I just found out about Audicus, who makes direct-to-consumer hearing aids at a fraction of the cost of going through a retailer. It sounds really terrific, in terms of customer support (24-hour) and return policy, trial policy etc. Has anyone used them? I looked for a category for this manufacturer here in the forums but didn’t see one.
Thanks.
I bought a pair of the Audicus aBlues about a year and a half ago after being shocked at how much hearing aids cost. I was a first time user with a typical high frequency loss that was bothersome, but not worth a $5-6000 price tag (I thought). I have been more than satisfied. I was amazed at how much I had been missing, how much I was faking understanding people and how much I was removing myself from situations I knew would be troublesome. That being said, after spending quite a bit of time researching, especially on this forum, I will probably give Costco or Connect Hearing a try when I feel like upgrading. While my aBlues have been just fine, it would be nice to be able to have face-to-face service for adjustments, etc. I believe Audicus’ service would be fine if my hearing aids weren’t working properly, but at this point, I would hate to be without them or a loaner if I needed to send them out for repair. Fortunately I haven’t had to. I would definitely recommend Audicus if you go in understanding the drawbacks of long distance purchasing and have a fairly straightforward hearing loss.
When you are new to hearing aids there are some challenges. One of those is that fitting hearing aids properly is part science and part art. If you get a good audi it may only take a few visits, but almost no one will be able to get an initial fitting and not need additional fine tuning. Setting feedback control on the hearing aids requires the aids be in the ears for the best results. Everyone’s ear canal is just a little different, so setting and confirming feedback in the ear is superior to just selecting some feedback parameters. Your challenge is that every time you need an adjustment you will need to ship the aids back to Audicus and hope you can explain the problem well enough that they can make the appropriate adjustments. Good luck.
THANK YOU Barbara! That was EXACTLY what I wanted to know. I have an appointment on Saturday to be fitted with the Phonak Audeo V for a trial period (at Connect Hearing here in Toronto), and I now understand better what it’s like if you have issues that need to be adjusted/corrected. Nothing is free, and sometimes cheap is expensive, if you know what I mean.
In any event this was a great response and I thank you very much for the information.
Andy
There are other threads on this forum regarding Connect Hearing and price matching with competitors such as Costco. You may be able to get a good deal with a little negotiating.
Thanks, Brad, that’s very good advice; are you talking about Connect Hearing in Canada or the US? I’m not a Costco member though and so don’t know what they charge, or if they sell comparable equipment. I do know that a friend of my family in the US had success at Costco.
Connect Hearing in the U.S. Has been matching Costco’s prices for the phonak Brio ($1899 US,if I remember correctly) with the Audeo v90.
I’ve been considering Audicus, and as was mentioned the drawback is getting adjustments. Having been diddling with Sam’s Club / Liberty for just over a month… having someone local is only a benefit if they are good at what they do and are working with a quality product. 3 trips this week. Probably returning them on Monday.
I purchased my hearing aids from hearingwholesale.com Very happy with the service and the aids. Even less expensive than audicus. I live in NYC and the company is based locally. The audiologist came to my place to fit and adjust the aids.
Took a look at the site you are touting.
No Thanks!
Just a little industry insight.
Connect Hearing is owned by Phonak and Connect Hearing/Phonak is more than happy to match Costco’s prices on their hearing aids when you give them the opportunity to in their retail locations, aka “Connect Hearing”.
Hearing Aids are obviously big business~ and some sales channels have decided to go with higher retail mark-ups than others.
Some new hearing aid users may require or benefit from a lot of chair time with a hearing professional, while other consumers will pick up their hearing aids and only return for service if and when their hearing aids break and require service. As illustrated above, large companies are positioning themselves so that they profit regardless of the sales channel individual consumers choose.
I’d encourage any future hearing aid consumers to visit our website before purchasing their hearing aids retail. While I know that some hearing aid users are better served with a face-to-face retail experience, many others will flourish buying their hearing aids online. Regardless of the sales channel you choose to support I wish all of you success on your journey to a life of better hearing.
Jeffery,
Are your hearing aids approved/registered with the FDA ? If so , may I have your FDA registration number to verify please. Not that I don’t trust you , I have just been burned in the past on things like this , so I have learned the hard way to check out every detail. Thank you .
Rick
I am new to hearing aids, and I am finding that some online hearing aid dealers are wary of giving certain info. Seems they are not being very transparent about there business. Audicus is one. I have been trying to get info from them for several days now , and the only response I have gotten from them is , are you ready to buy aids now? I am also still waiting to hear from Jeffery from Clearly hearing. We will see if he responds or not. I am kinda getting a bad taste in my mouth about online dealers . I hope I am wrong.
Those hearing aids look really cool. They look the same as the ones you can get in the “as seen on tv” aisle in Walmart for $29.99.
Think about this for a second. If true premium hearing devices COST between $1000-$2000 each and retail for $3000-$4000 each, versus these that COST $20-$30 each and retail for $300-$500 each… who is the bigger winner? The guy with a 200% markup that provides followup service and really TRIES to get good results or the guy with a 1000% markup who doesn’t and just says, “Eh, take it or leave it”?
