3 x pens arrived warm! :(

[Redlightbulb]

I had managed to purchase 3 x 15mg pens for £145 using a new customer discount code.
They were spent by Royal Mail guaranteed next day delivery. Should have got them yesterday but Royal Mail cocked up & delivered to wrong depot! Arrived late this afternoon. So a day late.
ice pack was fully melted. I have a temperature gun and it was reading 29 for the internal of the wool packet & 25 for the ice pack. Normally I would want them sent back but the provider is now out of stock & given the pending price increases I may have to pay more for them? especially If the provider can’t get new stock until the 1st Sept.
Really annoyed. I was due to start a new pen today so I could use one now & then I guess just prioritise to use the other ones after.
hopefully they will all be OK.

How did you manage to get three pens? I can’t get one!

@Honeyandwine
It was part of a bundle. They were £145 each so a steal really. But no good if they are now not as effective!

You probably can’t get one because OP bought them all. 😂

If both temperature measurements were under 30C they should be fine to put straight into the fridge.

If both temperature measurements were under 30C they should be fine to put straight into the fridge.

@TheyCallMeStacey if they are above 8 degrees then the 30 day expiry count down applies, and they shouldn’t be used beyond that. Obviously impossible if you have three pens, you can’t use them all within 30 days.

Given the stockpilers/panic buyers were all ordering end of the week, I did wonder if warm pens would become an issue.

You're lucky to have got them at all at the weekend. Unless your pharmacy paid a hefty extra fee (they won't have done) Special Delivery is only guaranteed to arrive Monday - Friday. So the fact Royal Mail have delivered today is above and beyond their service offering. They should have arrived tomorrow (Monday).

This means you cannot claim from RM for the value of the pens, and neither can the pharmacy.

I was just saying on a similar thread that we should veto pharmacies that send Tracked 24 over Special Delivery. We should also veto pharmacies that send out on Fridays. Shipping should only take place Monday to Thursday via Special Delivery (if using Royal Mail).

Had they shipped say on Thurs, you could have claimed from Royal Mail if a sorting issue meant they didn't deliver on Friday and they warmed up.

They are in the fridge now. I’ll delay jabbing until tomorrow after I have spoken with my pharmacy.

I would be willing to use 1 & send the rest back. I doubt they could send me replacements at the same cost.

I would ask them - did they pay Royal Mail the Saturday delivery upgrade, and if not, why they are shipping out on a Friday? It's risky.

Ultimately this is the pharmacy's problem, not yours. And it's a shame in their haste to sell sell sell, pens will get ruined and returned while others who need them can't buy them.

The other two syringes will be fine if you keep them in the fridge until you need them.

When it’s out of the fridge the chemical degradation speeds up hence the shorter shelf life at room temperature. Putting it back in the fridge “stops the clock”, so to speak, and means that degradation slows right down again.

They are obliged to replace them, future price rises are their problem in this case, not yours.

The first reply on my previous thread about this is really helpful:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5369173-anyone-else-receiving-non-chilled-mounjaro?utmcampaign=thread&utmm_medium=share

Thank you all for your comments. Really helpful. Hopefully I will be able to get through to them on the phone tomorrow.

Which suppliers is it that send out 3 pens at once, and only charge £145 for a 15 ?

@Corfumanchu
It was Pharmacyonline. I used a new customer discount code before they were pulled.

Put them in the fridge but get on to the provider ASAP!! Stock issues or not they can’t give you pens that have broken the cold chain. They’ll replace or refund

Eli Lilly would not consider them “fine”. The cold chain should not be broken until they have been received by the customer.

https://medical.lilly.com/uk/products/answers/how-should-the-mounjaro-tirzepatide-kwikpen-be-stored-217607

Oh yes, absolutely. The OP should definitely complain and this is shoddy service from the provider. They should replace them FOC of course. Why on earth do they use Royal Mail for cold chain items??

However, given that the OP doesn’t want to part with her pens, they will be OK to use. They don’t seem to have been at room temperature for very long (in comparison to the 30 days permitted) and OP now has them in the fridge. Best of a bad situation, really.

What does it say if you put the details in this - https://tempex.lilly.com/uk/

It’s room temp once you’ve used them, not room temp before they’re used. Seeing as it’s a bundle of three that means that last one in particular could degrade quite a lot

If they are back in the fridge, degradation is now back to the rate it was before it was removed from the fridge. So they can be used pretty much as normal if the OP is worried about having no meds at all. One extra day at 30 (31 days instead of 30) will make practically no difference overall.

This is scientifically accurate (although you’re at liberty to disregard a random on the internet) but it’s obviously not right that OP has received them warm. Shocking, actually.

What did they say OP? I had a pen arrive warm today that was sent friday!

@Monstersincfactory
I called this morning & they said for me to email & that they would send me a prepaid address label so I could send them back & get replacements but it may be a refund if they have no stock. I said that as I would be starting a new pen today anyway I would be willing to keep one which they agreed to.
So I have emailed & waiting to hear back.
The 15 still looks to be in stock on their website but they now have a banner up saying that they are not currently taking on new customers & that their processing time is 7-10 days, so who knows when they will respond to that email.
I did state in my email that I wanted replacements & was happy to wait for them. I asked if they could earmark 2 x 15 pens for me ASAP.
But they would probably make more money by refunding me & then selling the pens to someone else as I got them for around £145 each using a code & they are not allowing codes to be used now & they are on their website for £209!

Bit of a shitty situation but I hope it all works out OK.

I’d refuse to send it back. You don’t know if they’re going to try and sell them on. Tell them you expect a full replacement to be shipped within 24 hours or you will be contacting the pharmaceutical council. I had this with bolt once and they asked me to return the pen. I said no, as it was my prescription medication and I didn’t want it being sold on or anything else! They refunded me and I switched to Zava.

With the state of the situation at the moment I'd take your chances on all 3 pens because you have little choice at the moment. This happened to me and they wouldn't replace it and I was already at the start of one pen so couldn't use it straight away. I'm on that pen now and it's definitely working.

I'm surprised they refunded you without the pen returned.

I will mark the pen so I will know if they just send it back to me.