So I have had my trax 42’s for just over a year now and about 4 months ago had to have my right one replaced (not working properly) and now today my left one flat out died. I have loved them (other than the Bluetooth consistently dropping) and hate to be without them. But shouldn’t they last longer than this? Anyone else having these longevity issues? I’m concerned about what I am going to do once they are no longer under warranty. Btw, I do not wear them while exercising or working in the yard. I work in a clean indoor environment. I use a dryer every night as suggested by my ha specialist. Any one else having similar issues? Any suggestions?
No problems with mine so far.
Mine are 18 months old, and I haven’t had any problems so far. You might be interested to know that my Costco audi suggested to me that if I send them in for repair just before the 3-year warranty expires, they will then have another year of warranty because the repair is warranted for a year. I never inquired further how this would work if there’s nothing wrong with them at that point.
You can ask your Costco HIS to confirm this. But I believe if you had used the Costco Citi VISA to pay for the HAs then Citi VISA will extend the warranty for 2 extra years after the mfg warranty expires and pay for the repair cost should you need to send them in for repair. If you bought them using the Costco American Express (before they switched over to Citi VISA), American Express gives you 1 year of extended warranty. I have actually submitted a claim to American Express for my HAs repair after my 3 year mfg expired (but still within the 4 year window) and got reimbursed by AmEx for the repair cost.
I had to have a pair replaced that the battery charger burned up after a couple of months ( melted the contacts right off them and cooked the batteries). Before that I had a defective one with a bad chip that had to be replaced. Have had the current ones for about 8 months with no problems. Hoping they last at least 5 years. They fixed my blue tooth by updating the firmware and smart connect. It never drops out anymore. My last Starkey analogs lasted almost 15 years
Out of curiosity, what hardware and software versions are shown from the smart connect application?
Yeah it sounds like I’m going to have to get that citi visa for other things but too late for my ha’s. 15 years would be awesome! At this point I’m really hoping for 5 years. For the smart connect the firmware is 5.0.0 hardware is 2, and software is 2.30.0.411.
Had one go dead…so I dunno. Was given another set, while mine was repair, but once warranty is gone, that won’t happen. Been wondering the same thing.
Yes that is my concern exactly.
How does one read the installed firmware version number?
Open the smart connect app on your phone. Go to the menu in the lower right corner, then choose “version”.
Just to update, received replacement ha for left ear and now the right one (which had already been replaced once) is sounding muted. This is the reason it was replaced a few months ago. I haven’t been able to get in for an appointment, but if things go like they did a few months ago I well be sending this one back also. That will make 3 in 15 months! I’m wondering if Costco will let me try another brand but I doubt it since I’m past the year Mark. I absolutely love them when they are working and find it very hard to be without one while it is getting fixed or replaced. But 3 in 15 months is very discouraging. Any suggestions?
Have you changed the wax guard to see if it is partially clogged?
Whatever the brand, your situation is outlier. Is something in your environment contributing?
Great points KenP. Yes I have changed the filter and dome. And I have wondered the same thing about environment, but I work in doors in a clean environment, and I don’t wear them when I do yard work or exercise. My work does have motion detection activated lights in areas that I frequent and I get that awful static that has been discussed on a different thread. But fortunately I am in and out of those areas and don’t have to be exposed to that for prolonged periods of time. But I am still wondering if that has anything to do with the continued demise of my ha’s. Thank you for your input though!
Costco is pretty liberal… With 3 replacements so far I think you could easily make a case for trying a different brand.
Last week I had the left one that has been previously replaced shut down on it’s own and reboot. When it came back the volume was very low and it was not communicating with the right one. I shut it down for a while and it restarted fine. I wonder if I could be starting to have the same issue that you had. Talked to COSTCO and they said they would send it in for repair if it happens again. I am starting to wonder how long they will last also now.
Time for an update. Warning: this could get quite long, apologies in advance. So at the Costco I have been going to, the HIS I started with had many years of experience and was extremely knowledgeable. Well of course he transferred to a different store further away and the store I have been going to has 2 brand new (just finished their training) HIS. Well in explaining my frustrations and issues to one of them she looked at the notes of the previous repairs and suggested that she send both ha’s and the smart connect back and request brand new, not repaired, aids and see if that helps. When I went to the store to return the devices, that particular HIS was out for a family emergency for the next few weeks, and the one working at the time appeared to me to be skeptical of her plan. But was supposedly going to follow through with that plan. Well when the “new” aids arrived I had my appointment and she already had the old program set up on the aids, had me put them in, made a test phone call using the smart connect, and sent me on my way. The smart connect clearly was not a new one (had scratches on it) and I have no idea if the aids were or not. However, now to the important stuff, I immediately felt like the left aid was not as loud as the right, but have it some time to see if I just needed to adjust. But clearly the volume level was lower in the left aid, so I made an appointment to have an adjustment. Well before I made it into that adjustment the left aid stopped working completely. I tried a new battery, but it was dead dead. I’m very frustrated and sad because they helped me so much when they were working properly. I thought a lot about what doc Jake said and requested that Costco allow me to switch to a different brand although I have had the aids for about 15 months now, and the store manager agreed to do that for me. So now I need some advice on which brand to go with. Like I mentioned, I’m really sad that the trax42 have not lasted because they worked so well for me. So I’m not sure if that makes any difference at all in any recommendations you experts may have, but any suggestions on the brand I should try would be greatly appreciated! Also, I have to say that I am a little nervous working with a fresh out of training HIS after all of the issues I have been through to this point. But anyway, any suggestions would be very very appreciated! Thank you all.
Ole Doc Jake was a real ahole wasn’t he?
I like the phone clip + that Rexton uses. The aid is about like the latest Linx without the remote programming. I have the KS6 which is like the original Linx of 2 generations ago.
The Phone Clip + can be warn around the neck or clipped to a pocket or shirt front. It does have a bit of a flaw with the clip being a bit brittle and prone to breaking but it works very well.
I think the thing to do is to try the Rexton and Phonak aids in a store walk around to see which sounds best. I would try the current Bernafon as it same era as my older KS6.
KenP I had the Rexton Trax 42. They had a circle “medallion” worn around the neck for the Bluetooth. Could you possibly have meant Resound when you were talking about the phone clip and the Linx model?