Lincare / extreme bad service
After doing some home research i had concluded that I have sleep apnea. So I finally got to the doctor and started the process of the sleep study and getting treatment. It was a nightmare!!! Im NOT JOKING!!
I had a large deductible on my insurance. So I tried to determin if my machine would be covered and found out that it should be covered and my deductible would be met because of other health issues I was getting checked out. SO it started with them. I was told I had to rent the machine for at least a few months per the insurance company rules so I did and I told them after that time to submit everything for purchase and that I will not rent after that time. They started fighting with me saying that my deductable had not been met and that I was going to have to start paying them. Several times I had to call and fight with them to submit the claim to the insurance company so they could get paid. Several calls were made to the insurance company too to make sure they got paid. Well my deductible was met and they did approve the claim and lincare got paid BUT !! They made assumptions about my insurance coverage and my medical history of which they had no access or knowledge of. They treated me like a third rate citizen and all I did was try to get them to understand that my insurance was going to pay!! THEY WILL NEVER SEE A PENNY FROM ME. I told my doctor about my bad experience with them.
Many of us needing this service may have slightley higher blood pressure. It would behove anyone to not do business with this company, they will anger you in unimaginable ways. Did I mention that they do not do what they say they will do?
DONE DONE DONE with "crapcare"
More Lincare Complaints & Reviews
- Lincare - no respect [34]
- Lincare - poor service! [52]
- Lincare - fraud [21]
- Lincare - culture of the company [8]
- Lincare - improper billing [6]
- Lincare - services
- Lincare - home care oxygen service
- Lincare - oxygen and cpap
- Lincare - oxygen
- Adult Pediatric Specialist / Lincare - poor mangement and president followup [1]
Date
Sorry for that experience...try working for them. They only pay half the federal mileage reimbursement amount and tell you to feel grateful for it. I put over 500 miles a week on my vehicle for LINCARE and I get reimbursed something like 27 cents per mile. They informed me of a raise that would be effective February, 2009, and I have yet to see it on my paychecks - it's now JUNE for hells sake!They said my Center Manager did not submit my paperwork yet... then they tell us to send in our reimbursements the first of every month and I always do, but I have yet to receive APRIL 2009 mileage. They said i must have sent it in late. NOT- sent it May 1along with everyone else in my office, who have already received their checks...hmmmm. . When i was first employed after about 5 months, I had asked my Center Manager to look into raising my pay. Gas prices were becoming unbearable and the mileage reimbursements weren't covering it. I would wake up every day and have to see if I had enough money for gas to go do my job. Anyway, I asked for more money and he and his direct supervisor totally attacked me and berated me!!! They yelled at me and asked me what made me think I was so much better than everyone else that I should get more money? That my job wasn't even worth what they were paying me...can ya believe that?? They actually said those words. Too bad I HAVE to work and can't find other employment. I have three kids and an unemployed husband so I feel I have no choice-horrible Comapny!!!
Watch out! I am a cm and we are supposed to do everything we can to keep you from getting your expense reports reimbursed. Medicare cuts have been so bad this year we have been instructed to cut costs any way possible. I have such a moral problem with all of the recent changes and I am desperately searching for another job as I can no longer be the corporate snake they are paying me to be. I suggest you make a list of any concerns and or violations you may have as I know you are aware of some, call the compliance department and report them just as I have done, and get out of there as soon as possible. Good luck!
I am a CSR. My CM is an ###. He has no idea what he is doing. Not only are all offices understaffed at Lincare now that OT is cut the work load is unbearable and I can't believe we haven't all walked out. Lincare has a ratio for how many 02 pts vs how many csrs, drivers ect. Thier ratio was pulled out of thier ### and all Lincare employees are overworked with NO appreciation whatsoever. Corporate just adds to the workload with more spreadsheets. Can someone tell me how we are supposed to work held sales while answering three phone lines, helping walk in customers and getting the "batch" out? Two csr's in my center and we have over 700 02 patients plus we have all dme. Beds, wc, hoyer, canes, crutches, commodes, cpap, neb, batch bench, transfer bench. It never ends. Lincare sucks. Excuse the adolescent lingo, but my brain is fried. Oh and am I the only one who thinks that mailing copious amounts of paperwork everyday is a little ancient. How about scanning or being able to communicate with rbco in the AS400?
I am going to try and do everything I can to make all doctors I am in contact with know how awful Lincare is!!! My husband needs his machine every night and I have just found out the local CT office has done nothing in three weeks, even when I have called every week. I never get a bill and I'm sure they are billing for things we didn't get, they send wrong filters and then tell me I can't get the right ones because they have already sent me some. Maybe we all should contact our Attorney General.
