Saving Money Buying Hearing Aids

jem16

I plan to. I would also like to find out if there are better aids that would suit my job. Hopefully the audiologist will be rather better than the receptionist who wasn't that nice.

jim83

jem16 wrote: »

Would love any help on this please. Where would be good to go if I wanted to go down the private route?

There's a bit of a price war going on between Specsavers and David Ormerod (often found at larger Boots stores). With DO lowering their pricing and producing their own value range to compete with Specsavers entry into the market.

The key when dealing with both of these is to stick to the "own brand" stuff as it is exactly the same as the manufacturer branded products, only a lot cheaper.

DO are owned in part by Phonak (manufacturer) so their Digital Value range is using them as a supplier. Specsavers have a deal with Siemens, Starkey and Phonak to provide instruments for their Advance range. These represent excellent value for money if you compare to the prices of the same instruments with the brand name written on them.

These are not the only two options, but as far as I'm aware they are the only two with published price lists. Other places to consider are Hidden Hearing (owned by the same group that manufactures Oticon aids), Amplivox/Ultratone (trading under various names) and Scrivens (also trading under various names such as The Hearing Company). There are also plenty of smaller companies, independents and I think even Matalan have a hearing aid section in some stores now.

The same applies to any large purchase, but the absolutely critical thing to do is to shop around. With the introduction of Specsavers as a value player onto the market and the ensuing credit crunch, hearing aid dispensers are desperate for sales and will almost always drop their quotes to beat a competitor's price. Also, be aware that many hearing aid audiologists are trained salesmen who can resort to lying about the quality of service, etc. at other places in order to secure a sale (I have witnessed such things first hand whilst mystery shopping).

Also, ask about the following things as they can seriously affect the cost in the long term:
a) warranty period (standard is at least 2 years.)
b) repair charge outside of this period (this varies wildly - some firms inflate the prices to make it seem more economically viable to purchase a whole new aid)
c) cost of repeat tests, aftercare, reprogramming, etc. (this should be free)
d) expected longevity of the recommended instruments.


Also definitely definitely take advantage of the 30 day money back guarantee period you will get with any privately dispensed hearing aid. Think of it as a trial period. You have not committed to the purchase until after that point.

jim83

Siemens Prisma 2 is a basic digital aid and still standard issue in many PCTs. A lot of my business is generated due to people simply not being able to get on with these.

Nothing against Siemens as a manufacturer, though. This is just old technology - some of their latest instruments are fantastic.

jem16

jim83 wrote: »

Siemens Prisma 2 is a basic digital aid and still standard issue in many PCTs. A lot of my business is generated due to people simply not being able to get on with these.

Nothing against Siemens as a manufacturer, though. This is just old technology - some of their latest instruments are fantastic.

I thought as much.

I am hoping that they may be able to offer me something more up-to-date and I will pursue this first.

Thank you for the information on where to look privately.

Is there any manufacturer that you would recommend or are they all much the same? When comparing models what is the most important feature to look for, especially in my situation? Is it number of channels?

Savvy_Sue

I know this is a bit of hearsay, but at my lipreading class last year the teacher said that she had heard nothing good from those who had used Hidden Hearing.

Also, if you're still with your original tubes, they do just degenerate over time, so it could be that. And if your mould gets blocked with ear wax, that stops it working quite effectively too. It can be blocked but not visibly so, IME.

What annoyed me about the tubes is that my clinic advertises a basic hearing aid maintenance class, teaching you to change your own tubes. I've asked to be put down for it on every single visit for the last 3 years, and NEVER heard any more.

Although it's no longer an issue now I've got my open fit mould: they change the whole thing!

Although I'm just wondering how long the tubes on them are supposed to last, and whether it's time to go and ask for a new one ...

jim83

jem16 wrote: »

I thought as much.

I am hoping that they may be able to offer me something more up-to-date and I will pursue this first.

Thank you for the information on where to look privately.

Is there any manufacturer that you would recommend or are they all much the same? When comparing models what is the most important feature to look for, especially in my situation? Is it number of channels?

There is no single manufacurer that rises above the pack, really. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses. I can't really say what would be suitable for you personally, as this is something one tends to gleen from a consultation about usage, the cause/type of the hearing loss, hearing thresholds, shape/size of the ear, etc.

