When regular Platinums were created they were fantastic.
16 bands,I believe. 12 channels. Something like that.
They were once fit from 2500-3000 per device.
If you are truly getting a Platinum for 895 (even the original first Platinum), you are in for a quite a treat! Especially for 895!!!
I don’t understand how they can fit a Platinum (any of them) for 895, to be honest. Keep us updated on this.
I think you are subtly giving me good advice.
Well that was once true, but shortly after these aids were launched, they introduced the Virtue 2 and the Virtue 16.
The former was the new low end budget aid, and the latter became top of the line, pushing the 12 down to second best.
Once they have paid off the R&D bill, and have been making them for a long time, they can afford to offer them for a lot less.
It’s kind of like Apple. You can now get an iPad 2 for $399, or an iPhone 3GS for nothing.
Or computers. When I bought my last laptop it was $1700. I just sold it for $250.
When something is state of the art, just invented, the hottest thing on the market, using the latest and most expensive chips, you pay a premium for that. And a few years later it’s a lot less.
I remember buying a desktop computer for $2500 in the year 2000. Now I could pick up a computer for $400 that would make my old desktop look like a relic from a museum.
In technology terms, the once impressive Destiny/Virtue is a dinosaur. Although that said, the feedback management system would still put some hearing aids of today to shame.
I’m a Starkey/Audibel fitter. I agree with what you are saying… but my cost to buy an outdated Platinum would make it impossible to fit an aid like that at the price he was saying.
What ever happened with this? I’m still wondering.
Well remember some dealers may have a volume discount/rebate, some may have agreed to buy X number of units for a special price etc.
This is true. We get volume discounts also at times… I guess the original poster forgot about this thread. I was hoping to get the scoop!
Ever wonder why manufacturers in almost every field give their retail dealers additional discounts for quantity purchases?
From a consumer perspective this could have negative effects with the sellers pushing the items they get at a lower cost.\
All that type of merchandising is OK in the general consumer retailing industies. But is it OK in an industry where the consumer is totally dependent on the purveyor for advice and recommendation?
On the other hand hearing aid professionals must provide their patients with a satisfactory outcome or the patient will return the aids for a refund. What do you think? Ed
What do you think? Ed
I think that you think too much.
This obsession of yours with some imaginary hearing aid supplier Mafia is not healthy.
We are talking about HEARING AIDS - not 9/11 or North Korea or JFK or UFOs.
From a consumer perspective this could have negative effects with the sellers pushing the items they get at a lower cost.
Or maybe the dispenser gets a lower price on a product he/she WANTS to fit because it work well and so is prepared to buy in quantity?
On the other hand hearing aid professionals must provide their patients with a satisfactory outcome or the patient will return the aids for a refund.
Bingo! That’s how the capitalist world works. And it DOES work - even in the world of hearing aids.
Hey Guys…
Sorry for not responding to this thread, I haven’t been on the forum for a while. Anyway…“now the rest of the story”.
For those that don’t want to read to the end of this post…YES, IT WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
I went for my hearing test and yes I do need hearing aids. After the audi completed the test she started her sales pitch. She recommended the “Audibel Range Platinum” for my hearing problem. Price…$2,500 per aid. I asked what aid was priced at $895, she said it was a “Start 5”. She didn’t have a “Start 5” nor even a picture of it. As she described the “Start 5” it was one of the older large clunky “in the ear” models.
I asked her what their top of the line model was at 80% off. She said it was the “Audibel Range Platinum”. Based on that, the regular retail price would be $25,000 per pair. I laughed at her and said I didn’t believe they sold many at that price. I told her that when I made the appointment I was told the Range Platinums were the $895 aid. She said the person answering the phone was mistaken and she would correct them.
The audi then said she had her masters degree and is close to having her doctors degree. She said she hates the deception part of the business. I really felt sorry for her. I truly believe she wants to help people and is forced to lie and deceive.
By the way, I then went to Sam’s. The audi “Robin” also tested me. I believe she was more through than the first audi. She explained the aids she thought I needed and explained why. With Sam’s 90 day return policy I decided to give they a try. I am now wearing a $3,000 pair of Liberty aids.
I went back to Robin after a week and explained a couple of concerns. She made some adjustments. I believe…and so does the wife…that these aids have made a big difference in my hearing. TV not as loud, not as many huhs, and I understand what is being said.
Based on my experience at Sam’s I think the hearing aid business may want to change it’s business model. I am totally convinced the audi makes the difference. Those audi’s that want to help people instead of 'selling used cars" will migrate over to the Sams and Costcos.
I feel the same way. Good audiologists and HIS rock!
