Wheelchairs and Airlines

[Burgerman]

Yes he basically gave up being helpful and was only interested in pushing prides stuff, so his forum was really just a marketing tool. Not a good one in the end as people saw through it.

And he fell out with most of the members that had anything interesting or knowlegable to say when he was corrected or contradicted. In the end it was down to about 2 posts a week about gods, disnyland or some such rubbish by a couple of old ladies. They got ill and stopped posting too. Leaving a few arguments about how crappy pride chairs/missinformation etc. And thinly disguised begging letters after batteries or parts. So he shut it. As best as I can describe. Same happened to pridesown forums. So many people pointing out problems and wanting fixes that it no longer helped with marketing. So that was shut too.

Having been banned for daring to suggest a technical fix 18 years back (the end user isnt allowed to know about motor load compensation) I really dont care much, and think it was innevitable. Most of the others that were also banned are here anyway... So you are home from home really but without the condecsending attitude and better tech knowledge from a bunch of cleverer more genuine people!

[nightwalker]

Yeah, I have to agree… He is a very contradictory person. It looks to me like star fewer in many aspects. Or, it's just my impression.

[Burgerman]

star fewer

?

[nightwalker]

star fewer

?

Well… Star fewer. It's, like, he's full of himself.

[Burgerman]

He was full of something. Mostly ill informed tech info.

Did you have airport issues?

[steves1977uk]

Hot air maybe?

Steve

[Burgerman]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=wheel ... 20#imgrc=_

Have a good look at some of these. Its comical if you are not the user!

[Rollin Positive]

Yes he basically gave up being helpful and was only interested in pushing prides stuff, so his forum was really just a marketing tool. Not a good one in the end as people saw through it.

And he fell out with most of the members that had anything interesting or knowlegable to say when he was corrected or contradicted. In the end it was down to about 2 posts a week about gods, disnyland or some such rubbish by a couple of old ladies. They got ill and stopped posting too. Leaving a few arguments about how crappy pride chairs/missinformation etc. And thinly disguised begging letters after batteries or parts. So he shut it. As best as I can describe. Same happened to pridesown forums. So many people pointing out problems and wanting fixes that it no longer helped with marketing. So that was shut too.

Having been banned for daring to suggest a technical fix 18 years back (the end user isnt allowed to know about motor load compensation) I really dont care much, and think it was innevitable. Most of the others that were also banned are here anyway... So you are home from home really but without the condecsending attitude and better tech knowledge from a bunch of cleverer more genuine people!

I think you left out the biggest issue...He became a troll and you caught him!!

He was trolling this site and he did it from the corporate office of Pride and BM traced back the IP to Prides office where Mark works!

[Burgerman]

Well that is another reason.

[nightwalker]

So, I promised to share my experience.

1. 2006. My first intercontinental flight to the U.S. with connections in Warsaw and Chicago. The wheelchair – Invacare Ranger Storm. If you are not familiar with that one, it's a foldable power wheelchair (it was heavily modified by that moment to meet my needs so it wasn't foldable anymore, but it doesn't matter) with batteries in 2 separate plastic containers, which can be easily removed and disconnected. So, first connection in Warsaw was smooth (at least I thought so). Then, in Chicago, when I was transferred from the aisle chair, I realized, that my wheelchair does not move. There wasn't a lot of time to troubleshoot, so I was provided with a pusher (evil looking Croatian guy – in fact, very kind and helpful), who pushed me around the airport and to the hotel (of course, I lost my connection because of wasted time to fix the wheelchair). In the hotel I examined it more thoroughly and found that talented Polish guys disconnected both batteries' cables from sockets on the frame AND PLUGGED THEM INTO EACH OTHER. Really good. Really tough. It is incredible luck that the batteries were not shorted and did not explode when they did that. Only thanks to that we had some tools in our suitcases, with my wife's help we were able to separate the plugs and plug them back to proper sockets.

2. 2009. A flight in the opposite direction. Invacare TDX SP. This time, my chair was damaged in Chicago during the unloading process. They dropped it on its back, then on its sides. Damaged armrests on both sides and the shroud, covering electronics and cable connectors on the backrest. The chair was driving, but all seating functions were lost, so I stuck with a seating in an unimaginable position. Of course, the flight connection was lost. A night in the hotel, again. Troubleshooting. This time we found that those jerks disconnected several cables in the back of the wheelchair. We connected them back, and, voilà, my seating was working again.
10 days later, when we were coming home, in Chicago (again! That city it is not good for me) we found out that armrests were ruined completely. some other minor damages which I don't even remember now in details.
After that we had a long and "fascinating" process of making the airline to pay for the repairs. Finally, they did.

[Rollin Positive]

Point being it was fixable... but 2006 and 2009 that is a long time ago any more recent travels and how did those go?