Caution ordering Covid Tests from Emed

[abbydancer2003]

6 minutes ago, EatonDoolittle said:

 

I came to this thread to report the same.

 

My 4 free non-monitored ones arrived today in the regular mail as well and,  Surprise!! they are our old friends,  Binax Now.  Expiration date on them is  November 22, 2022

 

one - wish I had some Abbot stock

two-  if they are doing fulfilment for all the Gov't / Post Office  ordered ones, no wonder there have been delays

three -  I also ordered proctored ones as a Walgreen's  back up for my upcoming cruises on Jan 25, they are scheduled for delivery Mon Jan. 31.  So a  little slower than previous orders, but not unacceptable. 

I didn't know Walgreens sold proctored tests.

 

[EatonDoolittle]

12 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

I didn't know Walgreens sold proctored tests.

 

 

I guess I wasn't clear. 

 

I'll be making an appointment at Walgreens in a few days for a drive through test.  That has worked perfectly well for my past 2 cruises. No charge, results within a half hour. 

 

However, just in case, I ordered a couple of the Celebrity endorsed proctored ones to have as backup. Lots of nightmare stories on here about testing sites cancelling / running short at the last minute. 

 

So like Jim, I am fully loaded with tests right now. 

 

 

[RichYak]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Slightly off topic but on USPS informed delivery this morning it says my Free non-Monitored Covid tests will be delivered today.    When it rains it pours.

Some brands of free tests being distributed by USPS offer monitoring for a $20 upcharge. YMMV.

 

https://www.azova.com/travelvideo/

 

[Algebralovr]

22 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Some brands of free tests being distributed by USPS offer monitoring for a $20 upcharge. YMMV.

 

https://www.azova.com/travelvideo/

 

How interesting!  
 

I’m slightly annoyed about the expiration date thing for the ones I got last fall.  If they had published the additional extension, I would have hung on to them and been able to use them for my Dec 2021 cruise.  
 

oh, well.  Meanwhile, I got two from Optim and 6 direct from eMed.  Now I need to add another cruise to be able to use them all!

[cluso]

Got my government issued tests today.  Distributed by Roche, made in Korea, SD Biosensor, expiration July 4, 2022.  Doesn't really appear to have a "brand name" on the box.

[cluso]

8 minutes ago, cluso said:

Got my government issued tests today.  Distributed by Roche, made in Korea, SD Biosensor, expiration July 4, 2022.  Doesn't really appear to have a "brand name" on the box.

 

Test Kit picture...

Edited January 27, 2022 by cluso

[EatonDoolittle]

Frankly, I expected a no-name set. Was surprised to get the Binax Now.

 

I'm  in Florida as well (central, tho, not panhandle), so I guess it is a mystery as to who gets what "brand" kit. 

[wrk2cruise]

emed kits arrived today.  1/1/2013 expiration so if I have any left I will be able to use for my 1/2/2023 Equinox sailing 😀

[abbydancer2003]

1 minute ago, wrk2cruise said:

emed kits arrived today.  1/1/2013 expiration so if I have any left I will be able to use for my 1/2/2023 Equinox sailing 😀

I hoping that by 2023 we're done with this!  Maybe that's just wishful thinking.

[Dave Judy]

On 1/21/2022 at 10:36 AM, Jim_Iain said:

I hear everyone's positive reports of Emed.   I've been very disappointed in my experience.   As I said they have never answered any of my enquirers via their portal messaging system.

 

I tried to check the status of my order today and it still shows -

 

 

At first I though I had gone nuts because I was sure I saw a message about my shipment yesterday.   I looked through my mail and nothing from Emed.    I then looked for FedEx. and there was a message saying your package is on the way and a tracking number.

 

The good news it's from EMed but the reference number doesn't match my order number.   At least it shows it is in Oakland and scheduled for delivery today.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by Dave Judy
Mistake

[Dave Judy]

Oops to the above, I’m out of practice…

 

Ordered 6 pack from Emed on 12/31  Paid a bonus for 48 hour FedEx.

Got a tracking number next day.

3 weeks later, shipment never arrived.

Phoned the call center (India?) told they would refer me to level 3 resolution.

Gave up and called CC company to cancel charge…

Edited January 28, 2022 by Dave Judy

[Catlover54]

On 1/21/2022 at 8:16 AM, Islandhop9 said:

Interesting, mine came from Kentucky, so the must have different fulfillment centers. 

Might explain why the processing differs. (along with huge demand) 

 

If you have tests you aren't going to use I'd look into ways to donate or give away. I keep thinking how many tests might expire and go to waste. Would be nice if the cruise lines had a box where extra kits could be dropped. 

 

Thank you for bringing up the consideration that we should try and not let test kits go to waste, but we don't need cruise line assistance for that. 

 

In my neck of the woods, since Omicron, there has been a shortage of testing appointments less than a week out, and drug stores are out of self-testers.  We had some emed leftovers and gave them to a family that had upper respiratory symptoms and wanted to test for Covid without having all six of them go to a walk-in clinic, wait four hours,  and potentially risk getting  Covid while waiting.  Others needed to test before being allowed into a concert, had not gotten their govment freebies yet (useless for that purpose anyway as there is no monitoring), and could not find any local kits or appts closer than 50 miles away.

 

People can also use them even without the remote monitoring, just for self-knowledge, (as the disease can be asymptomatic) and even if they are slightly expired, you can use them for self-testing to get in the ballpark of whether or not your "lines" look suspicious. The lines start thinning in color when older (we used two truly expired kits we had forgotten about two months later to see what would happen).