Last week I received a phone call from medicalert to inform me that my son's records will be deleted. The reason is that I have not paid the annual membership. I said that I felt the annual fee was a bit steep, but I was polite and thanked him for informing me that they will be completely deleting his file. Honestly, I do think it decent that they let me know.
Today, I received a form letter. It starts "Thank you for taking the time to write informing us of your wish to cancel your MedicAlert membership."
helllloooooo! I sent no letter. I did not cancel, they did. (With legitimate reason, which I am not arguing about.)
I just find it very ironic that while they have a new program "NO CHILD WITHOUT" where they are giving free bracelets and memberships to children, they are cancelling my son's membership. And they insist I sign a release form which states that he will not wear the bracelet. I [b]bought[/b] the bracelet. I didn't rent it. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/mad.gif[/img]
![http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/mad.gif[/img]](http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/mad.gif[/img]){kind=link}
Thats disgusting.
I think you should ring and complain.
Did you ask them if your child is eligible for "No Child Without"?
You really had to agree to not wear the bracelet anymore? That is bizarre.....
"No Child Without" is only at selected schools -- and his hasn't been selected.
The release form is worse then any CYA form I've ever seen. I find it offensive. I don't think they can force me to give up the bracelet. As I said, it was purchased.
Ruby, I probably will call them, but not until I'm calmer. Right now, my sarcasm would come out waaaayyyyy to strong.
Annamarie, That is ridiculous, I can't believe that medic alert would do that...
I understood that any school can participate in the "no child without" program, you just have to give the info to your son's school/principle. Then the school decides whether or not to participate. At least that is my understanding...
Ali
So far there are only 10 schools in Toronto that have been selected for the program.
They are only adding a few schools per year to the program. I'm not sure exactly how many per province or across the country, but it will be 5 - 10 years before all schools are expected to be in it. By then, he'll be to old anyway.
[This message has been edited by AnnaMarie (edited January 08, 2007).]
Are they asking you to return the bracelet?
Ask for a refund!!!
They are not asking me to return it. They are just telling me he cannot wear it -- and they are telling me to sign a release form advising that he will not wear it.
I do like the refund idea though. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img] Not that I expect one, but I might discuss that if (when) I do call.
Why in the world are they saying he can no longer wear the bracelet? You aren't a member, so he can't wear their bracelet? Wow! How unbelievable! So much for helping to protect and save lives.
It makes absolute sense to me that they would not want your child to wear the bracelet anymore, and you shouldnt' want your child to wear it, either.
In an emergency, EMT's and Drs. could use that bracelet to contact Medicalert to get information about your child.
Precious time could be wasted trying to gather pertinent information that you no longer are paying a service to have provided. Imagine MA searching their database frantically looking for info on your child, while Drs. wait on the line.
If you don't want to pay for their service, but want your child to have a notification tag, I believe there are some other non-membership alternatives that you may want to consider.
Just wanted to give a different opinion.
I can understand them wanting you to sign something saying you understand they will no longer be holding your information. People are sue happy. I could totally see someone (not YOU) suing them two months later b/c they were wearing a bracelet with invalid info, and when their child had a rxn MEDICALERT didn't have all the info to save their child. People these days don't take responsibility for their actions and are always looking for an easy dollar.
Just a different opinion....
What I don't understand is why they are only selecting certain schools? I can understand maybe they don't want to give out a ton in one year, but if your son already has one, how hard would it be to just extend the membership for free? That's too bad. I was wondering what they do if you don't re-enroll though. Guess we know!
Do they still have the other program? When we signed up with them we were in a tight place so we applied for a free one, and gave what we could. They didn't give us any trouble. This year we'll pay for the renewal but it was nice for them to give us the first year free. (My DD is not school aged yet).
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