Medtronic Insulin Pump - Decent Pump- HORRIBLE customer service

by Dana
(Cleveland, GA)

I'm 31 years old and have been diabetic most of my life. I have been on insulin pump therapy for 10 years now, and am now researching my third insulin pump.

The conclusion I've reached is that I will NOT go back with a Medtronic Diabetes pump. I have had two now, with a Deltec Cozmo in between (before they went out of business), and I feel like I have quite a bit of experience with Medtronic.

The insulin pump functions. That is about all I can say about it. I have issues 2-3 times a month with infusion sets or reservoirs giving me problems, and according to the "customer service" people at Medtronic, it is always my fault, and never faulty equipment. For whatever it is worth, I never had a single problem with a reservoir or infusion set when I was using my Cozmo pump. The people in customer service are never willing to help out, not even the local representatives in my area.

I also tried to use the continuous glucose monitoring system. This was another hassle. I went through about 8 different sensors, and never did get a valid reading. Medtronic refused to replace the transmitter under warranty, insisting that it was me installing the sensors incorrectly, even though I actually had it hooked up by one of their diabetes educators one time, and by one of their sales representatives another time. I wasted approximately $600 to get the CGM and never got a valid reading from it.

As far as the pump is concerned, it does what you program it to do. AS long as the infusion sets are working properly, the device does deliver the insulin. Just hope that you never have any problems that you need to speak with customer service about. You can expect to be placed on "hold" for at least 30 minutes before ever getting someone on the phone, and then no one that you speak to actually has the authority to do anything to help you out.

My conclusion is this, I will NOT use another Medtronic pump for the simple reason that they have HORRIBLE customer service, and won't stand behind their product the way they should.