Hearing aid brand affiliated vs independent clinics

@Cat5, reading through this thread, I think you are looking at this from the wrong angle. $3000 from your friend is more than enough for hearing aids from Costco. They sell aids for $2200 CAD in Canada and you will get top of the line products. A basic Costco membership is $65.

$3000 likely won’t be enough for hearing aids from any other place.

So your problem is not finding hearing aids within your budget, your problem is transportation to and from Costco!

With that in mind, rather than looking for charitable organizations that would provide hearing aids, maybe you can look for charities that provide seniors with transportation for medical appointments. I imagine this might be easier. Maybe HandyDART is an option?

HandyDART

Learn about our shared-ride service for passengers with physical or cognitive disabilities who are unable to use conventional public transit without assistance.

I live in Vancouver and when I realized I needed hearing aids about 2 years ago, I also made an appointment with HearingLife first. They were the closest to where I live. By the time of the appointment I had already learned that Costco would be a much better choice, but I still went ahead with their free trial.

They didn’t even do REM testing, and as a result the hearing aids sounded much worse than they should have. But I didn’t know that then, because I had nothing to compare it to.

My subsequent experience at Costco was so much better. They did REM testing and the aids sounded much much better. They offer a 3 year warranty and free adjustment services.

At HearingLife, top of the line hearing aids would have been around $8000 CAD for Oticon aids (Oticon owns HearingLife), or close to $10,000 CAD for Phonak aids. If I remember correctly entry level models started at $4000 or $5000.

Very well put @wtolkien just what @Cat5 needed.

I appreciate the effort to find a solution for me, and the positive review of Costco. All those solutions have been investigated in recent years for other reasons than hearing aids. But I considered Costco for aids, and talked with the manager of the seniors’ residence where I live for her impartial view. It would take too much tedious detail to explain why that store wouldn’t work as well for me as it might for others. I contacted the clinic at the one Richmond store up on Bridgeport (where I’ve never been in 50 years here) and was told, among other details, that to use their service I would need the Executive membership at $130 + tax. The person I spoke to may have been wrong, but I have no way of knowing.

HandyDart was investigated long ago, and repeated over the years to see if it has changed, and is also not suitable for my needs for a lot of reasons, one example being that most of the times I need transportation are vet visits with a senior diabetic cat with arthritis and hip dysplasia; HandyDart doesn’t allow animals other than guide dogs, even if the cat is in a carrier. My residence offers free van service to the locations (the nearest mall and the medical-dental building next to RGH) where the HearingLife and Amplifon clinics are.

There used to be volunteer drivers for seniors, but that is currently on hold in Richmond in spite of still being advertised on charity websites. The charities can’t get enough local volunteers and the insurance for them has skyrocketed beyond what they can afford. When I had cataract surgery twice in 2023, I had to use taxis, with a kind neighbour riding with me to satisfy the rule about a taxi driver not being allowed as the required companion, to get in to Vancouver to Mt St Joseph’s hospital. (Richmond General doesn’t do cataract surgery; you have to go to a centralized outpatient clinic). Richmond Taxi has two vehicles that can take my chair. I just have to book them well ahead of time, but the base fare before the trip in that vehicle starts is higher than with a car-type cab, before the mileage is added.

I only need the most basic type of aids for my preferred very quiet lifestyle, not the premium level. In theory, with my local HearingLife clinic’s current sale and the 10% CARP discount, it should be possible to come in just a shade under $3,000, if I’m firm about resisting a sales pitch for higher grade ones. Whether my theory holds will be seen at my appointment on Nov 5. I’ve also now booked an appointment at Amplifon for Nov 7. If the HL technician gives me a quote that is over the $3,000 (and says that just one, for my “phone ear”, won’t work), I’ll get her to put it in writing on the pretext of sending that to the person who will actually be paying “to see if they can reconsider”, but really to show it to the Amplifon technician and ask if she can do better.

If that doesn’t work, then we’ll see. Telus’ assisted service for the phone plus lessons in lip reading may turn out to be the answer instead of aids. But thanks for the suggestions. I do appreciate the interest in trying to help!

@Cat5, fair enough, you are making some good points. If nothing else, maybe you can use the (empty-) threat of going to Costco to get HearingLife to give you a good deal below $3000. Be prepared that they might want to make you pay extra for the hearing aid charger. It’s included at Costco.

I also recommend you push them to do REM testing on the very first appointment when they fit you with their hearing aids. Depending on your ear geometry, it can make a huge difference and it is definitely considered best practise. Costco does it.

Thanks for asking. I ended up going with HearingLife, for location convenience at first and then because I liked the place and the staff on my first visit. There happened to be an extra-discount offer at the time, so with my 10% discount as a member of CARP as well, I got a pair of Oticon miniRITE R aids at the same price as Costco were offering and less than they would have been at Amplifon. I’ve had them for a week now, and will be going back for adjustments next week. Too much extra noise right now – jangling keys, ticking clocks, etc – so at home I wear just one on the left where I usually use phones, but I’ll get used to it. They do help a lot with language comprehension over the phone. With people speaking in accents other than my own, I still sometimes have to ask them to repeat themselves, but only once, which is a big improvement. All in all, pleased with my choice of clinic and product, and I appreciated the opinions and advice I got here.

I’m glad it worked out for you! Hopefully you will get fully used to them over time!

Hey Cat5! I know it’s been a while since you started this thread, but I thought I’d chime in anyway. Our business, Trusted Hearing Consultations3, is based in BC and we’re here to help with questions like this, along with more personalized guidance tailored to your specific needs.

If you’re still looking for support, feel free to reach out anytime. And if you know others who may benefit from hearing healthcare guidance, please feel free to share our information with them as well. Thanks!

Okay then, would you like to share that cost, obviously this is probably quite a time consuming exercise in a lot of cases, as in not always easy to get the solution across to people?

Our consultation fee is $199. Thanks for asking!