I want to talk about some of the worst M-----F------'s with whom I've had to deal:

The individuals who sell, rent, and buy back stair chairs and lifts for the infirm.

I don't know if anyone else here has had the unfortunate situation of having a parent or other relative require home health care and physical assistance, but if you ever do, be very wary of these bastards who sell and rent these lifts.

Years ago, before my mother of blessed memory passed away, she bought a stair lift for 2600 dollars. she had trouble from the company from the beginning after the initial installation and they were hesitant to come by and adjust it. Finally, I had to do this and, as an amateur, had a difficult, but successful outcome. Of course, now that I'd adjusted the machine so she wouldn't fall out and break her neck, they would no longer service the chair under any circumstances, since they said that I fouled the machinery. Which was BS since I adjusted a couple of nuts and retightened them fully.

After she died, I contacted the company to see if they would buy it back and they literally laughed at me on the phone. So it sat in her home, which I've maintained since it's at the Jersey shore for years.

So I'm sitting in a restaurant the other day and on the place mat I see an ad for new, used, and rental of stair lifts. So I call the number and ask the gentleman if he buys used stair lifts. His response was, "Why do you think I'd do that?" I said, "Because your ad says that you sell used lifts, and it would be my assumption that you would have to get them from somewhere."

So he says real sarcastically, "I would only buy the ones I sold - it makes sense, what's the matter with you?" He then proceeds to explain to me the economics of the industry, real condescendingly. I waited for him to finish and then said to him, "So you're running a perpetual motion machine for the dying and the dead, right? Why wouldn't you buy someone else's and sell it?"

He gave me a bunch of BS as to how he would need to make sure that it was first quality and other crap and then he basically told me that I was an uninformed moron.

Big mistake on his part. I said to him, "Look sir, I'm sitting in a diner and see your ad on a fucking placemat...you're not exactly running Tiffany's here, and I simply called you with a question. You have called into question my intellect, my business sense, and my morality. All I'm trying to do is find out if you buy chairs - and you've taken it upon yourself to be a Professional Prick. So, since I'm tired of talking to you, Goodbye." and I hung up the phone.

All this guy had to do was be polite and say, "No sir, we don't do that."

This is a business for real creeps and they are able to treat sick people and their families as suckers, because the sick are scared and cowed. Beware!

because of your 2 experiences.

My parents have the stair lift and the company has maintained it very well for years and pretty much run over at the drop of a hat to service the thing.

One of my very best experiences with a company servicing the elderly or disabled was when my parents needed handicap accessible ramping installed. My father was coming home from the hospital and we realized, ok, we can get him out of the hospital, but can we get him in and out of the house after that?

If you ever need ramping, there are 2 types - the traditional wooden type that a carpenter installs and another type called modular ramping which is black enameled steel. I found the second type after doing some googling and I called the 1-800-number of the franchise. I got a guy in Massachusetts who told me he would have the local area rep give me a call. 5 minutes later I got the call from the area guy who came out the next day and did the measuring and gave us the estimates and then came back maybe a day later ON CHRISTMAS EVE day and installed the entire thing. It looks great, it works great, you can take it apart and bring it with you if you move someplace else or you CAN sell it back to the company. So anyway, if you need ramping, do know that there is an option to the wooden ones.

I simply said in the OP, "Watch your back" or words to that effect.

then it won't be worth it. I actually tried to GIVE IT AWAY privately to friends who have infirm family, but no go, since many handymen won't install it. Interesting issues.

I was ill and needed some equipment a couple years back- afterwards I gave the items to my nurse who made sure it went to someone who needed it.

and when she died, her daughter shipped it to her home in San Francisco. I don't recall any assembly or disassembly. Maybe they've changed in 20 years?:shrug:

on edit: I'm not aware of the IRS putting value on items at tax time. That's always been left up to the individual and it's supposed to be Fair Market Value or what you could get for it if you sell it outright. Get a receipt for what you think it's worth at the time of donation from the organization you donate it to. You'll find many organizations leave that part blank and you can write in the value yourself.

Like you said, they deal mostly with the elderly and the infirmed so it sounds like they think they can treat people like shit because, where else are they gonna go?

The presence of the lift in the house probably decreases the home's value more than $2,600 since a buyer would have to pay to have it removed. I'm in a similar pickle with an industrial sewing machine and heavy, steel table I bought about 20 years ago. I don't want it now and I can't give it away. It's been in a garage and closet for 10 years. Whenever we move I assume I'll have to scrap it.

I don't know what area of the country you live in, but if you list it on Craig's List or on a sewing enthusiast website, someone will take it, even pay you some money. Those machines are fantastic. I'd pick it up if you lived close enough.

