I was obliged to try out a variety of sleep apnea machines. Due to a series of breathing problems, I was obliged to change machines and settings in the search for an appropriate apparatus. Throughout the entire process, Tia referred to my machines as loaners. Tia never once spoke of a rental fee for their use. Even when I offered to return machines due to the lengthy period that I had had them, Tia would advise me not to worry and to keep them and use them until we had the appropriate machine in place.

Last week, having waited for quite some time for my machine to be back in stock at Airway Health, I went to the Niagara Falls location to finally pick it up. When presented with the invoice, I was astounded to find an eight hundred dollar rental charge for sleep apnea machines that I had used. As I stated earlier, I had never been informed of any rental charge for what had been presented to me as a loaner machine by Tia.

At this point, I was told that the eight hundred dollar charge would be covered by my health insurance. Needless to say, it is not covered and I am now out of pocket for this exceedingly exorbitant charge. Had Tia informed me that there would be a charge for these loaners, I would have insisted that the process be moved along much more quickly than it was. This appears to be a business procedure at Airway Health used to financially gouge patients.

When I attempted to call and to email Tia to discuss the issue. I received no response from her for almost two weeks. I asked her to contact me. She did not. She informed me through two curtly worded emails that she had a sick family member and was unable to get back to me, even though she did say that she would that same day — and she didn't. She also emailed me to say that there would be no refunds made for the machine or the rental charge. That was the only contact that she made with respect to this issue.

Due to the fact that she ignored me and my requests to speak to her , I was obliged to pursue the issue with others in the company and after much ado, Tia was made to to finally return my phone calls. When confronted with the notion that she had never informed me of this very expensive rental charge, she denied it and said that I had been told about it from the beginning. I told her that this was not the case and that she never had never explained to me that there would be such an expensive charge for trying out the company's inventory in my quest to find a suitable machine. The rental fee is very close to the cost of a new machine. Why would I ever agree to such a ridiculous financial gouge?

As such, I am writing this report on line to warn potential clients of Airway Health in Milton, where Tia is currently employed, to be aware of the fact that she did not inform me of the rental fees and take caution accordingly if dealing with her at anytime in the future.