Lotus Weight Loss and faulty Mounjaro pen: has anyone had support?

[Polkadotdash]

Currently dealing with Lotus Weight loss and a malfunctioning mounjaro pen.
Is there actually a human that works there? They don’t answer the phone, they send AI generated messages, the chat boards also look like they are run by AI.
This is my first order from them and it’s been a nightmare. They are the 9th different supplier I’ve used (regularly hop to get better price). 18 pens in and this is the first problem I’ve had with one jamming, under and over dispensing.
Ive told them all of this and the only answer I get from them is speak to Eli Lilly. I’ve also done that. They take up to a month to investigate. I’ve asked lotus if I can have a replacement pen. Answer was no. But I was welcome to order and pay for another one.
I asked should I stop using the pen. They replied that they couldn’t give me a view.
I asked to speak to them. They refused, had to be via message.
I see glowing reviews online for them. Are they AI too?
I think the problem with the pen is either to do with the bung at the needle end or to do with the spring mechanism in the handle. Was I really naive in thinking that if a patient reported a problem like this the dispensing pharmacy would act? And not simply say ‘if you don’t like it, buy another one or speak to the manufacturer?’

It seems you're proving my question about your lack of objectivity. 🤷‍♀️ I didn't start the post, just asked some questions that you can't or decline to answer.

Good luck.

Sounds like their customer service is terrible, OP. I would avoid using them again.

i have used 4 or 5 providers and never had a faulty pen so far, luckily, but I did need to call Bolt last week about something and got through to a person very quickly, so Lotus are not behaving as they should.

your analogy of expensive shoes doesn’t work here though - you are cutting off your nose to spite your face by not using a syringe,

yes, the ‘container’ seems faulty, yes, the provider should be addressing it, but they’re not,

you CAN get to what is inside very simply - you just won’t - so really, you’re just being stubborn and you’re the only one disadvantaged 🙄

The quotation was lost, it was referring to Silence's post. Obviously really difficult for you to follow within the context of a few posts. I think I'm feeling more sympathy for Lotus...

@KnewYearKnewMe I shan’t be using Lotus again, no fear of that.

I don’t see it as cutting off my nose to spite my face by not wanting to buy additional needles and self inject. That option should not be the only remedy. I just want a working pen. If it was a biro and the ink wasn’t coming out, you wouldn’t think ‘well I’ll just get a straw and suck it out so I dont have to bother the supplier.’ These are prescription drugs.

I would if the ink had cost me £250 and I needed it to keep losing weight.

Yes it must be awful being Lotus. Running customer service for three hours a day, but not actually answering phones, getting AI to answer emails and never taking action. I feel sorry for them too. Maybe I should send them some flowers and say sorry for being so awkward? Perhaps order another pen and never use that either, just to keep them happy. Maybe you are Lotus? Good luck.

@Polkadotdash

they are prescription drugs.

and you can safely use a syringe to get the medication if you need to.

i certainly do,

if it was a choice between that or go 5+ weeks without medication, surely the option is obvious?

would you say the same if it was insulin? I’d rather die righteous than take the obvious route?

yes, the pen should work, yes, they should fix it, but they aren’t, and it’s only you that that will suffer.

I have to agree with this.

Of course they should be sorting this but they aren’t. So then you are left with what to do yourself to resolve this and not waste the pen.

It is really easy to extract the contents of the pen using an insulin syringe that would allow you to continue with this pen. You tube has loads of videos on how to do this. I do it monthly for the golden dose.

I wouldn’t be happy either, but there is an easy way of you getting those doses out of that pen that would be within your dosing schedule, the shelf life of the pen, negates you having to buy another pen etc etc. I fully realise that you want the provider to sort this for you but they aren’t even making contact with you so that avenue seems somewhat futile if you cannot get to actually speak to a human regarding the issue. Of course it’s wrong but sometimes we have to deal with the set of circumstances we are presented with rather than the preferred and optimum approach.

I would get the insulin needles and make use of that pen as indeed I’ve done with a faulty pen of my own previously.

Response deleted as no point bashing my head against a brick wall.

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I've just realised that OP started another thread I've seen recently.

Their combative style is not limited to this thread 🤣.

