Overoaked, you might find they work but you should try them AND also try a professionally fitted RIC HA. After my own experience I can’t see why you’d want to have something that works OK vs. something that works better because it is tailored EXACTLY for you.
After my experience above I went to Costco and ended up getting the latest Resound Forte 8. The sound quality is 1000 percent better, it’s more comfortable and people usually don’t notice them.
Also, the price is roughly the same.
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larry2, Just to be clear, my post was simply seeking facts regarding if and how the FDA is involved in approving manufacturers’ advertising of their products as hearing aids or PSAPs. ERGO’s advertising implies that they have FDA approval to call their product a hearing aid, which I found to be interesting if not puzzling. I wasn’t commenting on the merits of ERGO’s products. I have Oticon OPNs, which I plan to stick with for a while.
There was an OTC Hearing Aid Act passed not that long ago. Over the counter hearing aids do need to meet certain criteria to be able to be marketed as hearing aids. I know nothing about ERGO or the approval process.
I’ve pretty much had the same problem. Good service till I finally gave up on the product. The feedback was horrific and I think it caused me further hearing loss. I am now back to asking “what” all the time.
I personally did not user Eargo services but I was engaged in a long story of their relationships with my grandfather. Unfortunately, we did not check Eargo reviews beforehand like a lot of smart people do these days, so we went straight to their office and ordered a hearing aid for my grandpa. Shortly after this happening my grandfather said that he started having some problems with charging the aid. The device was indicating by the lights as fully charged, but then after 3 or 4 hours of work it was already dead. We tried to exchange the charger, but the customer support rep said that it was something wrong with our warranty or that the charger is not covered by the warranty (which is really strange) so got really frustrated and decided not to use Eargo product anymore.
I realize this thread is a bit out of date, been looking into getting costco hearing aids vs these new DTC brands, was wondering if anyone, after using eargo for awhile, would recommend these?
Go with Costco. They’re cheaper by at least $1000 and they are “real” hearing aids. Though eargo likes to claim they are real hearing aids, the FDA has issued warnings to OTC companies saying they haven’t issued the requirements yet and therefore they cannot say that are FDA approved as hearing aids.
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Well, here it is Nov. 2021. I ordered the EARGO 5’s, and have been using them for about a month. I really like the size, and the different petals help adapt them to different ear canal sizes. They seem to work fine for me, but I did have to work for some time to find just the right spot. Too far in the canal and they squeaked, and too far out they felt like they were going to fall out. The other thing I like about them is the ‘two-tap’ application, whereby you can change programs without logging in simply by tapping twice next to your ear. Although I was having problems with this since the beginning, I discovered that if I simply brush along the little plastic thing (used to extract the HA) that the programs switch every time.
Whether or not these are ‘REAL’ hearing aids makes no difference to me if they work, and for me they do.
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It’s great that they work so that is good. I have a friend who likes them as well. However, if you don’t mind the question, why the eargo when you can get a full blown HA from Costco, with support and adjusting, for less money? Not a criticism just curious.
The Costco HA’s I tried required batteries, which I dislike. I want rechargeable, in-canal HA’s, and if I recall, Costco doesn’t carry any, but I’ll check again. New product is coming out all the time.
Yes Costco does carry the rechargeable models now.
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