O/T Hearing Aid Forums?

[rosacer]

Do you get a better price if you buy 2 ear hearings?

A friend of mine went for one and the tech told her she has a problem with the left ear too. She is paying the great price for a Phonak over the ear, he told he is making come another Phonak same model for her to test for her left ear. This one he is not going to mold the ear piece and he is letting her to test for free for I don't know how much time because he said if she has 2 she will like it better then if she has only one for the ear which is really bad.

The catch is that I think they are going to sell it at the same price of $2500 Canadian (exchange rate US to CDN 0.98). I think this is not normal. She chose the middle quality not the top quality but the one which is not intended to cancel wind noise nor the lowest one. The second catch is that he said the problem on the left ear could be provably be fixed with surgery, he told something about a bone. Is this a serious surgery? She would need to go see an ENT Dr.

How it works when you buy the pair of ear hearings? How much should be the rebate she should ask for?

I imagine if they buy 2 from the Phonak company they have a better price, so they should give a better price to the customer too.

Thanks for the links you put in the comments, it was of great help for my friend when she went to see the audiologist, she knew what to ask and she was able to accept the kind over the ear. She has had a Phonak molded inside the ear which was a fiasco since the beginning. It lasted for a couple of months and never stopped breaking down (repaired at least 4 times in 4 years and randomly used and now broken again) and making a lot of noise terrible for her to stand and not able to ear the voices.

[DaveL]

Other hearing aid users may have much more experience than I have. i paid the same for each hearing aid...no discount for the second one.

When I bought 10 years ago, I chose to buy just one hearing aid, for my worst ear. I was cheap! I had a moulded hearing aid I wore within the ear. It did not work well for me. I didn't hear well, and it was very stressful for me.

I see that Cosco sells hearing aids that cost less. I think they are cheaper than other vendors, but I chose to go to an audiologist based upon a referral from someone with a lot of experience.

Glad the links helped! (I have a lot to learn, and believe we all will do better if we share our experience! Just like OSA!)

DaveL
Toronto

[msla]

I have Phonak Audeo S Smart IX in each ear. I found a very good audiologist that I go to and use her advice. Mother got a new HA and wanted to use her old ear mold (comfortablle and did not cause bleeding or soreness). The audiologist was very rude to her, I was at the fitting. She had already bought the aid, so I was reduced to finding the one that handled her brand. I found the lady we deal with now and are very happy. The first audiologist must have gone to the same DME school that we CPAPers do not like.

[chunkyfrog]

Don't forget about hearing aids bought through a university audiology department.
A lot of the difference in prices is profit and commission.
Better to support an institution of higher learning--
and ask about discounts, too.

[DaveL]

I have Phonak Audeo S Smart IX in each ear. I found a very good audiologist that I go to and use her advice. Mother got a new HA and wanted to use her old ear mold (comfortablle and did not cause bleeding or soreness). The audiologist was very rude to her, I was at the fitting. She had already bought the aid, so I was reduced to finding the one that handled her brand. I found the lady we deal with now and are very happy. The first audiologist must have gone to the same DME school that we CPAPers do not like.

My audiologist is incredible. I have a tune-up visit soon. She will tell me wheth this issue can be solved, or not.

Dave

[DaveL]

Don't forget about hearing aids bought through a university audiology department.
A lot of the difference in prices is profit and commission.
Better to support an institution of higher learning--
and ask about discounts, too.

That's not a choice here. Good idea, and will work for others perhaps.

I have a great audiologist, and shall stay with her.

DaveL

[wildflowertx]

I'm lucky enough to have a really great hearing aid doc too. I've been with her since...2000, I think, and she always treats me right. But if she ever moves or retires, that university thing sounds like a great idea.

[Kitatonic]

I have Costco HAs for a mild up to 35 db loss, but in the mid-range frequencies/speech tones. My expectation was that I would be hearing basically normally with these HA since I was told by two audiologists that this was the easiest hearing loss to correct. Truth is tht HA only correct half of your hearing loss, so I cannot discern much benefit from these HA. The Costco HA were the same as the 8k ones I trialed. Sounds like Nate is disappointed as well.

Perhaps, we're all aging, or could OSA deprive oxygen from those hair cells, leading towards a higher incidence of hearing loss in OSA.

[avi123]

DaveL, if you're a vet see these prices:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/01/04/ ... ualty.html

[DaveL]

It's so kind of you to pst that link. I am a Canadian, and not a vet. However, someone he re will see it and it will help them so much!
Thank you!
Dave

[rosacer]

DaveL. I haven't seen ear hearings here in Quebec (Great Montreal area)

There is no other option then the audiologists for now.

Thanks

Edit to add: here at Costco in the Greater Montreal area.

[DaveL]

Rosacer, I bought my first hearing aid from an audiologist who left the store just after I bought...things went downhill from there. That was 10 years ago. It was a small device that fit within my ear canal.


I have talked to everyone I knew who had hearing aids. Finally got smart...I work for a school board with 150,000 kids. Reasoned that there must be lots of kids that are hearing impaired. I searched out and talked to the board expert. Asked her who to see? what kind of hearing aids?

She uses Phonak herself.

She referred me to an incredible lady who has been most helpful. I have started the trial period with the hearing aids she dispensed. Things were going well until we went to a not very noisy restaurant. I had trouble hearing someone directly in front of me...the waiter, and others at our table of 4. So there's some work to do. I have a follow up appointment.

My limited experience? Find the right audiologist! It has made the difference between success and failure for me. My experience trying 2 hearing aids has been so beneficial, where my first experience buying a single hearing aid was a disaster, and a source of real stress.

[avi123]

Walmart tests and sells Hearing Aids:

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng ... 25438&wl4=

Also,

http://ww7.hearingaidscomparisonguide.com/?

[avi123]

The problem with buying hearing aids at an audiologist is that such a person would push only one make which pays the audiologist most commission. It's similar to buying an XPAP from a sleep doctor.

[DaveL]

My take, the problem with buying a hearing aid is the consumer has no product knowledge to make an informed decision. That's why I started this post, attempting to find a skilled group of users.

There may be 5 Costco stores in all of Canada that sell HA.

YMMV