Re: Help! Anyone w/problems w/Sprint double-battery case?

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/13/2004 1:05:37 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

gum1029@... writes:

Up until we broke the original case (14 months),

it worked beautifully, and my daughter's speech

progressed quickly. Now, with this problem, the

interruptions in functioning may, I feel, hamper

her progress. A great piece of technology has

been reduced to a piece of near-junk, all because

of the need to save a few $$ on a 'new model' of

battery case!!

Any suggestions, guidance, or inside info on how

to get better help from Cochlear (the

manufacturer) would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Those are exactly the words to use when you call/write them again. Add in

the words " choking hazard " and " lawsuit " and " contacting the FDA and Better

Business Bureau " ... and I'll bet that their " Aw Gee " reaction becomes one that

is far more professional and helpful.

Does that door actually fall off -- can your child choke on it? My guess is

she can. How about the batteries that are now going to fall out? Those are not

just a problem for choking. Ingesting those can kill.

Now, I've said all this NOT to scare you but to give you the words to use

when you make that next call. Ask for a supervisor. In order to make it clear to

the person on the phone, who is taught NOT to pass you on to a supervisor,

ask for someone who has their own business cards WITH their name printed on

them, someone who sits in an office NOT a cubicle. Ask for their address, their

actual address, not the company's mailing address. You want someone you can

find again, not just someone working the Customer Service phone bank in

India. This process can take a while, I've just recently gone through it. I

started by calling the corporate headquarters, NOT the 1-800 number.

Find out the number of their local sales rep. Chances are you signed a

permission form to allow him to be in the surgery when the deice was implanted,

so

you probably already have his name. Call him directly. Leave messages for

him. Tell him you're going to contact every implanting surgeon in your state to

see if there have been any accidents because of this negligent design. You'll

get his attention. He knows who to contact within the company.

Do NOT be afraid to be a bitch (pardon the swear) because this is NOT a

small issue. I've found that being insistent and not backing down (thus earning

that moniker myself) is an unavoidable part of advocating for my son. I'm never

rude, am occasionally sarcastic, and I never insult the person I'm pushing.

But being insistent does earn that label. It bothered me at first, now it is

a source of pride.

The sliding door is a design flaw that could be putting children's lives at

risk. Their response is completely unacceptable and I'll bet there is a law

firm someplace who would delight in a class action suit based on this design.

Ask for the supervisor, get a name. Get a direct line (or extension). Get a

fax number. If you do have a conversation with someone, then write a letter

" confirming our conversation. " Basically, you are repeating the contents of

that conversation in the letter. Then fax it to them AND mail a copy as well

(registered, return receipt). Also, send a copy to the FDA (I think they're

involved in this, yes?), the Better Business Bureau and any other agency you

can

think of who oversees these devices. I'd probably add the AMA to my list ...

or if there is a professional society for ENTs or the docs who implant our

kids, include them. I'll bet that those docs would not like to be named in a

class action suit because they have implanted a device with a component that

could irreparably harm a child.

You could also call the implanting surgeon and tell that office of your

problems. When calling them, you won't want to be difficult, at least not at

first. Play the role of little-lost-mommy on the phone. It's easy because we

all

feel that way. You're asking for their help, but in that conversation

remember to say that you are deeply concerned about choking hazards and feel you

may

have to contact the FDA or the AMA or a lawyer because Cochlear is not

taking this seriously and it is a VERY important concern when it comes to the

use

of the device with children. They should get the point.

Just for the record ... I hate lawsuits. I didn't bother to pursue my own

over my pregnancy with our son. There was no point. The doctor who put our lives

at risk no longer practices -- he retired after a near fatal heart attack.

But I was willing to sue when it came to my son's care and education, happily,

we avoided that.

But this is a different issue. You're talking about a LARGE manufacturer who

is providing these devices for use on children. This is a corporation who

evaluates things based on their bottom line. There have been well documented

cases of manufacturers have not bothered to repair design flaws because the

cost of retooling was more than settling the few law suits that arose. Human

suffering was not really an issue unless it became a PR thing and the press got

a hold of it. Corporations are not warm fuzzy entities and this one is

obviously not being receptive to your concerns.

Think about it this way. For an adult, if the door fell open and the battery

fell out, that person would never eat it or stick it up their nose. The same

cannot be said about a 2 year old. That's your focus, that's the point of

your calls/letters: They are being knowingly negligent and putting your child

at risk.

Now for the easy part -- duct tape. The glue can get gooey but it stays like

iron for a while. We use it to keep the back on our TV remotes. It's

currently holding the arm rest of my desk chair -- the one that got semi-broken

when

my daughter stood on it so she could reach something off the top of the

cabinets. I used blue because it made me smile. It comes in all kinds of

colors,

so let you daughter pick her favorite. Cut a little strip and put it in

place. Then get on the phone and demand some action/answers from Cochlear.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

Awesome, Jill! You give amazing advice! I'm saving this in case I ever need

it, in ANY situation

Stefanie

on 12/13/04 2:16 PM, JillcWood@... at JillcWood@... wrote:

>

>

> In a message dated 12/13/2004 1:05:37 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

> gum1029@... writes:

>

> Up until we broke the original case (14 months),

> it worked beautifully, and my daughter's speech

> progressed quickly. Now, with this problem, the

> interruptions in functioning may, I feel, hamper

> her progress. A great piece of technology has

> been reduced to a piece of near-junk, all because

> of the need to save a few $$ on a 'new model' of

> battery case!!

>

> Any suggestions, guidance, or inside info on how

> to get better help from Cochlear (the

> manufacturer) would be appreciated.

>

> Thank you.

>

>

>

>

>

> Those are exactly the words to use when you call/write them again. Add in

> the words " choking hazard " and " lawsuit " and " contacting the FDA and Better

> Business Bureau " ... and I'll bet that their " Aw Gee " reaction becomes one

> that

> is far more professional and helpful.

>

> Does that door actually fall off -- can your child choke on it? My guess is

> she can. How about the batteries that are now going to fall out? Those are not

> just a problem for choking. Ingesting those can kill.

>

> Now, I've said all this NOT to scare you but to give you the words to use

> when you make that next call. Ask for a supervisor. In order to make it clear

> to

> the person on the phone, who is taught NOT to pass you on to a supervisor,

> ask for someone who has their own business cards WITH their name printed on

> them, someone who sits in an office NOT a cubicle. Ask for their address,

> their

> actual address, not the company's mailing address. You want someone you can

> find again, not just someone working the Customer Service phone bank in

> India. This process can take a while, I've just recently gone through it. I

> started by calling the corporate headquarters, NOT the 1-800 number.

>

> Find out the number of their local sales rep. Chances are you signed a

> permission form to allow him to be in the surgery when the deice was

> implanted, so

> you probably already have his name. Call him directly. Leave messages for

> him. Tell him you're going to contact every implanting surgeon in your state

> to

> see if there have been any accidents because of this negligent design. You'll

> get his attention. He knows who to contact within the company.

>

> Do NOT be afraid to be a bitch (pardon the swear) because this is NOT a

> small issue. I've found that being insistent and not backing down (thus

> earning

> that moniker myself) is an unavoidable part of advocating for my son. I'm

> never

> rude, am occasionally sarcastic, and I never insult the person I'm pushing.

> But being insistent does earn that label. It bothered me at first, now it is

> a source of pride.

>

> The sliding door is a design flaw that could be putting children's lives at

> risk. Their response is completely unacceptable and I'll bet there is a law

> firm someplace who would delight in a class action suit based on this design.

