as of 4.50pm today the order had not been received by invacare. the lady I spoke to at invacare,Kate, has been extremely helpful and is not happy with the dealer and in fact was talking about taking the agency away from them as this is not the first time they have had issues with this dealer
Butiki, I'm really sorry to hear that! It even makes me mad the thought that they'd do something like that after paying for it :mad: That was excellent info Lαrα provided! I'm glad you decided to get in touch with them and come to a resolution. I really hope you get your chair ordered and delivered soon and that your dealer gets his contract taken away from Invacare. After this much waiting time, you can pretty much say he stole your money!
butiki, what a mess! Demo-ed the chair you ordered at a disability expo, and wished I could have grabbed it and mailed it!!!! Lara, you gave him great info and advice. DJ and butiki, I have not tried a Freewheel, but everyone who has it, loves it. I need to find a rigid chair that I can actually lift into my car with deteriorating bones and joints (RA, sarcoidosis in bone). Having trouble getting coverage for ultralight rigid. Can't afford Lasher Mg chair, or Pantera-X, carbon fiber. Demo-ed the latter at same expo, and it was so awesome I couldn't stop crying. Not a particularly dramatic person, but in that chair I felt as if I were walking... Any suggestions?
DJ, Freewheel can only be used on a rigid chair. That means I have to be evaluated (coming at end of November) and prescribed an ultralight rigid chair, and that I can actually lift it into my car. Right now I am using a "tank" of a folding chair, weighs 46 lbs, and I rigged up something that pulls it into car. Only part of weight has to be lifted, because wheels are not removed, but a rigid chair would have to be entirely lifted in with wheels removed. Not clear yet if government will assist with payment for WC. Since I am using leg braces and canes at home now, they may deem that sufficient. My mobility is limited to how much my joints can bear in a day, and WC would greatly extend that. My present WC is 3" too wide, and makes the joint problems much worse. I use it only when I would need to stand in one place for long.
butiki, I hope the order can be re-placed and fulfilled by a more reliable vendor, and that you get your chair in a reasonable time startiing over like this.
wavewolf, that makes sense, probably because of the way the footplates/footrests are designed. The Freewheel only attaches to the single fixed footplate design of ridged chairs opposed to the split footrests for regular chairs. Do you think you could get a PT or OT to justify that you're going to need a good light chair as right now the leg braces are causing joint problems and that a heavy chair would be too much for your shoulders? Keep an eye out on places like eBay or kijiji for these light ridged chairs, you could snatch one up at a decent price if you're lucky! I really hope you'll be able to get it covered by the government though. It would be a great thing for you or anyone to have! If I stumble across any good deals online I'll let you know. :tup:
Post by ridingdirty on Sept 11, 2013 20:14:12 GMT -8
hello wavewolf i have verry big chair to and it verry hard to push. my wife help when i am tierd but i like to have a small chair but too much money. everything is to much money !
wavewolf, that makes sense, probably because of the way the footplates/footrests are designed. The Freewheel only attaches to the single fixed footplate design of ridged chairs opposed to the split footrests for regular chairs. Do you think you could get a PT or OT to justify that you're going to need a good light chair as right now the leg braces are causing joint problems and that a heavy chair would be too much for your shoulders? Keep an eye out on places like eBay or kijiji for these light ridged chairs, you could snatch one up at a decent price if you're lucky! I really hope you'll be able to get it covered by the government though. It would be a great thing for you or anyone to have! If I stumble across any good deals online I'll let you know. :tup:
Thanks for ideas where to purchase used! I need to find out what my specs should be, and that will be done at the eval. Not clear what will be deemed "medically necessary". With chronic and progressive disease, they may consider power chair "medically necessary". But I would not be able to transport it in my vehicle, so not really practical; new vehicle out of the question!!! Ideal would be ultralight rigid with Smart Drive and Freewheel! Not likely...
hello wavewolf i have verry big chair to and it verry hard to push. my wife help when i am tierd but i like to have a small chair but too much money. everything is to much money !
That is the issue... Yet, if we continue to injure ourselves using the wrong equipment, the cost in money and body will be higher.
Well some good news, the chair was in fact ordered back in July, the lady at invacare in Sydney had made a mistake and did not see it in her orders, so my apologies to the dealer,just very glad I didn't name them, invacare has assured me that I will have the chair in 2 weeks if not i will get a substantial refund from invacare. :banana: So some good news for a change. I am so sick of being treated like a ding bat, why don't people understand that I have a spinal injury not a brain injury. And also about the prices we are forced to pay for things, for example the little jump seat I got with my hand controls cost $1890.00 go to my post about my car and there are photos of the $1890.00 bit of metal and some upholstery ,lol but I'm now happy about the way things have turned out with my new chair.
wavewolf, that's a big flaw in the system isn't it! If a power chair isn't practable due to transportation, I don't see why they couldn't prescribe an ultralight rigid chair with Smart Drive and Freewheel. Who's responsible for these prescriptions and equipment referrals, a PT?
Also, to your reply to ridingdirty, I agree completely!
Butiki, that's great news! I started thinking bad about the dealer but it's good that it wasn't his fault. So only 2 weeks huh, it still feels far away
You know, people do think that we have a brain injury or something just because of the chair, it's really frustrating and annoying sometimes :argh:
Don't get me started on the overpriced equipment, it seems to be a trend all around the world. It's like they go "ok, this is deemed a medical equipment so lets increase its value by 800%!" :facepalm:
Well some good news, the chair was in fact ordered back in July, the lady at invacare in Sydney had made a mistake and did not see it in her orders, so my apologies to the dealer,just very glad I didn't name them, invacare has assured me that I will have the chair in 2 weeks if not i will get a substantial refund from invacare. :banana: So some good news for a change. I am so sick of being treated like a ding bat, why don't people understand that I have a spinal injury not a brain injury. And also about the prices we are forced to pay for things, for example the little jump seat I got with my hand controls cost $1890.00 go to my post about my car and there are photos of the $1890.00 bit of metal and some upholstery ,lol but I'm now happy about the way things have turned out with my new chair.
Thats great news Butiki....im so pleased to hear!! Two weeks is no time to wait now..im excited for you! lol
wavewolf, that's a big flaw in the system isn't it! If a power chair isn't practable due to transportation, I don't see why they couldn't prescribe an ultralight rigid chair with Smart Drive and Freewheel. Who's responsible for these prescriptions and equipment referrals, a PT?
Also, to your reply to ridingdirty, I agree completely!
Problem is, ultralight manual + Smart Drive is more expensive than a crappy power chair, which is what you get on Medicare. Overpriced, not reliable, and not transportable in present (and only!) vehicle. Free Wheel would never be considered "medically necessary", so I'd have to cough up for that--worth it, with/without Smart Drive. Usually OT does this work, but in my case it is a specialized WC clinic (third dept along with PT and OT) at medical center. Their recommendations are then sent to doctor for corroboration and actual prescription.
Bigger problem is that Medicare may rule that since I am using braces and forearm canes in my home now, I may not qualify for WC at all. They will only pay for what you use at home. As if we never go out... My current WC was paid for by private insurance, a clunker (no wheelies!) with 70degree legs that you can't even get close enough to wash your hands! I removed legs and added a hanging strap for my feet--works most of the time.