“Based on my experience at Sam’s I think the hearing aid business may want to change it’s business model. I am totally convinced the audi makes the difference. Those audi’s that want to help people instead of 'selling used cars” will migrate over to the Sams and Costcos. "
Rough…I’m very happy that you found a good audi at Sam’s and have a hearing aid
solution that fits your loss and life style; I also hope that over a three or four year
period of time this choice proves to be a good one; those of us who pay more thru
private offices in large measure are also paying for a good audi AND future services,
warranty/loss/damage protections, batteries, and audi availability for 3 to 4 years AND
are hoping also that we made the right choice…I hope we both win!!
Hey English: I don’t believe in a conspiracy. What we consumers see is a device that is vastly overpriced and narrowly dispensed.
Normal competition is not possible either at manufacturing nor retailing because of the Medical ethos and government restrictions of the hearing aid business.
No, I don’t believe it’s possible for this industry to provide a truly open competative environment as long as aids are thought of by consumers, dispensers, and the larger country governments as medical devices.
What I do believe is that for the vast majority of deaf, an aid is simply a small audio amplifier sound conditioner not a medical prothesis. And that the retail structure is a hangover from the early days of dispensing. Aids, from the ground up, are designed to be fitted by a trained specialist. With today’s technology they don’t have to be that way.
You do know that prior to 1977 in the USA, for example, aids were freely sold on the open market. ( the abuses were rife, howerver for reasons not due to the nature of the product, but due to the lack of consumer sophistication and absence of goverment consumer remedial services at that time.)
Ed
“What we consumers see is a device that is vastly overpriced and narrowly dispensed.”
Really I’m not taking sides here on this issue as hearing loss and/or potential neurological issues can be related…one can make a compelling case for continued
medical regulations that keep prices high and access low as you state but you would have to agree there are scores of examples(mostly medically related) where the consumer
is not benefiting from increased competition; Lipitor being one great example before
patent protection was removed; uninsured people needing Lipitor were/are looking at
$$$ for the med per year; not unlike hearing aids that few have insurance for; IMHO,
I just don’t believe technology has so evolved that for the masses we can self-serve in
an unregulated environment…this may change overtime but if the big companies
lose the ability to recoup R&D costs there will be no improvement in hearing
instruments in the future…this I know…
Scuba: Turn Sony,Panasonic, Samsung, and the other Asian Tigers loose from customary practices and goverment regs and you would have aids wholesaling for under $200. I bought some aids from a small Asian factory for about $125 US. They were middling…not too bad. Suitable for mild losses.
Aids are almost all made in Europe by highly skilled workers paid European wages with many benefits in clean factories. I know I’ve been there. You would be surprised at how they manipulate the tiny parts one by one. I have also been to Asian electronics factories where high speed assembly takes place…no comparison.
In the past few years I know one large Asian company tried unsuccessfully to crack the American hearing aid market. By law they could only sell to licensed professional dispensers…who almost 100% turned them down. The product was good yet the pro’s wouldn’t touch them. Don’t blame them…they instinctly knew that they represented the foot in the door toward mass marketing. Just my opinion, Ed
I see that you have much more experience than myself who is two weeks into this endeavor. I feel the my audi at Sams will probably still be at Sams in the future…I didn’t get the same impresssion from the private practice audi. One thing I do like about Sams is we travel a lot, and I can go to any Sams to get things taken care of if I have a problem.
Sams offers loss/damage protection as well as a three year extended warranty. I found I could get a rider on my home owners insurance for about half of the Sams price with $0 deductable. I will wait until my year is almost up before I do the extended warranty. What has your experience been with the extended warranty?
The audi at Sams will take care of any future adjustments as well as cleaning and replacing the plastic tips on my aids. I have found the battery supplier on this site has good prices on batteries. I just replaced my first batteries…they went 11 days. I hope this is typical.
Thanks for your comments. As long as a person can walk away from a deal not feeling he was scammed, both the seller and customer can have a win-win.
If you happen to are going to go to the Audibel incident, go in with know-how on their HA line and their costs accrued from the internet. Just google Audibel hearing aid expenses and I’m sure you will come up with someone posting the prices. You can also go to Costco if you happen to are near one; they offer a 90 day proceedings and get back insurance policy coverage. lastly, if you happen to are taking pictures guns i’m hoping you are using hearing aegis.
Ed, the $200 wholesale price for instruments has already been documented in these forums, this is what Englands socialized medicine pays for some instruments. Yes, to get the absolute lowest cost everything would be done overseas. In the case of a hearing instrument, I would be surprised if the total labor time to assemble and test is 15 minutes. So if your burden rate is $100/hour (US/EU) vs $20 (China), it is still a small impact. I’m sure you’re aware that we have auto place machines in the US?? 
Panasonic - Matsushita Corp. are already in the market.
I really don’t know where you saw this, but it doesn’t apply to the majority of BTE/RIC production or the face-plate sub assembly of ITE. A couple of manufacturers may still do some work on this basis.