It started with the emails…then progressed to phone calls.

Voicemail messages were left and I tried calling back. No answer.

Emails were sent (yes, multiple) and still…no answer.

Am I describing a creepy, stalker-y movie plot OR my experience with Dexcom customer service???

If you guessed the latter, then ding-ding-ding, you’re right! (Sorry if you’re disappointed it’s not the former, this blog post is most definitely not about to take a When a Stranger Calls type of turn.)

No fewer than five Dexcom representatives have tried to contact me in the last month and up until a few days ago, I had no freakin’ clue why.

Let’s go back to the emails: I got THREE that said something along the following lines:

We have a new update regarding your pending Dexcom order. We have attempted to reach you but were unsuccessful. Please call me or respond to this email…

I haven’t placed a Dexcom order since the year began because 1) I wasn’t eligible to order new supplies yet and 2) I have enough sensors and a brand-new transmitter that will tide me over for the next two months at least. So I really didn’t understand why my order was already pending and, more importantly, why the “new update” wasn’t just written out in the email.

So I responded to the first two emails that I received that were like this, and was annoyed when nobody ever replied. But then I got an email about a reimbursement that really sent me into a tailspin. What reimbursement?!

I called Dexcom myself and spoke to a real, actual human being who told me that the reason why Dexcom reps were reaching out is because they did my annual review of insurance benefits and determined that I was eligible to reorder my supplies. Oh! I explained to the rep that that made sense to me, and now I understood why they were trying to get in touch with me…but what was this reimbursement business?

Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell me and instead informed me that I’d have to call the Dexcom billing department. This irked me, but I accepted it and began to wonder whether maybe the email was simply another notification that I could go ahead and reorder my supplies. I decided that I wouldn’t give Dexcom a call back, making the assumption that they were done with me.

Boy oh boy, was I wrong!

One night, Dexcom called my cell phone, and then my parents’ home phone (they must have it stored in their records from when I lived there), and then EMAILED ME AGAIN saying that they have an update on my pending order. By this point in time, I was furious. I tried calling back the TWO DIFFERENT NUMBERS for TWO DIFFERENT REPS and one line never even rang, while the other one went straight to voicemail (I couldn’t even leave a message because the inbox was full). I vowed to call back Dexcom customer service the next day to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

When I called, I explained the situation – how I’ve received a handful of phone calls and emails that I’ve tried to reply to but never got answers. I also detailed how I’d spoken with a company rep in the last week and I thought I made it clear to her that I take care of my own Dexcom ordering using their online system, and that I don’t need a rep to walk me through the process. It was a longer-than-it-should’ve-been phone call because I felt like the rep wasn’t really listening to me: She kept talking over me and couldn’t seem to grasp that I’m perfectly capable of handling reorders on my own. Finally, things got resolved in the end when she told me that she just emailed my account representative and informed him that I can handle my reorder in my own time, and that should he need to talk to me, please get in touch with me as soon as possible.

Listen, y’all – I love my Dexcom CGM. It’s one of the first diabetes devices that I wore and it revolutionized diabetes care for me. I also appreciate Dexcom employees for their hard work, and as someone who used to do customer service over the phone, I seriously value the amount of time and energy that it takes to deal with dozens of customers each week and try to walk each of them through a satisfying solution. So the point of this blog post is to not dis a company that I like, but merely to point out that there are clearly some flaws in the customer communication system.

I mean…going back to my earlier point, if Dexcom knew what the “update” was, why didn’t they specify it in the email or the voicemail message?

I’m not sure I’ll ever know the answer to that, but I do know this and I’m making a mental note of it now: Remember that next January, an insurance benefits check will be completed by Dexcom and I’ll probably be contacted about it – even if they don’t tell me that’s why they’re trying to get in touch, at least I’ll now have a sense as to what it’s about the next time around.