Hi, I am considering buying aids from PUB Hearing.
They are amazingly cheap compared to the same aids through an audiologist.
I am a seasoned wearer of hearing aids and really want to program my own this time.
Does anyone else have any experience with PUB Hearing?
Regards Benny
No. You realise that the prices quoted are for one hearing instrument only? And absolutely no audiology services included? I did get that you want to program your own.
Iāve just looked at the Aus website, the prices listed are for 1 hearing aid, not 2 if Iām reading this correct. If I was to buy a pair Iām still looking at $5K a pair. While thatās a tad cheaper but not a lot cheaper.
Personally Iād be very wary of buying online and only to find they are only talking about 1 hearing aid not a pair.
Good luck.
Doesnāt sound exceptionally cheap- these guys are on sale for around 2.233 Aus$ in neighboring France- fitting included. And perhaps they reimburse the 21% VAT. Maybe worth a trip?
You would need a prescription so factor in a fee to an audiologist - maybe 100 euros. You also get unlimited fitting and 4 years guarantee. Of course, French residents get a refund from the SĆ©cu (social security) and also from their insurance which almost everyone has in France. My French friends are amazed that I paid Ā£4000 for my spheres. Although I do have a free set of aids (Nathos Novas) from the NHS here in the UK. But wearing them compared to the spheres feels like my ears are partly blocked.
When I hopped across the border to France for my Phonaks the French never asked for a prescription.
However I needed that to be reimbursed by the Swiss at home.
Interesting. I was merely translating what the ad says. My hearing loss was first detected when I lived in France. My doctor referred me to an audiologist who conducted a hearing test. He then gave me a prescription to be taken to any hearing aid retailer. This still the system in France as far as I know.
To buy two fitted in Australia is $8200 to buy two unfitted from PUB hearing is $5000, I wouldnt call $3200 a 'Tad" Sure you still need to get them fitted.
Specsavers were selling them around the 6k mark. Hearingsavers about the same with audiologist fitting.
Australia has Costco, too.
Thatās what youāre paying the legitimate local source for though: the cost of putting a bricks and mortar shop there, a receptionist to help you and the audiologist being on hand to provide a level of service. Itās like judging the functional cost of your lawyer based on the price of paper.
And every visit for an adjustment, something has broken, to get it serviced as the aids wonāt work. Itās going to cost money. By the end of your warranty the $$$ will have mounted up.
Also consider that you will only have 1 year international warranty rather than the 3-4 Australian warranty. If your aids fail under warranty youāll have to post them back to Ireland (presumably tracked). Most aud clinics wonāt touch them due to the risk of any mishap during postage.
This is what I have seen Phonak Infinio Sphere Audeo I90-R hearing aid - Discounted at HEARING SAVERS
I think Iām missing something here. I was looking at Phonak Infinio Audeo I90-R hearing aid - Discounted at HEARING SAVERS
Edit: Found out what I was missing. The āSphereā. Apologies.
That 3 kUSD offer still looks a lot more expensive than the 1.295 Euro I cited above for France (incl. fitting) unless we are comparing a pair of Spheres with a single HAā¦
Not quite true, local manufacturers will honour the warranty no need to ship them back, thank god for DIY!
Iād need a bit more convincing than that honestly. I donāt think thereās anything in Australian consumer law that would make them do it. They might do it out of good will. Good will might apply if you had to move from Ireland to Australia for work reasons. Would it apply if you were the smartarse who undercut their actual customers (the local audiologists) by buying from a cheap supplier in another country? Thereās a $5000 investment riding on the outcome of that question.
Na mate, Iāve done it a number of times, you donāt actually think their gonna ask for proof for why you need anything done do you? The reason they call this a āinternationalā warranty is just that, doesnāt matter where you are in the world, honestly they donāt care about this, out of warranty you just pay the standard rates for whatever needs doing, again Iāve done it many times, thereās nothing āsmartarseā about saving thousands of dollars by buying elsewhere, the manufacturers donāt give a hoot about the ālocalā clinic, they let Costco sell and basically destroy the local clinic who canāt possibly compete!
Actually no, most firms will not accept goods of unknown origin here (in the U.K.). You only have āconsumer rightsā in a premises when you have actually purchased the goods there irrespective of brand. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 specifically states that (for the purchase of goods) the contract of sale exists between the vendor and the (first) purchaser. All rights therein are derived from that contract.
You canāt just buy a JVC Tv from Amazon and rock up to a local Currys to get it fixed under warranty, even if it has a 5year international warranty. If a local distributor decides to assist you here, theyāre either doing it out of a sense of charity, charging you for it or seeing you as a potential future sale.