Freestyle Libre use by date

[Bloden]

That's the last time I order 10 sensors from Abbott! I received my sensors in Feb and the use by date, as I've already mentioned on another thread, is June 30th 2017 which doesn't give me time to use all the sensors. I've spoken to Abbott twice now and they can't offer me an adequate solution. So, to cut a long story short, I can't get my money back 😡 and I hate to see good sensors going to waste - there must be two deserving people here who would like them...buy me a (very big) coffee if I ever make it to a forum meet. Or make a donation to Diabetes UK.

 

[CosmicHedgehog]

Surely they are not fit for purpose if they will go out of date before you can use them, I would demand a refund or return the short date ones and credit my account with x amount of sensors.. Just because it's medical equipment doesn't mean they aren't under the same rules and regulations as any other retailer. I only ever order 4 at a time now, for the same reasons. The last 4 i ordered i would only just be able to use within the date. Also i only ever pay with pay pal now, because when things like this happen you have a pay pal guarantee so if the company wont refund you pay pal will. Its too expensive to not have protection on your orders/goods .

 

[Bloden]

Surely they are not fit for purpose if they will go out of date before you can use them, I would demand a refund or return the short date ones and credit my account with x amount of sensors.. Just because it's medical equipment doesn't mean they aren't under the same rules and regulations as any other retailer. I only ever order 4 at a time now, for the same reasons. The last 4 i ordered i would only just be able to use within the date. Also i only ever pay with pay pal now, because when things like this happen you have a pay pal guarantee so if the company wont refund you pay pal will. Its too expensive to not have protection on your orders/goods .

You're right, CosmicHedgehog - you live and learn! I'll only be ordering 2 or 3 at a time from now on.

 

[Sally71]

Has anyone ever tried to actually use one past its use by date? Will it definitely not work, or is that just a guideline that they can't guarantee that the battery will stay fresh (in which case you might be lucky and still be able to use them)?
Obviously I'm not going to volunteer to deliberately let one go out of date to see what happens, but if I found one in my cupboard that had, I'd still try to use it and see!

 

[Bloden]

Has anyone ever tried to actually use one past its use by date? Will it definitely not work, or is that just a guideline that they can't guarantee that the battery will stay fresh (in which case you might be lucky and still be able to use them)?
Obviously I'm not going to volunteer to deliberately let one go out of date to see what happens, but if I found one in my cupboard that had, I'd still try to use it and see!

Good idea!

 

[Steff]

Right hands up which one of you is going to volunteer

 

[Lilian]

Yes, I have heard about this before. In fact I did warn people this might happen in another thread earlier this year. They do not seem to be well organised because some people get earlier dates and others get later dates when ordering at the same time. When I went to order several I was told that they could not guarantee they would all be in date by the time I got to use them and advised not to get more than four at a time - which I have been doing. Even then I have been a bit wary. I now order as soon as I put my last one on. If yours are out of date and you are not going to get you money back from them then you have lost nothing if you try and use an out of date one. Just keep some strips handy to check to see if it loses any accuracy.

 

[Robin]

In the days when strips had a chip which you had to insert into the meter, they wouldn't work if they were past their date, unless you reset the date on the meter to a time previous to the expiry date.
I wonder if you'll find the Libre reader is the same, ie the sensor will only work if you reset the date for a time previous to the end of June.

 

[grovesy]

This is not good for customer relations. I am presuming they are part of Abbott drug company, which is a multi national. They should not have these sorts of problems.

 

[SB2015]

That's the last time I order 10 sensors from Abbott! I received my sensors in Feb and the use by date, as I've already mentioned on another thread, is June 30th 2017 which doesn't give me time to use all the sensors. I've spoken to Abbott twice now and they can't offer me an adequate solution. So, to cut a long story short, I can't get my money back 😡 and I hate to see good sensors going to waste - there must be two deserving people here who would like them...buy me a (very big) coffee if I ever make it to a forum meet. Or make a donation to Diabetes UK.

I think it might be worth another phonecall to Abbott and see if someone else offers to refund the cost. I was given a refund on four that I sent back because of not being able to use the sensors by the end date. They did have a bit of a stock control situation at the time.

 

[Bloden]

Right hands up which one of you is going to volunteer

Thanks, Steff.🙂 Me and him indoors are having a sh***y time at the mo and I just want to do something positive and cheer myself up a bit. PM me if you want one of these sensors folks.🙂

 

[Copepod]

Sounds to me that sensors are not fit for use, if some will be out of date before you can use them all. I'd check with consumer rights officer at local council and / or check consumer rights websites.

 

[Robin]

Sounds to me that sensors are not fit for use, if some will be out of date before you can use them all. I'd check with consumer rights officer at local council and / or check consumer rights websites.

Hmm, tricky one, that. The sensors were in date if they'd been used continuously one after another, and not had a gap. Would Kellogs refund you for out of date cornflakes if you'd swapped to Weetabix for a few weeks in the middle?

 

[Ljc]

Mike, I can hear your phone line sizzling from here.

 

[mikeyB]

I've been in touch with Abbot about my last delivery of 10, all of which which expired on 30th of June, and they agreed to an exchange of four sensors. They sent me an email with a label to stick on the box.

Now here's the thing - my delivery came from France. The return address is Staufenburg in Germany. Is it any wonder things get cocked up? Though I have to say, its the first time I've had a problem. I've never seen a sensor out of date message, for sure.

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

That's very poor customer service, I'd be p### off

 

[mikeyB]

I don't see a problem with the customer service. They very readily admitted fault, sent me a free post label to send things back, there was no wait on the freephone number, and it was all sorted in 5 minutes.🙂 That's good customer service in my book, so I was only itrritated up to the point I phoned them. It's a regular comment actually - their customer service is very good, it's their foreign warehousemen and women that let them down.

 

[mikeyB]

Which makes me wonder. What happens to prices after Brexit?

 

[Ljc]

Glad you got it sorted Mike.

 

[Copepod]

Hmm, tricky one, that. The sensors were in date if they'd been used continuously one after another, and not had a gap. Would Kellogs refund you for out of date cornflakes if you'd swapped to Weetabix for a few weeks in the middle?

I agree that would be right in your cereals example, but I got the impression from Bloden's original post on this thread that she couldn't use all 10 before the expiry date in June. She didn't say anything about having sensor free periods.