Phonak Lumity Life Rechargeable DEAD after 1.5 years use

Hearing Aids
#40

What happened is that I was at my audi’s a few months back. The Phonak rep was also there - expressly to ensure that both pairs of my aids had cross-licensing in order to work with either of the 2 Rogers they SOLD me.

Now, did I get a snow job cuz they wanted to make money off me? Prob’ly! But it was a procedure that took a good half hour. The Phonak rep had me turn off my aids, then she had me turn them on, and she pressed a pin under the belt clip that’s on the back of the Roger. That was ONE and DONE. Except it took about 2-3 tries for the xfer to work. I knew it was working when I could stream sound from that Roger device.

Same procedure had to be duplicated with the 2nd Roger stick and again, it was 2-3 tries to get the accessory to stream. Done yet? Nope! We had to go through the entire operation with the OTHER redundant pair of aids I’d brought in, cuz I was determined to walk out that door with TWO pairs of aids cross-licensed to TWO Rogers. The Phonak rep literally said, “I’ve never had a customer that needed this kind of redundancy.” But she also confirmed that I needed a SEPARATE Roger license for EACH pair of aids.

Now I’ve got complete flexibility and can grab either pair of aids and they’ll stream with either Roger ON iN.

You can hit me over the head with a frying pan if you’re tired of the rant, but if I’d been sold ONE PAIR of battery-operated Lumity Life aids 1.5 yrs ago, I’d have used them ONLY. My backups would’ve been the older BATTERY Marvel aids. I’d have had ONE Roger device for multiple uses, but likely kept the reliable TV Connector in place for nightly TV streaming.

My life would’ve been simpler. But Phonak chose to release only a rechargeable version of their latest and greatest aids. Only 3 yrs in to that release comes the 312-battery version. No word of a 13-battery version here. It’s that kind of inflexibility and refusal to meet all customers’ needs that I hold Phonak responsible for. I’m a rare (?) senior who actually has great dexterity, prefers batteries, and miss being able to travel with something that gets me thru 6 days of use instead of 13 or so hours a day.

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#41

No frying pans today, not even a feather:) It sounds to me like they sold you the second Roger so you would have a second needed pair of licenses. That probably is the normal procedure for audiologists and especially Phonak. Other procedures would have been to buy a cheaper Roger on Ebay just for the licenses or better yet use the procedure someone posted on the forum which is the ability to reclaim additional licenses on your iN once licenses have been transferred. Phonak is never going to tell you about that :(. In any event, you have two working Roger On iN’s which you should be able use with either pair of hearing aids and remember they can be connected. If connectrd to each other one can be worn by someone (a speaker or someone else at your table in a restaurant) and the other one can be placed on the table like a Roger Select or Roger Table Mic II. That can be a big help in situations where you are eating with a larger group. So the second Roger can be a big help.
Good Hearing
Ray

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#42

All great observations and suggestions! :slight_smile:

#43

I’d like to send my second hand M90’s in for repair but haven’t figured out how to do that.

#44

Phonak’s quality must be in the tank. My old Phonak’s are now 12 years old and still work.

The pair of Paradise aids I bought a little over a year ago failed. They are back from repair and I’m picking them up on Monday.

The right aid of the loaner pair failed this afternoon.

I will never buy Phonak again.

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#45

What kind of battery, and what was the nature of the failure?

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#46

This is like building a hot rod.
Things are pushed to the limit until they are unreliable or break.

#47

Size 13 zinc battery.

All three failed after extremely shortened battery life. Tried every battery brand available including those supplied by the audiologist. Less than a day battery life. The battery contacts were cleaned by the audiologist. No help.

Physically the Phonak has regressed: small (tiny) control buttons; cumbersome new disk type was guards; tail pieces on the RIC that are very insecure and require replacement frequently.

#48

Do you use a hearing aid dryer?
Some parts of Texas are way humid.

#49

What do you mean? Can’t you drop the aids off with an audi and have them send it in for repair? I don’t think a customer can just put aids in a box and mail it to Repairs @ Phonak. They’d want some official paperwork with the serial numbers on it and return address to a clinic, I’m thinking…

#50

I do use the drying jar for my aids. Same process as with the old aids.

The repairs for my aids were processed through the audiologist that I have used for many years.

Thanks for the suggestions,
v/r
Jeff

#51

Each pair of hearing aids need receivers (one for each aid). Once they have receivers they can pair with any Roger device, even the older Roger Pen 1.1.

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#52

You can get a free spare pair of licences or two if you have IN devices. I have one Roger On IN v2 and have licences across three different sets of hearing aids from the same device purchase.

The device works with whichever pair of aids I have.

If you have standard receivers rather than UPs then they are £20 each from connevans in the UK.

Very easy to swap out, I have a spare receiver for each side at all times as it’s quite easy to break a wire if you pull on them by accident.

Had my KS10 batteries replaced by Phonak under warranty, there and back in 72 hours.

New battery lasts about 18 hours and I stream a lot, Roger, BT with work.

I have a backup pair of P50s which also lasts a good 16-17 hours.

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#53

I had the same issue with one aid (my better ear!) 2 weeks ago. Turns out it was the receiver again. 2nd time it’s happened. Audi said I was pulling the aid out of my ear by the receiver wire instead of the little know that I am supposed to use.

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#54

@1Bluejay
Just seen this thread.
If you haven’t got your aids back yet get your audi to tell Phonak that you have licenses on the old pair.
I lost mine that way.
If they come back empty you can replenish the empty ON in but you will have lost 2 licenses.

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#55

2X8n

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#56

OK, so I have a handy-dandy checklist (like the kind airline pilots use?) that I take with me every time I pick up a pair of aids. And yes, I made sure the recently returned Phonak Lumity Life aids were still working with BOTH of my (redundant) Roger ON iN mics.

I go in to get my other (redundant) pair of backup Lumity Life aids in a week or so, and will make sure they still have the license for both (redundant) Roger ON iN mics.

Here’s my checklist for ANY aid going in for repair that I review before walking out the door:

CHECKLIST BEFORE LEAVING
• make sure aids are paired + connected to BT on cell phone, then make a call
• cycle through all programs and turn aids on/off
• run feedback management
• make sure they’re still paired + connected to (2) Roger mics
• have audi DISCONNECT from Target!

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#57

I’ll drink to that! Make it a double - just for redundancy. I mean … COME ON!

4 Likes
#58

Twice my prior audiologist came running after me after I got in my car to ask me to come back in so he could save the session on his computer!

I like your list! :slightly_smiling_face:

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#59

WOW! So it really does happen! I thought this was a complete one-off on me, but I actually appreciate that others have had the same thing happen.

It was a real Twilight Zone when it happened, cuz I’ve never - in 35 yrs! - left an audi’s with my aids still connected to their computer.

1 Like