I receive a phone call immediately telling me it is on back order and when to expect it. I only deal with one person as well. This has really helped us out and ordering supplies is not as stressful as it once was. But I am waiting.....because as you call know, things never stay good for too long.

Karen

[Barb]

Wow, we used PSA in Austin and they rarely messed up. When they did, I'd just call and they'd deliver the right thing immediately. I started to switch to get a better rental feeding pump, but I could immediately tell the new company was going to be the nightmare you described, so I switched back before ordering any disposable supplies!

[Bronson's Mom]

I have so many problems with Apria. It sounds like the same ones. I talk to supervisors and managers and they can't even get it right. I live in Orange County,California. I wonder if there is anything we can do. I just feel like pulling out my hair. I feel your pain :?:

[Gretchen(Celia's mom)]

7 years now here and they still NEVER get things right from month to month!!!!!!!!

[cariaad]

We had to use Apria for about 5 months and it was the nightmare you describe. Now we use Canadian Valley Medical Solutions and they are fantastic. i have been by the office and let them meet Alli and they always have her orders when promised. Deb

[Ann]

Ditto on the NO they NEVER get it right.

[sandra]

Wow...we had less trouble with Apria for Christopher's supplies than we have with Dallas Life Support for Brian. Of course, Christopher's supplies were much simpler than Brian's.

[christyw]

"Do they ever get it right?" In two words: not usually. Â*We used Apria at full speed for all of our many supplies for three years, and now we still have some of their equipment but basically only order pulse ox probes once a month and enteral supplies, and usually we get the correct thing. We are in Arkansas, and I have had a lot of trouble with the Little Rock branch, which is where most of our stuff came from. Their respiratory staff has turned over three-four times since we've been with them. We get the enteral supplies from the St.Louis Apria, and they have been so nice, so helpful, and always right. Weird - shows it can be done I guess. But any time they defer some part of our order to the Little Rock branch, then we don't get it. CRAZY! This just happened this month with our gtube stuff. I called St. Louis and the guy said the branch had the order to send it out of their store. We decided we wanted to try a different type of tube, and since Little Rock hadn't sent our old type out yet, he just cancelled their order and sent me the new tubes. I had them next-day. After waiting two weeks for the Little Rock order. They suck badly!

If you can find a smaller, hometown place, they might be better. I had great luck with that, but had to switch back to Apria because we'd been with them so long (we were forced to use Apria initially because of needing the LTV950 ventilator) that Medicaid only had to pay a maintenance fee on everything, and so Medicaid refused to pay the DME we tried to switch to. I was so upset I cried and cried. I felt so tortured by Apria. EVERY MONTH having to go thru that mess.

Good luck to you - you are not alone! Â*http://www.tracheostomy.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

christy

[Sam's dad]

When we lived in a large city, the Apria office rarely got it right. It helped to use M numbers for ordering, and double checking quantities (know what they have as a Unit in their system - one catheter or one box).

We now deal with a small town Apria office for some of our supplies, and they have been much better. Why? Amy, the person we deal with, has a clue about ordering and never messes anything up. If she is out of the office, another person may or may NOT get it right. Like others have said, I think the key is having a contact person whom you like and trust. My fear is that Amy, who obviously is overqualified for her job, at least compared to her coworkers, will get promoted or move on from the office.

[Ann]

My feelings about Apria are that after 6 years of ordering the same supplies every month, I shouldn't have to get angry and demanding. Â*I shouldn't have to know "M" numbers. Â*I shouldn't have to even place the order a week in advance - they should know what the order is. Â*I shouldn't have to threaten to "go to the top". Â*Sure, I can do all those things . . . I just shouldn't HAVE to. Â*Every single month it's as if it's the first time I've ever placed an order with them. Â*Arielsmom (aka Karen) said it perfectly - APRIA IS MADDENING!