Number of channels provides a reasonable indication of how good an instrument is, but it is not definitive. For example, the mid-range Phonak Valeo (now discontinued) with 15 channels does not hold a candle to the top-of-the-range Starkey Destiny 1600 with 12 channels. Anything less than 6-8 channels and things start to get tricky, though.

Speaking purely in generalities, of the handful of teachers I have fitted hearing aids to, they have generally needed to go for higher end products because of the difficulties in hearing in a classroom. In one-to-one situations within noisy speech babble, directional microphones can make all the difference. And as well as that, it is the effectiveness of the automatic noise reduction.

Recently it has been purely the quality of the noise reduction that dictates the price. Unfortunately, this means it is difficult to quantify, particularly between manufacturers. Almost every aid has some form of noise reduction nowadays and it's all just a sea of brand names and trademarks, with nothing to provide direct comparisons. You are at the mercy of the audiologist's recommendation I'm afraid.

If you have a name of anything you have been recommended or quoted for, I will happily tell you objectively how it compares to other things and roughly what you can expect to pay. But it would be unprofessional to definitively state what you need without having met you

jim83

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I know this is a bit of hearsay, but at my lipreading class last year the teacher said that she had heard nothing good from those who had used Hidden Hearing.

In the interests of providing comparison and not wanting to show any vested interest, I just gave a list of the major companies. Suffice it to say, some have better reputation than others

I don't want to show any bias, but I do actually work for one of the companies mentioned and when it boils down to it I am simply a salesman on commission. I'd rather be taken seriously than with suspicion, so have opted not to focus on any single supplier.

Personally, if I was buying anything of high value, I'd be wary of any company that wouldn't tell me how much something costs without me being shut in a room with them as a captive audience... some hearing aid companies operate in this manner.

jem16

jim83 wrote: »

If you have a name of anything you have been recommended or quoted for, I will happily tell you objectively how it compares to other things and roughly what you can expect to pay. But it would be unprofessional to definitively state what you need without having met you

At the moment I have only been to one company, Specsavers, as I am going to the NHS appointment before going any further. The audiologist recommended either receiver in the ear or completely in the canal as best suited for my hearing loss.

As to particular aid she said that I should go for the best I could afford! On pushing her further she said I should be at least considering the aids from £1195 up (per pair). As she knew I was intending seeing the NHS it seemed unfaid to take any more of her time at this stage. Looking at the leaflet I would probably say that the Advance 510/520 aid would be the most likely costwise for me. At a push the Advance 620/630 range if there really were much better. I have to say my main reluctance to spend more is because I have found the one I have to be pretty useless.

I have looked at other websites such as Affordable Hearing but their prices are for each aid rather than two so a decent paid would cost me about £2500.

David Ormerod at Boots would probably be my next port of call after the NHS.

I don't want to show any bias, but I do actually work for one of the companies mentioned and when it boils down to it I am simply a salesman on commission. I'd rather be taken seriously than with suspicion, so have opted not to focus on any single supplier.

I appreciate your honesty.

Personally, if I was buying anything of high value, I'd be wary of any company that wouldn't tell me how much something costs without me being shut in a room with them as a captive audience... some hearing aid companies operate in this manner.

I'd rather see the upfront prices too.

jim83

To highlight what I was saying about sticking to "own brand", it's worth noting that the Specsavers Advance 520 and 620 you have mentioned are effectively the Starkey Destiny 1200 and Destiny 1600. (you can confirm this by looking at the specifications.) They are being sold cheaper than the standard wholesale price + vat that most independent stores have to pay.

You will find that the Specsavers Advance products ending in 30 will be pretty much the same as the instruments in the David Ormerod Digital Value range. So it's definitely worth seeing what the audiologist there has to say about them.

Errata

Jem, I've just had a thought. Phonak make an infra red wirefree mike/ receiver. It's a little larger than a fountain pen and you lay it on your desk or in your hand and point it at whoever's speaking and it gets transmitted straight into your hearing aid(s) through a small boot that clips onto the end of them. Cuts out all the background noise and I found mine invaluable when I was working and chairing large meetings in large rooms. Bit difficult to describe, but info is on the Phonak website - just google. HTH