I agree with all of you, and if enough people report them...we may actually be able to save a couple of the smaller comapanies that show compassion to their employees and patients...Please call 1-314-539-3430...If you ask them to call you back to save you money on your phone bill...they will!! Make sure before you call that it is an actuall illegal medicare law, such as billing for unwanted equipment, employees asking you to sign and date a back date. Having an oxygen overnight test done with out your c-pap and bi-pap, and then having them add oxygen to your cpap and bipap...even if you just want to ask them if its an illegal act...call and ask!!!
I am a registered Respiratory Therapist who was rehired at a Health Care solutions branch(Lincare Owned) where I had previously worked. I never hid the fact that I had worked for this same branch, there were even people working there that still remembered me.
Anyways, I was hired as a Healthcare Specialist (Respiratory Therapist)and started work on Monday 16 Dec 2009. Two days later I was called into the Manager office (Who Hired Me) and informed since I did not give a two week notice when I worked for the company before I was being "Let Go". I could not believe it!!!
This is how they treat their employees--like crap!!!
Never do business with them--Their reputation is so bad that they hide behind the names of companies they have bought like HCS, MED4Home and many others. They do not protect health care information according to HIPPA Guide lines and put many medically fragile patients at risk with their sub par customer service.
I am/was another unhappy customer.
there are definitely better companies out there.
It is time for a new bipap machine and someone besides
Lincare will get my bussines. It is my understanding that they
are the largest homecare health supplier in the USA and the most
profitable (at in my opinion their customers expense).
I was a Sr CSR for two years. Our center was consistently understaffed with only 2 csrs (that's including myself) and over 850+ o2 pts. I was there only 2 yrs and I saw 11 (ELEVEN) CSR's come and go. Every wed morning at 11:00 we got our [censor] chewed over Held Sales. the railings were so bad one girl got a nose bleed, so she went home for the day and never came back. Another girl started losing hair and quit after 2 months. Customers hated us, CM always on us, DM a complete witch from hell. After 2 years I finally got sick of it and in a confrence call w/ RBCO I told my DM that I wasn't doing: CPAP Compliance, Held Sales, Exp. Report, etc. on a daily basis because all of my time was taken up on training the latest future ex-csr and handling 8 phone lines. They took that as subordination and fired me the next day. They tried to deny me unemployment but the state never saw them as having done their due diligence (I had never ONCE gotten any kind of discipline previous) so finally it went to court. Lincare had a chance because I SUCK at talking in court, BUT lucky for me they never even bothered showing up. Since heard that my replacement got fired, CM fired, DM fired, and RM on the rocks. Sucks for them.
Oh yeah, we had 5 vent patients that hadn't been seen by an HCS is for MONTHS, one guy almost a YEAR. That is VERY dangerous. Don't go w/ this company, literaly you life is at risk! Vents require consistent periodic matinenance and checkup, and this poor guy went almost a YEAR!
This year Lincare has become such a pest to me. I first got my breathing meds from Liberty, then when they dropped respiratory medications they automatically sent me over to Lincare. This year I've gotten calls just about every week from both Lincare & Med4Home asking me about refilling the meds. ( they're only supposed to call once a month & ask if you need medicine refills). They have an auntomated system that calls & takes my order once a month, but now a slew of different people call all month in addition to the automated call! One of them had the gall to contact my doctor & got him to OK an ox pulse test ( which I absolutely do not need). They have pestered the life out of me over this... This morning I told them to take me out of the system and leave me alone. I don't know...but I suspect they are pushing things like this on people so they can charged Medicare ungodly prices for stuff people may not even need! I am disgusted as I can be; tired of being pestered. If I have to, I'll get a prescription & just buy my medicine from a pharmacy. Lincare & Med4Home are history for me.
I agree about the bad reputation Lincare has earned because of their poor service, poor attention to the client and poor communication. When you call Lincare on the telephone them the line is busy 90% of the time and when you manage to get through is to an operator who takes down you phone number to have a representative call you. You can never have a direct communication with the particular Lincare office you want to talk to.
