Posted by on Monday 9 March 2015

Abbott Freestyle Libre available to new customers again

There were excited murmerings on Facebook last week and on Friday I received a phone call that confirmed what many, many people have been waiting for over the last few months.

Abbott have begun to take on new customers for the Freestyle Libre again

Wooooo hoooooooo!!!

I think it is probably fair to say that Abbott were a little taken aback by the level of demand for their new toy immediately after launch (the Libre 'flash' glucose not-quite-CGM monitor). It wasn't long before they realised that consumer enthusiasm was going to outstrip their production capabilites and they took a tough decision to stop taking on new customers in order to protect supply to those who had signed up first. Probably the right thing to do, but pretty frustrating for many people - myself included, who hadn't quite got around to registering with their e-shop early on.

Some people have got quite cross about this, but I'm more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. This was a completely new piece of technology in a relatively small market place (certainly in the UK). They had to anticipate what sort of level of early take-up there might be, but it's not entirely surprising that they didn't get it spot-on. And deciding to limit supply so that fewer people got better service rather than many people getting rubbish service seems to have quite a consumer-focussed feel to it. They didn't just take everyone's money and not deliver, they concentrated on ensuring that those who signed up early could get full-time sensor coverage if they wanted it.

But for the rest of us, the weeks turned into months... and still we waited.

Until now.

As of last week they have begun to issue emails to people who signed up on the website. They are doing this on a 'first come first served' basis, so those who asked to be told when Libre was available to new customers in October/November 2014 will be hearing first.

Of course they will have to weed out a bunch of dead results from those expressions of interest. People who have changed their minds and so on - so if you recive an email you will need to act on it pretty promptly.

According to what I've been told by Abbott, it works like this:
  • People will receive an email alert which (I think!) outlines the process
  • People then recive a second email which gives them a relatively short window of opportunity to respond
  • They then need to sign up as a new customer
  • You also need to place an initial order to activate your account (minimum of one sensor approx £50)
  • Thereafter a maximum of 2 sensors can be ordered every 14 days

Looking forward to receiving my email :)

Update:
Hurrah! No more waiting list!

11 comments:

  1. I got my email this morning, already ordered!

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  2. I am going to place my own order now.....thanks for the post Mike

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  3. Anyone knows what to expect in the Netherlands? We "expressed interest" on the Dutch site.

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  4. I am waiting for my email. I phoned them last week (okay, and this week too!) and they said they are hoping to have contacted everyone within the first quarter of this year - so by the end of March. I am hoping for an email in the next week according to that forecast, so over-punctured fingers crossed!

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  5. That's great Claire. My 'you can now order' email came through on Monday and my sensors arrived today so I'm very happy.

    Sorry Anon, I'm afraid I don't know when they are planning to roll out to new territories. Given that they are still being a little cautious about maintaining stock for new customers you might have to be patient for a little while yet, but at least new customers are now being taken in the initial launch countries - and their production capability certainly seems to be increasing. If I hear any news I will post it here.

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  6. I registered at the start of January this year; I haven't received an email yet. Has anyone who registered on or around this date received their email yet? I called Abbot to ask for an estimate and was told they had no idea when I could expect to be able to place an order.

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  7. I would have expected you to have heard by now (no guarantees obviously). If memory serves, I registered late Dec/early Jan. You could always re-register now just in case.

    Have you checked your spam folder(s) etc?

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  8. Dear All,

    It looks very difficult to buy Freestyle Libre from Hungary, does anyone would help me?
    I have a very fluctuating bloodglucose level, so would be helpful to try it.

    Thanks
    Zoltán

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  9. Hi Zoltan

    Sorry to hear you are struggling. I did hear a rumour from Abbott that they were launching a new, larger, production facility in the very near future. Hopefully they will be able to roll-out to other EU countries then.

    I have heard some very unfortunate expereices of people buying off eBay etc, so I think that is best avoided. There are some FB groups you could join where you could get updates too if that helps.

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  10. Dear All,
    Does anybody know anything regarding new availability? From Italy I have registered at the end of September but still no email, and no update what so ever from abbott. I understand and I agree on the fact the old customer should have precedence, but it would be fair also to get an update on the status of the waiting list... I am starting to have doubts whether I am still in or not...
    Thanks

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  11. Hi Guidoz

    From what I can tell speaking to Abbott last week the new high-volume production facility which will be coming online probably December 2015 - January 2016. Their expectation when we spoke was that they would effectively be able to work through the waiting list fairly quickly, perhaps before the end of February/early March 2016.

    I am sure you will still be on the list. 6 months does not seem uncommon for the UK list at the moment. Hope your email comes through soon.

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