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  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Parks View Post
    I think I am now a certified old fart
    If you are truly an old fart like me you may qualify for hearing aids under the government hearing program.

    I went to the audiologist with my lnearest Specsavers and bought the next level up from the basic model for $ 395 over the hearing aid subsidy.

    This included 5 year maintenance and free batteries under the hearing aid subsidy, afyer that I will qualify for a new set.

    Professionally tuned to my hearing needs and fantastic service from them, especially mailing out batteries during the covid lockdown last year.

    Peter.

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  3. #17
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    Feb 2015
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    Oz
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    I've had several pairs of the last 20 years, every single set was a pure and utter waste. All they do is amplify the background noise. I won't be getting any more, total waste of time.

    My latest hearing aid is my wife, someone says something, I turn to her and say 'what did they say' and my wife shouts the answer in my ear. Easy as.

  4. #18
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    Mar 2010
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    US
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    The situation is the same in the states -generally an out of pocket expense.

    The franchises that sell hearing aids are loaded with mouths to feed all along the line (franchise fees for the franchisee to repay, capitalization requirements, money going back upstream to the company who sold the franchise, employees, etc.). What you end up with is a $250 device that comes from china sold for $8k US if you're spotted as someone who will pay.

    Thanks to the magic of the internet, you can read the grumbles of some of the miracle ear franchises here in the states - it sounds like an MLM scheme without the attracting new buyers (as in, the business owners are relying on the company to come up with new ways to get more money out of people, and the company according to some of the commenters is trying to extract the most money from they buyers and they're both trying to push the price up and then fight over who gets to keep what part).

    I'm sure the company doesn't appreciate the franchisees posting their thoughts.

    I don't need a hearing aid at this point, but my dad could use one. He trusts people, so if they tell him that a device is super advanced and costs $10k, I'm sure he'll just buy it. They nail him at the eye dr. every time with $800 glasses that show up in a week (almost certainly just being ground in china and sold through the eye dr).

    There are now semi fitted versions of the same thing being sold direct to consumers here for $300-$700 (the hearing aids). One would guess that the tiered price offerings marked up a zillion times as mentioned above will continue as long as older folks trust advice, but the direct to consumer examples will take a bigger and bigger bite as that distribution method gets more advanced.

    As far as costco and sams, they're cheaper than the franchise stores here, but it's still a profit center for them, so they're not that cheap (half to 2/3rds of franchise store type setups and more honest and less of a dog and pony show trying to create perceived value without actual value).

    The one thing standing in the way of consumers getting more direct access is lobbying here at the state level, putting barriers in place under the assumption that "people may not be safe if they don't go through certified channels". The same thing leaves us with the need to buy a car at a dealership rather than direct, which increases the cost of doing business and guarantees exclusivity to the market to the dealers who pay lobbyists who remind legislators that individuals don't give much in political contributions vs. business associations.

  5. #19
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    Oz
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    I've been getting new aids every couple of years for the last 20 years, don't bother anymore, they're all rubbish, all they do is amplify all the background noises which drive you mad. I just rely on the wife now, she sees the confused look on my face and shouts in my ear whatever has been said. When watching TV, it's just a never ending barrage of questions from me to the wife 'what did they say?'.

  6. #20
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    May 2010
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    Not far enough away from Melbourne
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    I am going through this hearing aid thing right now.

    I am on a DVA pension which means that I am covered for the basic model of hearing aid. If I need anything other than the basic model then DVA pay the cost of the basic model and I pay the rest.

    I had the initial appointment about a month ago. I had an appointment with this Audiologist about three years ago and they called me up to advise that I was due for a new test. The Audiologist told me even before she did the hearing test that the basic aids would probably not help me and I would probably need to spend a few thousand to get something that works for me. No surprise that the hearing test confirmed that this would probably be the case.

    While I have some difficulty hearing people now in a noisy environment I know that my hearing isn't really that bad so I told her I would like to take the basic ones for a test drive. I could probably afford to fork over a few thousand if it was necessary but I would rather have a new Nova Voyager Drill Press.

    A few days later my hearing aids arrived and she fitted them and told me how to work them. She told me the only user accessible option was turning them on and off - by opening the battery compartment. She allegedly tuned them to match my hearing loss ranges and sent me out into the world for a two week trial after telling me the bit about wearing them always to get the best results as my brain adapted to the new inputs.

    Well I found out about the new inputs alright. I could hear pigeons crapping on the roof, cats farting up the other end of the street, but people's voices were not any louder or clearer than before, and now they were muffled out by the roar of all the defecating animals within my square kilometre, not to mention all the other noise clutter. I was better off without the hearing aids.

    I went back after my two weeks trial and told the audiologist how it went. She made some adjustments to the "matching" to my hearing loss. then she showed me the volume controls that she neglected to mention on the previous visit. They were a bit better but still not as good as my naked ears.

    It is my belief that she could match them better to my hearing loss and make them work but if she did that then I would not want to buy a more expensive pair. All she has been doing the whole time is trying to convince me that I need something more than the basic model. I suspected that there would be some sort of financial gain for the business if she succeeded in doing this and Aldav's comments here seem to confirm that this is the case. Thanks Aldav.

    That they aggressively called me up for a test and were pushing the more expensive product even before testing my hearing and withholding information on the devices definitely leaves me feeling that they are more interested in their bottom line than mine.

    My next appointment is tomorrow morning and I intend to walk in with the hearing aids in the accessory bag, not in my ears because I gave up on them nearly a week ago. She can have them back. I might make an appointment at the local Hearing Australia Centre in a few months.
    I got sick of sitting around doing nothing - so I took up meditation.

  7. #21
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    Jun 2003
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    Sunbury, Vic
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    Quote Originally Posted by doug3030 View Post
    I am going through this hearing aid thing right now.

    I suspected that there would be some sort of financial gain for the business if she succeeded in doing this and Aldav's comments here seem to confirm that this is the case. Thanks Aldav.

    I might make an appointment at the local Hearing Australia Centre in a few months.
    While no where as bad as the private groups, be aware that Hearing Australia also have a profit motive even though they are a Govt organisation. This started when their structure and name was changed from Australian Hearing Services.

    The best test I had was at the Eye and Ear Hospital after an ear infection a couple of years ago. Professionally done and the results clearly showed that my hearing was close to perfect for my age.
    Tom

    "It's good enough" is low aim

  8. #22
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    Feb 2006
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    Perth
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    Quote Originally Posted by doug3030 View Post
    . . . .It is my belief that she could match them better to my hearing loss and make them work but if she did that then I would not want to buy a more expensive pair. All she has been doing the whole time is trying to convince me that I need something more than the basic model. I suspected that there would be some sort of financial gain for the business if she succeeded in doing this and Aldav's comments here seem to confirm that this is the case. Thanks Aldav.
    Sounds like the sleep apnea test I had done by a private clinic. The sleep technician that set me up for the test was reasonably clear and explained things well enough. BUT when I went back I did not speak to the same person, or a doctor, the person that I spoke to was a "dolly bird" saleswoman and all she could say was I should be reported to the police for driving while tired and that I needed a breathing machine. I walked out saying I will consult with my doctor.

    A few months later I showed the results of the test to a Canadian friend of ours (who is an internationally renowned sleep specialist) and was visiting us. She agreed, the test was not even worth the $50 I paid to have it and that a much more detailed test was needed. Anyway I gave the whole thing a miss. A few moths later I found I out my excess tiredness was most likely caused by my Sarcoidosis and other meds that gets me up every two hours to pee and no sleep machine is going to get around that.

  9. #23
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    Jan 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by sacc51 View Post
    When watching TV, it's just a never ending barrage of questions from me to the wife 'what did they say?'.
    I struggle with some accents on the TV and end up turning on the Closed Captions and read, saves annoying SWMBO.

  10. #24
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    May 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by doug3030 View Post
    My next appointment is tomorrow morning and I intend to walk in with the hearing aids in the accessory bag, not in my ears because I gave up on them nearly a week ago. She can have them back. I might make an appointment at the local Hearing Australia Centre in a few months.
    I walked in this morning and didn't even sit down in her office. I put the accessories bag with the hearing aids in it on the table and told her that they aren't working for me and I did not want to take this any further. It would have been clear from my body language that my decision was final.

    First thing she said was that if I went to another hearing aid provider it was possible that their basic model might be different and I might get better results from them. Now why would she say that?
    I got sick of sitting around doing nothing - so I took up meditation.

  11. #25
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    Jun 2009
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    Quote Originally Posted by apple8 View Post
    I struggle with some accents on the TV and end up turning on the Closed Captions and read, saves annoying SWMBO.
    So do I. Also have occasional difficulty understanding young people who speak at 100 mph in a language which I assume might be English but it's hard to tell.

    I had an audio test about seven years ago and was told that I'd lost hearing in the upper register which explained why female voices proved difficult. I fact a mate asked me "How do you get something like that?!" Apparently it was over exposure to gunfire as a young man.

    Anyhoo, a mate put me onto an Australian company who sold me a pair of hearing aids for about $3500. They offer the ability to connect them to the computer for self adjustment. You can then repeat the online hearing test to see if your adjustments were an improvement...or not.

    I don't need them all the time but they're great in situations where you know will prove difficult.

    The best part of hearing aids is when I ask SWMBO to speak up. When she suggests I "put the hearing aids in" and I can say, "I already do". A rare victory.

    mick

    p.s. Why do some quietly spoken people find it difficult if not impossible to turn up the volume?

  12. #26
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    Jun 2009
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    SE Queensland
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    Quote Originally Posted by Glider View Post

    p.s. Why do some quietly spoken people find it difficult if not impossible to turn up the volume?
    Years ago we had a ridiculously-quietly-spoken neighbour. I noticed at gatherings everyone had to lean in and give him their undivided attention while he was speaking. I stopped playing and just stared into space when he spoke. Dunno if that bothered his ego. Don't care!

  13. #27
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    Feb 2015
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    Oz
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    My hearing loss is mostly to do with understanding what people are saying, mostly it sounds like everyone is mumbling. I do have to turn the TV up so I can hear it, funnily enough a Doctor I was seeing 10 odd years ago picked up that I was reading lips. So, reading lips, hand gestures and picking up the odd word I never really considered it a problem. I put my hearing loss down to my 25 years in the RAAF, guns, aircraft and 20/30 odd dogs all barking at the same time in an enclosed kennel environment.

    Despite vowing never to get another pair of hearing aids, I made an appointment with the hearing specialist the other week. All I wanted was a pair of headphones for listening to the TV, but she talked me into getting a new set of hearing aids. The last set I got, were binned the day after I got them, not expecting these new ones to be any better.
    If you want a set that actually work, I think you have to be on the same level of income as as Twiggy Forrest.

  14. #28
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    I'm trying to hang out for an industrial deafness claim but I know I am starting to annoy more people when I can't hear what they say the first time.
    CHRIS

  15. #29
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    Jun 2009
    Location
    SE Queensland
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    163

    Unhappy

    Before you reluctantly decide, or get bullied into investigating buying hearing aids, review the medications you are taking. Several are known to cause hearing loss.

    After noticing a decline in the quality of my hearing coincided with my starting a particular blood pressure medication, I typed ' Drug-induced hearing loss' into Google and pages of information came up.

    A known side effect of the one I am taking is nasal and ear passage congestion. If I hold my nose and blow, causing my ears to pop, I can hear clearly for a brief time till they close up again. This is not recommended as you can do serious damage, but sometimes it's the only way for me to understand what's being said.

    The problem is not the volume. It's the clarity.

    I am reluctant to change the medication as some I had been prescribed earlier had much worse side effects. I'll put up with the fluctuating hearing for now while I wait for news of a 'miracle' medication that's been proved effective, without serious side effects.....would hate to invest in hearing aids only to discover there is little or no improvement.

  16. #30
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    High blood pressure is often caused by Sleep Apnea, mine returned to normal after I finally admitted I had to seek treatment for it.
    CHRIS

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