The
Wall of Shame
Dedicated to vendors who
gouge on parts?
You be the JUDGE!
If
you are the vendor of this part and I have stated some component pricing
inaccurately, please email me and Ill correct
it!
Send me your candidates for the Wall
Email to Wallofshame@att.net
Please
continue sending me your candidates.
Well,
Im going to start nagging more this year about posts here.
I
get submissions so seldom; its difficult for me to remember the process to
update the website.
Are
you feeling my pain?
All
kidding aside, Ill try and do better!
The
GOUGE of the Month
January 2008
|
No pictures but
. GE/OEC 9800 C-arm Iris collimator blade drive motor From GE/OEC = $6100.50 Same OEM motor (Portsescap Inc.) via Avnet Electronics =
$164.90 A number of contributors ask to post anonymously, and I
certainly understand that, Its another symptom of the relationship between vendors
and their customers. Mr S., thanks for the contribution! And another low blow
from a vendor; Normal markup indeed! Sir: I have
been reading your website for a while, but have been very hesitant to bring items to you. Recently I have had a few 9 watt compact
fluorescent screw-in lamps (Philips SLS9W) go out on Drager Babytherm
8010 Radiant infant Warmers. These are energy efficient replacements for standard filament light
bulbs that you can buy in most any store now. I looked up the Drager part # 2M30601 in my manual. When I went to order them
from Drager, I was quoted a price of $95 each. I had them double check the
price, and then had an internal investigation done on the price. When I
was contacted again, I was told that this was the correct price and a normal
mark-up. Here is a
link to a lamp dealer selling the exact same Philips lamp for $16.99: http://www.atlantalightbulbs.com/ecart/nw012104/PHILIPS22017-7SLS9LAMP.htm But
better yet, here is a link to a supplier of 9W compact fluorescent lamps at 4 for $11.99: https://www.chooserenewables.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16151&cat=3&page=1 Thanks to Mr. W.K |
The
GOUGE of the Month
February 2007
Heres a 3M M170 touch
display, complete for $675
3M MicroTouch M170 Black 17" Touch
Monitor
Part #: 41-91375-225
Is there anyone that could help
me second source the touch screen for the Servo i ventilator? I was given
a factory part number of: 6670645 with a price of $5,754.00.
This was a Maquet
part number and the Maquet price. So the wall of shame should
acknowledge Maquet
for it's outstanding ability to overcharge on their parts.
Thanks for keeping me
anonymous!
Heres the phenomenally
overpriced touch panel from Maquet
Ringing in at $5,754.00
Id think twice about
any Servo I purchases!!!
And Another Gouge
How much should a
service manual cost?
I had called Tech Support
to get help on the specs for a surgical light. It's a Steris Polaris (Centra
360).
I asked the tech what can
be done to increase the brightness of the unit since it seemed kind of dim to
me.
(Maybe the dimmest thing
here is the Steris appreciation of their customers)
He suggested I replace the
Bulbs, which I had, check to make sure they
were the correct voltage
& amps, I did. check the voltage to the bulbs, ,it was correct.
He said that there was a
calibration procedure, then I asked if he could fax it to me, he said it wasn't
possible, I asked if he could email it he said he couldn't do that either. Then
I asked what the lumenance should be; so that I could measure the output.
He said all that was in
the service manual and that he couldn't tell me, but that if I wanted to
purchase the manual he would give me the p/n. I asked for the p/n and price. I
threw the information away no way was I going to pay for a $900.00 for a
surgical light service manual.
Victor Mendoza
[mailto:victorcalifbmed@hotmail.com]
Now thats what Im talking about!
From our Service Partners
at;
Philips Medical Systems
PMS
The Stanley Powerlock tape measure shown in the photo is from a
Philips EZ Diagnost R&F room. Part # 452216313672. Price $423.89. However, that
the part is no longer available. So I must purchase an upgrade kit. Price about
$950.00. Ouch!
J.
Thanks John, for yet another CLASSIC
example
Weve
all heard it too many times, We really want partner with you.
Well,
in some states their idea of a partnership is only legal if youre married!!!
The
GOUGE of the Month
Attached are pics of a TSO panel that
required replacement on our Philips MD3. This device is nothing more than a
collection of switches that control table and c-arm movement. It could not
possibly cost Philips more than $500 to manufacture. The price from Philips for
this part: $21K. There should be a law..!
J.
Somerset Medical
Im sure there was some circumstance that made it necessary for
Philips to teach you a lesson on this
particular failure, like they needed to meet their financial
targets late in the quarter!
The
GOUGE of the Month
Our Renal Services department
runs 24 stations of Fresenius 2008H machines. These 24 machines account for
about 35% of our total parts budget. ($40k per year)
The keyboard pictured helps
illustrate the problem!
This keyboard for the FDS08
cost an unbelievable $764.35.
Here are some other
phenomenally overpriced parts;
DC motor and gearbox
=$367.98
Acid pump = $364.00
Gear head = $322.40
BP motor and gearbox =
$367.98
Hydroblock body = $568.56
Director, Medical
Engineering
Summa Health
System
dolesc@summa-health.org
The
GOUGE of the Month
We have a few of the older HP Central stations (D4367N) at
our facility. In
> the last year we have had two of the hard drives crash beyond repair.
> Replacement for the SCSI 4.5 Gb drives is about $800 each from Philips.
> With a minimum of searching I found a 36.7 Gb SCSI hard drive for $150 and
> an adapter (Ultrawide68-pin to 50-pin) for $27 from CDW. After formatting
> and reinstalling the OS and current revision of software (C.0), the
> computers are running perfectly and with no complaints from staff. Except
> for an 'atta-boy' from my boss, the hospital has not acknowledged the $600
> savings each time. Oh well, another day of saving the world in Biomedical
> World.
>
>
> Michael W Mitchell
Thanks Michael!
Weve seen a number of those gouges also, with just about every vendor that
utilizes hard drive technology. Sometimes its a thankless job!
We document every occurrence like that in a spreadsheet we call the Savings Log.
Every now and then I discuss it with my boss, hes a very appreciative guy.
The
GOUGES of the Month
GE
and partnership, an oxymoron?
$1200
for four fuses!
Unbelieveable
I figured you could add this
one to the list. We called in GE to work on an Advantx R/F Room and had to
replace a $3,400 board. But the Tech also found that a 5 Amp, 700 Volt Fuse was
also blown, and we said to go ahead and replace it so we could get the room
back up and running. The Tech had blown the spare fuse that we had while
troubleshooting and we didn't have the time to locate the spare fuse ourselves
locally, because the staff was needing the room very quickly. The GE Rep came
back later and said GE does not sell that fuse individually, you have to buy a
"Fuse Kit". The kit contains 8-9 fuses that rarely blow, except for
the one we had to replace. Cost on the kit was $1,100. We did cross reference
the fuse we needed and found it for $17.97. You do the math on that one.
We thought that
there were 8-9 fuses, but there were actually only 4 fuses in the
"kit". Two- 25 Amp and two- 5 Amp fuses.
Warren S. Garmon
Director of Technical Operations
Bio-Medical Services, Inc.
warrengarmon@biomedicalservices.org
(770)945-3117
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