Should you buy a medical alert system from a local dealer?

When purchasing a medical alert system you have a choice of buying from a national company by phone or over the internet, or you can buy the unit and the monitoring service from a local dealer.

Obviously buying over the Internet is simple and straightforward. Plus the internet is a great place to research different products and find out what each of the manufacturers offers.

But purchasing from a local person has its advantages, too. The biggest of these is that a trained eldercare professional can come into your home and help you set up the system. Now, this isn’t just an “installer” who comes and plugs it in, but someone who understands the kids of issues the elderly face and knows how to deal with them. They can test the system to make sure it works under the conditions you’re going to use it under. They can also take down important health and medical information so that the monitoring company has this on hand when you need to contact them with the personal medical alert pendant or button.

A real person can provide much better service than a call center. You might pay a little more for the service, but you’ll know you’re getting a service that really meets your needs.

Buyer beware. The local dealer might have a revenue sharing deal with the company they sign you up with. This means they’re making a commission off the sale. So they might not be recommending the best system. You should always do your own review of all the medical alert systems available so you know if they’re offering you a good product.