I had purchased starkey hearing aids approximately 2 years ago and had to send in both hearing aids a total of 8 times to get the microphone and reciever fixed. They would both power down with out warning and simply just die on me. I would get it fixed but only to be let down again. It’s disruptive to my life as I depend on them for work and for personal reasons (I’m 30 years old with a 3 year old daughter). I’ve worn hearing aids for 28 years and never had problems like this in my entire life. I do have to add that they are digital and it’s the first time I’ve ever gone digital and needless to say I am not impressed. Has anyone else gone through this?? The last time I got my hearing aids replaced, I got a whole new sound board (they said it’s like getting a new hearing aid) only to have it die on me not even a week later. I was so upset that I literally broke down and cried (this was on christmas eve). I convinced my hearing aid provider to replace my hearing aids completely with a brand I’ve had before and I am in the process of trying them out…
No, it’s not just you.
OTOH, I’ve got many people out there who have worn them for years without a hitch.
It’s not a function of them being digital, reliability of digital circuits equals or exceeds that of the old analogue ones.
If your confidence has been damaged to this extent, get a different brand, as you’re unlikely ever to be fully confident in your Starkeys again. At the end of the day you want to be wearing a product you can rely on.
Mics and recs don’t just die for no reason,especially 8 times.
The biggest reason for rec damage is wax or moisture damage.
Mics are subject to moisture damage as well, especially persperation.
You said you’ve been wearing HAs for several yrs without this problem and that it only began with your new aids. Did you change styles? For example, did you go from a bte to an ITE? If so, that might explain the problem.
Sounds like a remake is necessary with regards to mic and rec placement.
Plus, does your aid have a wax guard? It should.
If its a BTE it should have some sort of moisture guard.
Plus an electric de humidifier.
Remember,mics and recs just don’t die without a good reason. Find out why and fix the cause, not the symptom.
I’ve had ITE hearing aids for the last 12 years. Went through 2 and they both lasted me 5 years each with no problems and then went to the starkey’s and had nothing but problems with them and it wasn’t due to moisture or wax. I was told by my provider that they had many problems with starkey’s with other customers as well and that I wasn’t the only one. I have been trying to find out why they kept breaking down on me because I take good care of my hearing aids because they are my life but no one could give me a good concrete answer. I was so beyond frustrated that I demanded a different brand of hearing aid and got the one’s that I had before the starkey’s and they seem to be working well so far (still in the trial stage).
About to purchase Starkey S series iQ9 HA. Any suggestions. You can e-mail me at r.g.hartman@verizon.net thanks grant
Grant,
Those are good hearing aids. However, without knowing your pure tone thresholds and speech discrimination scores it is difficult to tell if they are the right aids for you or not. There are a lot of brands/models out there. Knowing which is right for you is a decision you and your audiologist should make together. Make sure you feel comfortable with your hearing professional. Ultimatly your hearing aid success depends on their knowledge and ability to program that specific product, as well as your commitment to communicate problems you have with the device and to wear the aids on a regular basis.
After paying almost $5000, and within two weeks, my aids started “shuffling” thru the four programs.
As part of the sales pitch I had been told that Starkey had proven that these aids would perform after being soaked in water.
Well, this was within my 30 day return period and I stupidly thought that the period would resume after I got the aids back from Starkey. “Just a problem with the nano-coating” I was told.
Anyway, I got screwed out of being able to return these as the 30 day period expired.
I have returned 5 pair. Each time they fail it is when I have perspired a lot. And I guess once they fail, they are kaput!
As for the dying problem, I had this too. Just ask your eye person to give you several packs of the wax guards. I have to replace them frequently.
I would ask the audi how the trial can continue when you don’t have the HA and if he doesn’t have a good enough answer go see a lawyer and have him write a letter on his legal stationary and see how they handle it. At the very least they should of extended your trial out to 60 days.
I’m just gonna add my two cents here about the Starkey wi’s RIC I’ve been trialing for about a month now. Just a couple of days ago I started having this problem. In changing the memory settings from one to the other (I only have two set up), they have now spontaneously made their own intermediate setting which either buzzes or mutes the aids. This happens whether I use the remote or change settings via touching the aid.
The trial period stops when you don’t have the hearing aids. You don’t lose any of your time if the are at the lab. However they do not start back to day 1.
The professional can setup where a long press on a button mutes the aids. Since you have buzzing, perhaps they are getting into telecoil mode.
I have worn aids (CIC & ITC) for over 10 years, first Siemens & then Widex. The Siemens aid was returned once to get the pull cord replaced & the casing gave up after 3 years. I did not have any issues with the Widex aids.
Last June, I got Micro Tech branded Starkey S Series iQ 11 CIC aids. Both aids needed to be returned twice each for receivers / microphones.
A couple of weeks ago, I was able to exchange those aids for Micro Tech branded Starkey Wi Series i110 RIC13 aids. Now, the left aid has poor battery contact & sometimes does not respond to the wireless remote.
Apparently I need to send the left aid to Starkey for replacement. According to my professional, he needs to send the flakey aid to them before it can be replaced. I am glad my Widex aids have not (yet) died completely.
People get hearing aids because they need them. Being without the new expensive aids is an extreme inconvenience. There is no other dealer within 50 miles of me.
:eek: