Sunday Delivery!!

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Birdman
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:12 pm

Sunday Delivery!!

Post by Birdman »

Fresenius has changed my delivery day for PD supplies, and has given me no option. I usually have 4 weekly on a Monday, the next delivery being due on 21st. Because the Friday of that week is Good Friday, my delivery has in the last 2 days been changed to Sunday 20th - and I am expected to accommodate it. I have queried it as neighbours cars could cause a problem as they will not be at work, and I certainly don't want to fall out with anyone in the locality by the huge lorry causing them issues. Also, the place I normally put my car to allow access to the garage will not be available on a Sunday. All I got was the neighbours should understand, and basically it is Sunday delivery - full stop. Has anyone else experienced such problems please?
wagolynn
Posts: 1362
Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 2:49 pm

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by wagolynn »

Hi Birdman,
I have not had this problem but I would think it will be a temporary solution to Easter deliveries, Normally, Sunday deliveries are avoided on the grounds of extra cost.

The potential problems you list, in my view, will discourage Fresenius from persisting with Sunday deliveries, the drivers will complain.

As to the effects on neighbours, I think you are perhaps worrying too much, everyone will understand that the deliveries are not under your control.

Best wishes.
Birdman
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:12 pm

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by Birdman »

wagolynn wrote:Hi Birdman,
I have not had this problem but I would think it will be a temporary solution to Easter deliveries, Normally, Sunday deliveries are avoided on the grounds of extra cost.

The potential problems you list, in my view, will discourage Fresenius from persisting with Sunday deliveries, the drivers will complain.

As to the effects on neighbours, I think you are perhaps worrying too much, everyone will understand that the deliveries are not under your control.

Best wishes.
Thankyou wagolynn, and I am sure you are right.

However, I am very upset that Fresenius have imposed this on me with no thought for my circumstances at all. Easter dates have been known for months, if not years, and to impose this change on me at 11th hour is just not on. They cannot even give me a time at all, which means I cannot go to church in the morning. Sunday may be a working day to them, but it isn't to everyone. I just feel that with their intransigent attitude of "it will be Sunday - full stop", I am a prisoner to their administration. They give me and my beliefs no thought at all, and I am extremely upset by their attitude.
rheaybou
Posts: 1381
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:04 am
Location: Doncaster

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by rheaybou »

I guess it is a difficulty that you face, along with the delivery guys as they need to fit 5 days delivery into shorter weeks at certain points through the year.

In the past I always had buffer stock of about 1-2 weeks for APD and CAPD stuff, why not go to church, if you are not in then they will have to arrange another date that is more in line with what you want?

I know what I would do and it's not sit about waiting for a delivery.
Now 35 with Alports and I had my first kidney-versary 18th feb 2013....I hope to have many more.

My living donor and his family are doing all well.

==
Alports.
Birdman
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:12 pm

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by Birdman »

rheaybou wrote:I guess it is a difficulty that you face, along with the delivery guys as they need to fit 5 days delivery into shorter weeks at certain points through the year.

In the past I always had buffer stock of about 1-2 weeks for APD and CAPD stuff, why not go to church, if you are not in then they will have to arrange another date that is more in line with what you want?

I know what I would do and it's not sit about waiting for a delivery.
Thankyou rheaybou. The problem with that is that on delivery day I only have 4 days of stock spare. My hospital agreed quantity is 32 boxes, so 4 spare. If I had 1-2 weeks spare, that would be great, but I cannot risk not taking the delivery. I just do not understand why the delivery could not have been say Saturday. Sunday is still an important day to some of us. I fully understand that times have moved on and not everyone considers Sundays in the way the country used to, but I still think that the beliefs of those of us who do respect Sundays should be respected. Fresenius have told me tough, and I find that unacceptable. But I am helpless to do anything about it, or so it seems.
rheaybou
Posts: 1381
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:04 am
Location: Doncaster

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by rheaybou »

I would say that the power is with you here. Would they normally call before delivery? I had Baxter and they would call about 30 mins before delivery.

As they have not given you a time, go about your day as planned, set your voicemail and let it ring out. They will either arrange a later delivery slot or the next possible day. Without a greater buffer stock you are sailing a little close to the wind.....Luckily my dialysis hospital was 10 miles away so it was easy for me to pick up spare stuff if running low/change of prescription.

