Hoverround screws me over

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:08 am

I have a Hoverround power wheelchair. One of the wheels went flat. I tried using flat fixer and it failed. So i called Hoverround. The 20% copay that Medicare does not cover is $37. (Hoverround's list price for a replacement tire is an incredible $120.) I've priced a replacement tire on the Internet at around $18, so basically for an extra $20 they'll come out and replace it and I don't have to find tools.

Fine. I understood and I said ok. So they'll check that my Medicare covers the cost and call me back in a couple days with an appointment time. Well, I've been very busy - I guess I should have kept up on it - so I didn't get around to calling them back until yesterday, which was, I think, about a week after I called.

Turns out Hoverround claims they were waiting for me to call back and approve the copay! I complained that the guy told me this when I first called it in and I said okay. Only this time they tell me the copay is $22.

So they gave me an appointment. Next Monday; the guy will call me with the exact time. Grrr.

Plus the tire came off my manual wheelchair too and I do not have the tools or the strength to reapply the tire; the asswipes made the tire so tight that basically you can't reattach it by hand, you have to have a power device to pull the tire up onto the rim. Usually a large tire like a wheelchair or bicycle tire is about an inch or two smaller than the rim. This one is like 4 inches; I don't even want to guess how much pull I'd need to reattach it.

It never rains but it pours.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:09 pm

How much of a co-pay will they cover if you get a gun, and start shooting everyone who comes through the door to fix the tire?

Can we SEND you a gun? This is an outrage! I'm sorry to hear this, Commander.

Did I ever tell you about the Commander thing? I'll start a thread.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:51 pm

So did hoverround screw you because they weren't psychic and the dude didn't just pop in ready to install a new tire at a time magically convenient for you?

Or because they gouged you for $22 and the guy coming to your house is billing out at LEAST 50-75/hr plus 4 bucks in parts for another piece of chinese shit that is just going to fall off in another 4 months (90 day warranty, ya see) so hoverround can run the scam all over again?

Probably a little of both. Though, shit man, no matter how busy I was if HALF OF MY MUTHAFUCKIN TIRES were flat I would be finding some time to make that call. that's just me.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:59 pm

Anonymous wrote:So did hoverround screw you because they weren't psychic and the dude didn't just pop in ready to install a new tire at a time magically convenient for you?

Or because they gouged you for $22 and the guy coming to your house is billing out at LEAST 50-75/hr plus 4 bucks in parts for another piece of chinese shit that is just going to fall off in another 4 months (90 day warranty, ya see) so hoverround can run the scam all over again?

Probably a little of both. Though, shit man, no matter how busy I was if HALF OF MY MUTHAFUCKIN TIRES were flat I would be finding some time to make that call. that's just me.

THASS HOW HE ROLLS

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:10 am

I have no experience or knowledge about wheelchair repair or upkeep, but it seems to me if businesses were going to pick a demographic to be nice to, it would be people in wheelchairs.

Either that or midgets.

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:14 am

Anonymous wrote:So did hoverround screw you because they weren't psychic and the dude didn't just pop in ready to install a new tire at a time magically convenient for you?.

The thing is, I was told when I first called about the co-pay and the amount, and I said that was fine, and they told me I just had to wait for them to get medicare to approve the first 80% of the charge. I had been told of the amount of the co-pay at the time I first called and said that wasn't a problem, so I'm waiting for them to call me back. Then when I call back they tell me they were waiting for me to call back and approve the co-pay. That was how I got screwed over.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:12 pm

This man was told things! And then they changed the deal! You don't expect him to roll over, do you??

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 12:41 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:This man was told things! And then they changed the deal! You don't expect him to roll over, do you??

Oh man, what a chance for a lame joke here. (Double pun!)

What's bothering me is I have to wait for the power chair to be fixed because it's very difficult for me to do much of anything in a manual wheelchair, and even more so in one that's running on one rim.

I'm waiting for repairs on my chair so I can roll over things!