I've encountered a number of those types there. It is overpopulated and the older adults put up with delays and poor service when it comes to healthcare and end of life care. I'm so glad I finally sold my Dad's condo there. The buyer was a dickhead as was the entire condo board/management company. They were made for each other.

IRT your lift chair. I would contact the Continuum of Care Dept. at your local hospital -- Case Management/Social Work. Price your lift well under the asshat you talked to. A lift can be the difference between staying in your home or being institutionalized. Also, advertise in the pennysaver/community flyers.

can't see straight sometimes I get so mad...

Luckily, she's got no stairs in her house.
Actually, that's why she moved down there, sold the house up north because the stairs were killing her knees.
Have you tried selling it on Craigslist?

everyone you deal with. I suggest you take the arrogance down a notch.

$%^@$#.

You confuse righteous anger with male chauvinism frequently, do you not?

Sometimes it's just not worth it to post at DU.

it's the pre-Thanksgiving nightmare.

I am so not looking forward to tomorrow.

Seriously, how did you arrive at that conclusion?

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Odd.

No? Odd...

I suggest you don't get into one of these DU BS petty discussions with me. They are intellectually dull and what you should do, is stop attacking the messengers and start understanding that there are a lot of people who are ethically challenged in this country and THAT'S where your energies might be better directed.

But then again...

has anything to do with the conversation at hand. That poster said you have anger issues. She (he?) never mentioned male chauvenism in their post. So why did you decide to throw that out there?

You see, I'm familiar with your posts. You get into a ridiculous argument with someone, (usually your patients but in this case, not)then express great indignation that you were thought sexist. Meanwhile, no accusation of sexism actually occurred, it's just a product of your imagination. Now, a poster here comments on your thread, making no mention of sexism or chavenism, and immediately that's your go-to position. It's really a very strange and curious pattern.

So, since we're throwing out suggestions, I would suggest that you at least be intellectually honest in your discussions. Maybe then people would be less inclined to question your experiences.

I might suggest that YOU get your act together and realize that there's a lot of ridiculous behavior in this world and this is what I report on DU, as many other people do.

Your questioning my intellectual honesty is without merit: anyone here could have Cheetos on their fingers and be typing screeds descrbing their experiences in the corridors of power. I speak from experience and competence. There has been no one more loyal to the 'cause' than I over the past years here and while I couldn't care less about your opinion as to whether I am legitimate or not, your posts, with which I am familiar, sound like the text of a bad social-science textbook, or worse, a frustrated, angry, tired individual.

Are we having fun yet? No? Well, hre's some more: I was attacked IMO because the poster, who hasn't shown her face with respect to this subject, wrote that she was hostile to male chauvinist pigs, or words to that effect. Arbitrarily angry people are sad, and I find them pathetic.

And so I'm tired of dealing with you quite frankly, and I will however, keep a close eye on your posts over the next few months and comment upon their credibility, their supposed veracity, and their content freely, now that you've entered the fray.

Cheers!

Keep sticking it to the man. Or woman, as it were.

I don't think I've ever had a DU stalker before, this could add some interest to my dull, frustrated, tired and angry life. I'll be seein' you! :patriot:

You're the person who wrote that you've basically been cataloguing my posts. I was just suggesting that I go "tit for tat" as it were.

I just find it amusing that others post stories of Freeperland, of Rethug in-laws, of co-workers who are RW, but if I report on conversations with patients or vendors who are as outrageous, then I'm not worthy.

a right to know, and it is my responsibility to tell them.

You got this one for me. I think you did swell!

my father-in-law passed earlier this year, and had a stair lift-chair. i dismantled it and took it to my parents house for MY father to use.it seemed like a fairly straightforward procedure to install it- but ultimately we had a pro do it for $400. the installer was a real nice guy, and my parents haven't had a single problem with it.

Why do you broad-brush an entire industry just because you had a difficult time with one person in the field...?
seems like a fairly narrow-minded attitude- does it carry over to other aspects of your life? :shrug:

in the business.

But the knee-jerk defense on your part...does that carry over to other aspects of your life?

Seriously, if YOU had a good experience, then the preponderance of experiences must be like yours.

I get it...

Fact of the matter is that many many people involved in meidcal devices and support have questionable business pracices, that's why so many are in all kinds of trouble.

Little isn't available. The posibliity that pcintern has ever been even slightly worong on any subject is not possible. Pcintern gets enjoyment out of anger and outrage. Look up Histronic Personality Disorder....

nice ad hominem attack....

Your buddy Mr. Dean is on TV...right as I type this. Yeeehaaaa...

Isn't this fun?

nt

"Pussy is as pussy does".

:eyes: