Neat idea for a poll. It would be interesting, too, if folks updated their posts to indicate brand/model and relative scale in model line.
I got ReSound Quattro’s 9 61’s (rechargeable) through TruHearing.com, ReSound’s premium model
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Cost to me $2,600 (after insurance and paying $175 more for the charger as a “required accessory(!).” So $4,600 total cost, including $2K insurance.
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Perceived value, >= $2,600 paid, with disclaimers below.
I rate the user value of just about any premium hearing aid as excellent but when you can get a top-of-the-line iPhone or Android phone for $1,000 or so, one does wish, audiology services aside, that the HA hardware would cost less as, unfortunately, probably due to economies of scale and development/manufacturing setup costs that have to be paid off, HA’s are relatively overpriced compared to the tech that we get and take for granted in our smartphones and our other computing devices. Most other devices we don’t buy with a big upfront fee, 3 years of service included “free,” or whatever. Perhaps the bundling is necessary so that people who need very few follow-up visits can effectively help cover the costs of people who need or like many follow-up visits to get things just the way they want their HA’s to be. Thus, I like the TruHearing model, whereas if you need a bunch of follow-up visits beyond the included three follow-ups, you pay for them one-by-one as needed (given a $65/visit estimate but my audi usually charges closer to $45/15 minute visit). And if you don’t need the follow-ups, you’re not paying a lot in advance for service you’ll never use. I could have a lot of follow-up visits before I reached the premium retail price of ReSound Quattro’s.
Since I can get by reasonably well without my HA’s with decent low-frequency hearing that undoubtedly affects my perception of how much value my HA’s, lovely though they are, add to my life.