It's unsurprising that their weight loss has stalled for 9 or 10 months, as they were not open to suggestions on their other thread. Not taking the medication at all can't be helping either. OP has stated clearly that they don't want any advice, just apparently for people to agree with them within some very narrow parameters. 👍

If they want to ask for advice or have a discussion, there are many of us here happy to assist or partake. Just please have an open mind.

@Twasasurprise well done on finding my other thread. If you’d read that properly, you’d see that I wasn’t getting combative, I had to keep reminding posters of the original question I had asked. Not the question they thought I had asked or the question they wanted to answer. It’s very common on MN that that happens and the discussion wanders off all over the place and results in unwanted advice. That’s where you’re heading with this. Plus your frankly bizarre insistence that I provide you with more evidence and data so that you can objectively assess how many times I’ve called Lotus, what action I have taken myself and having jumped to the conclusion that I should just be quiet and fix the problem myself.
The question is about Lotus’s customer service and my rights as a consumer of prescription only medicine. Not about how to fix my pen, whether or not I’m willing to use insulin needles or whatever data you would like to objectively assess my case.

So if you’ve never used Lotus or have anything to add on how to challenge poor customer service when buying MJ, I suggest that you’ve nothing further to add.

I'd keep pursuing the chargeback route, OP. They have sold you a faulty product and refused to refund or replace as legally required. Your contract is with them not the manufacturer.

In future I also recommend checking the reviews on monj.co.uk (they give a price comparison which also shows review scores). I switch each month too but always avoid the providers with a low review score, it's not worth the (usually very minimal) saving otherwise.

I didn't have to "find" your other thread, it's on the same board, had a memorable title, was in the last few weeks and I recalled it as your style was familiar.

There were some questions in my first post or two, which you voluntarily answered. You may not have liked my answer that it wasn't unreasonable for Lotus to want an investigation when the fault you described is overwhelmingly caused by user error.

The only questions I've asked you since then were how long you've been off the medication, if you could order the next month early in order to get back on the medication, and what Lotus have indicated as the next step. Apologies for trying to help / understand the bigger picture or for asking an on topic question about Lotus' customer service.

I can't see that I've asked you anything further. There is discussion with another poster where I asked them a couple of questions for clarity. Other than that, I see no questions of you and certainly no demands or even requests to you for evidence or data.

@Polkadotdash Lotus sound awful to deal with, but the facts are you only have two choices if you want to continue treatment to schedule -

1. Buy a pen from somewhere while waiting for the process to complete. With the risk Eli Lilly decide the pen when returned wasn’t faulty and you lose the medication

2. Buy syringes to extract medication.

it isn’t great service from Lotus, there should be a better option or at least better communication , but this is private online prescribing, and frustrating ad it is it is where you are just now.

You can follow up by raising a concern with GPhC about the pharmacies standards, responsiveness to patients (you will need to provide factual details) - they probably won’t respond back to you about your concern and they definitely won’t help with your pen, but they will take it seriously .

you can also follow up with negative reviews

Thanks @NoTouch I do plan to raise a complaint with GPhC about the lack of patient care and support.

Be aware @Polkadotdash you raise a concern to a regulator it is not a complaints resolution or compensation service. They investigate whether the pharmacy is fit to practice, perhaps will consider your concern during their next inspection and how the pharmacy interacts with patients in general, may not look into your specific case.

@Twasasurprise you deleted your rambling post with the bizarre responses about lack of data and suggesting that I was an inexperienced MJ user and that a seasoned old pro like you would have sorted it yourself. You’ve also made insinuations that I’m a bit thick because I couldn’t follow said rambling post you deleted, called me snippy, said you feel sorry for Lotus having me as a customer. None of that is helpful in any way at all.

I would love it if Lotus would do an investigation. They won’t answer my messages properly. They won’t answer the phone. They send AI email responses saying ‘we understand you are unhappy but please speak to Eli Lilly’. that’s not even a basic level of engagement.

However , you have taken the obtuse view that this is somehow my failing and that I should just be a better informed customer and get on with it. Or provide screenshots,emails, phone call counts etc to prove to you otherwise before you will opine on Lotus as a provider. I didn’t ask you for a judgement. I asked I’ve you had had any dealings with Lotus. The answer to that is no. So you don’t have anything of use to add to the discussion. So you can stop slinging weird insults at at stranger on the internet now. Thanks.

