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My doctor prescribed a Life Watch heart monitor, with a cell-phone transmitter. I started into a cardiac event at 8 p.m. and hit the manual switch to send an alarm to Life Watch. AT MIDNIGHT, someone called me to ask if I was OK.
The battery on the cell-phone transmitter only lasts for 5 hours, so that means the transmitter goes dead in the middle of the night, and it takes hours to recharge. That means I have no alarm-transmission service from, say, 3 a.m. until about noon the next day, even if I put it on charge at 7 a.m. when I wake up.
Furthermore, the customer service people are idiots. I had to tell the woman repeatedly that the phone had been on charge for three hours and was still dead...in fact, I was so frustrated after about the fourth time that I ended up screaming one word at a time to her in an attempt to get what I was saying through her thick skull.
The thing is going back today after having it just ONE day.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Similar experience...battery needs charging several times a day. Wakes you up when battery dies. Wakes you up again when it is done charging. Unfortunately no plug next to my bed to charge at night. Can't charge device in the car. Device has protruding plastic piece that makes it uncomfortable to wear.
Customer support...ordered electrodes...they never arrived...called to make sure they were ordered. I had a nice tone of voice and tried to not speak very much so as to not frustrate customer service...He didn't answer my question so I asked it again and he flipped a switch and got so irritated. Pretty much customer service has an irritated and put off voice from go...like you are this big inconvenience. I have enough stress wearing this thing...I wish customer service could at least be neutral.
testimony
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Update...electrodes arrived...wrong ones. Will have to stop wearing device when my current ones fall off and then I have to call the company AGAIN to let them know I am taking off the device...then I will have to wait 4 days from now to receive the electrodes and then they tack on the missed days at the end of the 30 day period. When I first asked for electrodes a week ago...they said it was too soon and therefore they could not send electrodes...so I called a few days later...I could tell the guy wasn't listening...wasn't suprised when the wrong ones arrived today. They said that FedEx doesn't ship out on Saturdays...I haven't lived anywhere in the US (especially a major city where lifewatch is based) where they don't ship on Saturday mornings...oh well...nothing to do at this point. The first guy I talked to today wasn't very nice, the second guy was much nicer and a better listener. Overall...poor rating
My experience with LifeWatch was pretty good IF I were to evaluate it based on the equipment alone, it functioned well and was comfortable, no complaints there. The service though, is quite another story!
My first contact with them took place after I was wearing the monitor for about 2 days. I had a problem with the monitor not connecting to the phone. I called tech support and the woman was rude and did not help at all. I caulked it up to one bad apple or someone having a bad day, and figured out how to fix the problem myself.
Then, about halfway through the monitoring period (in Feb. of this year) I received the bill which had me listed as self pay and had my name misspelled. The next day, I sent the bottom half of the bill back as it instructed with my name spelled correctly and a front and back copy of my insurance card. Over the next month I was sent 3 more bills still with the same misspelling and self pay status. I contacted the billing department via email as the bill instructed, to inquire about this problem. I sent messages, 1-2 a week for about a month until I finally got an answer. I was told that the misspelling of my name was why they could not verify my insurance and NOW that they have the proper spelling they will process it and send me a new bill that reflects my coverage. It has been over 2 weeks and I still have not received the new statement nor a response to my latest inquiry on if it has been submitted.
But that isn't the worst of it! They also did not accurately log my events! I received a copy of the report that LifeWatch sent to my doctor. The report has 51 recored events. I'm sure I triggered it over 100 times but I realize my count could be wrong, however I was able to count at least 12 events that were specifically missing based on the activities I entered and a few where I entered the symptoms but closed out before entering an activity and some other specifics. It was also missing all the auto triggers. It was my understanding that the device would auto trigger for heart rate over 150bpm and under 40bpm, 2nd or 3rd degree blocks, pauses over 3 seconds and some other perimeters that are not relevant to my situation. During the period my rate was well over 150bpm (usually around 160-175) near daily when I was running and it never set off an event. Also, my pulse did drop below 45bpm while awake quite a few times (asymptomatically) a while before I triggered an event for other reasons which tells me that surely my pulse dropped under 40bpm while sleeping (it did when I had the 24 hour holter done). Also, I did trigger an event where heart block was present which leads me to wonder how many times that was missed by auto trigger.
I contacted the company through the "contact us" section on their website about these issues, the first time being in the second week of March. I sent them a detailed list of the exact events that were missing and my concerns about the lack of auto triggers. After a week with no response I sent it again and again the following week. The 3rd week I sent a shorter message asking if they received my messages about the missing events. I got a reply that day saying only that "all the events are there". He clearly did not read the first message with the details. I replied to his direct email with the long form message with all the details and got no response. The next week I sent it to him again, and again to the company "contact us" section hoping anyone would reply. I have been sending it weekly since then with no response.
The problems (pauses and pulses syncope) that I was put on the monitor for in the first place are still occurring but due to the incomplete information my doctor received from LifeWatch he does not think there is a problem. I had no syncopal episodes during the monitoring period that I know of but they can happen during sleep as well which is why the auto-trigger was so important.
Thanks to LifeWatch, I have no where else to turn with this problem. The doctor says I'm fine and now insurance won't cover further testing. Now all I can do is hope LifeWatch contacts me with the rest of the events and auto-triggers or just keep hoping that every time I pass out my heart will continue to start again.
The heart monitor is a poorly designed product with even worse customer service. The product is a hacked cell phone that was "customized" and whose battery quickly depleted; the hanging neck harness was unnecessarily large and clumsy and had electrical leads that came out with minor normal movement; and, the body sensors which have a gel adhesive were always falling off. Long story short, it was unusable and I was billed an extraordinary fee for a product that did not perform the required task. As for the "techs", they are offshore and tend to call at ungodly hours because it is convenient for them. Difficult to understand them as well. Overall, a very frustrating experience which I shared with my physician and his staff. If you have an alternative choice, take it.
