Libre sensor stopped working...

[YorkshireAli]

The sensor I'm using still has four days to go, and until 10am this morning was working fine. Then I swiped it and got a message "sensor error - please try again in 10 minutes", which came up a few times. Now it just says "no active sensor". It's still well stuck on, I haven't knocked it, and with four days to go, it isn't that it's run out of time. This is only my second sensor, the first was inaccurate and I replaced it before the time was up, so I'm not sure if this is common. Any ideas about what might have killed it off or do they have a habit of not lasting the full 14 days...?

I've tried calling Abbott, but their helpline only appears to be operative during office hours, Monday to Friday, so unless there's another out-of-hours number, I won't be getting any answers till Monday from them.

The replacement sensor for the first (faulty) one has just arrived this morning, so should I just start that one on the other arm and leave the dead one in place till I've spoken to Abbott on Monday?

 

[noblehead]

Just take the faulty sensor off, keeping it on will make no difference as Abbott can't do any checks on it until it is returned.

The 'please try again' message is a pain, had that a few times. It is annoying that their customer care-line is Monday-Friday given the number of people who now use the Libre.

 

[YorkshireAli]

Ah, right - will do that then. At least I can send both of them back together!

You would think they'd have their careline working over the weekend, wouldn't you? I mean, it's not like diabetes takes the weekend off... Maybe now that more people are using the Libre they might increase the service.

I never thought I'd get so hooked on the thing so quickly, though - six hours without it and I'm already missing knowing where my sugar's heading. It's been invaluable this week as I've been laid up with a broken rib and my sugar levels have been going all over the place.

 

[asyarlk]

I have found that Abbott are better over email, normally they reply within 48 hours.

 

[noblehead]

Ah, right - will do that then. At least I can send both of them back together!

You would think they'd have their careline working over the weekend, wouldn't you? I mean, it's not like diabetes takes the weekend off... Maybe now that more people are using the Libre they might increase the service.

I never thought I'd get so hooked on the thing so quickly, though - six hours without it and I'm already missing knowing where my sugar's heading. It's been invaluable this week as I've been laid up with a broken rib and my sugar levels have been going all over the place.

Perhaps they will eventually go for a 7 day customer service.

It is weird when you don't have a sensor on, I'm taking a break at the moment and missed the convenience of just scanning for the first few days, with your broken ribs its a shame that the sensor has let you down but good that you already have a replacement sensor ready to go

 

[AndBreathe]

I have found that Abbott are better over email, normally they reply within 48 hours.

Really? Thus far, with email, I have achieved absolutely zero.

 

[tim2000s]

I tend to agree with @AndBreathe. They might as well not have email as they don't seem to know how it works!

 

[AndBreathe]

Perhaps they will eventually go for a 7 day customer service.

It is weird when you don't have a sensor on, I'm taking a break at the moment and missed the convenience of just scanning for the first few days, with your broken ribs its a shame that the sensor has let you down but good that you already have a replacement sensor ready to go

I guess whilst the product isn't approved to replace finger prick testing, there's no driving need to increase their support costs. With the rule of thumb, "when it doubt, get the lancet out", they're well covered.

When I was accountable for a large support area of a business, I quite often had requests for longer support team coverage, but the business was unable/unwilling to cover the costs. If you consider out of hours coverage, whether deemed overtime or anti-social hours payments, the cost, per hour, bear no resemblance to business as usual, daytime costs. Without a doubt, that cost would be passed on, with predictable impact, and/or the service further outsourced to areas in markedly different time zones, such as the Asian continent. Bearing in mind how many large corporations are repatriating their support lines, including BT, it indicates how unpopular this form of off-shoring usually becomes. I did have people in India (as well as France, Portugal, the UK and US) but the various handover systems required when passing main cover from one region/time-zone to another just outweighed the benefits, and regular users soon pick up when best to call to have someone in the UK deal with their issue.

It is indeed a tricky one.

 

[AndBreathe]

I tend to agree with @AndBreathe. They might as well not have email as they don't seem to know how it works!

.... or in my case, spectacularly doesn't work.

Despite having contacted the head UK honcho on Thursday evening, UK time, I heard absolutely nothing in addition to his acknowledgement yesterday. I'll think nI'll be dropping him a note on Sunday evening, in an attempt to both grab his attention, whilst minimising the chance to forget me on Monday.

Forgettable moi? Obviously and reluctantly, so!

@asyarlk were you contacting the about the Libre specifically, or other products or services?

 

[YorkshireAli]

I have found that Abbott are better over email, normally they reply within 48 hours.

That's a good idea - I'll do that now.

...although, having read the rest of the responses, maybe not...

 

[AndBreathe]

That's a good idea - I'll do that now.

...although, having read the rest of the responses, maybe not...

For clarity, I only contacted said grand frommage on Thursday evening as I had mailed once, and chased to the same email address next day, before finally contacting him on Thursday.

I didn't think I was being unreasonable.

 

[asyarlk]

When I contact them it's normally because of a skin rash and I send them lots of photos. They have always got back to me and responded quickly. I find the phone line far more frustrating!

 

[AndBreathe]

When I contact them it's normally because of a skin rash and I send them lots of photos. They have always got back to me and responded quickly. I find the phone line far more frustrating!

I'm genuinely pleased for you and will be interested to learn where my attempts have gone wrong. I spent, literally hours, packaging my email to include the problem, backed up with graphic and raw adapt comparisons.

I'm sure it'll come right in the end, one way or another.

My preference would always be to speak to whomever is the decision maker in dealing with my query, but current location and state of the Internet make that impractical. Calling over the telephony system would, based on previous lengths of calls, cost almost as much as just buying a replacement sensor. £2 a minute soon adds up; especially holding in a queue!

 

[asyarlk]

I know, that is ridiculously expensive, I'd like to think it would improve too.