I HATE BAXTER WITH THE PASSION

[Lillupie]

I HATE HATE BAXTER.
 At a time I was okay with being on dialysis and accepted being on there for the rest of my life. But because of Baxter and their sheer amount of crap (not to mention CMS crap) I now despise it.
I sent this via e-mail to Baxter.com.
 SOrry everyone here I am just venting. I hate HATE this company with the passion.

  "I really, really need to contact someone immedately. I am really angry and upset with your company. I feel as though you are making my life a living hell as a dialysis patient.
 I feel as though as a company that makes millions upon millions of dollars, you are being unreasonable.
 First of all you need to get with the 21st century. I cannot use my phone all the time with daytime minutes calling your compnay. My day time minutes are limited. Second of all, I do NOT appreciate being put on hold. I cannot tell you the sheer number of times that I call to place a order and I am told I will be on hold of 3-5 minutes. I will not put up with that. I am on a limited income and do not and will not have a land line to call from.
 Get with the 21st Century. We use computers. The internet is cheaper then using daytime minutes. I have an e-mail. Seriously, get with the program here.
 When I was in school, with a two year old daughter, I was told I could call after business hours and leave my inventroy and order, and now it sounds as though you are telling me, or your recording is saying to call the next business day!
 What if I worked at 8am, have trouble getting up, didnt get out of work until 5pm. Are you freaking telling me there is not way for me to order supplies? When I cant use the phone when I am at work?
 Can I fax in my order? I am  being honest, I am sorry I get really busy with stuff that needs to be done that is right in front of my face at that second, and I get calm and collective after midnight! I struggle with waking up before noon on most days. I wake up, get dressed, get off the machine, look up what to cook for my stupid diet, pick up my mom at work, and I dont get home until after 5, and some days later then that! And of course you guys are closed.
 I feel like your compnay is making my life a living hell. If I call after hours and I now I get the nice recording that says "please call the next business day". I dont even want to order anymore. If I order when it is free on my phone, then you are going to tell me to call the next business day. If i call the next business day, then I am on hold! I CANNOT AFFORD TO FINANCIALLY TO BE ON HOLD!!!! If I dont order then you are going to punish my wonderful, loving clinic by by bending them over backwards (excuse my words, but that is the nice way I see it) and charging a fee! When as a company you could make things a little easier for your clients. You make enough money!
 I love my clinic with all my heart. And your compnay is pushing me to the brink of having to leave to go to your competitor.
 Your are unreasonable! I cannot even give you my new number because you wont stop harassing me. If I get a week to put in my order, then seriously, I have been on PD for over 3 years! Dont need to be reminded. It is insulting. My life cannot stop just to count freaking boxes during the day, because you cant respect I dont want you to blow up my phone! It is not condusive for me to do business on the phone. A lot of times I am driving, and I dont want to be on the phone. I mean why is it that I can date online, pay my bills, sign up for classes,look at my bank statment, order pizza or food, all online. My money is tight and I may not have a phone soon. Are you going to freaking tell me that I cant do PD because I cant afford a phone? I am online because I am go to a coffee shop to get the internet, and everything is done online, or it has the option. But not multimillion dollar Baxter. oh no too good to go online? I have limited number of available daytime minutes. Daytime minutes mean before 7pm Eastern Standard time! Understand? Millions of tax dollars we pay, and I have paid into this too, is put into your compnay for this. Get with the 21st Century. You are NOT broke nor poor. I dont care how many cutbacks you had to do. STOP making people jump through hoops. Dont punish poor clinics. They might go to your competitor just to save money. THey are cheaper and YOU are NOT worth the hassle! If nothing changes or you still wont become reasonable I will have to have my nurse tell you to order the same thing each and every time, and then it gets to my house I will just send back what I dont need. Will that be better?"

[Darthvadar]

Ooooohhhh, Lillupie.... Well written!!!!!....... ... You're speaking my language... I HATE poor service, particularly from an organisation who's sole reason for existing is to keep a person alive!!!!....

I can't understand why the company can't take an order by fax or e mail!!!...

Baxter are great here (Ireland).... Freephone number to call them....

Also if I chose to, I can e mail Mum's order to them, and it's here, as if I'd called in the order, the following week....

I see Mum's Renal Failure as plenty to be dealing with without some suit deciding at a stroke of his gold Mont Blanc pen, that I can't e mail Mum's order!....

I can't wait to hear Baxter's reply.... Please share it with us!.....

All the very best....

Darth....

[Lillupie]

Darth,
 Thank you so much for the encouragement and for telling me how Baxter is on the other side of the world. I thought someone here was going to yell at me. I will for sure send what they say.

Lisa

[Darthvadar]

Hi again, Lisa....

Why on earth would anybody yell at you???... Your experience is your experience, and as such is as equally valid as anybody's!...

That's a pain for you, though..... I mean, do they think you've the time (and money) to spend on the phone to them???.... Oh of course... Silly me... You're ONLY the customer... What would you know???.... Excuse me while I grovel!!!!....

As I've said, I've nothing but praise for Baxter, Ireland, but you're certainly not the first person to tell me of poor service elsewhere....

I REALLY hope this gets sorted for you, and I'm dying to hear what they have to say!...

Love...

Darth....

[KICKSTART]

Wow theres a lot of HATE in that statement ! I can understand your frustration but its probably falling on deaf ears! I used to be like you once and would explode but found i only got an explosion back. I find now that if i state the facts in a calm but forceful manner i get listened too a lot better. I know its hard to stay calm when you are angry , but its only winding you up  and no one else. Can the clinic not do anything for you? , like place your order for you ? I cant believe Baxter is so bad out there , like Darth said they bend over backwards over here UK. We used to get a monthly sheet with the date and time of exactly when they were calling for our supply list. If you missed it they would try you again , then the option was to ring and leave a message for someone to call you back or leave your list on the answerphone. I know you probably feel better for your rant but i will put money on it , it doesnt get you anywhere. If you dont get a reply find out who the 'head honcho' is and write a calm letter ,stating the facts and difficulties you are having, 

[Riki]

Baxter was the same here.  We had to call Montreal, but we had a toll free number to dial.  My mom did all the ordering.  She kept track of everything that was needed.  When they called, and we weren't home, they'd leave a message asking us to call back.  Mom left a lot of messages with orders, and they had no problem with it.  They were so great.  When I was a kid, I even got Christmas presents from them, as an adult, I got cards from them.  The Baxter truck driver was a friend of my dad's, so he didn't mind having a chat with Lil Bro while the 2 of them were bringing stuff in.

[Jie]

I do not have any problems with Baxter. The waiting time for calling is about 1 minute here. If the cycler has any problem, I can call them any time, and exchange of cyclers takes about 24 hours, even to a remote area as my town. I think there is a reason for talking to a human being for ordering.