Deceptive Subscription Practices and Unhelpful Customer Service
I’m extremely disappointed with Stelo. When I purchased their CGM, I was not clearly informed that I was being enrolled in a subscription. There was no reminder or heads-up before the next order—just an unexpected email saying a new order had been created.
I immediately contacted customer service—twice—and was told both times that the order couldn’t be canceled. That’s unacceptable. The product hadn’t even shipped, and yet they refused to stop it. This feels like a deliberate tactic to trap customers into unwanted recurring charges.
Stelo’s lack of transparency and rigid, customer-unfriendly policies are deeply frustrating. A company dealing with health products should operate with integrity and respect for its customers—not make it difficult to manage subscriptions or cancel unwanted orders. I will not be buying from them again and would caution others to read the fine print carefully.
NA
Nancy
I made the mistake of...
I am not diabetic but I thought Stelo OTC glucose sensor would give helpful info for a month or so. I made the mistake of signing up for auto-ship to get the better price.
I didn't install it right away, so by the time I started using it, I got another shipment about a week later. I used the first package (2, covering the first month) with few issues, except that they seemed wildly inaccurate. At first, my baseline glucose was in the 70s, but by the end of the 15 days, my baseline was in the 90s, with no change in diet. And they disconnected a few times, leaving several hours in between with no readings. I at least was able to see what foods caused spikes, relative to whatever baseline was showing at the moment. My husband wanted to try it, so I would let him use the remaining two.
Then another auto-ship box showed up. Customer service said there are no returns, and that it's stated on their website, which I should have read before I ordered them. Strike #1.
So now I had 2 boxes of two devices remaining. I decided I would just go ahead and do another month, while my hubby was also doing his. We both installed them. Mine (#1) connected. His (#2) never did connect, after numerous tries. So we pulled that off and installed a second one on him (#3). That connected and he's still using it. My first one failed after about a week. So I installed the last one (#4), and put support tickets in on the first two that had failed. I had happened to not throw away those first two, so I still had the serial numbers.
They sent a replacement immediately (#5) for the first one I had used. They sent a "thank you for submitting your ticket" message to the claim I submitted for my husband's, but then I never heard another word. So I finally demanded to chat with a live agent from the chatbot. That girl finally called me.
She said the ticket I had submitted for my husband didn't go anywhere, because they wanted a record on the user, not the purchaser. (But of course they didn't tell me that until I called). So she had to resubmit that ticket under his name. Several days go by, still no response to that. And btw, most stores only give refunds or do customer service with the original purchaser. How would anyone know that Stelo/Dexcom requires someone else (user) to create the support ticket? If my kid uses my car and it breaks down on them, does my kid file the warranty claim? No. So this line of thinking by Stelo wasted at least a week of time waiting for their response -- in which time, I threw away the old dysfunctional devices!
In the meantime, my second device (#4) also failed after a few days ("ended session early"). So 3 out of 4 were defective. I called customer service immediately to get help with both issues. She looked up "my husband's claim" which the first girl had resubmitted, and said, "Yes, yes, I see what happened." And she resubmitted it again. Again, only got a message: "thank you, we'll be back in touch in 1-2 days."
On my second device that failed (#4), she asked for the serial number and the exact day it was installed. I said I didn't have the device any more, and couldn't remember the exact day, but it was over the weekend. She said you're supposed to hang onto them for the full two weeks, in case they fail! That's how confident of their own devices they are, people!
Why wouldn't they have a record of the serial numbers they sent me? And why wouldn't their app have a record of the serial number of the device, and the date I installed it? There has to be a record of it somewhere! But they won't replace them unless YOU give them the number and the date installed.
The Stelo agent said the person reviewing the claim might be able to see the info, so she submitted the claim for me anyway. But now I've received a message: "sorry, the info you submitted is incomplete and we're not replacing your device." And they STILL have not responded AT ALL to my husband's original device (#2) that never connected from the first minute.
