I dearly wish I could go into negative stars. These people are great until they have your money.
I bought a Philips Respironics DreamStation right before the recall. I explained my situation; I have extremely low lung function. 24% I was moving from the Trilogy NIV (non-invasive ventilation) to the Life2000. The Trilogy has a humidifier -- the Life2K does not. I did not know if the BiPAP would give me enough volume or not. They told me they would buy it back, at a lower price, of course, if it did not.
The BiPAP did not give me enough volume. (I solved the humidity thing with a bedstand humidifier.)
I called them to sell it back, and they told me about the Philips recall. If I had any sense, I would have demanded my money back. It was under warranty and non-usable.
Secondwind told me to register for a replacement and call them when I had the replacement. That was the first "we are lying our butts off" incident. If they had not flat-out lied to me, several times, I would not have put myself through the stress of the past two years. They had no intention of ever buying it back or refunding any portion of what I spent.
In actuality, that might have been the second lying episode. If they truly do know anything about lung function, they would have told me that a BiPAP would not meet my needs.
A $1700 piece of junk sat in my closet for two years. I looked at the time I spent on the phone with Philips -- it took twenty-seven phone calls, at an average of fifty minutes a call, to get the replacement device.
I get the replacement device. I call Secondwind. They tell me that I must call Philips Respironics and get the device "unregistered" to me before they can buy it back.
Five more phone calls to Philips to find out that is not a thing. They shipped the replacement device and closed the case. And, seriously, have they ever asked anyone else to "unregister" their device?
I call Secondwind, again, and tell them what Philips said. The woman told me they would not buy it back because they do not deal with Philips any longer.
Seriously?
If they would have been honest, ONCE, they would have told me they had no intention of buying it back. If they had done so, I would have realized that I had an inoperable device that was under warranty, and I would have simply asked for my money back.
They did not want to give my money back, so they sent me on a two-year-long snipe hunt.
I mentioned the warranty and the woman got snippy. "That warranty is over!"
I am considering legal action. I was frightened that without humidity it would hurt to breathe when I slept, and they took advantage of that.
I did not need a $1700 humidifier. I needed a $100 bedstand humidifier.
I was the idiot who allowed it to happen, though.
If you deal with Secondwind CPAP, know that your money is their bottom line. They have no interest in your health or wellbeing. They have made that clear.
Do your homework beforehand, as I should have. Get paperwork and if there is a problem, get your money back. The words that come out of their mouths, have been for me, whatever it would take to string me along until the warranty was up, then whatever would get me off the phone.
Dishonesty has been the rule rather than the exception.
I help moderate a Facebook COPD group that saved my life by making me go to pulmonary rehab. We have a word for people who market to vulnerable people and then lie to them.
Predator. read more
