Hocks has gone to H*** since ownership change

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tessielou

tessielou

Active Member
Hi,
Just wanted to give everyone the heads up about Hocks. I have been ordering test strips from them since December. Since the ownership change, not only have they discontinued their commission to FDMB, and raised the prices on the test strips twice, now the latest is they refused to cancel my online order, 20 minutes after I placed it!

Tuesday night I placed an order. Then, after posting here, I learned of a cheaper online source. So, I sent an email to Hocks 20 minutes after placing my order. I didn't hear back from them, so yesterday morning I called and reiterated that I wanted to cancel my order. Today, I get the following email:

Thank you for your email. However, once your order is placed we can not cancel your order. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may of caused you.

Thank you for choosing Hocks.com
--
Michelle Gaddis
Hocks.com

Can you believe that??? I am furious. That's $79.50 I could use elsewhere. Don't buy from Hocks!
 
I can vouch for their packaging and shipping now.......it stinks! I ordered test strips and ketostix....the box was damaged, inside packaging was awful, ketostix box was damaged.....Hocks never would have sent out anything like that.
 
Hope, that's one more reason not to do business with them. I've decided to return the package unopened when it comes, and dispute the charges. Maybe that will make them think twice about treating customers this way. What a difference in this company in just a few short months...shame, shame, shame.
 
Good to know.

Though I'm not currently ordering from them, I will certainly look
elsewhere if the need ever comes up.

Maybe the Icon should be removed from our web site.
 
I ordered the GNP 3/10 cc insulin syringes with 1/2 unit marks and 1/2 inch syringes and paid via PayPal. 3 days went by and PayPal notified me my payment was unclaimed by Hocks. I left messages for them which they did not answer. I e-mailed them and finally got a half-a$$ed response that there was a snafu with their PayPal account and so my order was cancelled, I'd have to replace the order. I should have stopped there.

So I replaced the order and this time they shipped it pretty quickly - but it was the wrong product. They sent the GNP 3/10 cc syringes with the 1/2 unit marks and the 5/8" needles instead of the 1/2", I'm using them but no way am I buying from them again. :-Q
 
I have some GNP syringes. I have found the first line in relation to the plunger to be different on a lot of the syringes. might be OK for higher dose kitties. but all mine take less than 1u and this measures badly. check yours to be sure they are all the same
 
If you note from the packing slip, the company is no longer called "Hocks." They're apparently just keeping the website in that name, but you might as well forget about it being Hocks anymore 'cause it isn't. If anyone writes to them about their service, please let them know they bought a good company BECAUSE it was worth buying. It was worth buying because its internet business was fantastic and that was because of their service. This new company is going to destroy a great business and it will be their own fault. Duma$$es. Their loss. Ours too though, which sucks.

So they have gone downhill fast then. Does anyone know what other site has GNP syringes available? I have been using them for years and don't have a problem with the markings as I don't use them - I use an external measuring device and another brand might have the wrong size barrel, which would mean I'd have to re-adjust my system.
 
Donna & Buddha said:
Vicky, I'm intrigued. What's your external measuring device?
Click to expand...

I knew someone was going to ask. ;-)

Crazy, I know, but it is called a micrometer. My dad was a machinist so I grew up seeing this little device laying around and when I began having trouble consistently measuring an accurate dose I remembered that it is for measuring small amounts, hence the name micrometer.

Here is my Photobucket album http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y161/FindingNeo/Micrometer instructions/

You can get one on Amazon or on Ebay. They are less than $20.
 
Vicky & Gandalf said:
So they have gone downhill fast then. Does anyone know what other site has GNP syringes available? I have been using them for years and don't have a problem with the markings as I don't use them - I use an external measuring device and another brand might have the wrong size barrel, which would mean I'd have to re-adjust my system.
Click to expand...


I would love to find a place to order them from. I just called the GNP pharmacy in my area and they only carry BD syringes. Without getting into too much detail, changing syringes is hard for me, I know how to read the GNP syringes because I've used them for years. Got some SureComfort (think that was the name) with Spuds adoption and tried to use one, needed to have my husband fill the syringe for me :(
 
tuckers mom said:
I would love to find a place to order them from. I just called the GNP pharmacy in my area and they only carry BD syringes. Without getting into too much detail, changing syringes is hard for me, I know how to read the GNP syringes because I've used them for years. Got some SureComfort (think that was the name) with Spuds adoption and tried to use one, needed to have my husband fill the syringe for me :(
Click to expand...

It's pretty much the same for me. I also like how they draw and although sometimes there's a bubble which gets in the way, I had a University Vet use a BD syringe when gandalf was being treated there and he remarked how bad the bubbles were in it and explained how much of a factor they are in displacing the amount of insulin actually in the syringe. So you might think you're giving 1U and it could really be .75U or something.

Jennifer, when it came up that Hocks had been sold and I needed some syringes, I searched for GNP syringes online in half unit markingsand could not find any pharmacy that carry those, only Hocks. Some carry GNP syringes, but not ones with half unit markings. I guess it wouldn't really matter for me, but I have recommended those syringes to quite a few others who really need those markings. As well, it's difficult to find 31 Gauge.
 
Well... crud!!! I usually do okay with bubbles, but I prime my syringes for lack of a better word. I pump the barrel up and down a few times and push hard on the plunger when I do, then I insert the needle. I think I read about that on the PZI ISG.

Guess I'll either have to learn to use other needles and just depend on Ron for a little bit to check the dose, or buy really far in advance from Hocks, but I hate to give them business, don't care for them now.
 
tuckers mom said:
Vicky & Gandalf said:
So they have gone downhill fast then. Does anyone know what other site has GNP syringes available? I have been using them for years and don't have a problem with the markings as I don't use them - I use an external measuring device and another brand might have the wrong size barrel, which would mean I'd have to re-adjust my system.
Click to expand...


I would love to find a place to order them from. I just called the GNP pharmacy in my area and they only carry BD syringes. Without getting into too much detail, changing syringes is hard for me, I know how to read the GNP syringes because I've used them for years. Got some SureComfort (think that was the name) with Spuds adoption and tried to use one, needed to have my husband fill the syringe for me :(
Click to expand...


Ask for an insulin syringe magnifier at the pharmacy. I think BD makes one.
And/or do a google search for 'syringe magnifier'.

Take your vial/cartridge and a syringe with you and try before you buy.
 
Maybe enough calls/letters to maker about the GNP syringes from users of their product complaining about the crappy service by formerlyHocks will get either a new outlet for the product, or a reprimand that will produce better service.

Sounds like maybe the purchase wasn't to gain a good business, but to do away with the better competition?
 
Just wanted to add a quick follow up. I just received my order from Hocks of One Touch Ultra test strips (the order they wouldn't let me cancel--I had planned to refuse the package when it arrived and dispute the charges, but it arrived in a package with the new company name on it, which I didn't recognize, so I opened it). Anyway, the test strips are BAD! I tested like 5 strips, on two meters, and they are all below the control range on the bottles, even though the expiration date was 8/12. Sooooooooooooo, I tried to call Customer Service to report it and have them send me a replacement order, and guess what? They no longer have 24/7 phone support! Only Monday through Friday, and I was invited to leave a message. I'm almost positive the old company, Hocks, had 24/7 support.

So, I agree that they must have bought the competition, rather than compete with them based on quality of product and service. Sad.
 
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