@tenkan I have one more question, please!
What if the hearing aid bought from another country needs to be fixed at some point? What are my options then?
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Yes it’s something you need to consider but I wouldn’t worry too much about it, I’ve had a few repairs over the years from my local outfits, most of the time it’s an out of warranty repair, I’ve also had repairs under warranty, another thing if you get them cheap enough and you get a unserviceable one you can simply throw it away and just buy another ( I’ve done this myself on an older pair that wasn’t worth the cost or repair)
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Is the warranty provided with the aids on ebay?
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Not sure, I think the warranty is Ebay buyer’s warranty, meaning if the item isn’t as described then you might be entitled for Ebay money back guarantee.
For the hearing aids warranty, that’s depend on the HA, if they are within the warranty period, then you could repair them under warranty, but you will need to find a Phonak distributor where you are, who can send them to Phonak for repair.
Better check if the HA are still under warranty, before you buy.
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Buy in USA and you can check the serial numbers in target to confirm before buying, but if you get them super cheap like win an auction it wouldn’t matter too much.
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Many of ebay sellers are hearing centers and offer programming. They sell new, open box or used. I have purchased my last three sets from ebay and saved tons of money. I first did a trial of the same model downloading the setting to my target program so I had a good start. Learning programming can be a challenge.
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So the hearing aids could be programmed as well before shipping?
I was thinking of doing it myself but I’m not confident about that as I’m not a tech savvy.
I think I will go with buying hearing aids from Egypt, as there are a lot of issues I’m not certain about.
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My husband wore a single hearing aid for a long time and it was very expensive. He lost it one day on our property and refused to get another because of the cost. I went on EBay and found an audiologist in India, and they had the same hearing aid that was used at a very good price. They were very professional, asked to see his audiogram, and were prepared to program the new aid for me. I felt comfortable buying from them and they had a refund policy. It varies quite a lot–some people sell used aids they know nothing about, or belonged to a relative–so you need to do some research. And in my case, my husband refused to go to a regular dispenser, so this was all I could think to do at the time. However, this audiologist in India looked at my husband’s audiogram and asked why he was only wearing one aid and why that ear? He said if he was only going to wear a single aid, it should be the other ear for various reasons. I was really surprised, and found out that my husband had independently picked what he felt was his “worst” ear, and that his approach to his hearing loss was uniquely his own…other than the test he never really spoke to anyone about what he was doing. I ultimately did not buy from this company, because I insisted that my husband buy two aids and he chose a different manufacturer which was locally supported. SO, this company actually helped a lot. They were not trying to make me buy something that would not have worked well. And I am going to look at buying a backup set of aids for my husband and will go on EBay to do this.
I am also going to learn the programming software for our aids since we don’t have good local resources. To be honest, I bet you can learn how to do that yourself. I was intimidated by the idea and assumed that only sound engineers or industry pros could possibly master it. Then I watched some tutorials and thought, huh. I can probably do that. I would not want to try to earn a living doing so, but I am confident I can at least learn how to manage our individual needs.
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Unfortunately, there is nothing cheap enough to throw it away and buy another one. At least, not in my case where I don’t have a job and a stable income. I have to think twice before making this decision.
Thank you!
Not the ones I found!
This is my main concern!
Thank you for sharing your experience with your husband!
Yes, this is exactly how I feel about it! I have never changed\ updated anything related to devices by myself.
I think I can learn how to program it but I would need some guidance and direct supervision to make sure I don’t mess up with the aids.
Yes sure I understand, sorry your right in this case, it’s pretty hard with no access to work to help pay for things, I can only hope that your fortunes change in the near future.
I did come across a local website (which you may have already seen) but thought it’s worth mentioning.
https://www.dubizzle.com.eg/en/business-industrial-agriculture/medical-equipment/q-سماعات-سماعات/
You’ve come to the right place, honestly if you can use a PC and have used any windows software you’ll be able to program your own hearing aids, there’s lots of guides (including some video) plus plenty of us doing DIY projects to help you along.
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Thank you!
Any turorials or videos will be helpful and will give me an idea what I can or can’t do.
It would also be great to have a guide through this process.
First you need to know what system programs your HA. I have Phonak so I use the target software. I watched programmers very carefully how they connect and then begin the process. I then downloaded step by step instructions from target, Audiologyonline.com offers courses on target programming I watch free, cost $ only if you want CEU credits and some YouTube videos are helpful
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Thank you!
I’m considering Phonak M 70 BTE.
Will I need any extra tools\ devices during the setup\ programming apart from my laptop and hearing aids?
Yes. I currently have Phonak M90’s and use Noahlink wireless purchased new on ebay for $130 us. I believe you could go with a hipro with wires but I am not familiar with that unit.
I think for both your hearing needs and also support needs (ie DIY) that Phonak is your best bet. Widely sold around the world, and there is a good knowledge base as other people have pointed out. Take the time to read everything you can–you do not have to assimilate everything at once, but just getting a feeling for the process will help. When I first watched tutorials on programming software I did not understand even basic terminology, so I just made notes and afterwards I looked them up and it was honestly pretty clear. Plus, there are always “assisted” modes and you can always start over. After I had figured out some of the nomenclature I watched the video again and it really started to make sense. I truly thought this would be out of my grasp–I am pretty computer literate but I am a high level user–but really, it is not. In fact, I actually look forward to having some control. I saw comments about how a lot of aids are handed over to people with little more than default settings, which could explain why a lot of people are unhappy with HA choices of one kind or another. I suspect this is true of my husband’s aids and I know it is true of mine.
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Any brands for DIY is no problem, target is not the easiest to navigate tho, do not limit yourself to one brand, get your HAs first, you don’t want to base your next set of HAs on how you like the software!
As you’ve seen there’s plenty of us doing DIY projects to help you along, anything you want/need just ask here, lots of great people to help out, here’s the DIY forum on hearingtracker
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Yeah you don’t want this old stuff, I wouldn’t recommend this at all, as you mentioned the Noahlink wireless programming device is the way to go, because it’s the industry standard you can use it in just about every brand just plug and play.
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