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My Phonak M90 purchase from eBay

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@hparsons said:

I connected eBay, and they confirmed that HAs are considered medical devices, and sales tax should not have been charged.

Not sure about eBay, but whether hearing aids are subject to sales tax likely varies by jurisdiction. In Nevada USA, hearing aids are taxable.

In reply to @thaxton

@thaxton said:

Hell they didn’t even know how to save the setup file to an usb drive so I could have a copy.

They aren’t allowed. Ever look at the agreement you click through when you install the manufacturer software?

@thaxton said:

if you throw money at them

Aka, pay their professional fees, just like any other healthcare professional. Or anyone who sells their services, frankly.

Actually under HIPPA, which audiologists are under, the file is considered patient data and the patient can request a copy of the file and they have to comply…its the law. Otherwise you can file a complaint…

I can’t speak to the legality of it, but IIRC I saved a copy of my Target client data to a file, and messaged it to someone who was experimenting with Target without a programming device. My file enabled them to see an insitu test and feedback test. If the hearing aid police come for me as a result of my confession, they’ll never take me alive… :slight_smile: Plus, they better have good snow tires to make it up the mountain.

In reply to @thaxton

@thaxton said:

Actually under HIPPA, which audiologists are under, the file is considered patient data

Which file are you talking about? Originally you said “the setup file.” If it’s the client fitting data, that’s all contained in the hearing aid so if you are or become a self-programmer you have access to the fitting anyway, and can save it anywhere you’d like.

Sorry…should have defined my terms better. I was referring to the client fitting data. I’m going to request it from the audiologist on my next visit so I can plug it into the target software and see what the settings are. When I decide to change settings myself I will have that and a copy of the settings I will pull via the noahwireless link from my ha’s as backups. Being an IT guy i make backups of the backups…kept me out of trouble many times…:slight_smile:

No, you don’t need to ask for your programming data. As Brec said, all that is on your aids. It will come up on Target when you connect to the aids.

In reply to @Dusty

@Dusty said:

If the hearing aid police come for me as a result of my confession, they’ll never take me alive…

You have the software illegally anyway, doesn’t matter if you exported it to someone. :smiley:

But realistically, the chances of an individual getting in to legal trouble with this seems next to none. The chances of a professional getting into professional trouble is very slightly higher. I support DIYers, but not at the risk of my job. Get the software however you do and I’m happy to chat about it, but I’m certainly not going to give it to anyone.

Just saw this interesting thread.

I’ve been wearing for about 7 years now. I’m 65. They have been life changing and enabled me to continue working up until last year.

I’ve only ever bought used Phonaks off eBay and then last summer I bought a new pair of Marvels from Korea for a very good price. I understood that the warranty was only good in Korea. I self program using Target.

I’d like to mention that working with an experienced audiologist pays worthwhile dividends in a number of ways. I am fortunate to have such a person available to me for a reasonable fee per visit.

He conducted R.E.M. tests and was able to significantly modify my self program to enable me to hear high pitched sounds that I could not achieve through my own programming. YMMV.

I got mine from a /DAud clinic, with all the full warentees, but I also got a great price by getting a non-bundeled deal, only included initial set up and a few follow-up visits for fine tuning. I told them I wanted to self-program and they were OK with that, said they would only charge me $65 for subsequent visits that involved fixing anything that I screwed up. No charge for answering, by email, the zillion questions I have about my self-programing journey. They even offered to help me set up the target programs and noahlink but drew the line at giving me any copies of the software.

In reply to @platypus

@platypus said:

I’d like to mention that working with an experienced audiologist pays worthwhile dividends in a number of ways. I am fortunate to have such a person available to me for a reasonable fee per visit.

If I may ask, how much does your audiologist charge for the unbundled visits.

I’m actually looking forward to my visit on the 12th to see what they will do. Normally, I’ve been very uninterested in audi appointments, viewing them a a necessary inconvenience.

I think it was USD250. That included an in office visit that took an hour as well as a follow up via the online connect feature.

In reply to @tribalrose

My Husband just picked up his KS9.0’s yesterday. Enjoying them so far and using the TV Connector too (more about that later). A phone call to him in Costco worked great but we won’t be in any working environment or office and that could definitely be a very different experience. I can’t even imagine wearing hearing aids and having to listen to a conference call on those old Polycom devices. Horrific sound even with good hearing!
Two weeks ago when ordering, the Hearing Specialist noted that you could actually choose a KS9.0 with ! Same price so that’s what we did, ordered the KS9.0 T model. Husband never had a pair with T-Coil before and we’re not even sure if there’s a movie theater or auditorium that might have the T-Coil/Loop tech (Smaller town). I’m looking into it now.
Sadly, the Kirkland App and hearing aids are a “dumbed down” version of the M90’s/Phonak app but the price was right and Hubby can now use the with his new Android phone. App is actually pathetic compared to the previous Resound Smart app (even with it’s bugs).
The TV Connector has odd settings too. Whenever the TV is turned on, the HAs connect immediately. It’s actually better to have the option in the app (like Resound) to connect to the TV especially if I’m watching something and the hubby is in the kitchen and wants to watch AND Hear something different on the Kitchen TV. I know, First World Problems. You can also go to the TV Connector device itself and power it down to stop the connection. The automated functionality with any tech devices really starts to make you very lazy! Thinking about getting a 2nd TV Connector for the Kitchen then I believe he can select which TV Connector to use. A good thing is that if a phone call does come in while hooked to the TV Connector, the Phone Call wins and the TV gets muted in the background. TV connection returns when you hang up from a call. Another plus with the TV Connector is that you can have unlimited HAs connected to it. Now I’m not sure if all HAs need to be KS9.0s/Phonak models or can just be Bluetooth enabled. I think that I’ll test this out when we get the old Resound pair back from Costco. Funny that the left HA stopped working a week ago. “It” must have known we were getting new HAs :wink: They had almost a month left on the Wty and Costco sent them in for an overhaul. Too bad that they’ll never work with his new Android phone which is why we went looking for a new pair in the first place. He has good insurance which should pay for all. Very lucky to have it.

Welcome to the forum.

The TV connector can be set up differently on your KS9 aids. Yours appear to be set up to automatically come on when the TV is turned on. They can also be set up to be turned on manually with a long press of your aids toggle switch.

In reply to @youbgone

Wrong. I just purchased a set of Widex Evoke 440 Fusion 2 - rechargeable, from an eBay seller. They’re brand new and work perfectly. Our audiologist wanted to charge around $8k, most likely because we’re in Manhattan, NY. We paid $3,200 instead, and pay the audiologist per visit now, $200 for the first (she programmed them), and subsequent visits will be $100.

Just because you personally haven’t done enough research into cheaper and quality options, doesn’t mean people who have are “telling stories”. I also purchase 90% of our prescription medication from halfway around the world, in a legal way, for minimum, 60% off retail American med prices. It took me a solid 20 hours of research to find a 100% safe and legal way to do so, and it was totally worth it.

I’m truly sorry you can’t research as well as myself, the OP and many others who “think outside of the box”. I’m sure that must be upsetting and maybe even embarrassing for you. My heart goes out to you. sweet smile A bit of advice: there’s no need to lash out at others In a negative way, simply because their success in saving a lot of money on medical costs causes you to feel insecure and jealous. Let it go. You’ll be happier, promise!

In reply to @Raudrive

Raudrive, it was a combination of raising the power in the high tones and changing out the ear bud and then smoothing out the consequences to avoid feedback. He wears Marvels himself and seemed very good at fine tuning them.

That’s good news.
Turns out simple adjustments fixed you right up.
Thanks for the update.

Edited
@youbgone said: (unavailable)

As far as research goes I done far more HA’s research than you will will ever do. Furthermore (and this is important) anyone considering HA’s for the first time (with a mid- level or higher loss) needs to see a professional, for a variety of reasons - which you don’t seem to understand.

I’m not speaking for asagegirl, just myself, since I started the thread.

I daresay you can’t KNOW you’ve done “far more research”, since you don’t actually know how much research she has done. That “I’m better than you” nonsense is typical of some of the keyboard warriors I’ve seen on far too many forums; I just never thought I’d see that type of attitude on a hearing forum.

If you had read my original post closer, you’d know - this wasn’t my first purchase. As stated in the OP, I bought my first set six years ago from a clinic, and have been back several times. In addition, I had an done last month, which was used by the selling audiologist to program the M90s I got.

In reply to @youbgone

Yes, actually… Brand new Marvel R 90’s for $2500 with registration and warranty preprogrammed with your audiology report, purchased from Cyprus via eBay from a licenced audiologist that will do remote programming if you like.
Americans pay more than double for hearing aids as they do with dentistry, pharmacy and most medical services.
I self programmed mine, and with the software verified the warranty.
The choice was eBay or go without. Just another form of medical tourism.

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