SoMuch for SoClean

Hi, I’m Don and I have sleep apnea.  {response: “Hi Don”}

With this disorder, there are so many things you can do to keep yourself and those who share your bed comfortable and healthy. After my sleep study, which I didn’t study at all for it, it was determined I quit breathing enough times per night to warrant buying a kind of shop vac crossed with an aviator mask device that pumps air into my lungs to keep me safe. It took some getting used to, I’ll admit, but I think the rewards of this device allowed me to be tolerant to whatever inconveniences it may have. I’ve been using it for a couple of years and I’d recommend anyone who snores profusely and/or wakes up feeling like crap for reasons other than a hangover to consider getting a sleep study done to see if it would benefit you. I believe our insurance covered most of the cost.

Marketing in the after market

After I used this shop vac device for a while, I tuned more in to any advertising that mentioned the CPAP machinery. One in particular caught my attention. The SoClean ionizer/cleaner. Seemed pretty easy… drop the mask off in the device in the morning and push a button and voilà, a clean mask, tank and hose. So I did my due diligence and looked up reviews, pros/cons, opinions and even asked my dog if I snored too much. (blank stare, which I interpreted as YES).  One decided con was that it looked a whole lot like a diaper disposal device, so I warned my daughter to PLEASE don’t use it as such when she changes baby Ava. Every one else is now on notice as well!

I found the best price on Amazon (surprise) and ordered it. Works well, I guess. At least my mind is more at ease. After it buzzes for a while, it stops all the racket and emits a soothing green light giving me a sense of accomplishment and respiratory peace of mind. All I have to do is to remember to fill up the shop vac water reservoir, wipe off the face mask, drop it in the SoClean and push the appropriate button. Lesson learned the hard way. The first button I pushed scheduled it to activate in the middle of the night. I found this out…  in the middle of the night.

Harvey didn’t help by breaking my routine

We were in a mandatory evac zone, so we did what many others did and packed up our “very important stuff” and shoved the rest in the attic. Among the not so important stuff was this SoClean device. I was prepared to forego daily shop vac cleaning for a while as I evaluated how many trips to high ground I was going to make. But I did box it up and labeled it as any OCD person would have… with a very large black marker in all caps. Underlined.

Disaster averted, almost

So we were lucky in that the river didn’t get to 59′. Much luckier than many of our friends I’m sad to say. We were inconvenienced a micro amount comparatively speaking. However.. when someone opened the SoClean box and put it back on my nightstand, the power adapter was missing. I taxed my memory in a split second to try and recall if I put that adapter in the box before I taped and labeled it, and was sure I did. No one remembers unpacking the device, which I can understand since it’s just common household item that holds no particular memory value. So after an exhausting escaped murderer manhunt-style search and trying several low voltage adapters that did NOT work, I looked up SoClean online to see if they by chance sold this as a repair part. Nope. It was after their customer service hours so I sent them an email (9/4). No reply and I checked inbox and junk to make sure I wasn’t missing it. So yesterday (9/17) I send another email, basically forwarding my original email. They promptly reply and say it is available through customer service….  Yippee!!  I call the number and they say I’m next in line to be spoken to.  11 minutes later, which seemed like eternity with them reminding me every 15 seconds that I should consider going online for best support. A client calls so I hang up, but not before memorializing the wait time graphically. (see right)

After I hang up with my client I go back to the website and low and behold, there is a chat icon that I didn’t notice before. Here is how that went:

Chat with us!
Thanks for your interest in SoClean! Can I help you with anything?

You
Yes… I’ve been trying to get in touch with your customer support team, but no luck so far. Can you help me with an order?

Percy
What is your question

You
I misplaced my power adapter for my SoClean2 during our evacuation here in Houston. I need a replacement.

Percy
You need to call 866-501-3705 to order that part

You
I did and was on hold for over 11 minutes…

Percy
We are having a high call volume right now if you try in an hour or so you should be fine

You
OK… do you know the particular specs for the power adapter? It doesnt’ show anywhere i’ve looked.

Percy
I am sorry I don’t have that info

You
Do you have an instruction manual or spec sheet for it?

Percy
we do not

You
so what do you do there?

Percy
I am sorry what do you mean

You
Why do you have a chat service that can’t help with some basic questions or inquiries?

Percy
I am sorry I cannt help you with that question

You
OK… please pass along that SoClean has one frustrated customer that expects a little better customer service.

Percy
I will be happy to do that for you

I hope I’ve answered all of your questions. This chat has been closed to free up the chat que for another person, but start typing below if you need anything else!

Seriously?

That wore me out…. and I’m sure you are too if you’ve made it this far.

I’ll call them tomorrow and see if the customer service department is working, and hopefully they are a little more prepared than Percy was.