It was a beautiful day in DC today. It got to 70 degrees today Tomorrow it might snow!
Edda is still in her old (little) wheelchair. Her regular (big) wheelchair is still broken. The wheelchair selling/repair model is very much like a car manufacturer/car dealer model. We buy the wheelchair from our local dealer and they repair it when we need it fixed. Unfortunately, we’ve had trouble with our local dealership. They are slow to return calls and emails. Repairs take months to wind their way through insurance and then the repairs don’t stick, the wheelchair breaks 3 months after the repair. The dealer is located in Alexandria, VA, so I have to cross off hours of my day to make it down there and back. Even though it’s a hassle to get it repaired, I’m also mad at the manufacturer because the brakes keep breaking. And once the brakes are broken, the bus ride is impossible. They won’t take Edda on the school bus with a wheelchair with no brakes. Understandable. One wouldn’t want Edda wheeling around on a moving school bus.
I’m a little baffled by the whole thing because every other family I know that owns one of these wheelchair LOVES their chair (Well, as much as you can love a wheelchair. Feelings are mixed about these things. Always).
Finally, I called the manufacturer, Convaid.
Convaid said that I need to send it back to California. Not me exactly. I have to get our local dealer to send it back to California. So I’m trying to figure out when I can take a half day off during business hours so I can drive to Virginia so I can watch them pack Edda’s wheelchair in a box and address it to California.
I don’t think that’s going to happen because even after I’ve taken the time to drive to Alexandria and I’m standing in the office with a box, packing tape and a sharpie, I’m sure it will take 5 weeks to get insurance to pay to send the wheelchair to California.
Hmmm. I’m a little grumpy these days, huh?