WLI provider asking me to re-order too often!

[CreepingCrone]

I've been on MJ a couple of months, and my provider (MedExpress) sends me so many emails telling me to re-order a higher dose. Last month I panicked, as I was worried if I didn't order straight away they might drop me. But now I've got 2 pens unused in the fridge. I don't want a big stockpile. Do you think I can wait til I'm down to just one pen?
Also, they just automatically increase my dose without any consultation, which seems weird. Surely you only need to progress if suppression reduces?
I'm probably just worrying for nothing, but dropping £160 every 2 weeks isn't sustainable for me.

Their systems are all automated and the email comes out as soon as you are 2 weeks from last order placed. Which given the common delay in your initial order delivery means that they can prompt you to buy Pen 2 when you have only taken 1 dose of pen 1! Just ignore the emails and set up your own reminders. Also you can edit the dose yourself during the reordering process - it might initially say the step up but there is a drop down where you can override it.

They let you reorder at same or even next dose if it’s under 8 weeks since your last order with them so you can safely spread it out a bit. https://support.medexpress.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/18934956639645-Resuming-Treatment-After-a-Break.

i do like to stay a minimum of 1 pen ahead in the fridge though just in case of future delays or shortages.

however I would recommend shopping around unless money is no object as they really aren’t good value after new customer discount. I initially stayed with them for 3 pens as didn’t want the hassle then realised how easy it was to move. Also better plan long term for maintenance as they will cut you off at 23.5.

I reorder just before I do the 3rd dose from my pen. Went up a dose for 2nd pen but this time stayed at 5mg so will see how I go with 5 for a couple of weeks before deciding whether to move up.

Thanks m, @jagorjab.That's a relief! May I ask who you are with now? Maintenance is a very long way off for me, but I don't want to get caught out!

I'm with med express also get the emails. I've stayed on 2.5 though, when they email you click the link and there's a button to request the next dose up or there's a button next to your current dose if you want to stay the same.
They've also been good price matching for me recently so worth emailing them.

I can't be bothered with the faff of changing providers and I don't intend to be on it long term. I've lost weight before and kept it off for years with diet and exercise, a very difficult pregnancy saw me gain all 4 stone back , I'm down one stone 10 at the moment so not far off half way.

I’m currently using weprescribe. Also used Chemist4u - last couple of orders I’ve followed the price but also checked reviews there are a few cheap providers I won’t risk as a lot of reported of issues. I’m considering medicine marketplace and swift doctor for next pen. Monj.co.uk is a great resource for comparing latest deals and mumsnet/reddit for user reviews. Trustpilot also. Do keep your boxes as they will ask for a photo of the prescription label when swapping.

@ThinkingaboutMJ can I ask about the MedExpress price matching as I tried to get the answer from them but went round in circles with the contact emails and didn’t even get them to confirm!

their price match is not really on your current order as you pay full price then they give you credit of the difference (plus a fiver) for your next order… my question is, when you place the second order can you use the credit and then also price match that order… and so on? Thanks

Yes it is credit for your next order so I used first purchase/referral code for my first order then paid full for my second emailed with a request to price match, the first time I just sent an enquiry asking if they price matched and gave an example of another provider offering the same pen for £30 less, they just responded and said the credit had been applied to my account, it came off of my next order automatically when I went to check out, I then emailed again and they gave me credit for the next one. I'm only on pen 3 but have already bought the 4th, I like to be a couple of doses ahead in case of delays

other thing @ThinkingaboutMJas they charge the exact same for 5 and 2.5mg I went straight to 5mg pen for pen 2, even though I didn’t move up immediately. Means you could take 5 doses of 2.5mg using clicks, no extra needles within 30 days completely safely (some people might do longer but that’s not recommended) or have the option to move to 3.75 or 5 at any point during the pen if 2.5 becomes less effective.

That's a really good idea thanks, I might do that for my next pen.
I just checked and I used their online contact us form and they replied from [email protected]

Yes that’s the contact I used and I asked the same question so many times, yet never got a straight answer. I just wanted to confirm if I could use the credit given as my “order 1” ‘price match’ on “order 2” and then ALSO subsequently price match “order 2” to have credit for “order 3” and so on. Have you been able to do this?

the lack of clarity made me suspect they would not and therefore it’s really only a price match every second order and (their very expensive) full price for each one in between , it certainly requires you to pay full price on the first one (unless perhaps you had referral credit?) so I moved to a cheaper supplier.

other companies that price match give you the cheaper price on the current order. It’s sneaky imo to call it a price match and actually it’s not, you pay full price and they give you credit so you have to use them again to get it. I gave up and paid £99 for 5mg with another provider with no matching palaver.

They will but only from the price you paid so say they advertise at 149.99 and you pay it you find somewhere that advertises 129.99 they give you credit off your next order of £25, making the total of order 2 £124.99 , you pay that, to get more credit you would need to find somewhere that sells for less than £124.99 eg £109 then you get the difference, but not the difference from £149.99 because that's not what you paid.
I'm not sure if that makes sense!
Essentially it's hard to do it indefinitely unless you do at for the odd one full price.

Even though I wasn't keen, I'm now thinking about maybe moving to pharmacy2u even though it might be hassle. I've persuaded myself explanation this to you 😂. I used to get my pill through them and they were good, they also do offers for existing customers not just new ones.

ME also won't match offer prices and have a short list of companies they will match.

Thank you @ThinkingaboutMJfor confirming more or less what I suspected that it’s not worth the hassle with them! There won’t be anyone on their list that offers it cheaper than the order minus the credit as like you said it’s a v limited list!

recommend Chemist4u and Weprescribe so far for their new customer deals and may explore price matching with the latter. Also heard good things about pharmacy2u so hope that works well for you.

Hi @jagorjab , I am a recently new customer with WePrescribe and used the initial discount shown for a new customer. I have just contacted them before placing my second order and they have agreed to price match Medicine Marketplace so the second pen with them will also be discounted as the discount is not retrospective and will apply to my next order.