I paid for 4 devices (about $200), and only one of them is working. They've replaced only one (#5 - which I've now inserted). I am owed two more devices, which they are either ignoring or refusing. I'm not confident they would even work if I received them, but they should at least replace them and let me try to get some value out of it.
Overall, their devices are hit-or-miss. Their customer service is terrible. If they truly don't keep records on who has what devices, that is an egregious lack of data on their customer base, in an era where keeping that kind of data is a simple programming thing. And if 3 out of 4 don't work - and if they refuse to replace them, based on said lack of data - they actually cost about $200 each. And the company is going to go bankrupt anyway. So good luck to everyone is this endeavor!
MD
Mary D.
Poor customer service
I wish I would have read reviews before purchasing because then I wouldn't have. I had an allergic reaction to the either the adhesive or to the monitor. It was reported to the company after a struggle of finding out how to do it. They don't make it easy to talk to a human being and it had to be done by chat. I was impressed that a nurse from the company called me to see how I was doing. She was going to have customer service reach out to me about a refund because this was money down the drain. Of course, no one has reached out to me.
CS
Carol S.
Stelo.com really needs to get its act together. get their act together
They need the get their act together. I subscribed to get the $10 discount. Twice the monthly order was delayed, leaving me without a CGM for several days. But what happened today takes the cake. Their bot couldn't help me. I asked if I could call someone. They don't have a way to do that, but I was able to chat with a live agent who wrote very much like a bot. I was told to cancel my subscription and then subscribe again. They said the new website was having issues. I asked how long it would take to get my first order. They suggested I buy it once from Amazon to get it faster than I could from them. Ridiculous. It was going to cost me an extra $10 to solve their problem and they didn't even have a promo code for me.
I solved the problem myself. It turns out that you can get the same subscription that Stelo offers through Amazon. So I subscribed there and cancelled my subscription at Stelo.com. The sensors will arrive in two days. I strongly suggest using Amazon. Stelo.com really needs to get its act together.
As a non-diabetic interested in tracking glucose trends, I was initially excited about the Stelo. The concept is great for understanding how your body responds to different foods, and my first few sensors worked reasonably well.
The Good:
Useful for learning food reactions and glucose patterns
Good educational tool for understanding your body's responses
The Bad:
Reliability issues: Sensors became increasingly erratic
Premature failures: Many sensors stopped working after just 1-2 days instead of the promised 14 days
Accuracy concerns: Required frequent finger prick calibrations, defeating the convenience factor
Terrible customer service: Cases remain unresolved for months despite promises of 1-3 business day responses. Staff is polite but completely ineffective.
Bottom Line:
At $100/month, this is only worth trying for 1-2 months maximum to get a general sense of your glucose trends. Don't expect precision or reliable customer support. The declining sensor quality and useless customer service make this impossible to recommend for long-term use.
Note: This review is from a non-diabetic user focused on general wellness tracking.
RW
Robert W M.
Insurance won't cover my stylus wish…
Insurance won't cover my stylus wish they would had some of my stylist replaced due to the problems no reading great price for when you're paying cash cuz insurance don't cover the stylus because they do not take insurance for it yet wish they would hurry up and get it where insurance company will pay for the stylus
JA
Janet
A little disappointed
At first I thought it would be great to be able to manage my blood sugar and learn about what makes my blood sugar spike. However, the sensors cost $50 each which are suppose to last 15 days. I’ve been using the sensors for 4 months and several times the sensors stopped working early at around 7-8 days. It is very disappointing that I trusted these to help with my blood sugar and spent a good amount on them and they failed to work properly.
ST
Susan T.
If I could give a lower rating
If I could give a lower rating, I would!
I used the Libre 3 and it turned my life around for the positive.
When Dexcom offered the Stelo, I jumped on the bandwagon, as the price was terrific. After purchasing several, and using several, I’m not impressed at all. I kept giving it “another shot” and each time, the device was defective. Incorrect readings were constant, and 75% of the time, I couldn’t even get a signal/reading.
I’m going back to the Libre 3, and I sure hope that Dexcom gets their issues corrected for the folks who can’t afford a better quality device.