After having a sleep apnea study done I had the misfortune of choosing Lincare as the CPAP machine provider. I chose their phone number from a long list of providers and after leaving my phone number to the operator I got a call back a few hours later from the Lincare office I want to go to in Lynnwood, Washington. Whoever took my call asked me if I had a doctor's prescription for the CPAP machine and I told them that I didn't. I called on a Monday and the study was done on the previous Saturday. However, I a document from the Sleep Clinic entitled PAP Prescription that specified the type of machine needed for my condition. The Lincare representative then told me that the PAP Prescription I had was sufficient and made an appointment for the following Wednesday. Came Wednesday and, after taking off time from work for the appointment, the attendant at the Lynnwood Clinic told me that I needed a Prescription from my doctor. I left the place fuming and swearing not to come back. In the meantime I contacted another CPAP provider and I was explained that all I needed was to have the Sleep Clinic fax the standard paperwork required by Medicare. The documents were faxed to this new placed within half-hour and I was able to make an appointment with this new place two days later. They were ready with the right equipment and I went home with my new CPAP machine.
I discourage anyone from doing business with Linkcare. Linkcare might be the richest and biggest CPAP provider in the U.S., but by the way they treat their customers you'd think that it's a fly-by-night operation that takes your money and next morning they are out of business.
I was a health care specialist in the midwest and truly loved taking care of patients, but was told by two cm that it is not about patient care it is about keeping the stockholders happy. enough said. BUT I would recommend to anybody and everybody that Lincare customer service is far superior to Apria.
lincare calls and calls trying tosell diabiates supplys but im not diabetic so much harassment i droped them for copd meds now cant get supplys from any body lincare sux
Lincare has been good to me I have been there for 5mths and have been nothing but good to me. They don't make people wait on phone with in 2 calls always. and the rt is encouraged to keep contacting pts to HELP them not sell. I am sorry for all of your others problems. It could be us here in this area are just more helpful and like to do the right thing
My wife received her CPAP on Dec.31, 2012. Lincare failed to bill the insurance co. right away. This resulted in us making payments in order to keep the CPAP. When they finally managed to file with insurance co., we had overpayed by $312.04. We finally received a refund for that amount, six months later, after repeated (and heated) phone conversations. We were also told that the machine was converted to a purchase. Now we are getting a bill for $146.46, which Lincare claims is over 105 days overdue. I have repeatedly asked for a detailed billing statement so that I could see what I'm paying for, to no avail. I still have no idea what the $146.46 is for. This issue is ridiculous and I warn anyone out there to not use this company for health needs.
SinCare(Because the way they treat patients AND employees is a sin!)-This monstrous company IS untrustworthy. They are very good at terrorizing patients with threats that their oxygen will be taken away(they actually snatched the form I needed to breathe, liquid oxygen)SinCare claimed id "adjust"-just how does one adjust to suffocation?? Its been 10 days & I am NOT "adjusting";have gotten more debilitated.
They left a concentrator at my house 4 about 6 mos after I finally got on liquid oxygen thanks to efforts of a really kind young driver & my MD. I told them to please come pick it up.I'm sure they billed Medicaid 4 that useless thing.No wonder they were always having problems with Medicaid paying them(which always resulted in them threatening ME-a cancer patient who had absolutely nothing to do with THEIR sloppy accounting & customer service practices, & who had heart & lung problems that stress didn't benefit!) I couldn't even easily call to straighten things out..the chemo killed my hearing!I repeatedly texted them, asking them to please text me back, but never received any texts.Had to get relatives to call & argue with them.SinCare has reduced my 69 year old mother to tears repeatedly. My other hearing angel has high BP & his desperate attempts to get them to give me back my liquid O2 as I lie strangling in my bed is worrying me-i'm afraid he will have a stroke because of these sharks! Have been trying to find an alternative oxygen carrier but noone is carrying liquid O2 anymore-except SinCare & Apria in my area.These companies are trying 2 phrase it out as it makes less of the cash they seem to love much more than their patients lives.
Unfortunately, due to the bidding fiasco, LinCare is growing fat on the bones of smaller healthcare companies.Not only are the choices few, but SinCare is taking even more of them away-then these cold hearted stranglers are jacking up liquid oxygen prices, refusing patients insurance, & then when noone is left(because liquid oxygen patients will be dead or unable to afford it, claim theres "no demand" for it so they can justify discontinuing liquid O2 service.Just incredibly evil tactics.Ever see "Devils Advocate"?I imagine SinCare's legal counsel to be of that ilk-& SinCare itself staffed at higher echelons by people who haven't been fully human for a very long time.
It doesn't matter if this lack of compassion & shark like
ethics(or lack of)-comes from a lack of mirror neurons or from a spiritual infestation by creatures we know as demons-the results are the same.
