I had my hearing test done recently they found my hearing in right ear has deteriorated tremendously from the 2006 scan, and they referred me to see a ENT Specialists. I had to do a MRI to exclude any brain issue and was checked by the ENT Specialists, who advised me for loss of hearing to have hearing aids for both ears. The audiologists referred by his clinics is very costly $140 out of pocket to get quote , $700 for fitting etc, & perhaps a pair will costs $10,000 to $12,000. I couldn’t afford these costs. Called Costco and also checked SpecSavers and I believe their prices are within my reach.
I wonder if any one has used recently either Costco or Spec Savers for Hearing Aids, in Australia please share your experience and advise me how and where to go.
You’re not going to get better value. If you’ve got private health, they qualify. You’ve got 6 months to return if they can’t get them to work for you. Like everywhere, it depends on who you get. I’m in Perth.
Hi Thanks, I believe there are not many participants in this forum from Australia, I will check if the Defence Health has coverage , are you talking about out Costco or Specsavers 6 months return policy?
Welcome to the forum @Kintiq. I’m in Melbourne. Personally I wouldn’t go to Specsavers. I’ve not had good experiences using that company.
You don’t mention what part of Oz you live in if you have a Costco store near you it would be very beneficial for you to go to them, even if you have to travel a bit. They have excellent aids for around $2500 or less, depending on the brand. Free audiogram, free service & repairs. I think it’s 180 day warranty with full refund if not satisfied. So you really can’t go wrong.
Costco. 6 months return. 2 years one-time replacement for loss or damage. Specsavers from memory is 90 days return, 1 year audiologist support included.
I used Specsavers about 2 months ago. I went to one of their outlets in Toowoomba and was very happy with the outcome. I initially made a free 30 minute appointment to check out the HAs available and more importantly to get a feel for the audiologist. Specsavers have a huge range of HAs available. They have their own rebadged models at the different technology levels. 3 or so model choices at each of their three technology levels. Plus they sell phonak and other major brands. Prices are excellentt. To give you an idea one model of Phonak I had been trialling at a private audiologist was offered at half the price at specsavers !
I was happy with the choices available and the audiologist so went back for an appointment for a 1 hour test (free on a health card, maybe free for others too ?) Very detailed test. He gave me options for the HAs. Showed me one that fit completely in ear and I tried that. He then showed me a few behind the ear with the in ear receiver that I briefly put in. I chose one that worked best with my glasses. The fitting was 2-3 weeks later. I chose one of specsavers rebadged models at the highest tech level. It’s a unitron - chose it as it sat more comfortable with my glasses.
I went back for the follow up appointment 3 weeks later but only needed a tiny adjustment. It was really fine as it was. Handles wind noise and other noises well and no issues.
You have to pay for the HAs when they are fitted but you can get your money back if you’re unhappy. I think you have 6-8 weeks to decide. I get free batteries (mine is the battery version by choice) for a year and other free supplies for a year. Warranty is 3 years or so I think.
Pricing is excellent but more importantly I found with my specsaver outlet the audiologist was great. The independent I saw before was not good.
Thanks for the detailed explanation and you are lucky to have an excellent Audiologists, as in the Smalltown they do their best to keep the customer satisfied, I am afraid in Sydney there are many filling the schedule in different SS outlets, I am planning to have a go with them, however I have seen in their wavesite intial assessment is $49.00 , perhaps not that much. I am also thinking of Receiver in Cannel (RIC) type - perhaps this is the Open fit configuration.
I have seen Phonak Infinio AI 90 - SS price is $6,495 but perhaps the same in Costco without AI at cheaper price but got some negative feedback from Costco users!
I believe I have some high frequency losses in left and severe losses in right, have you noticed if they adjust individually to each ear according to the hearing test results Scan?
SS are in the middle between the private Audiologists providers & Costco , I believe I will give it a go with SS.
Thanjs, I would like to give it a go with SS as they are in the middle of private audiologists & Costco but at the same time I am afraid that in Sydney the SS Audiologists might not be dedicated to satisfy the customers similar to the Toowoomba Audiologists as mentioned by another contributor.
It is a challenge to get a good Audiologists in City SS outlets .
Thanks for the advise , please share any other tips how to them do a better job.
My audiologist at specsavers Toowoomba did. I’d be shocked if any audiologist didn’t.
About making changes yourself …
Keep in mind you’d need to buy some hardware as well to do this. Is it easy to do ? Not for me, but many do it.
The software in the specsaver “Advance” brand are definitely locked. I had thought the other brands they sell, Phonak, Signia etc were unlocked but now I’m uncertain. Check with the audiologist before you buy if this is important !! I would suggest booking a visit to discuss HAs. It was free when I did it. This way you can ask all your questions and get a feel for the audiologist to see if you’re happy enough with them. If you don’t like the audiologist or store, phone around for another. Specsavers use an audiologist or 2 for certain group of stores, so if you want to try a different audiologist just phone someone else and make sure a different audiologist services that store.
Philips Hearlink 9050. I think they’re good aids. Many people agree with me. Others hate them. Same thing applies to the other three on your list. That’s just the way it is with hearing aids. I don’t think anyone here is going to tell you that one is objectively the best or the worst. The Jabras might be the most feature-rich of the bunch (Auracast, AI de-noising) but you might hate the sound. Who knows? There must be a heap of posts on here on each one. Use the search function if you want to delve further. The Jabra is supposed to be identical to the Resound Vivia so any information you find on the latter will apply to the Jabra.
Hi @Kintiq, I’m in a regional area of Queensland, no Costco within reach. I had a bad first-HA experience (expensive private audiologist) then I went to SpecSavers for my second HAs. Reasonable price, moderately good programming by a pleasant audi. That audi did follow-up adjustments willingly, although not very effective. Later I took the same HAs to a different SpecSavers and their audi checked everything, reprogrammed my HAs from scratch - a big improvement and no extra cost. So the option to switch from one SpecSavers to another is valuable if you’re not happy with the first one you try. Also potentially helpful if you need adjustment or repair while travelling, because Australia has many SpecSavers (but very few Costcos). Good luck with getting started on your HAs!