“How do you handle product returns?”

We return products a couple of times a week. Usually it’s a product sent to us different from what we ordered. This week we ordered a liner medium plus, and they sent medium instead.

Probably what would eliminate that would be better communication between myself placing the order and the customer service representative, especially with Knit-Rite, SPS, and Otto Bock. DAW is really good about repeating back the order, and that usually eliminates the problem.

SPS was so used to working with us that [it was] like they were mind readers. Don had 25 years’ experience in the field. Now they have new CSRs who don’t know the field as well, and I have to look up the number and check it’s what I want. I can’t say “Hey, I want Ampu Talc.” I also return products for catastrophic failures. That’s why we stopped using Jim Smith products seven to eight years ago. They had a series of pylons that were snapping on amputees, and the [patients] weren’t using them as a pogo stick. We had one today—a lock where the threads were already bad. Even if we’re not going to receive compensation, from a liability standpoint, we have to send it back to make the manufacturer aware.

I rarely have any trouble with products I send back. The only big problem is when it’s an older part. Then I have to look up the invoice, and we always keep paper invoices.

Keith Strattan, CP
Lubbock Artificial Limb & Brace
Lubbock, Texas

When a patient brings a product back and says it’s not working, if it’s been some time—say, over 90 days—we’ll do another device. Some devices are made for the short term, and people are wearing them long term.

When we have something that’s fabricated or off-the-shelf and needs to be returned to the manufacturer, most companies will let you swap things out. Most often it’s the little things that go wrong, like the straps or the stitching. We try to fix it.

But when it’s not just normal use, most of the vendors will let you switch it out. Sometimes they’ll want to see it. Sometimes they’ll ask for an invoice. But we buy a lot at a time, so it’s like “What do you want?” Usually it’s just a matter of shipping the product back.

Usually [if a patient is noncompliant], I wind up paying for that. We follow the regular protocol with Medicare, and Medicare can ask for the money back. We have to explain to Medicare that it’s not a DME.

If a patient comes in and says “[This device] is just not working for me” entirely, I try to explain that we can’t just take it back. There’s a local organization here they can donate it to.

Sean Stellar, CPO, FAAOP
Stellar Prosthetics & Orthotics
Pasadena, Calif.

We do have a lot of instances where a product fails prematurely. I think the customer service [departments of the different companies] have really done a good job. I talk with the customer service representatives and the technicians a lot, to make sure what I’m seeing is not supposed to be happening.

I know Otto Bock, with the Harmony liners—the non-stick coating comes off. They always replace that, and they’re good at giving us extra tips on what we should be doing [to prevent that], like putting lotion on it. But they’re still willing to give us a new one, even when we should have been doing something.

 And the Mercury TM Pylon from Endolite—Malcolm at Endolite has helped me rebuild that so many times. Across the board, I’ve been really pleased with companies’ customer service.

The one thing that would be helpful would be to have more serial numbers on products. Every time a product fails, it’s time consuming trying to hunt down the original order forms. It would be helpful to have it stamped on the product.

We had a kid at Notre Dame who broke his [prosthetic] foot. He was from Pennsylvania, but had to get the foot replaced here. It was an Ossur foot, and had the serial number stamped on it. If it had been a liner with no number, it would have been a lot harder to replace.

Lisa Miller, CP
American Limb & Orthopedic Co.
South Bend, Ind.

[Companies’ return policies are] a big asset to us. With [orthoses and prostheses] costing so much, we can’t stock many at a time. Maybe a leg costs $1,000, and you could have used that capital to buy socks, or things that turn quickly. With all the Medicare issues, money is not as flexible.

[So] we try to stock a minimal amount of inventory. We might order several different feet, like an Otto Bock [foot], an Ossur, a Freedom Foot, a Campbell-Childs—all the different vendors. We’ll show examples to the patient and let them try them out. Most of the feet have a 30-day wear warrantee. That way, the patient won’t come in three or four months later, when the wearing warrantee has run out.

 If we have to keep the foot, we’ll use it as a sample. But most of the vendors are easy to deal with, because we do a lot of business with them.

Ronnie Schreiber, Purchasing
Muilenberg Prosthetics and Orthotics
Houston, Texas

Have a question or want to answer one? Do you have a question you’d like to ask your colleagues? Or, would you like to answer a question for this column? Here’s your chance. Contact Becky Kesner at bkesner@ AOPAnet.org or (571) 431-0876, ext. 215.