Online Hearing Aids

[qwertz1]

Hello all,

I am new to this community and I have been looking around the internet for pricing on Hearing Aids. My wife tells me that I have needed hearing aids for quite some time now I was wondering if anyone had had experience with http://www.aidright.com. Their prices seem to be lower than Hearingplanet.com. Another good website is http://www.ahearingaid.com. Does anyone else know of any other websites where I can look at prices of hearing aids or have any experience with these internet companies?

Thank you!

[BluSu]

Personally, I would be afraid of buying HA online as there is so much adjusting and you need to be able to talk face to face with whomever you buy from. Also, I am trying an open ear (BTE) Rexton Revera and it will cost me $1895.00; I checked one of your links and they list it at $1899.00. Really no savings and, as I said, I would be very careful of buying online. I buy other merchandise online and have only had a couple of bad experiences, however, your health and hearing are something that you do not need even one bad experience. I would check around with my local specialist's, gather literature, ask prices and keep going to one that will let you try HA with money back guarantee until I found something that I could live with for now. I have tried four HA that did not work for me and now trying the Rexton and thinking that it might be OK. The Rexton is on the low end of the others that I have tried as I tried one that cost me $3000.00 and it was not for me, so I returned it. Just my humble opinion as I know that some people go the online route.

[ed121]

One unique on line (Internet) company, is AmericaHears.com. The are a small mfg in Pennsylvania. Have a superb reputation. They sell top of the line aids for $800 to $1200 each. 100% satisfaction 60 day 100% refund. Program tweaks via fast DHL/FedX or instantly over Internet. For those comfortable with computers you can self tweak with supplied program and interface box. Try em you have nothing to lose.

Also check Costco. They have several top brands at heavily discounted prices. Salaried licensed fitters on hand to set and adjust the aids.

Also Genesis.com has a good reputation.

For rock bottom prices, check bidbybid.com. They will initially set the aid to your audiogram....but after that you must find a local pro to tweak them. Aids are priced at less than 50% of what an Audiologist would charge....but you get no hand holding either. 15 day 100% refund.

Personally, I would rather buy from these discount guys than the chain hearing aid stores with their predatory salesmen.

FYI I have no connection with any of these guys. I am just a very experienced user with a acoustic and electronics background. Ed

[ZCT]

Originally Posted by ed121

Personally, I would rather buy from these discount guys than the chain hearing aid stores with their predatory salesmen.

I really have to take exception to this kind of nonsense. If you work as a hearing professional in the USA and act like a 'predatory salesman' you will be struck off very quickly. This means that you are committing a criminal act by fitting a patient with hearing aids. You could be arrested for that kind of thing.

I've met some hearing professionals who suck, but then I've met some medical doctors that suck. I assure you, none of the large chains are going to put up with someone breaking ethical guidelines for too long, because it is not worth it for the liability issues and the fact that they could get in trouble with the licensing board.

I don't know what your beef is with the industry, but I don't know quite why you keep coming on here to tell everyone to buy some cheap crap online, and never seek the opinion of a licensed, qualified hearing professional.

I can only assume you had a bad experience, but this doesn't mean that everyone is out to get you. And in life you usually get what you pay for. Hearing aids are no exception to this rule.

[ed121]

ZCT: If you have any connection financial or otherwise with the hearing aid business, please be so kind as to let your readers know this....so they may judge if you have any bias.

I have no connection whatsoever with the HA business. I have had 35 years experience using aids sold to me by 6 or 7 Audiologists. All of them were competent, with a sincere desire to help my hearing. I would say that I have not had any bad experience with them....though one Aud D sold me aids improperly adjusted that almost blew my head off. Other than that, I have great respect for them.

Having read the posts on other hearing aid (HA) forums, I have concluded that the licensed salesmen/dispensers at some of the national HA chain stores are predatory....taking advantage of the typical uninformed hard of hearing. I am given to understand that these licensed salesmen/dispensers are not salaried but operate on a commission basis. That they receive more money if they sell the expensive item. If taking advantage of the mostly elderly hard of hearing (hoh) is not predatory what is?

In general, selling hearing aids is a business that wraps itself in the mantle of the medical profession. Anyone that sells an item retail for profit is in business. Just because a dispenser of aids has a license does not mean they are holy....pure....or for sure professional. These people have to eat, educate their kids, make house payments, pay the office rent.

I am sure you are aware that prior to 1977 (the year the FDA declared hearing aids a Medical Device/prosthesis), it was considered unethical for a licensed Audiologist to sell hearing aids. Only after the states were lobbied to pass restrictive regulations was it profitable for them to sell aids. Now virtually all HA professionals sell aids at retail for profit. Painting them as purely professionals is not accurate. Maybe the guys and gals at the University Clinics can claim this holy than thou stuff....but not the average audiologist or licensed dispenser. That doesn't mean they are bad people...it just means that a hard of hearing person should recognize that they are putting their trust in the hands of a business person....not a saint.

just my opinion, Ed

[ZCT]

“ZCT: If you have any connection financial or otherwise with the hearing aid business, please be so kind as to let your readers know this....so they may judge if you have any bias.”

- If you click on my handle it states quite clearly in my public profile for this forum what I do for a living, when I became qualified, and even what I like to do when I am not at work. I don’t feel that I need to reiterate this information as a preface to every post. You on the other hand have just appeared on this board eleven days ago, have posted no public profile about yourself, and have made a string of inflammatory, and often ill-informed comments about the hearing aid industry.

“I have no connection whatsoever with the HA business. I have had 35 years experience using aids sold to me by 6 or 7 Audiologists. All of them were competent, with a sincere desire to help my hearing. I would say that I have not had any bad experience with them....though one Aud D sold me aids improperly adjusted that almost blew my head off. Other than that, I have great respect for them.”

- So on that basis why do you keep attacking professionals calling them predatory and stating that their services and products are grossly overpriced?

“Having read the posts on other hearing aid (HA) forums, I have concluded that the licensed salesmen/dispensers at some of the national HA chain stores are predatory...”

- For a man who keeps claiming to be ‘scientific’ in approach, it is remarkable how easily and often you jump to such extreme conclusions without any real basis in fact. Have you any idea what percentage of hearing aid users actually visit Internet forums to post their opinion? And of that percentage, how many do you think are motivated because they feel they have been ripped off? I’d say it is far more likely that someone is going to post on a forum because they are mad, than happy.

When I meet a patient for the first consultation, I am with them for two hours. In the past 12 months I can think of only two who admitted to doing any real research online. So it’s certainly not a high percentage of my patients. Maybe you have some statistics for us to back up your claims?

“taking advantage of the typical uninformed hard of hearing.”

- Frankly, if people choose to remain uninformed that is really their problem. Because I accept that such predatory salespeople exist in the industry. In fact it is hard to find an industry that doesn’t have a bad apple in it. But this is all the more reason for people to inform themselves. Most professionals, including myself, would have no problem with more informed patients.

“I am given to understand that these licensed salesmen/dispensers are not salaried but operate on a commission basis.”

- The way that corporations choose to operate themselves, doesn’t make the staff evil. But using logic like this you could tarnish almost any medical or semi-medical profession. A dentist will make a lot more money if he convinces teen’s parents to have the teen fitted with braces in borderline cases. A doctor will make more money generally if he sees more patients, and encourages a patient to visit more often than necessary.

This is America, capitalism rules. This doesn’t make it right, but it doesn’t make hard working professionals wrong, predatory, greedy or unprofessional.

“That they receive more money if they sell the expensive item.”

- In most things in life, you get what you pay for. Certainly in the lineup of hearing aids my company offers there is a direct correlation between price and capability. So in fact it is true in 90% of my patient’s cases that the more they pay, the better they will hear. Hearing better is why they came to see me. If I encourage them to buy cheaply, I am in essence doing them a disservice. That said, just this week I encouraged a patient to select one above the cheapest digital hearing we build. I informed them that beyond that level, based on their loss and lifestyle they were unlikely to tell the difference.

“If taking advantage of the mostly elderly hard of hearing (hoh) is not predatory what is?”

- Of course taking advantage of the elderly hard of hearing is predatory and wrong. Those who do this in an unethical manner risk losing their license temporarily or forever.

“In general, selling hearing aids is a business that wraps itself in the mantle of the medical profession. Anyone that sells an item retail for profit is in business.”

- Well then you’ve just included all doctors, nurses, and medical personal in America in this umbrella then. Because in the entire medical profession a service or product is offered, for a price. In America this price is often not even known or understood up front. The service is given, a bill is over inflated and sent out, the insurance company refuses to pay for as much as they can, and the balance is dumped in the patient’s lap. If they cannot pay or they refuse to pay, the debt is turned over to a collections agency that will harass the patient until they get paid. This debt will be recorded on the patient’s credit for years, which will lower their credit score, and therefore increase the cost of all their borrowing, and often insurance costs. Thus this medical debt can cost the patient thousands of dollars over the years. As I’m sure you are aware medical debt is the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in the US.

At least in my profession, all my consultations are free and without obligation, and if a product or service is offered, it comes with a 30 day money back guarantee, no hidden costs, and a fixed and agreed cost up front. This is more than can be said for 80% of the medical industry.

So I ask you again, why your beef with this industry?

“Just because a dispenser of aids has a license does not mean they are holy....pure....or for sure professional. These people have to eat, educate their kids, make house payments, pay the office rent.”

- And each and every one of them know that once false move and they may lose their license along with the very manner that they pay the above mentioned bills. Only an idiot would take that risk with ethics.

Do idiots exist? Of course they do. Should a buyer beware? Absolutely. Should you be slamming an entire industry and the professionals working in it simply because you have seen some disgruntled people complaining in Internet forums? No.

[ed121]

ZCT: Well said.

I think what gets me so down on this HA industry is the fact that the majority of people who need aids in the USA....about 21 million people....80% of the hoh....do not own aids. These are human beings suffering in some degree of isolation mostly because they can't afford the remedy.

Now that tells me something is wrong with the system as a whole.

Perhaps, I don't have my gun aimed at the right culprits. But something is wrong with a set-up that ends up with the cost of a vital necessity being priced way above what comparable electronic items sell for. Even if you add in the cost of servicing the price is still out of line with comparable technical services available in the USA. $4,600 to $6,000 for a pair of miniature amplifiers even with service is, in my opinion, way out of line..

And again, the system kills innovation of simple low cost self-adjusting aids, when such an item is possible with today's technology. While such aids will not be the perfect 100% answer for every type of loss......even a 50% improvement would help millions return to society.

FYI: Personally, I can afford any aid. In fact I literally have a drawer full of aids I have used over the years... Right now I have three high end aids that I have purchased and am testing. I have at home a full set of audio test gear, including a dedicated PC and HiPro. Ed

[ZCT]

Just to comment on one of the issues raised here, please consider this:

If you actually take a look at the bottom line profit of a typical hearing aid company, it's not really out of line with any other business.

Similarly if you take a look at a typical hearing aid practice like mine, take the gross profit, and then take a look at the bottom line, we are not making hand over fist as you might expect. We are frugal, I have only one assistant for two offices. I earn a good living, but certainly nothing earth shattering.

If the prices we charged were really so out of line, I think I'd be making a lot more money and so would the owners of the business. But I've seen the figures, and the bottom line is no greater than I would expect for an optician, dentist, chiropractor or any other professional service type of business.

As to the take up of hearing aids in America. Cost may not be the only factor. Remember that no one WANTS to wear a hearing aid unless they have to. The last statistic I read was that a typical patient waits seven years from the onset of a hearing loss before they get tested with a view to buying aids.

And finally, as I have already stated, the American health care system is sick and is in great need of reform. If you want to get annoyed, take a look at the movie Sicko.

[Beth]

Hi,

Just wanted to throw in my two cents here. I'm sure there are plenty of hearing health professionals where profit comes before the best interest of the patient, but then there are the others who really do care and make life with a hearing loss just a little bit easier for us. I grew up with a hearing loss and the Audiologist that I had for 25 years, (from when I was ten years old until last year) went above and beyond for me. He squeezed me in when he didn't have any appointments, went in on his days off if I wasn't able to get to him, my best interest (and all of his other patients) was his top priority, that was clearly obvious. Growing up with a hearing loss can prove to be a very challenging time, yet his positive influence on me helped me immensly. (He moved and will be retiring soon, so I had to find a new audiologist, but he warned me to be careful of those who only have profit in mind).

From reading through all of the posts on these boards, ZCT, you seem like one of the ones who really does care about the best interest of your patients, so good for you. You're probably making more of a difference than you even know.

Beth

[ZCT]

Originally Posted by Beth

From reading through all of the posts on these boards, ZCT, you seem like one of the ones who really does care about the best interest of your patients, so good for you. You're probably making more of a difference than you even know.

Beth

Thank you, I appreciate your comment.