Have any of you guys bought a hearing aid off eBay?

Hearing Aids
1

There is a guy in e-bay that is selling Siemens hearing aids at almost unbelievable price. He has 2 Siemens Pure 500 Digi Open Fit RIC Hearing Aids for $2,849 or 1 Siemens Pure 500 Digi Open Fit RIC Hearing Aid for $1,349. Both of them also come with free remote and a free charger.

This presents to me 3 questions.

  1. Have any of you guys in here ever bought a hearing aid from e-bay?

  2. How are adjustments made when there are not here to see you?

They say for technical support or questions please feel free to call our licensed expert team, and we give LIFETIME PHONE SUPPORT BEFORE AND AFTER SALE.

  1. How can adjustments be made when you ship it back based on telling them the problems you are have via a telephone call?
2

bad idea…

I would suggest you go to costco

3

Thank you for your reply, but that too is a bad idea. There are no costco’s in MS or LA. The closes is more than 400 miles away. :frowning:

4

Unless the eBay price is way below market value, I wouldn’t go for those. The eBay price you mention are about the same as the precisehearing Web site. I’d sooner buy from them.

5

What makes them any less of a risk?

Also, precisehearing web site wants $200 for a remote and $160 for the Pure charger.

6

Okay guys, I sent this message below to a few of his past buyers who bought the same exact Siemens Pure 500 Open Fit RIC Hearing Aid that I am interested in buying. Below is my message to them and their replies back to me. For $1,349 you recieve the following items:

1 - Siemens Pure 500 RIC hearing aid
1 - Siemens Pure Charger
1 - Siemens ProPocket ™ Remote
1 - Rechargable Batteries
60 - Regular Batteries
Carrying pouch
Owners manual
2 Years - Loss & Damage Protection
2 Years - Factory Warranty

Hi,

I noticed in e-bay seller bidbybid’s feedbacks that you purchased 2 Siemens Pure 500 Digi Open Fit RIC Hearing Aids from him. I was also thinking about buying the same hearing aid from him, and wanted to ask you how are these hearing aids working for you based on the audiogram you sent him?
Did you need to send them back to make any ajustments?

Any and all help deeply appreciated.

The hearing aids I bought are working really well and I have not had to send them back for reprograming. They work great.

  • 5585donald

Hi,

I love them! Sometimes there are feedback issues when I turn then way up, but other than that, they work great! I forget I have them in…until I take them out and can’t hear anything!! The Bluetooth phone and TV devices are really cool, and work well. Hope that helps.

  • myrebecky

I am very pleased with the choice.I feel I am still learning to hear again but I may have them adjusted in the near future.They have reduced the level of stress in my daily life due to my inability to hear well in class.I was surprised to NOT find a cleaning brush/kit for general maintenance but that is a small issue.They have added immensely to the quality of life & I feel are money very well spent. GOOD LUCK,Jim
P.S. Hope this helps!!

  • jimsr72
7

I purchased from this same ebay seller.

Also considered America Hears.

Wanted to buy Siemens as they are an industry leader.

Price was about $600 less than local dealer and cost was important to me.

Bought open fit aids which should not require service. I can mail aids back if I choose or go to local dealer as they carry 3 year warranty from Siemens.

Would I go this route again? Too soon to answer this, only had aids 2 weeks.

8

I suggest you rather stick to the tried and tested. Wouldn’t want to waste your money now would you?

9

maybe I’m an old (young) foogy, but the idea of not having any support after I have the aids for adjustments just scares me.

spending that kind of money, i want someone to call and go…HELP! I often dont find the actual manufacter the best of help because they are also X miles away.

Good luck!

10

If your going ITEs you should go local as you will need some help sooner or later. Not a must but recommended.

If you are going BTE, especially open fit, it depends on your comfort level and your finances if you go internet. There is usually little support needed for these types of aids. You can go somewhere for help although you may or likely will get charged. You may want to see which brands are locally distributed so you can go there for warranty work. Also see if there are Universities offering hearing aids. Those with medical schools offer classes and need patients to practice on. They would not likely care where you got your aids although they would certainly charge. Lastly, where you bought your aids will service them but it will cost time and postage. America hears is unique as far as internet dispensers are concerned. They can adjust your aids through your computer. You can also do this yourself as they provide software and cables. Their phone support is also highly praised.

For many this is too much hastle. Still, if you choose local, check out more than one dispenser. There is a big difference in markups depending the lifestyle of the dispenser or audiologist or doctor.

11

I bought some BTE aids from the ebay guy.(bidbybid). he programed the aids to audiogram that I sent to him. they sound great, and I will buy from him again. I purchased the Centra SP, and 2 other Siemens aids. so far I have not had any need for reprogramming.

12

John59, that is the seller. Dirtold I assume that is the seller for you too. Am I right?

The thing I am most concerned about is the warranty being honored by Siemens, due to the fact that this seller is doing this on e-bay and does not have a outside business. Alsowhat concerns me, is his reprograming should it have to be tweeked. I conversed with several of his e-bay buyers through e-bay messaging that have bought the Pure 500, but none of them has needed adjustments yet. One of his buyers are checking on the warranty today, as she is now concerned since I asked her about it. Read our conversations list below.

Hi,

I noticed in e-bay seller bidbybid’s feedbacks that you purchased 2 Siemens Pure 500 Digi Open Fit RIC Hearing Aids from him. I was also thinking about buying the same hearing aid from him, and wanted to ask you how are these hearing aids working for you based on the audiogram you sent him?
Did you need to send them back to make any adjustments?

