Dear Byram Healthcare.

Both Sarah and I are pissed off right now - See Sarah's post about the issue we are having with Byram, the company which supplies us with catherization kits for Anna. I thought I would share the email I sent to them. I'll be sure to post a follow-up. Although, based on our experience, I wouldn't doubt it if I do not receive a response. Here is the edited version of my email to Byram:

Good afternoon,

My name is Richard _______. My wife Sarah and I are the parents of Anna ______. Anna has spina bifida, and along with other needs, she needs to be catherized 5 - 6 times per day to prevent infection.

This email is to communicate our frustration and anger with the customer service (or lack thereof) we received with our most recent order of catherization kits.

As I have done for well over two years now, I went to Byram's online "Reorder Supplies" page and placed the same quantity order of Apogee Cath Kits that I have been ordering all along. I placed the order on Thursday April 14 or Friday April 15. From experience with prior orders, I expected the order to arrive in two to three buiness days. Monday April 18 came - no cath kits were delivered. Tuesday - nothing. Wednesday nothing. We had a family emergency Tuesday morning so my attention was diverted to my family. I called your customer service line on Thursday April 21 (around 8:00 pm?) to get a status of the order. This is the point at which Byram failed.

The representative informed me that the cath kits were on backorder and would not be delivered until at least Wednesday, April 27! Really!? And why hadn't we received a phone call or email telling us that? Byram distributes medical supplies to individuals like my daughter, who need them. After explaining that this was unacceptable and we only had enough kits to get us through the weekend, the representative basically told me "my supervisor is gone for the day - we will see if we can find some to send out to you tomorrow - sorry".

I called Byram the next day (Friday, April 22) and was told a "sample suppply" of 30 kits was mailed. On Monday, after contacting Anna's doctor to see if he had any kits, I called Byram again. This time I spoke with "E", who was very helpful. However, he pointed out to me two issues:

(1) the samples were not expected to arrive until Wednesday, April 27, which was too late and
(2) the backorder of Apogee kits would not be ready until May 27!!!

"E" was helpful in that he found a replacement kit made by another company - these kits were available and he agreed to replace the backordered Apogee kits with kits from Coloplast.

I write this email on Tuesday April 26 having not yet received any catherization kits from Byram and having only enough kits to catherize my daughter Anna today. If I had not been able to get a few kits from Anna's doctor, we would not be able to catherize Anna today.

What irks me the most about our situation is that it should not have happened.

I think we at least deserve answers to the following questions:

1.Why were we not informed of the backorder immediately?
2.Why didn't Byram offer the alternative kits when the Apogee kits were on backorder?
3.And finally, knowing we were out of kits, why wasn't the supply of 30 kits sent to us overnight or next day delivery?

We can be reached via this email address or home phone. Your attention to this email will factor into our decision(s) with regards to obtaining catherization kits in the future.

Regards,
Rich _____