Johnston Medical

Lots of items, big selection but way, way, way overpriced. Only go here if you are desperate.

I went to Johnston on the 14^th of September. I wanted a heavy duty cane. I really liked cane X, but the salesperson convinced me to buy cane Y even thought the weight limit on cane Y was way over what I required and the cane was very heavy. (But I did not know at the time that cane Y was overkill until I talked to my physical therapist.) So the first time out with cane Y, I hung it up by its «rope» and the rope broke. Disgruntled, I threw the cane in my truck and did not use it.
I brought it back in the first week of October, and told them I did not like it, it was too heavy, and the rope broke the first time I hung it up. They asked when I bought it, I could not remember, I suggested maybe September 2. They said anything sold over a month ago would need to go through the manufacturer, and I was not supposed to hang the cane by its rope. I said that was OK, since I was simply not happy with the cane and bought it based on the wrong information (from their person). They implied that they could do nothing because I bought it more than a month ago.
Hmmm…I went on line to my bank and found the purchase date — hey! September 14, not 2. I was well within the one month limit. So, I picked out cane X and went to the counter to exchange but was told that it needed to go through the manufacturer. But… but…I thought??? I asked again what their return policy was:
«5 days»
First time I heard that number.
So I had to purchase the new cane and leave with Johnston in possession of my broken cane and my money. I mean what would be so difficult with trading me canes ($ 10 price difference), and sell cane Y discounted/​used? They said they would see what the manufacturer had to say about the broken rope (hardly the issue) and get back to me if it could be fixed or refunded.
If this does not make any sense, its because it does not make any sense, right? It just seemed like we were talking over each other the entire time, and nothing was clear. I left the place kind of confused as to what just happened.
Johnston — 1: Pat — 0

HORRENDOUS. This stores prices are unbelievable and the store is a disorganized mess. I drove all the way over to grab XL Nitrile exam gloves. I called
ahead to verify they carried them. When I arrived they had none on the wall and the gentleman helping me said he’d have to go «upstairs» to see if they had them. Before he went, I asked the price per box which was $ 28 for ONE BOX. That is single handedly the highest price I have ever heard of anyone charging. I left, called another place who had them, was very nice, and charged $ 11.99 for the same product. DO NOT GO HERE.

They totally had the random item I was looking for-​Tubular bandages by the yard! It looked like they would have literally any medical supply you could ever need there so I would definitely check them out if you can’t find what you need at the drugstore.

I went to Johnson’s Medical last year to get some elastic shoelaces so I didn’t have to hustle with trying to use traditional shoelaces. At that time I paid $ 6.95 for pack with two sets. At the time I thought it was a little high, not terrible. Well today I returned there to get another pack. Much to my surprise they jacked up the price to $ 18.95 for the exact same thing. I was shocked and asked what was the justification for the large price hike. All the said was that it was the boss. I needed them today because I just a got a new pair of shoes and needed to replace my old ones ASAP. I’m disappointed that there isn’t a zero rating because that’s what they deserve. I will NEVER purchase ANYTHING there again.

My boss and I went to Johnston’s today to rent a wheel chair we could use for her, for our upcoming trip to Colorado on Friday. The chair we are currently using was not safe as the brakes were faulty. Unfortunately the wheel chairs they had to rent did not work out for her. But they fixed her manual chair’s brakes and did not charge us anything! We are very grateful for this caring and effective customer service.

I recently needed to rent a hospital bed for my home while recovering from hip surgery. I rented a «full electric» bed, which was a godsend during my recovery. A little on the pricey side, but worth every penny. Delivery and pickup were on time, and on both occasions, the guys were very careful to not scratch my floors, walls or doors in the process.

