Ala carte approach to buying aids?

Hearing Aids
#1

I have settled on Widex Moment Sheers as my future aids. It’s my first pair of HA but I have helped my husband and friends with their choices and tweaking so I have some idea of what is going on. However, there is no one locally who sells them and all are pretty much of the franchise audiologist model, which does not suit me. I am a little reluctant to try an online sales portal–I definitely want a relationship with a company that is authorized to sell these in case there is a problem.

Zip hearing and others can’t find a referral for me, so either way I have to travel out of area if I am going to use a traditional bricks and mortar location. So I am thinking of shopping on price from an authorized dealer (the tricky part) so I can get warranty repairs, and then traveling to a decent audiologist for support ala carte. I am not sure this model works… But I have found an audiologist in an area that I regularly visit that sells and supports Widex, seems versed in my issues, and will provide support for a fee. But if Widex won’t repair them not sure that will work, either.

I have obviously seen the online portals offering discounts. One I am looking at beats Ziphearing by $1500 for the pair and promises tuning support (over the phone), warranty repairs, insurance. They have glowing reviews which I take with a grain of salt. The only negative review I found was on Reddit and the person said they bought the same aids and the company in question would not take them back during the return period, gave them the run around, and they were out the full amount for aids they claimed were defective and they did not want. Said the company would only do an exchange altho it clearly says otherwise on the website. I also take that review with a grain of salt, but it always strikes me as weird when a company has zero negative reviews.

So honestly I am at a bit of a stand still. I am on the cusp of needing aids, meaning I could probably limp along without them for awhile longer, but I really want to try these–not only to mitigate difficulty understanding speech, but also my tinnitus. I have listened to the Widex tones and there are a couple that definitely help calm it down. However, I have hefty tuition bills for my kid’s graduate school and discretionary funds are limited.

I even thought about buying just one aid–I have one ear that is worse, was injured at one point by loud noise, and is the ear that has the worst tinnitus, almost drowning out sound in some settings. This way I could mitigate some of the risk. However, I also have issues with directionality of sound and was hoping the aids would help with this, plus the difference is not dramatic, so I would probably be putting more stress on the “good” ear?

So–does anyone here have experience with an online portal that is Widex approved? Any thoughts on just trying a single aid initially in the weaker ear?

I am totally not averse to paying a mark up for the expertise of an audiologist, and I feel it’s definitely warranted in my situation if I want to get maximum benefit–I just want to pay for what I really need and I definitely want to pay for real world product experience.

Thanks for lending me an ear ha ha. Bet I am not the first person to say that…

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#2

I don’t think you’ll find an authorized online Widex dealer. https://www.widex.com/en-us/local/us/widex-warranty-statement/
My suggestion would be to find somebody who does in person sales and try whatever hearing aid they recommend. If there’s a Costco within reasonable distance, that would be my recommendation,

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#3

Why not just buy from them directly? I feel like I missed something.

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#4

They are expensive and a 9 hour round trip. I go to that area one or two times a year. So unless I can get remote support from them not sure it is worth paying top dollar for the aids. I am trying to see if Zip hearing can find someone closer…
The online company says they are an authorized dealer. However, could not find a single email address or general inquiry number to contact Widex to verify. And I scoured the website. I did find a lot of people complaining about their aids and perceived lack of company support. I may not be so settled on these aids.

#5

If it’s a fairly straightforward fitting it may not need a lot of adjustment. A family member had no adjustments with custom tip rics, he has moderately severe deafness. When following the Widex set up it’s very precise. He just needed new tips which could be done by post. Ideally you would have closer access & I know you are looking for this. Reviews are often not representative of the general customer & can be just those who have had difficulties with their set up. Happy customers are perhaps less likely to be motivated to leave a review. Dispenser service varies greatly but I have never had issues with the quality from Widex.

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#6

Check out Fithearing.com…They list Widex Aids in there ad. I have a pair of Phonak Naida Lumity 90’s on trial currently. Seem to be good people and very competitive prices.