Life watch was awful for me. My doctor ordered a transmitter that when I had an even I was to push the record button then send the recording over the phone. It would make weird noises then the transmission would be over. The part that is awful is that the technicians kept asking me to send the recording twice. It wasn't until my last day that I found out all the recording were not going through good because I was sending them over my cell phone instead of a land line. This is 2014, most people do not own land lines! So I asked what that eat for the doctor to read my recordings and the technician said it meant that if I was in A-Fib, SVT or any irregular rhythm that he wouldn't be able to see those wanes, and all he could see was a change in acceleration. WTF?!?! I paid good money. This company gets a thumb way down.
So does your auto-correct. :-) But I agree. My first contact with them was bad. I've been waiting three days just for them to call to get me up and running. It's still sitting in the box.
I was suspicious of this company because they committed fraud against the U.S. govt. to the tune of $18.5M. It took me a dozen or so phone calls, but was eventually able to determine that they bill $480 for their ACT service for two days, and $950 for three weeks. There must be better options, and I'm going to find them. Thanks to all who took the time to share their experiences with this "scammy" company.
Rip off.. They are a money making company..I have scars left over on my body from the electrodes.Its been 5 months!
I want to sue them!
"I ended up screaming one word at a time to her in an attempt to get what I was saying through her thick skull."
Charming. I wonder how on earth you ended up on a heart monitor?
They billed my insurance company $4500.00 for a 6 day use of a physician ordered Holter Monitor.. My insurance co. paid $558.16. The company wrote off $3502.30 which left a balance of $439.54. The issue I have is how they can justify billing that much money for minimum use. When I called the company, they stated they bill for a month regardless of how long the patient wears it. This info was never told to me and if they did, I would have refused there service. This is exactly the reason why Insurance Companies charge such high out of pocket expenses and co pays. I submitted a claim to the Illinois States Attorney with my issues and have not yet heard back. Hopefully, they can rectify the issue as I plan on not paying a sent to this crooked company...
Filed a complaint today with the BBB. Why, Lifewatch's policy changed. Now they sent me to collections without notifying me of the change, requesting me to pay more, or placing a simple call with a voicemail to call them back... Instead, my first notice is from the collection agency who is attempting to collect. Thanks but no thanks... Allina uses their products, so avoid both if you must or refuse to their product! all over 350 that will get paid in full in 7 months after 16 full, on time, consistent payments. Like most places these days their communication style leaves little to be desired
Email: Pa@lifewatch.com
Why do as my complaint removed? people need to know lifewatch really sucks.
My bad!
By the wa, pa in their email is suppose to represent patient advocate- what a croc!
My experience has been negative, I would not recommend this companies services under any circumstances as I suspect that data collection is questionable at best. Calls to the technician require unreasonable wait times and disconnections and the employees are rather surely. The batteries have extremely short life but rest assured that replacement alarm consistently will occur at 2am. The disconnection alerts are variable in time delays and the monitor/phone distance alarms have occurred when the phone was in my lap(6 inch separation) . The "clinicians" are unable to answer basic questions about ekg recording as I think that they are unable to distinguish artifact from a dysrhythmias. I suspect that the clinicians and technicians have no useful clinical experience or relevant educational background that would be helpful for cardiac diagnostic purposes and this has been a waste of my time.
All this information could trigger an event... just reading it.
They lost my results. Wore the damn monitor for 3 weeks, and they lost it all. We chatted about it and they indicated I needed to fill out another request for the results...they sent me a form with a man's name already on the form with his account number. No doubt in my mind I could have gotten his results. Clearly a HIPPA violation and I will pursue it. No results for me! If they bill Tricare I will make this a federal case. They should be out of business
Stopped working after 48hrs. Would not connect to network. Was told by rep reception depends on availability of 3G network, but the monitor continues to store data. So, If 3G does not have a priority you can have good 4G reception and your monitor will not work! That's stupid! I can't send alerts!They are not monitoring me 24/7! As of this complaint my monitor hasn't worked for 7hrs!
This device is poorly designed. First, the plastic connector on the neck lanyard has sharp edges, making it necessary to wrap it in medical tape. Second, the leads from the connectors are unnecessarily long, and they hang out of your clothing unless you bundle and wrap them in medical tape. Third, and MOST aggravating, the unit alarms (message: monitor too far from transmitter) with a loud klaxon horn at odd hours of the night (3:20, 4:20, 5:20 am, and last night, 12:58 am), all the while sitting on my nightstand literally 2 feet away from me. It also alarms when carried in my pocket, 15 inches from the transmitter. I called tech support and spoke to a nice young lady, but she had no clue as to why it was going off when there was nothing wrong. She suggested I turn down the volume. Nice try. The receiver has NO user-accessible settings, not even volume controls. Fourth, it accidentally shut off once and I didn't hear the faint "buzz" it makes when shutting down. So that night when I went to charge it, it was turned off and the battery still nearly full, indicating it had been turned off all day. The idiots who designed this should have programmed a louder sound in case of accidental shutoff. After 2 weeks the electrodes had given me itchy red rashes, even though I changed them frequently and showered daily. 29 days into a 30 day arrhythmia study, I sent the stupid thing back. They should have all the data they need, and I'm tired of being repeatedly startled awake from a sound sleep by the false alarms. This thing will GIVE you a heart attack. What a piece of poorly designed rubbish. I'm sure that of the people who designed it, NONE of them actually took the time to wear it for a month, or they'd have fixed all these problems.