In fact, almost ALL of the problems we have today can be traced back to greed & a lack of empathy.
Health care run on a cut throat business model is a recipe for death & misery.
We all ask how these healthcare executives can sleep at night?I have an answer for you;they are sociopaths. I have met decent employees at lower echelons in this company;they end up walking.A few good people are trapped because its a lousy economy & they've got family to support-but every single employee without dependants working for SinCare walks eventually-because no one with a conscience can watch them torture & defraud sick folks every day of their working lives-& be berated for not being happily involved in skinning(& ultimately killing)critically ill folks!
Compared to some of the complaints I have just read, mine is fairly small but inline with treatment people have received from Linn Care. After a bout with pneumonia it was necessary to get a nebulizer. Unfortunately, my doctor's office was a few doors down from a company that I now know is just another name for Linn Care. While setting up my account, I was told everything was covered 100% by my insurance. I received my machine that day but it took the nurse from my doctor's office to go into the business to get the medication for the machine about a month later. After 6 months, I began to receive bills from Linn Care. My conversation with the flunky who answered the phone in their billing department offered no answers about the bill except I needed to pay which I have no intentions of doing. My last request for more medication was 3 weeks ago and I am still waiting.
M Fallon
Waco, Texas
I had a problem with my order being incorrect. I went to their office here, and was told to call where the supplies came from. I did twice, and tried to explain the supplies that were sent. I was hung up on by the first customer care employee. I called right back and got another employee. He assured me that he would be able to take care of the discrepancies. First was told they don't carry that brand, then they were out of it in the warehouse, and then said they were told not to order that brand. He told me I could go online and find it, and pay for it out of my pocket. I reminded him I have 2 medical insurances. That is when he told me to go find another supplier, and hung up. I will get another supplier.
Today, 10 July 2017, I took my Lincare supplied CPAP machine into the Fort Wayne, Indiana office because it was not working (It would not turn on, no matter what I tried). I have an old machine which, though it doesn't have all the bells and whistles, it is quite usable until the machine is repaired. I advised the receptionist that I wanted to leave the machine for repair. She then made an in house call to a superior who told her that I would need an appointment to leave the machine for repair and the next appointment would be 18 July 2017 in the afternoon. I explained that I saw no reason to wait another week to leave the machine for repair to which she curtly advised me that she would have no idea then, when it would be repaired. I suggested maybe by the end of the year, to which she agreed that maybe by the end of the year. This is the second time I have been treated in an obnoxious manner by this office. Another client in the waiting room advised he had been there two hours trying to get seen for piece he needed for his system. This is second time I have been treated with disdain by this company. As a physician, myself, it is enlightening to see how little regard Lincare truly has for its clients.
R R Hall, MD
Fort Wayne, IN
@RRHall Thanks for your story of maltreatment by Lincare. They are a sorry company. I can’t believe the owner or stockholders ... or whoever is at the top, allows such unprofessional operation ... I have to think - there’s no way the higher ups would permit this to continue. I don’t know how the customer service is - in the local offices, but, from the call center - “customer service center”, I know I fight a losing battle to provide an acceptable level of customer service. I am supposed to handle a minimum of 90 calls per shift. That averages to about 3 minutes per call! That’s ridiculous! It takes that long to get the customer’s name, dob, address, and insurance provider. I am passionate about customer service and strive to provide the very best. But, Lincare does not care about the customers - it’s all about numbers. They’re so stupid - they don’t see how not resolving the issue in one call is creating a nightmare for the patients. I’m ready to walk, but, at 54 years old, I’m not as marketable and easily hired as the younger generation. I’m doing my best to escape the depths of hell at Lincare. 3 years there has killed my soul!
If you live in Hot Springs, AR and your DR wants to start you on oxygen at home; plead with him or her to use any company except Lincare. Do it before Lincare ever gets involved with your Medicare. The Lincare office here is about as sorry as they come. They don't return your calls and if you have questions concerning an order you've been waiting on for months; they can give you more excuses than Carters got Little Liver Pills. A good slogan for this company would be "Out of sight, out of mind". I ask Shawn (the person who usually answers the phone) if he had ever looked at the reviews for this company? He said no, but informed me they have many satisfied happy customers. Well it's obvious I'm not one of them. I will say however that I have no complaints about the service we get from their pharmacy in Southaven, MS. Sadly my husband and I are both stuck with this company for now, but as soon as we can find help elsewhere, we are done. Thank you for listening. D K Crossland, Hot Springs, AR