So…my spouse insisted that I needed to have a second pair of hearing aids to back up the Phonak Slims that are sometime in my future (whenever Phonak can get its QA results up to standards - I heard that the main issue is in reconfiguring the battery size/shape for the new shape).
Now, my Audeo P70s were a cosmetic and mechanical shell of their former glory. I had dropped one in the first year, succumbing to Covid mask whip-off before I learned my lesson. A half hour of car tires later, the left shell would never be the same. Then, over the course of time, recharging became a hit or miss issue - no more green or yellow lights, just red. Often, one or the other or both wouldn’t light up to show it was getting a charge. Very frustrating. Broke a receiver lead and learned how the shell sides are attached through trial and error. That lead would forever fall out (yay Superglue). All in all, very uninspiring to use the aids.
My new audiologist quoted $700 to send them in for a refurb. Only the promise of new shells convinced me to open the wallet. And now the point of all this…
What I got back for my investment was a pair of BRAND NEW hearing aids! I know this because they are physically more compact. I haven’t researched whether later gens of the Audeo P70s were smaller, but my Phonak app still lists them as P70s. They also do things that the originals never did - like switching response in different environments with the AutoSense feature (maybe they have the 5.0 version vs. the 4.0 of the originals). The addition of a brand new charging case and a new consistent operation of my Phonak TV sound cube makes me believe the thought that these are, in fact, new HAs. My audiologist even programmed them for me.
So it kind of begs the question - if I can get something brand new (with even some consulting time included) for $700, why does the same thing run around $4 - $5K normally?
Your thoughts?