Medtronic Minimed Insulin Pump

I own a Medtronic Minimed pump and they automatically ship me my supplies and charge it to my account, which I pay weekly. Insurance doesn’t pay for much, and I pay what I can on a weekly basis. It’s not cheap and my bill is $1475. Mostly because they ship them whenever they want, I have extra supplies for that reason, and I’ve never called to “cancel” my automatic shipments. My fault, I know.

The other day, I got a phone call saying there was a credit block on my shipment, so I called and dealt with the rudest person imaginable. Naturally, I didn’t do much but get mad, tell him he doesn’t have to be so rude and forget it I’m not going to work anything out with him, and I hung up. I pay them $25 a week and he asked if I’d set up a payment plan. Well, I’ve been paying $25 a week for the past four years (I didn’t tell him this, though I should have) and no one has ever tried to set up a payment plan with me, I just send them money and get bills whenever (and the bills are never the same, sometimes I get two separate ones, now how am I supposed to differentiate those?)

I am NOT trying to get away from paying. I would never do that, but these people treat me like I am and it infuriates me.

Did hanging up make me feel better? No, but customer service sucks and I’m getting tired of it. You go to the grocery store, people are rude. Does anyone ask if you need help carrying out your groceries anymore? Most of the time they don’t even say “hi, how are you today? Did you find everything you needed?” At least not in my town.

We treat others like they are a problem, like they are in the way. No wonder we’re at war. No wonder people are killing each other in schools.

Okay, that was harsh, but seriously, most people never think about anyone other than themselves anymore, IMO. Just because you think I'm a slimeball for not paying my balance in full for insulin supplies so that I can continue to take my insulin so that I can continue to live does not mean you have to treat me like a piece of trash. That, above all else, infuriates me.

Oh, guess what customer service people? When you treat others that way, they aren't usually going to want to pay, or work with you. Call it my "rebellious" nature.

We need to be more altruistic, and altruism is NOT just about money. We can give without giving money. We can give a smile. We can give a hug. We can give a “thank you” and “you’re welcome” and try to spread joy instead of negativity throughout our communities and our nations. Why don’t more people try this? If you smile and they don’t accept that smile, do you snarl and go on? Yes, I have a time or two. I saw a former coworker one day and smiled and said hello, and she didn’t smile or say one word. I knew she recognized me, but I chalked it up to busyness. Weeks or months later it happened again, she walked right by me and looked at me so I know she saw me, but didn’t say a word. I said “never mind if you want to be like that” and turned away from her. I’m pretty sure she stopped a moment. I HOPE she stopped to think about her attitude.

See, I’m not usually like that and I’m not an aggressive person, but I’m getting to be. I’d definitely like to be more so. If people are going to be rude, I’m tired of letting it bother me and letting it slide. We all have our problems and may appear "standoffish" but rudeness is downright wrong!

(These little stresses affect blood sugars and lots of other things, by the way.)

Tomorrow, I’ll try calling Minimed again, and maybe I’ll pour on the sweetness as thick as syrup that it’s so obviously fake (I hate that almost as much as rudeness, LOL). After all, I’ve seen it work for other people, why not me?

Or I could try to write a really nice but really rude letter. I don't know, and I don't know if I care (because not only am I rebellious, I'm a procrastinator and I was good just to make the first phone call. They shouldn't have taken advantage of it and maybe we could have worked something out to their benefit).