Any and all help deeply appreciated.

Hi,

I love them! Sometimes there are feedback issues when I turn them way up, but other than that, they work great! I forget I have them in…until I take them out and can’t hear anything!! The Bluetooth phone and TV devices are really cool, and work well. Hope that helps.

  • myrebecky

Thank you for your response and your help.

Did he send you Siemens warranty information?

Did you check with Siemens to make sure if they will honor their warranty with this e-bay seller since he is a online seller?

No, I did not check with Siemens yet on the
warranty…good idea! I will try to do that
tomorrow, then let you know, since that makes a
difference to me as well since I paid for the
three year warranty as part of the deal!

He told me on the phone if I had warranty or adjustment problems I could send it into him, or go to a local Siemens audiologist. I had already called a local audiologist that handles Siemens telling them I had bought them online and asked them what they would charge for adjustments. They told me I would be $500 which would include up to 3 adjustment sessions. After I told the seller that, he said to tell them I just moved to that area. With that said I asked him for his address was so I could give them an address where I got my hearing aids from. This is what I was told by him about having a outside office in California and he gave me that address. What my research on that address is listed in the message below. I just sent my research finding to the e-bay buyer lady helping me. He would not give me a name of the business except to say the name was Hearing Aids. The message I just sent her is listed below:

Let me know tomorrow what you find out.

Also, did he give you warranty information and a address where he is located?

I talked to the e-bay seller on the phone via the toll free number listed in his buy-it-now auction, and he said his name was Philip Register. He said he was a audiologist and told me to fax him my audiogram. He also told me they had a store in California at 31735 Riverside Dr. Ste A, Lake Elsindore Ca. 92530. I did a little goggle research and called some businesses on the phone that are at that same address at Ste C and Ste. K, and they said there is no hearing aid store at that address. As a matter of fact it is a Latino community and some store owners did not even speak english.

You guys might want to check with Siemens too, so you will know if they cover them after buying them from this e-bay seller.

Did you guys get a product registration warranty card to send in to Siemens?

13

Not true. The remote is free if you buy a pair. The charger is not necessary. Regular batteries are cheaper than rechargable ones.

14

Not true! Of course it is true. There is no hope for my other ear, as a hearing aid will not help that ear. I do not need 2 hearing aids I only need one. The guy on e-bay gives you a free remote and charger for just buying one hearing aid. You don’t have to buy 2 like you do from precisehearing. Besides are you telling me you would turn down a charger if it was free? No more battery hassle and expenses would be nice. :wink:

15

Yes, I bought from bidbybid. My 2nd choice was America Hears. As I said earlier, I have only had aids 2 weeks so I am not sure if I am happy yet. America Hears appeal to me was the software and or internet control and adjustment of the aids. I felt playing with aid settings was not really necessary, however.

16

Did you get a warranty card to send into Siemens?

The reason I am asking you this is because the customer service rep at 1-800-766-4500 told me that if the online seller is getting his Siemens hearing aids over seas, they will NOT warranty them at their Siemens-USA office in New Jersey.

18

I was told verbally that I had a Siemens warranty either through them or a local dealer. As of yet I do not have a receipt although I have requested one. It is a little odd that I should even have to make a request but again I was told they would send me one. I will likely call this week to see where it is.

19

dirtold,

The customer service rep also told me that there is a serial number on every Siemens hearing aid, and that the serial number on your Siemens product will tell them if your Siemens product was made here in the United State.

Here is another thing that concerns me and should concern you.

I was told by him on the phone by way of the toll free number in his auction, that his name was Phillip Rechister. He gave me this address 31735 Riverside Dr. Ste A Lake Elsinore, CA 92530 and told me that it was his office in California. However after some goggle research, I found out that address he gives people is not his office address, it is actually the address to a company called “Packing Box” (951)674-8721. I talked to someone at that number and they said that he works out of his home and that he only has a P.O box there.

20

That is a tad worrisome. As I said earlier in the thread, unless you are getting these for a substantial discount, I would go with a local person. Also, keep in mind a local audi might be open to some price negotiation.

This said, I have bought my hearing aids through eBay international. But I bought a pair of Oticon Epoq XW + streamer for about $1,400. Locally, the price for this set was $6,100. At that price difference, I thought it was worth dealing with whatever issues I may have later on…

21

Hey Sasba,

Do yourself a favor and don’t buy hearing aids on eBay. If you read through all the posts in this forum and a few others you start to realize after a while that these latest generation hearing aids are very complex. The technology is amazing and gives a tremendous amount of flexibility but you really need a very experienced audiologist to get them setup to fit your individual loss and lifestyle. Yes…you can do an initial setup of the hearing aids using just your hearing test results but the results you will get will be so average compared to what you can really achieve when you tweak the hearing aids.

The extra money for audiologist services is really worthwhile. That being said, you have to find an audiologist who intimately knows the particular brand and model you are looking at. There are so many different choices today that you will find that some audiologist tend to stick with a few brands and then get really good at working with them. Like all things in life, there are people who are really good at what they do and people who are not so good. Once you find a really clever audiologist, they are amazing.

I’m not an audiologist…I’m just a fussy hearing aid user who has suffered through a few bad ones and now has someone who is extremely good.

Jordan.