Wow!!! Felt like I walked into an episode of Hoarders. This place had medical supplies stacked up to the ceiling. I would not be the least bit surprised if people walk in here and get injured from supplies toppling over and landing on them. Hey, what a business plan… people come in to get medical supplies, get further injured by the products falling on them so they need to buy even more. It was dusty and dirty too… not that I expected it to be sterile like a hospital, but when you’re purchasing medical products, it’s nice to think that they’re at least clean.
Had an injured ankle and doctor wrote a prescription for an ankle aircast. Really didn’t know any different that I could purchase something like this on-​line and was in pain, so went to Johnston’s as recommended by my doc. Service was ok — prices were ridiculous. $ 75 for an aircast that I could have bought for $ 35 on-​line. Next time I’ll know, but I’ll just pretend the extra $ 40 was the price of admission for the tour of the set for the next episode of Hoarders: Medical Supply Store.

Review summary:
— super overpriced
— horrible organization/​inventory management
— rude or useless customer service
Here’s why:
I went in with a friend who has a pretty severe, and pretty obvious physical disability. She was looking for a shower chair/​transfer bench. We had done some research online prior to coming in, so we had a decent idea of what kind of chair might work, and what we should expect to pay for it.
We were greeted quickly by a friendly woman who asked what we were looking for. My friend said «I need a shower chair that…» and before she could even tell them what kind, the lady said «ok I’ll get them» and ran off around a corner where there was so much stuff piled, we couldn’t follow. (The store isn’t that wheelchair accessible once you are inside… WAY too much crammed everywhere and terrible inventory management).
A few minutes later, the woman returned empty handed and asked another employee to help her pull stuff down. Again, we tried to tell them to hang on a second because they don’t even know what kind of chair we need. But they just ran off again.
Finally, they started to emerge from the stacks carrying what we both knew were armfuls of chairs this would be useless for my friends specific needs. We showed them a picture of the kind of chair we were looking for, and the lady said she would check upstairs, which she did, after making
us wait while she put the other chairs back.
Fastforward 10 minutes to when she actually comes back down with something similar to what we needed. It’s double the price of the exact same chairs we saw online. We asked if they had any chairs with a seat that can swivel. She says she didn’t know. We asked if she could check. She asks her boss (who looked up from telling some poor man whose wife had just broken her leg and was renting crutches that he would charge him $ 200 if they didn’t return the crutches in exactly 30 days) if they have one that swivels. He yells back at her «does what swivel!?»
Lady goes behind the counter and randomly flips through about 4 pages of a one random binder out of about 30 on the shelf and just says they don’t have what we are looking for right now because they had sold their last one earlier that day. I asked when they might get it in. Boss cut in with more yelling that he doesn’t know when they will get more because it depends on the brand. He appeared mad at us for not knowing what brand the chair was that HE sold someone earlier that day. We finally gave up and left. Ugh!

They came to the rescue when my sister got stranded on her electric mobility scooter about a block away. An employee came and pushed her in her scooter to their store. He then examined her scooter, doing varying tests, and was able to clean and fix her motor and get her moving again. I can’t thank them enough for their great customer service and technical abilities to diagnosis and fix the problem.

Yes, they have everything, but prices are high and the employees vary widely in how helpful and friendly they are. Some are great, some should not be working with customers.
Customer appreciation is minimal. They know they are one of the few places around that carry what you need, so apparently they don’t feel customer service is necessary
! I went in to buy a sling for a broken arm and a female employee provided good help, put the sling on and took my money. But I realized after a few days my wrist was just hanging out of the sling and it was starting to hurt without support. I finally got a ride back and pointed out the problem and the same woman said I needed a larger sling – as if it was MY mistake, when she had done the actual fitting. No apology for selling me the wrong size, no refund, no discount on a new sling. I walked out of the store with a larger size sling at the cost of 58.95, and no discount for their mistake. I wish there was another medical supply store in town.

So yes they did deliver my crutches so they get 1 star for this., However I had to call back 5 times over almost 3.5hours even though every time I called they said oh yes he will call you back. Then at 4pm they say oh its too late now to deliver your crutches. They even admit oh yes you have been calling all day. Then they say oh its $ 25 to deliver but also an addition $ 20 since it will be after hours when we deliver them to you. So they never called back, and made me wait all day only to tell me i had to pay $ 45 to have them delivered after hours because they have almost no customer service skills. They guys says ya I wish we had communicated better but yes its $ 45 to deliver plus the price of the crutches. If i can never use these guys again I will.

