#112

For me the number 1 turn off is the sleazy used car tactics. Or the choice of only 1 aid mfg

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#113

For me the biggest headache is the fact that here in the UK we have three possible sources of hearing aids – the NHS (free at the point of use), the high street chains such as Boots and Specsavers (expensive, but I might be able to afford them), and the very posh independent private audiologists (extremely expensive).

I only have experience of the NHS. I’m so grateful to have the NHS, but I still struggle with my hearing. Some people have said they’ve had better results when they went private. Should I try going private? And if so, should I try one of the high street chains, or one of the expensive posh places? On the other hand, some people have said they prefer the NHS hearing aids. Should I stick with the NHS? I’m not an audiologist, so I don’t have the expertise to know whether it’s worth the cost of going private or not. And I don’t have thousands of pounds to spend just to find out.

I find the whole thing confusing and stressful.

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#114

It MIGHT be worthwhile, but no way to tell until you explore more. I’d try to find somebody that will give you the most time to try the aids with as much refund as possible if you’re not happy with them.

#115

While i know cost and expense of aids is a huge issue. But I also know from my experience in the electronics and software industries that research and development is a huge cost that any corporate or company takes on. Also we as humans and marketing pressures force corporations and companies to produce new items faster and faster. I also know from experience that rushing a product to market leads to mistakes, and mistakes can cost a company its business and go bankrupt. I also know that i am in a unique place because due to my military service and the fact my hearing loss is military service related that i am no paying for my aids out of my retirement for myself, but i am for my wife and it is very expensive. I am also some that use to be very up on all of the break throughs in the industry but no more.
For me my only hope is to understand what people are saying to me. And anymore my best hope for that is a one on one conversation and a very quiet environment.
But i have a question for you what do you want a break through in finding a true help for your hearing loss or just a device that maybe will get you by.
My 20 years of wearing aids has presented my with a huge improvement in aids with the key as of the moment being bluetooth connectivity.
If we press to hard for cheap aids and cheap services we are going to be the losers in the long run.

#116

Unless you have the knowledge to identify which audiologists know what they are doing, you should stick with the NHS IMO. The quality of audiologists at big and small “chain” outlets varies. I used to use a local (to me) chain opticians (had 3 stores IIRC) that also provided HA services. The audis would come in to the optician’s shop one day a week. I found the audis changed quite frequently - I saw three different ones in the couple of years I was using them. The first was quite good, the other two were pretty poor and had very little knowledge about how to set up hearing aids. I’ve used two private, independent audis, one was fantastic, the other was not very good for me. I struggled to hear with my expensive hearing aids.

I have done a LOT of research and have finally found a decent audi near me who really knows their stuff. But I have must have talked to at least another 10 who were not good enough for my requirements.

I have not used the NHS but my father-in-law has. He had profound hearing loss and I used to take him to the NHS for his HA appointments. I was quite impressed with their service, the audiologists seemed quite knowledgeable and were quite helpful. The HAs he had were slightly older generation than you would get privately but still quite functional.

Based on my experience in the UK over the last 15 years I would say going private is very risky unless you know what you are looking for. But then I am quite a demanding customer with specific needs, I’m sure you won’t be quite as demanding as me.

#117

Do you have a Costco anywhere around you? They use best practices and their prices are fair.
It sure might be worth the drive.

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#118

FYI there are 7 locations in the UK - check here: Costco UK I’ve never tried them myself…

#119

Thanks, but there’s no Costco near me. And, like a lot of people here, I don’t drive and don’t have a car. So Costco is probably not a practical option.

#120

Thanks. I had the same thought you did about it being risky.

You said you did research to find a good audiologist. What sort of research did you do? How did you go about it? I’m not sure how to go about it apart from the obvious things like looking at the websites of various audiologists.

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#121

Risky how?

Get a test, get a trial on agreed terms and make an informed decision.

All hearing aid dispensing is regulated by the HCPC. You will also find that decent hearing aid audiologists are part of BSHAA who also provide guarantees of service and mediation. It’s a properly regulated industry and heavily weighted towards the customer being satisfied with their purchase.

Why not dip your toes in and actually try some products?: all the ‘research’ in the World goes out the window if you’re considering the wrong factors in your hearing aid or audiologist choices.

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#122

Because if you don’t have the knowledge to make an informed decision, you will be guided towards a purchase that may not be the best option. Also, very few hearing aid dispensers let you try all different brands of HA and very few have knowledge of all brands. I am finding that unless you can do back to back trials of several different aids (I’m doing three, maybe four), you aren’t making an informed decision. You are making a very expensive choice based on very limited info.

If I’m getting my aids free on the NHS I’ll accept some compromises. If I’m spending £3K plus I want to be sure I have explored every option available to me and got the best aids for my needs. And yes, I have been let down in the past.

#123

You’ve already said in the other Thread that you have in fact demoed several aids.

So you’re now of the opinion that the Intent is the preferred choice: I can’t quite see how you’ve been ‘steered’ based on someone else’s choices when it’s your actual opinion that brand X is working better for you.

#124

Then do what i have done over my 20 years wearing aids, research and more research. Talk to as many different audiologists as possible, read all of the marketing spec with a vision of reading between the lines, read all of the personal reviews the same way, take everything with a grain of salt. When choosing an audiologist talk to the patients who use that audiologist and really listen to the ones with about the same hearing loss issues as you have. Don’t just throw up your hands and give up. I am 76 years old we aren’t to old to still learn.

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#125

No, I’m talking about my past experiences. I have found a superb audiologist who is working with me to identify what will suit me best. I am only part way through my trials, at the moment the Oticons are doing ok but there are some issues with them. But it took me a lot of effort to find this audiologist, and I was getting depressed about having to change my hearing aids because (until I found this audiologist) I had no confidence that I would be able to get a good solution for my £3K plus spend.

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#126

I wear Oticon aids and love them, my wife has just finally found that. believe it or not Miracle Ear aids are working best for her mild to moderate high frequency loss. She tried every other hearing aid brand and couldn’t stand them. We are all different and have to realize that and not pay too much attention to what others say.

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#127

Try the Bernafons too :wink::sunglasses:

#128

The first thing I did was to watch videos on Dr Cliff’s site and the videos by Matthew Allsop on the Hearing Tracker site to educate myself about the current available brands and models and to get a sense of what the latest technology levels are. This was great. For example, I found out about Widex hearing aids, which are highly respected by musicians (the mmusic capabilities of hearing aids are very important to me). I had never heard of Widex, and no audiologist had ever mentioned Widex to me as a possible choice, despite me saying how important music is to me.

Armed with this knowledge, I decided I wanted to have a choice of various HAs, I was focusing on Widex, ReSound and Oticon (but also wanted to know about Starkey and others). That ruled out all the high street chains for me, because they have a very restricted range available. I then found hearingaid.org.uk, an online outlet that offers fitting at home through a network of audioloigists. They offer most brands at good prices. However, I rang them and spoke to them to find out who their local audiologists to me were. There were three, I rang them all and found they only fitted Phonak and Oticon, so no chance to try Widex, ReSound or anything else.

I then investigated all the local small chains and independents. I looked at their websites and spoke to several. I checked their background and what aids they fitted. I also asked a few key questions, for example if I go for ReSound, should I wait until the Nexia platform is rolled out in Europe (at the time I was doing this, Nexias were available in the US but not Europe). Only one audiologist was able to answer my questions, and could also talk to me about the technology available in every brand and the pros/cons of every brand. This audi also has a degree in sound engineering and acoustics, so understands my needs as a musician and music producer and I am confident in his ability to do custom programming for me.

So after 15 years of wearing hearing aids I finally feel like I am in control of the process. I realise I am a very demanding customer, but for the money I am spending I feel I have every right to be.

3 Likes
Hearing aid advertising is barely legal
#129

Dear User1186,
Your post is from last fall but I just saw it. I understand your point. I’ve been partially deaf from my teens onward. Years ago, as I am an older person now, an audi asked if I was retired. I said “No, I am founder and CEO of a biotech startup I am running.” She was surprised. Another time my friend, who is a PhD statistician, was attending a solid organ transplant conference where I met her for lunch. The doctors attending the conference were also eating in the food court. They were fine with us signing ASL to each other until she pulled out her scientific data on algorithms for lung transplant allocation and it was clear we were reviewing data in ASL. Then the odd stares began from the nearby tables. It was funny and sad at the same time. The community on this forum is very diverse, but it’s easy to assume most folks are like the majority. The diversity of our community is a strength, glad you spoke up to educate us.

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#130

The amount of marketing BS out there spewed by HA manufacturers and venders. It is EXTREMELY difficult to find the information you need to make an informed decision.

For example, reviews for Jabra HAs are good. So I bought one yesterday. Nice features and works pretty well, UNTIL you start using Bluetooth. Then it is abysmal.

Or take the new Oticon intent. Their webpage is full of almost nothing but marketing hype. It’s very difficult to find FACTS! What is worse is it looks like the Bluetooth is years old with virtually no new fixes. Lots of complaint posts in the forum.

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#131

What do you mean by that? Intents have one of the newest BT certifications at 5.4. In fact, I’m quite sure they’re the only one at the moment.