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#7

Oh, yes, 9 hours is far.

Remote support is less useful that you might imagine. Once hearing aids are set up, they don’t typically go wrong in ways that needs minor gain adjustments. They go wrong in ways that need deep cleaning or minor repairs, which is an in-person task. So it really helps to have someone nearby who can provide these basic services at the front desk. It might be better to find someone local who has the devices that you want and then take them further away for REM if that matters to you. And then in terms of pricing differences and trying to figure out whether something really is cheaper, consider that audiologists are medical professionals who, depending on their location, probably have an hourly service cost of maybe $175-325. If they spend about 4 hours with you and/or your hearing aids in the first year and an hour every year subsequent across, say, a 5 year service package (note that the hour also included the associated charting and paperwork time), to realistically save money your price difference needs to be considerable. Extra years of repair or loss warranties will throw in at least another couple hundred dollars per ear per year per warranty type. Front desk charges if you are not in a service package may be ~$20 for a cleaning, ~$120 for a new receiver, ~$40 for shipping and handling on a repair.

A la carte can save you money, or for some people it can work better for insurance, but for others it often does not. Especially with a first set of hearing aids, it can be difficult to know how hands-off you’ll be.

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#8

I am totally up for paying a paid professional for their time. I am very supportive of local business, too. But I have run into too many situations in my area where people just are not that versed in their products. I don’t mind paying a premium for service, it is just whether I can take advantage of it or not. I have done the math myself and agree that with a discount aid you can still turn around and pay the difference in “ala carte” service. But that may in fact be my only option. Zip says they aren’t comfortable referring me out of area and I am slated to talk with them later today or tomorrow.

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#9

All these comments are super helpful and I really appreciate people taking the time. It helps to have a better understanding of the tuning process, what might or might not be involved. Since I am not getting traction with a hybrid approach (local support, discount aids ala Zip hearing) I may have to go this route after all (online purchase and pay for service support).

And to that end, does anyone have any idea of an email address or number I can use to contact Widex to verify whether a company is truly an authorized dealer? Their “find a provider” search just isn’t working for this purpose. And most of those geographical search functions are out of date. One provider it surfaced was out of business and you can’t just search on provider name. It is only a location service.

#10

Have you tried Hearing Revolution ( www.hearingrevolution.com ) to see if they have an audiologist in your area? Their price for the Widex Moment is $4576/pair.

#11

No one is selling Widex in my area. That is the problem I am running into.

#12

I have Widex Moment 440 rechargeable from a dispenser in easy distance from me in Toronto. While I have been in to get service, it isn’t frequent, but I am an experienced HA user. But I wanted to say that in the three or so years since I have had Widex Moment, I have had firmware updates through the app on my iPhone. Very cool! Works well for me. I will take a look at the Widex Sheer for when it is time to replace.

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#13

I’d rather travel 2691 miles for exceptional service and care, than settle for mediocre service more conveniently located. Remote care is available on many models and overnight shipping makes getting loaners or repairs reasonably fast I do have a “back up” pair if needed as I don’t want ever to be without aids. I don’t know that you would be able to get local service without dealing with an “adoption” fee from the provider who did not sell you you aids. I’m unaware if this is an industry standard fee but it appear most audiologist figure in the profit from the sale of the aids into their business model. I know you have settled on the Widex as being what you believe will help you the most, I’d suggest finding an audiologist who represents multiple suppliers who has a reputation for excellent care/service is the most important part of your search. If necessary find a provider somewhere you enjoy traveling too if local options are limited. Good luck!

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#14

So I can’t get even a regional referral to anyone supporting Widex. I was told by the online provider I approached that they are an authorized seller. I wrote Widex and asked if that is the case, but crickets on their end (I used a provider contact portal since no other option for such a question was available and their provider finder is location based, not tied to company name). However, I have been dealing with tech stuff my whole life so I will figure things out. I found a promising HA albeit in another state, so if I can’t get things tuned remotely via the sales site, I can default to them.