How to vet mobility equipment repairers before a trip

What to take away

The businesses that keep equipment working are not interchangeable, and the difference only shows up when something breaks. This guide does not list companies, because the right ones depend on your destination and your device. It gives the method: which travel mobility equipment businesses to look for, where to get names, and how to test them. Twenty minutes of research before departure produces a list that is worth more than any insurance policy, and it is what keeps the cost of a repair away from home small.

The five jobs

Clinical assessment and fitting. A qualified professional who measures the user and specifies seating. Not a retail function. In the United States, RESNA, the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America, administers a certification program for professionals who support people with disabilities, so ask whether the person fitting you holds one of its credentials.

Retail sales. Sells devices, sometimes fits them, rarely stocks parts for what it did not sell.

Rental and delivery. Drops a device at a hotel or airport. Ask what happens if it arrives wrong.

Repair. Holds parts, has a workshop, and can sometimes travel to you. The scarcest of the five.

Trip support. Adaptive programs and tour operators who lend equipment for an activity.

One business may do two of these well. Very few do all five.

Building the list before you go

Write the list on the same card as your device specifications, and give a copy to whoever you travel with.

Questions that sort the good from the willing

Ask what brands they hold parts for. Ask whether they can fit a castor the same day. Ask whether they do call-outs and what the minimum charge is. Ask whether they have worked on a device like yours in the last year.

An honest no to the last question is more useful than an optimistic yes.

Who pays for a repair

If Medicare paid for your equipment, ask the repairer whether they bill it before you approve work. Medicare guidance says repairs to equipment a beneficiary owns are covered when necessary to make the equipment serviceable, but routine periodic servicing such as testing, cleaning, regulating and checking is not covered. Payment also may not include parts and labor covered under a manufacturer's or supplier's warranty, so check the warranty first and tell the repairer what it covers.

When a part has to be shipped to you

Sometimes the answer is a battery or a controller sent from your own supplier, and batteries are a regulated shipment rather than an ordinary parcel.

The FAA's guidance on how to ship dangerous goods says the shipper must classify, package, mark and label the package correctly. Express and overnight services mean a parcel likely travels by air, and individual carriers may impose stricter limits or refuse a shipment outright.

Send your supplier that page rather than assuming they ship batteries every week. Ask for the tracking number and the expected delivery day in writing.

Hearing and speech equipment needs its own contact

A mobility supplier cannot service a hearing device, and travelers who use both frequently discover this at the wrong moment.

The NIDCD's explanation of cochlear implants describes the parts involved, including the external processor, the microphone, the transmitter and the internal electrode array, which makes clear why the external components are the ones that need spares and local support. Find an audiology contact at the destination and carry spare processor batteries and cables.

Keeping the list useful

Update it after every trip with what actually happened, including who did not answer the telephone. The equipment categories determine which of the five jobs you are most likely to need.

Common questions