Well, now that I’ve slogged through this entire 12 page (so far) thread, I’ve come to some conclusions. Some of my thoughts I couldn’t resist posting earlier. I noticed that forum member seb realized that in the post I commented on, he had (in post #49) acknowledged that he might have worded somethings incorrectly. In any case here’s my general observations:
- This forum is or was dominated by "audis" trying by intimidation, fear, name-calling to make the case that buying inexpensive hearing aids from hiHI is a bad idea. Some even stated that on the hiHI web site they didn't even call them "hearing aids." I wasn't aware of hiHI until mid 2013 so I can't comment on what was back in 2012, but they clearly use "hearing aids" at present.
- There have been a few comments made directly by persons presenting themselves as representing hiHI. Score a point for transparency.
- Only near the end of this thread did someone (elijahlovejoy?) issue a call for those representing the status quo; i.e. pre 2011-12 to identify themselves as audis/HA dispensers. Only when we know if someone has a vested interest one way or the other, can we make decisions base on solid information.
- Name calling and finger-pointing should have no place in a forum that purportedly exists to help folks who need assistance with hearing issues. You know who you are.
- There were a number of comments about other "low cost" hearing aids. The only program I had ever heard of was from a friend who purchased two used hearing aids (Think about it: hearing aid use is predominently older folks who have a tendency to die. What is done with all those multi $thousand$ hearing aids. I suspect that it is NOT in the interest of the old school interests to "harvest" used hearing aids to be retrofitted to new users.
- I am a satisfied hiHI hearing aid user. I purchased two BTE w/telecoil. I'm not sure that the telecoil is helping me since most of the time I use my phone on speaker, or bluetooth speaker in the car. However, the additional cost was minimal, even for me a notorious cheapskate.
- When I lost one of my HA recently, I contacted hiHI and was informed that I was eligible to buy a replacement at the same cost as original. Turned out to be unnecessary as I fount the missing device a few days ago. It gave me a chance to try using only one device for a few weeks. I definitely prefer having HA for both ears.
kbrowne in Central Massachusetts. One of these days I may see if I can visit one of UHC’s audis if there’s one nearby.