Hearing Planet

Hearing Aids
1

This may be an old subject, but can anyone tell me if they have had positive or negative experiences with Hearing Planet, in obtaining hearing aids? There seem to be so many ‘full page ads’ by various hearing aid promoters, it’s difficult to separate the good from the bad – and which to stay away from. After searching their website, I’ve gotten phone calls & emails from the Hearing Planet people but am hesitant to answer them without some background. I’m interested in a technical evaluation & not a sales pitch. Thanks.

2

Do a forum search. I know this has come up and discussed here in the past. Can’t recall whether comments were positive or not. They are, as I recall, mainly a referral service to local providers around the country. They don’t own/run their own clinics - but maybe they do have a few.

3

Thanks, miket – I did run a search. The ‘bottom line’ seems to be that Hearing Planet may be an acceptable middle man to lead one to an audiologist, but in so doing this the overall price would have a ‘middle man’ increase, and the audiologist will have less interest in satisfying the customer as they would from a direct contact. My conclusion is to go directly to an audiologist & hopefully find a friendly & competent one.

4

My experience on two tries is the prices are very good, the audiologist follow up very disappointing. I wound up returning everything. They did handle the return well, even skipped the stated fifty dollar fee.

5

My experience (as an audiologist) is that the pricing is kind of on the high side…and the people at Hearing Planet literally tell your hearing healthcare professional what hearing aid to fit on you; they don’t get to choose for themselves. This can be a problem if what the audiologist wants and what the HP people want are not in line.

6

I just “upgraded” from Audibel (yea, know they are Starkeys) top of the line (platinum). The price was GREAT (3K for 2) the fitter (not an audiologist) was just average… I did a fair amount of research (thank you Hearing Aid Forum!) and was down to 2-3 brands. I talked to hearing aid planet, and was very happy with the sales consultant. She knows the brands and the features. She hooked me up with an audiologist who is about 3 miles from my house! :slight_smile: I lucked out, he is very knowledgable and a “techie” like me so he was happy to have me look over his shoulder as he tweaked the settings. I think the price was similar to the market, not the cheapest, not the most expensive, but am very happy with the service. (got Phonak audeo S 9’s, com-pilot, remote mic, tv link for < 6K)

Bottom line, if you are knowledgable consumer they are a good choice, but since they do “suggest” the product for the audiologist, if you are clueless, then perhaps there are better choices.

Bruce
bloomfield ct

7

I have worked with several patients that were referred to me through hearing planet. My experience has been positive.

  1. I have always been able to recommend what hearing aid I think is best. No one at HP has ever tried to influence or change my recommendation.

  2. At least in my area (D.C) HP prices are much cheaper than our private costs. Usually 1-2 thousand less per pair.

  3. The dispenser still gets a flat fee from HP and it is decent. No matter what technology or brand, the fee is the same.

  4. Maybe it is just me, but I do not treat a HP patient any different than a patient that comes in direct.

8

IF HP prices are less than your “regular” prices - why not buy all your HA thru HP?

9

The patient buys direct through HP and then I dispense. I do not buy the hearing aids from HP and then give them to patients at the discounted amount.

10

But couldn’t you, maybe, get aids at a better price thru HP than buying from your own supplier. They can probably buy aids much cheaper than you who operates as a solo operator.

11

This is incorrect, and I notice that it comes from the competition (who do have a lower price)! Tut, tut.

I am in the midst of working with HP. Previously I had bought aids through a different online broker but they are no longer working with providers in this state. HP is one of the longest-standing outfits. Here are my thoughts on this issue.

  1. The brokers buy aids in large volume and therefore get them at a discount. The markup is large and so they can beat the local audiologist/dispenser.
  2. Some audiologists do not like working in this way, while others look on it as a source of added business. In round figures, I am buying $7000 aids for $5,000, and HP is paying the dispenser $500 per ear for the evaluation, recommendation, fitting and 12-months follow-up. The financial arrangements are entirely between me and HP, the professional arrangements are entirely between the audiologist and me, including his recommendation.
  3. So far so good, but to my mind, the whole thing pivots around the quality of the person doing the evaluation, recommendation and fitting. When I asked HP who their local provider would be I called them and they gave me incorrect/misleading information on the phone (I have some experience in the field). There is no way I would want to deal with them. When I told HP about this, they then asked if I would be prepared to travel a few more miles to a different provider, and recommended an audiologist with 30 years experience, and with whom they had only had positive feedback from many clients over many years. He recommended a particular make and model which were not an improvement on my existing aids, as it turned out (I have worn various aids since the early 1990s). There was no problem with HP in returning them and trying a different model.
    From my perspective, HP is straightforward, has knowledgeable personnel, a large network of providers, and many years in the business. I recommend them.
12

I used Hearing Planet years ago to purchase my first hearing aids. (Audeo Yes IX) I received excellent service from them along with a free Dry and Store and some other extras. However, I would agree the audiologist they had me use was not the most concerned since I didn’t purchase them from her. To do over again I would purchase aids from the audiologist since the pricing doesn’t seem that much different now. I’ve switched audiologist and get great service from them.