@NoTouch yeah I get that. Lotus’s fitness to practice is a big part of my concern. Their lack of accountability when patients require support with prescription only medication is a big red flag to me. There is serious risk of harm from their low contact/no advice approach.

I didn't delete any posts; they would still show with a deletion or edit notice if I had.

I realised who you were and how you negatively react to people who try to offer help/ advice that is not limited to specific parameters, so deleted the first few paragraphs before posting. I mentioned that I'd deleted my message that I was typing so as not to keep banging my head against a brick wall.

I don't know why you keep tagging me unless for further engagement.

16:04 yesterday is the post (not deleted) where I said "The tone of your response reads as pretty snippy; as if you are only interested in views that align with you. If this is the wrong impression, I'll continue..." This was the point I expected no further engagement from you unless I had read you wrongly and you wanted more discussion.

I didn't call you snippy, as my above quote shows. I said you had a combative style, which I had recognised from a previous thread and that at this point I was starting to feel sympathy for Lotus.

Falsely accusing me of deleting posts and that I demanded you provide me with proof is bizarre. Here is the only time I actually ask you for proof, as neither of these things happened.

The only questions I asked you, OP, were about if the pen primed, how many doses were left in the pen, what Lotus suggested the next steps were, how long you'd been without medication, and if you could buy the next pen to use while waiting for the refund/ replacement to cover the following month.

There were no demands or even any requests for you to prove anything to me. The above questions are all I have asked of you.

And here are all of the weird insults I have slung, I'm such a nasty cow...

"You don't like the wait, which is also understandable. Hopefully you'll be vindicated soon and receive your refund/ replacement." "Your contract is with them, so they can't leave it entirely up to Lilly and leave you hanging indefinitely." "I'd be upset and angry too if I had received a faulty pen, it's just that the odds are that the pen wasn't faulty and I can't blame a pharmacy for wanting to establish the facts. If it was faulty, OP deserves a replacement or refund, but it might take a "reasonable" amount of time to establish this." "Again, if OP received a faulty pen, I truly hope the investigation is quickly found in their favour."

This post @Twasasurprise.
Your tone is accusatory and condescending.
I don’t get what you want out of engaging with this thread. Do you want me to say ‘thanks so much. You are right. I should stop complaining?’
All of your responses are about how you don’t like what I’ve said. Here’s an easy answer: don’t read my thread and don’t offer me any of your weird views. Good lord.

And this one too @Twasasurprise

’obviously really difficult for you to follow’ and

‘I’m feeling less sympathy for Lotus’

are both snarky little digs. Totally uncalled for.

And you are re-editing your posts now to make yourself look saintly.

Blimey @Twasasurprise . At this point you've written more about the OP's pen than Lotus have. Have you considered invoicing them for customer support? 🤣

So now it is a tone you are talking about after you had been snippy with me first.

The first post wasn't to you. It had dropped the quote, so no questions asked of you. The way I refer to OP is talking about you in context of the dropped quote. In fact you quote where I specifically said "no proof", just that I prefer approximate figures to help form an opinion to answer your questions. I didn't ask or demand anything of you in that post.

If my posts apparently "look saintly" now, I would suggest you misread them in the first place. They haven't changed, there is not an edit anywhere. I don't know why you keep accusing me of that. MN shows edits and deletions. I couldn't hide them if they existed.

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ETA an example of an edit. There aren't any in my previous posts.

By way of update on this, Eli Lilly has responded to me today. Without asking to see the pen, nor even a picture of the pen, nor talk to me it has decided that its user error that has caused the jam and no refund or replacement is due.
So there you have it. If your pen jams, it’s your fault. Don’t expect any help from your online provider nor the manufacturer. You’re on your own with it and you have to absorb the cost.

I am not at all surprised. What you described does sound exactly like what can happen if the needle is not attached properly and then pressure is applied. I think it would be very difficult if not impossible to prove that the pen was already damaged rather than damaged by "user error", even if Lilly asked for the pen or for photos of it.

Hopefully you've managed to find another pharmacy who are able to send you a 12.5mg pen based off your previous order with Lotus.

@SilenceInside nope. I can’t afford another pen. I can’t afford to stockpile pens to self insure against this happening again. That’s the end of my MJ journey.