We definitely go ripped off here. Had to buy a walking boot for a fractured foot. They brought out the boot and then told us it was $ 245! We made the purchase (regretfully), and then checked the cost of boots online. Most are less than $ 100. Our mistake but sad to know they are dishonest here. I would give zero stars if possible.

If I could give this place zero stars I would. I bought an ankle brace here and was not allowed to browse their selection. I was told by the employee helping me that it was the best ankle brace they had. They charged me $ 60 and did not inform me that it was non refundable or exchangeable. I tried it on walking around my house and decided it was not providing any stability and was painful to wear and very poorly produced. I tried to return it 10 days later and they refused to take it and accused me of lying about how I used it. They claimed they could not sell it to another costumer because it was dirty, and I never wore it out of my house. I’ll never shop here again. All of their products are wal-​mart quality but marked up to 5 times wal-​mart or online prices. The employees are rude and they are but clear on their return policies.

I went to the store to buy a toilet seat lifter for my frail father. He was in the car and I was trying to talk him into getting a walker on wheels with the seat in it. I asked the lady if she could walk out to the car and show my father the item which wasparked right in front and she told me she could not. Another customer was upset by this and intervened. Of course the lady still said no! If I wasn’t in a hurry I wouldn’t have bought the toilet seat riser from them either. Customer Service is huge in my book. Moreso than the price of an item and Johnston Medical Supply FAILED in this category!

Awesome medical supplies and service! The shop is quite cluttered but ask for help to find the hidden gems!

I tore a tendon in my ankle and had to get crutches. My doctor gave me a prescription for them and my insurance covers them, so I figured I would go to a medical supply store. Unfortunately this one doesn’t take insurance and they wanted me to buy the crutches for about $ 65. I ended up taking my business to another store that does accept insurance.
pros:
The staff were nice.
They have a «parking lot» (just three spots around back, but at least it isn’t the street).
Open on Saturday, but only for a few hours.
cons:
The store is horribly cluttered and you can’t find anything without help.
They don’t take insurance.
The hours are pretty restrictive.

Needed a wedge pillow for my visiting relative who needed to sleep at a 30 degree angle. I was about to call the foam places or try Bed, Bath & Beyond, when I remembered this place across from Berkeley Bowl. Gave them a call and they said, yep! come on in… we’ve got those! Went in and they actually had a few different choices — who knew? They were super helpful and super nice… I highly recommend going there.

As a practicing Chiropractor, I’ve been referring patients to Johnson Medical all for the past twenty three years. Great product selection, reasonable prices, knowledgeable staff and excellent customer service.
These guys are great!

For years medical providers have been recommending I wear compression stockings and for years I’ve been ignoring their recommendations. That’s just who I am. So my new MD recommended them and I’ve been trying to be a little more compliant, so before our cruise I went to Johnston’s, which had been recommended by my chiropractor.
The shop is full of assistive devices of all sorts. It’s the medical equivalent of what the Old Curiosity Shop must have looked like. I went to the desk and asked for compression stockings. The woman took me back to a fitting room and then brought me stockings. She explained the options, closed toe or open, knee high or higher and the various brands they had. She answered all my question and then left to go back to the desk. They didn’t have any open toe, so I took a pair of the closed toe. They were made to wick moisture away from the body, which seemed important for comfort. They’re not cheap. They cost almost $ 50, but they’re durable and I haven’t put my fingernails through them while taking them off or putting them on. I wore them out of the store and have worn them every day since. They were surprisingly comfortable, washed easily and dried overnight. To my chagrin I found myself regretting not having bought them much sooner.
Today after lunch we stopped by so I could pick up a pair w/​open toes. Another woman helped me and she was wonderful, explaining some things I hadn’t understood about how to wear the stockings. I’m looking forward to trying out the new ones. When I saw my doctor last week he was very impressed w/​the difference they had made.