Medical Alert

The Medical Alert product was very unreliable. The device sits loosely in the charger, and sometimes loses contact without your knowing it, and stops charging. Even when charged, connection to the network is unreliable. It may connect, it may not. When I contacted them about this problem, they told me my device was unreliable because it was outdated. So they were knowingly have me use an unreliable outdated device for over two years. They offered to replace it, which they did. But the new device had the same problems. Eventually I returned it, enclosing with the return a letter asking them to close my account. They received the return and the instructions, but kept on charging my credit card. When I called and asked why the charges, they acknowledged that they received the return, but it is their policy to keep on billing until I call to cancel the account. Even though I had done it in writing, they want a call, and will continue charging you for a device they know has been returned! Anyway, they assured me that they will close the account and I won't receive any more bills. However, it's now been months since then, and I am still receiving bills. When you talk to their agent, the agent says he or she will note that, but next month it is the same story. It's as if no agent wants to record the cancellation. I've given up on this company. Either they can't get their act together, or this is deliberately unethical billing practice.

After a dozen attempts to reach someone to correct account mistake and dunning notices, finally got "steve" from cancellation department who most genially agreed to rectify all problems and send a return label for a second unit. After a week with no action, called again and spoke with a lovely lady who said she would personally follow up. Weeks later, still no action - called again, left on line forever with no answer, for the umpteenth time. They have the worst and most dishonest customer service. I was appalled! Bob - new york folloe up

I was going to sign my dad up for Medical Alert's home monitoring service, but I noticed a couple things which made me decide not to buy. First, the price was somewhat higher (maybe $5/mo) than some other services that seemed to provide the same functions (emergency pendant, free warranty, etc.). But second, the Medical Alert system didn't seem to offer the fall detection service the Philips Lifeline has which I think seems pretty valuable. I guess it pays to check around instead of clicking a Google ad (which is how I found medicalalert.com).

This company is not BBB accredited! Be warned! I ordered Medicalalert for my mom after she fell and broke her hip. The customer service was initially very friendly. I asked a lot of questions and the product seemed to satisfy the basic requirements. They said there was a 90 day commitment after I signed and returned the contract. When I received the package, I immediately opened it to test the equipment. 1) one device didn't work AT ALL! 2) It took a very long time for someone to answer the alert call. 3) The base had very poor range. They couldn't hear me unless I spoke directly into the unit. Really ridiculous. Should have basic speaker range you get from a cell phone speaker or wireless handset. I can imagine my mom running into the kitchen to speak directly into the unit in fear of them calling the ambulance in case she accidentally presses the button. Running to get to the unit would end up causing her to trip and hurt herself! The unit would cause more harm than good. 4) The fall detection unit is so sensitive just walking around with it causes it to trigger an alarm. I triggered it SO many times just trying to move the box from one room to another. When I went to the Post Office to ship it back the unit kept going off in the box. Very stressful. I couldn't disable the unit. 5) The friendly customer service during the sale is nothing like the customer service when you report a problem. Unprofessional customer service than blame YOU for the problems with their device, making you feel like it's your fault for not knowing how to work. 6) And this is the worst part - what they don't tell you is that once you place the order you will be stuck paying 90 days. Even if you call to cancel before receiving the device (just FYI, there is no way to cancel or stop the shipment). Even if you refuse the package from FedEx. Even if they send you faulty broken equipment. Even if you return it. Even if you NEVER sign and return the contract. The minute you give your credit card number, they believe they are entitled to a 90 day payment. Extremely dishonest company that takes advantage of the elderly and the family members trying to care for and protect them. Also, the product is great in concept but not execution. If someone is outside gardening and accidentally hits the button, there should be a way to cancel the alert from the device or speak into it to talk to customer service. There should also be some blinking indicator on the device letting the person know it was activated. I guarantee if your loved one hit it on accident and had NO IDEA it happened and the ambulance showed up to their house, that would probably be the last time they wore it. Waste of money. Please don't waste your money. Get them a smart watch or insist they keep their cell phone on them. Bad customer service and very poor quality product. No excuse for a poor product, especially considering the advances in technology and how inexpensive it has become. Also if a device breaks and it doesn't call for aide, you are signing a contract that relieves them of any responsibility for a faulty device. It's your fault for not constantly testing it to make sure it works. You should always read the fine print before signing anything and this contract says it all!

Medical Alert called my 80+ year old mother to up/sell the basic service I already provide for her. The used scare tactics, confused her and took advantage of her vulnerability. When she called back to cancel- they told her she couldn't- she never signed anything!!!! They call me to pay the bill- SHAME on you for not calling me and taking advantage of my mom! As a result - I am canceling basic service!!

We obtained a Medical Alert for my mother in August of 2017. Fortunately, she never had to use it, so I will assume it would have worked had she needed it. She passed away in January of this year. The problem lies in that I returned all of the equipment via FedEx on 1/4/18. I contacted MedicalAlert on 2/20/18 re: the status of my refund. I was told the account was cancelled and a refund would be issued that day. No refund was received. I contacted MedicalAlert again on 3/19/18, and was told the refund would be expedited & that I should allow 24 - 48 hours to see the credit to my bank account. STILL NO REFUND! Today, 4/16/18, I called and received a recording stating that "due to a system upgrade, we are unable to answer your call directly, however please leave a message...we will respond to you within the hour..." I left a message. We will see if I receive a return telephone call. At this point, I'm thinking the whole thing is a scam to take advantage of the elderly.

I ordered MedicalAlert for my 82 and 84 year old parents. Customer service is awful! I had a difficult time getting bills but they would call and harass my parents about payment. My mom set off the fall pendant often, accidentally. The responders were rude to them about it. I canceled the service, sent back the equipment, they received the equipment on August 21 and sent me a bill on September 3. Now they are going to still make me pay the August bill. Stay away from this company!

My mother in law has been harrassed on the phone for a month about a past due amount. The company has her credit card for billing so how can she be past due? Several calls made on her behalf and she is absolutely correct about this company - they are hard to reach as they are always "experiencing higher than normal phone activity". Very frustrating to the point we returned the equipment today at our cost of $30. We do not trust this company to cancel the account and stop billing, so the request to cancel was made on the phone, by fax and by mail/included with returned equipment. Others have returned the equipment and keep getting billed. They might have great medical alert service, but their customer/billing service is horrible. An elderly person does not need the added stress of dealing with calling this company daily hoping to reach them, then having an unresolved issue after a month. Our CVS Pharmacy promotes Medical Alert, but we will definitely do more research before signing up with another company.

I was about to sign up for Medical Alert but found out that it doesn't work outside your house. So if you walk down the street and need help you're out of luck. I'm going to save my money and just get a cell phone with big buttons.

a year ago i ordered medical alert. when i plugged it in i had an issue where the cellular was too strong so decided to go with medical guardian which is great. medical alert sent me label to send their equipment back. i sent it back. it is now a year later and i get calls every month from them telling me they never got the equipment and they keep wanting to charge me. How they think i am using it when there is no signal is beyond me- it never ends they call and call and all i can say is i sent it back. they then say they will call the finance dept and take care of it. they never do. never. i must have spent hours on the phone with these people. it is now a year from the date i sent it back and they called me again. i am disabled as is my mother. that we have to deal with this company doing this is criminal. stay away. if they can not even figure out where the item is or track a label but blame it on us and spend hours and hours calling us then something is amiss. i never had any problems with medical guardian and glad i use them. i feel like my blood pressure is high and head hurts from the call i just got. great job medical alert. you suck.

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