Do you have a neighbour you could trust while you are out to let them in? You shouldn't be stopped attending church.....dialysis is patient orientated and especially with PD. Stand your ground and call your PD team for spare stock and a little complaint against the treatment from Frenesious
Last edited by rheaybou on Tue Mar 08, 2016 9:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Now 35 with Alports and I had my first kidney-versary 18th feb 2013....I hope to have many more.

My living donor and his family are doing all well.

==
Alports.
MandyA
Posts: 185
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2010 6:45 pm

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by MandyA »

You have my sympathy....

When I was on APD, I had deliveries from both Baxter and Fresenius, and I found both companies inflexible about their delivery arrangements.

Baxters had a delivery window of 8 hours, which they would sometimes cut down to a 2 hour window by e-mail on the morning of the delivery. Fortunately, they delivered to my area on Fridays, when I was not at work.

Fresenius also had a delivery window of 8 hours. They were intransigent about delivering on Tuesdays, so I had to swap my work days for them every month. I could phone Fresenius after 10.00am to get an approximate delivery time, but this always resulted in the arrival of a very grumpy driver.

Both companies would change delivery days at short notice when it suited them, but the only times I could persuade them to change were when I was an inpatient in hospital and the PD nurses telephoned them.

On one occasion, after my transplant, when I was only expecting one box of supplies, I arranged for a neighbour to take my delivery for me. She waited in all day, but nothing arrived. When I contacted Fresenius, they said my supplies had been delivered and signed for by "Marco", but they didn't know which flat he lived in..... they sent me images of his signature etc. I had lived here for years, and had no idea who they were talking about, and no one turned up with my box. In the end, it transpired that the delivery company had not delivered my supplies at all, but had returned them to their warehouse...

I found getting supplies delivered one of the most frustrating aspects of home dialysis, and it seemed to be something the hospital was completely unaware of.

Maybe you could try getting a neighbour to let Fresenius into your garage....

Just being out and unresponsive to telephone calls will force them to reschedule your delivery, but your hospital will be charged a hefty fee for this.

It is infuriating that both Baxters and Fresenius seem to assume that dialysis patients have no other commitments to work around!

Mandy
Birdman
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:12 pm

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by Birdman »

MandyA wrote:You have my sympathy....

When I was on APD, I had deliveries from both Baxter and Fresenius, and I found both companies inflexible about their delivery arrangements.

Baxters had a delivery window of 8 hours, which they would sometimes cut down to a 2 hour window by e-mail on the morning of the delivery. Fortunately, they delivered to my area on Fridays, when I was not at work.

Fresenius also had a delivery window of 8 hours. They were intransigent about delivering on Tuesdays, so I had to swap my work days for them every month. I could phone Fresenius after 10.00am to get an approximate delivery time, but this always resulted in the arrival of a very grumpy driver.

Both companies would change delivery days at short notice when it suited them, but the only times I could persuade them to change were when I was an inpatient in hospital and the PD nurses telephoned them.

On one occasion, after my transplant, when I was only expecting one box of supplies, I arranged for a neighbour to take my delivery for me. She waited in all day, but nothing arrived. When I contacted Fresenius, they said my supplies had been delivered and signed for by "Marco", but they didn't know which flat he lived in..... they sent me images of his signature etc. I had lived here for years, and had no idea who they were talking about, and no one turned up with my box. In the end, it transpired that the delivery company had not delivered my supplies at all, but had returned them to their warehouse...

I found getting supplies delivered one of the most frustrating aspects of home dialysis, and it seemed to be something the hospital was completely unaware of.

Maybe you could try getting a neighbour to let Fresenius into your garage....

Just being out and unresponsive to telephone calls will force them to reschedule your delivery, but your hospital will be charged a hefty fee for this.

It is infuriating that both Baxters and Fresenius seem to assume that dialysis patients have no other commitments to work around!

Mandy
Thankyou so much Mandy. You really do understand, and I am glad to find that I am not being unreasonable.

You say about grumpy drivers, and hospital staff being unaware of the frustrations the dialysis delivery conmpanies cause. There lies my dilemma. To be fair to the driver, I usually have the same one, and he is a very friendly helpful guy. But of course, the changes of days etc are none of his doing. As to the hospital. Everyone at my PD unit is wonderful. They have given me exceptional care, and continue to do so, and the last thing I want to do is complain to them, or cause them additional fees. So I seem to be in a Catch 22 situation.