I recently purchased a pair of Audicus Canto after a lengthy discussion with my audiologist. They are NOT hearing enhancement devices, which you can buy in catalogues, and yes, at Wal-Mart. These are hearing AIDS, manufactured by Siemens for Hansaton. Anyone ever buy a Kenmore appliance? Sears does not make those; established manufacturers do. Whirlpool makes Kenmore refrigerators, Janome makes Kenmore sewing machines, but Kenmore products cost less than Whirlpool or Janome. FWIW, both my refrigerator and my sewing machine are Kenmores.
Back to the Audicus hearing aids. Wow. I loved them from the first. The first full day I had them I sat and read and listened to music. I am a musician and have not really enjoyed listening to music for several years, though I didn’t realize why. But I could suddenly hear so much of what I had been missing and it was a pleasure to again hear the flutes and violins and basses. And being able to have it all coming into both ears instead of just my left was amazing. I found after a week or so that I was starting to sing around the house again. I could hear what I was doing and was hitting the right notes. I had to sing at a funeral and with my new aids I was able to confidently sing The Lord’s Prayer and hit every note dead on. I was also able to hear the soft-voiced gentleman who gave the eulogy, and I didn’t have to strain to do it. Suddenly conversations were easier. The nonstop ringing in my right ear was less noticeable because more sounds were coming through to mask it.
After a few weeks my audiologist did an aided audiogram and felt that though I was very happy with my aids, I should be getting a bit more gain, so I sent them back in for reprogramming. This is the downside of ordering online - having to be without your aids for a bit. Audicus has been great. When they finally received them after they floated around in the mail system for close to a week with no tracking information offered by the Post Office except for a notice that they had been mailed, Audicus sent them back expedited. (I had sent them expedited as well, so I am under no illusions that it will matter.) Today is the day they are supposed to be here, but I am not holding my breath. The tracking information is limited to a notice that the pre-shipment info was sent to the Post Office.
I am still in the midst of my trial period, which was suspended the day the aids were postmarked when I sent them back. It will resume the day I receive the aids. I should have known better than to send them through the Post Office. When I initially ordered them I requested that they be shipped UPS.
This is not an insurmountable issue, or at least it will not be once I get them back. I checked with Audicus, and if there is someone locally (which there is - I checked) who can adjust Hansaton aids I can take them there to be reprogrammed when needed. It will not affect the warranty at all.
Even with paying for reprogramming when necessary and renewing the warranty each year ($99 per aid per year), the cost savings is quite significant. I also liked the fact that Audicus was able to program my aids independently, so I can adjust each aid separately. The hearing in my right ear fluctuates, and this is a wonderful feature. In addition, I appreciate the time that Audicus reps take with me. I gave them information both via online chat and telephone, and they included it all in my file. Their audiologist programmed the aids from the audiograms I sent in, taking the file notes into account.
I don’t need a bunch of bells and whistles. I didn’t order a remote or any other extras. I don’t want to talk on the phone with my aids, or connect to the tv - I just want to hear. In the few weeks I had them these accomplished that, and I know they will once again when the Post Office finally gets around to delivering them.
I recently spoke with a gentleman who has a pair of $10,000 hearing aids. He is not happy with them and said he needs to go back and have them adjusted - again. A hearing aid is a very personal device, and we can’t expect it to work like a pair of glasses - put it on and that’s it. Although, we have had to have glasses redone occasionally too. That is just the way it is with something that is supposed to fit you and you alone. So we can expect to have that issue whether we pay $10,000 for our aids or $1,400.
It is easy to look at a product and make a judgment. But if we have no experience we may be off base. That is why I think it is important to talk to people who have used the products, or in lieu of that read reviews by people who have used the product. It is also important to share our own experiences so we can help someone else with their decision.
My audiologist told me that my experience is very positive, and that is what she looks for. She said that I might actually be happier with the programming for less gain, though I wouldn’t know until we try. She said it varies with individuals, and some are more comfortable with less, at least at first. Again, having to send in the aids is a downside, though I won’t have to do that again since there is a local place where I can go. She said to have them re-programmed then see how I like it.
There is one more downside - I can’t leave them in ALL the time! Of course, unless you have Lyric you have that problem with all aids. 
I will update when I get my aids back. But so far I think they are wonderful.
I checked with Audicus, and they said that it does not affect the warranty to go someplace local to have your adjustments made. I then called Hansaton and they gave me the contact information for the local places.
So this is something you might want to do prior to ordering. Unfortunately for me, I did it after I had already sent them in, but I will have the local option in the future.
FWIW, you can also renew the warranty every year - $99 per aid per year. So you can keep the aids under warranty and have all your adjustments done locally.
I hope this helps!
I am new to the hearing aid business and have yet to purchase my first pair. I am in serious need, but the high cost is stopping me.
Audicus is often mentioned as an economic option. My question is about adjustment: Why cant I attach something to my computer here at home that would help me adjust my hearing aids. I am sure there is a way to run different tests and if physical adjustments are required, I am sure youtube videos can be made. Please help me understand this problem.
I honestly would not recommend purchasing from Audicus. They will not respond to my simple request for a written confirmation of receipt of my returned Dia IIs and what to expect in the return process. They were more than willing to talk to me about a potential sale, but I can get NO RESPONSE about the 45-day satisfaction return process. Next step is filing a charge-back on my CC. I would recommend a local Audiologist.