>

> Ask for the supervisor, get a name. Get a direct line (or extension). Get a

> fax number. If you do have a conversation with someone, then write a letter

> " confirming our conversation. " Basically, you are repeating the contents of

> that conversation in the letter. Then fax it to them AND mail a copy as well

> (registered, return receipt). Also, send a copy to the FDA (I think they're

> involved in this, yes?), the Better Business Bureau and any other agency you

> can

> think of who oversees these devices. I'd probably add the AMA to my list ...

> or if there is a professional society for ENTs or the docs who implant our

> kids, include them. I'll bet that those docs would not like to be named in a

> class action suit because they have implanted a device with a component that

> could irreparably harm a child.

>

> You could also call the implanting surgeon and tell that office of your

> problems. When calling them, you won't want to be difficult, at least not at

> first. Play the role of little-lost-mommy on the phone. It's easy because we

> all

> feel that way. You're asking for their help, but in that conversation

> remember to say that you are deeply concerned about choking hazards and feel

> you may

> have to contact the FDA or the AMA or a lawyer because Cochlear is not

> taking this seriously and it is a VERY important concern when it comes to the

> use

> of the device with children. They should get the point.

>

> Just for the record ... I hate lawsuits. I didn't bother to pursue my own

> over my pregnancy with our son. There was no point. The doctor who put our

> lives

> at risk no longer practices -- he retired after a near fatal heart attack.

> But I was willing to sue when it came to my son's care and education,

> happily,

> we avoided that.

>

> But this is a different issue. You're talking about a LARGE manufacturer who

> is providing these devices for use on children. This is a corporation who

> evaluates things based on their bottom line. There have been well documented

> cases of manufacturers have not bothered to repair design flaws because the

> cost of retooling was more than settling the few law suits that arose. Human

> suffering was not really an issue unless it became a PR thing and the press

> got

> a hold of it. Corporations are not warm fuzzy entities and this one is

> obviously not being receptive to your concerns.

>

> Think about it this way. For an adult, if the door fell open and the battery

> fell out, that person would never eat it or stick it up their nose. The same

> cannot be said about a 2 year old. That's your focus, that's the point of

> your calls/letters: They are being knowingly negligent and putting your child

> at risk.

>

> Now for the easy part -- duct tape. The glue can get gooey but it stays like

> iron for a while. We use it to keep the back on our TV remotes. It's

> currently holding the arm rest of my desk chair -- the one that got

> semi-broken when

> my daughter stood on it so she could reach something off the top of the

> cabinets. I used blue because it made me smile. It comes in all kinds of

> colors,

> so let you daughter pick her favorite. Cut a little strip and put it in

> place. Then get on the phone and demand some action/answers from Cochlear.

>

> Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Yeah, I got some hinged battery cases for the Sprint...

BROKEN ones!! That's right -- the old design was no better in

durability, and that is probably they went with the sliding door.

They just can't seem to get those doors right! I think they

probably must have some of the hinged kind that they could send you,

though. They must have them from the returned units that they

refurbish.

One thing I noticed is that regular AA batteries are a little bigger

than the Cochlear rechargeables. I wonder if, in the mean time

while you wait for the good battery case, you would get a better

contact if you changed to a different brand disposable or

rechargeable that had ever so slightly different dimensions.

Good luck!

Lydia

N24C 1/01, almost 8, uses 3G BTE now

Colin, 11, hearing

[Guest guest]

You might try scotch tape. I did that with our hinged doors that kept popping

open. I would turn a little bit of the end back on itself so that I could pull

it open to replace the batteries.

You also might try posting to cicircle to get the attention of the company(s)

and professionals.

Mom to 12, (n24 4/00) and 4

We recently had to replace the double-battery

case for my 2 1/2 year-old daughter's Sprint

processer. The replacement case has a sliding

door (like those on cheap TV remotes), instead of

the sturdy, original hinged door. Even when held

with rubber bands (again, like a cheap TV

remote), the door slips, the batteries slip, and

we constantly receive 'low battery' warning

beeps--or it shuts off completely. Contacting

Cochlear resulted in a " Gee, that's too bad! "