I just learned that Oticon has a hotline for consumer tech support (Oticon Connectivity Helpline). Has anyone used it? How was the service? Do other manufacturers have this type of support?
For 24-hour assistance with connectivity questions, call the Oticon Connectivity Helpline at 855-400-9766 to speak with an Oticon representative.
I spoke at length with Resounds people…
I just called the (“useless”) Oticon Connectivity Helpline It was a waste of time, to say the least.
I have suddenly developed connectivity issues with my Oticon Opn 1’s. They have been disconnecting from the app, and they suddenly were not recognized by my phone’s Bluetooth. I deleted everything–the hearing aids, the ConnectClip, and the Oticon On app, and then reinstalled everything. I did several soft reboots on my phone. It took about 25 tries for my phone’s Bluetooth to recognize both hearing aids and to connect. One hearing aid would connect, and then the other wouldn’t. I finally got them paired with the phone. I also re-paired the ConnectClip. But now, getting the aids to pair to the app is a different story. The app will not recognize both aids–only one. I use an Android phone that had no problems connecting up until today, so I’m pretty sure it’s not my phone.
The supposed technical services rep asked a bunch of scripted questions, and then wanted to blame this on the ConnectClip, even though I told him that the Clip is working fine and that it’s connecting the hearing aids themselves that is the problem because of what seems like an unstable Bluetooth connection in the hearing aids. I told him I’ve read online that others have had connectivity issues with the Opn1 hearing aids staying connected to their Android phones and to the app, and he wouldn’t acknowledge that anyone else has complained. Really? Go to the Google Play Store and see how many people have said they’ve had problems with Android connectivity and the app.
The technical support rep’s response? “Go back to your audiologist.” I told him that yes, I would–I would likely return these high-end devices for a refund since they aren’t even 3 months old. Why pay premium prices when the tech support can’t even help you with a basic connectivity issue?
Is this lack of response to customer concerns specific to Oticon, or are the other top hearing aid manufacturers the same way? Customer service, responsiveness, and product durability and reliability are key to my loyalty as a customer. Has anyone else had similar issues? Thanks.
Go back to your audiologist.
As an end user , you are not their customer, you are not their business, you are not a part of their cartel, not a part of their coterie, you do not serve their business interests. You are not their headache. They are a business and exist to serve the community of their distribution network, their caporegimes their salesmen.
Why should they be worried about your problem?
Perhaps they will care when PR issues about the quality of their products start to show up on public forums like these. As with most big business nowadays, when the profit margin or bottom line takes a hit because of bad PR or product complaints and returns (and those salespeople you mentioned see a drop in their annual bonuses), action might be taken to assure better responsiveness to customer concerns. I’m just sayin’…
Carve these words in granite in golden letters!!!
Agree. Oticon confirms these words - “Oticon and our valued hearing care partners”. “People first” - it is not about us, hearing aid users.
I don’t have any input on the Oticon Connectivity Helpline. I just want to mention that ever since the OPN firmware 6 update, and iOS 12.x update, my connectivity has been a lot more stable than before.
Having said that, on a recent long driving trip, where I listened to music almost my entire 7 hours of driving, the connection to my left OPN occasionally drops out for about several seconds before it reconnects itself while the music is streaming. The right OPN never dropped out. I have the phone on my right side right next to me. I would say that after a while, I’d detect a regular pattern of this repeating, maybe every 20 to 30 minutes, it would happen over again and again. A little annoying, but still much better than before.
Interestingly, at home, I never noticed this issue. Maybe simply because I don’t stream continuously for 7 straight hours at home like I did on the road trip.