The book Fresenius gave me when I started dialysis states clearly they will tell me if I have a morning or afternoon delivery. In reality, they refuse to ever commit themselves. As you say, they will change my delivery day at short notice when it suits them, and assume I have nothing better to do with my life than to be here at their beck and call. PD is supposed to allow more independance than HD, but the dialysis supply company just treats me as if I should be grateful that they deign to supply me.

It really isn't on is it. Maybe one day soon, I will have a friendly word with my PD sister at the hospital, and explain how upsetting Fresenius can be.

Thankyou again.
DeanH
Posts: 67
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 5:01 pm

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by DeanH »

I'm not sure I completely agree with some of what has been said regarding deliveries from Fresenius at least, I had deliveries from them for about 14 months, once per month and always found the drivers and the contact at Fresenius who j spoke to when giving numbers of boxes needed to be very helpful. Yes they would sometimes have to change my regular delivery day but this was only ever done if there were problems. Eastern bank holidays do cause them problems as the same amount of deliveries have to be fitted in around a smaller number of days. My driver at least had to drive for a few hours from the depot to where I live and as such can't be held accountable for road conditions, traffic etc, also they for onvious reasons come across people who's delivers can take longer due to access issues etc. I do not think it unreasonable for them to state all day deliveries just as many other places do. I also think that as a once off asking you to be in for a Sunday, albeit Easter Sunday is not unreasonable. Perhaps having a 4 day supply buffer is not working for you and that your delivery should have been for the week before, which I always found them more than willing to do when I would run and explain the situation. The advice of simply not being in and putting it back on them to arrange for a few days time is frankly not on, this is likely to cause issues for either you or for other people who are expecting their delivery later on in the week.
Birdman
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:12 pm

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by Birdman »

DeanH wrote:I'm not sure I completely agree with some of what has been said regarding deliveries from Fresenius at least, I had deliveries from them for about 14 months, once per month and always found the drivers and the contact at Fresenius who j spoke to when giving numbers of boxes needed to be very helpful. Yes they would sometimes have to change my regular delivery day but this was only ever done if there were problems. Eastern bank holidays do cause them problems as the same amount of deliveries have to be fitted in around a smaller number of days. My driver at least had to drive for a few hours from the depot to where I live and as such can't be held accountable for road conditions, traffic etc, also they for onvious reasons come across people who's delivers can take longer due to access issues etc. I do not think it unreasonable for them to state all day deliveries just as many other places do. I also think that as a once off asking you to be in for a Sunday, albeit Easter Sunday is not unreasonable. Perhaps having a 4 day supply buffer is not working for you and that your delivery should have been for the week before, which I always found them more than willing to do when I would run and explain the situation. The advice of simply not being in and putting it back on them to arrange for a few days time is frankly not on, this is likely to cause issues for either you or for other people who are expecting their delivery later on in the week.
I agree with some of what you say, but not all. I have said that I don't want to cause problems for my hospital etc by being awkward. Actually we are not talking about an Easter Sunday delivery - it is the Sunday before. Whatever, I still cannot go to church, as I always do on a Sunday, and I object to them thinking it is fine for me not to go.

As I said, the driver is always very nice. I wish I could say the same for the person in the office who rings for my order. She had my wife in tears once.

Fresenius are not fitting 5 days deliveries into fewer days. As I understand it, instead of Monday to Friday, they are doing Sunday to Thursday as the Friday is Good Friday.

My point is that the dates of Easter have been known for months and years, yet they left it to the 11th hour, with no consultation, and are being totally intransigent about it.

The issue about all day deliveries would be valid - EXCEPT - their own literature states they will advise patients whether the delivery will be morning or afternoon, then they refuse to abide by that.

If I am going away, they require my hospital to give them several weeks notice of delivery of supplies to a hotel etc. Yet they expect to give me next to no notice of change, and dictate to me that I WILL have it that day - full stop. It is so one sided it is ridiculous. One thing I have learned from this is to ensure I have more buffer supplies by making sure I get a few more bags in a future delivery.
chrisb
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:57 pm
Location: gloucestershire

Re: Sunday Delivery!!

Post by chrisb »

It's the same old story.you can't please all of the people all of the time. Unfortunately, in business, Sunday is becoming just another working day and whereas this is more convenient for some people it is inconvenient for others. Companies purport to be giving their customers more choice but in reality we have no say in the matter :?
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