WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Plover, WI ~ “Warren called” said my answering service. ”Yes?” I asked. “His power chair isn’t working”; my heart dropped! Warren lives in the middle of Illinois; I live in the middle of Wisconsin. “Well, we’ve got to give him some help”, I reasoned and there was no reason to call the ex-salesman that sold the unit to Warren. He no longer works for us, besides by his own admission, he “wasn’t mechanically inclined”.

After a discussion with Warren on the phone, I concluded that the controller (the ‘brains’ of a power wheel chair) was defective. I ordered a replacement and found a friend that lived only 108 miles away to install it. It didn’t go so well. The installation was made but the unit still wasn’t working. A call to Invacare’s technician concluded a certain cable was defective and that was ordered. Warren wanted to install it, but still the chair would not budge! Things were looking grim! I located other Medical Suppliers in the nearby area asking that they take the customer and repair the unit; however they couldn’t or wouldn’t. What would you do?

At 4:00am, Saturday morning, I loaded a similar motorized wheel chair in the back of my Yukon and started south. By 9:00am I was at Warren’s front door. His wife was on the porch waiting for me. I found Warren in the living room with the Pronto M-41 laying in the middle of the living room floor….completely apart. 93 year old, ex-electrician Warren had the unit completely apart, pieces everywhere! Warren was dressed and sitting in a ‘Lazy-Boy” type chair, feet up as though he had picked a front row seat to watch the show!

Within minutes I identified the problem, (a different cable was defective); I replace the cable with a new one from the unit I brought, put his chair back together and within the hour I was back on the road for my 4 hour journey back home.

Why? Well, I don’t know what you would have done, that’s up to you and your conscience, but our motto is: “What ever you want people to do to you, you must also do to them.” I certainly would have expected the company that sold me the chair to repair it if there was a problem! Yes, it cost me my Saturday, it cost me $3.99/gallon gas, and I drove 600.8 miles to take care of business that day, but…..it was the right thing to do! Simple as that!

I’m not sure that ‘Scooter” guy on TV or his boss would have taken care of their customer the way I did; but that’s how we run our business. The same motto applies to our on-line customer oriented home health care business: http://www.homecaretogether.com/.

Best of all, Warren smiled and said: “Thank you”. That made the trip worthwhile!

Medicare Approval Is No Small Potatoes

Plover, Wisconsin: Just a year or so ago, a potato field near us was turned into a mega-size strip mall. For centuries, potatoes came from those dusty acres, now the only potatoes you can get is the one’s for sale at the Wal-Mart Super Store that anchors the mall with Kohl’s, Lowe’s and other stores.As the area was transforming itself into this super-sized money pit, I received a telephone call from somewhere “out East”. The caller said that it was a “courtesy call” letting me know that Wal-Mart was going to have a Medical Supply Store with-in their store. They were offering me the new store within a store location. For $40,000.00 and $3,500/month, I could open shop! They explained what the money was for and how I would be in a prime spot to do business. “With all the “baby boomers” and elderly coming to Wal-Mart, I would be getting all the business I wanted,” they reassured me. I thanked them and politely turned down the offer (do I have ‘sucker’ written on my forehead?)

Well someone did; because another Medical Supply Store did go in…..and out within a few months of the Grand Opening. Yet another brave (but soon bankrupt) soul tried. They also bit the “potato dust”. Now there is a Bank Branch in that spot.

What happened? Potato farmers and others did walk-in, but they were not “cash” customers; they were Medicare beneficiaries. Each one of them wanted scooters; power wheel chairs and other medical supplies but they wanted to use their Medicare benefits to pay and none of these stores were Medicare approved!

Fortunately we weathered this storm just fine because we have been and are an approved Medicare Supplier. ALPINE MEDICAL SUPPLY, INC has been a Medicare Supplier since 2003 and we have helped many receive their equipment at little or no cost. We do all the paperwork and all the billing. The same service is now available when someone orders from our catalogue or on-line at http://www.homecaretogether.com/. We accept Medicare and that buys a lot of potatoes!
3/19/08
by gary l. fenn

Home Care Products Sent Discreetly to Grandpa

Plover, WI ~ Who needs to know that Grandpa wears diapers? NOBODY! That’s why Alpine Medical Supply, Inc, an approved Medicare Supplier, has introduced a National Home Care Product service that will deliver grandpa’s adult diapers and any of +16,000 other health care products directly to his home in a discreetly marked package.

Beside the convenience of ordering on-line, using www.homecaretogether.com and it’s easy to use shopping cart, or calling 877-655-0855 directly and talking to a friendly voice, it is comforting to know that your business is …… your business!

The staff at Home Care Together understands the need for sensitivity when shopping for these kinds of products. After all, if a neighbor sees you looking at the Wound Care isle in the drug store, or your best friend says hello to you when you’re looking at the ostomy or urological products, well ….. it can be embarrassing! Many now find these products and other items such as: skin & wound care, incontinent products, diabetic supplies, pain management, enternal feeding supplies, needles, syringes, analgesics, bathroom safety supplies, mobility equipment and much, much more, easily obtainable by just a “click of a mouse” in the privacy of their own home or by a friendly chat with an understanding representative.

Home Care Together values your privacy so much that we do not share our customer list with anyone! Your order is packaged in a discreetly marked box and sent from one of our 6 warehouses located throughout the USA within 48 hours of placing your order. We understand that as we all grow older, our health care needs change but we do not have to lose our dignity as we cope with life’s challenges! And that includes grandpa’s too!