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Anyone have experience with TruHearing?

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Edited

I can get discounts up to 60% with TruHearing. Does anyone have experience or knowledge about them? They have several local providers and have aids from all 6 major mfrs. One local provider has 2 Drs of Audiology and one of them provided me my first hearing aid in 2010 at another practice. I would be very comfortable with her.

They provide a very long of from all 6 major mfrs including their top HAs. For example, Oticon Real 1 lists for $3755 per aid and Tru’s price is $2250. There are similar discounts for other top HAs. HAs have a 3 year warranty including one replacement.

What got me thinking about this approach was BCBSNC told me about TruHearing and the only audiologist at my Costco is retiring. I had a scheduled test with her today but it was canceled and she retires Friday. Is this worth pursuing instead of Costco?
Thanks

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I do not have experience with TruHearing but with what I think is a similar firm – ZipHearing.com19. My audiologist is in their network and my experience with ZH was outstanding.

Your call as to which way to go. I’m not sure where you are in Tar Heel country, but it might be worth checking to see if Costco has an audiologist (vs a “hearing specialist”) at another outlet that’s close enough to make it reasonable to make the drive.

Bottom line: I felt very comfortable dealing with one of these dot-com places in conjunction with the audiologist I wanted to use anyway.

I’ve bought 3 pairs of hearing aids from TruHearing. TruHearing is good. Their customer reps seem to be knowledgeable. My pet peeve is I never seemed to be able to get the same rep when calling back. They are kind enough to give you their extension but I couldn’t reach them. All your info and conversations are in the computer and all seem to know how to help you. I just found one rep I really liked and could reconnect with him. :woman_shrugging:. Other than that, Tru hearing and their follow up coverage and savings are great.

In reply to @tenkan

Great info tankan. Thank you so much for sharing.

I am still leaning to Costco but I have a couple of concerns. There is no audiologist in either Charlotte store. FWIW, the retiring audiologist said she had no concerns of a specialist doing my testing and fitting as long as I have no major hearing issues. My only issue aside from hearing loss is tinnitus. It was checked by an a year ago and is a manageable issue. The audi did point out that Costco does not do tinnitus masking with their . Should that be a cause for concern for me?

The specialist she booked me with did a hearing test for me a year ago. My hearing was slightly worse than the test done 7 years earlier: 80db loss versus 70db loss 7 year ago. He said improvements in HAs had not changed much in last 7 years and did not recommend replacing my 7 year old HAs. Most of the improvements have been in things like blue tooth (which I have), rechargeable, etc. I was dubious of that statement then and even more so after doing research recently. Everything I read is contrary to his statement.

I understand that Costco usually has 1 or 2 year old technology, but how much concern should that be? I would think there is typically only incremental improvement from one release to the next.

TruHearing seems like a viable option to save money and have the option to get the latest HAs from all major mfrs. I do have concern, as Dr Cliff pointed out in his video, that providers are not compensated enough to give the time necessary for properly fitting their customers. Also, the best providers may reject that approach as Dr Cliff has, resulting in less competent providers with TruHearing.

Thanks again.

In reply to @jpinkard

@jpinkard said:

My only issue aside from hearing loss is tinnitus.

Yes it’s a real pain at times and as you’ve been found out Costco doesn’t get involved with setting them up for this, so for you you’ll need to consider TruHearing or another clinic, me I’d go for this.

@jpinkard said:

I understand that Costco usually has 1 or 2 year old technology

Not so, they do have the latest technology, but even the difference between the last platform and a new can be the difference in what the marketing hype says! I wouldn’t worry about this part to much.

@jpinkard said:

that providers are not compensated enough to give the time necessary for properly fitting their customers

Yes, you’ll find a couple on here who complained about this very thing, so in the end looks like you’ll some hard decisions to make.

Edited

I talked with one provider who does TruHearing aids. She said they have no problem setting aids up with funding provided by TruHearing. She seemed surprised that was an issue. All appts in first year are included in price and there is a 3 year warranty and replacement for lost .

She said their firm (2 Dr Aud, each with 15+ yrs experience, and 1 HA specialist) only works with Widex, Starkey and Signia because those are the HAs they are trained on. They do only when needed and will address tinnitis.

I suspect it is common practice for smaller firms to only work with a subset of brands given the expertise needed with each brand. I am not as familiar with these brands but I am sure they will have good HAs. Also, she said TruHearing sometimes stipulates which HAs can be provided.

This allayed some of my concern but still pondering options.

One more thing. You stated that Costco has the latest technology for the HAs they sale. For example, Phillips is similar to Oticon More/Real and Jabra to Resound Omnia. Both those brands have 3 levels of technology. Do you know which technology level Costco has for each?
Thanks.

In reply to @jpinkard

@jpinkard said:

Phillips is similar to Oticon More/Real and Jabra to Resound Omnia. Both those brands have 3 levels of technology. Do you know which technology level Costco has for each?

The Costco Jabra Enhance Pro 10 is equivalent to Resound Omnia 9 (highest tech level)

I just bought from Costco and couldn’t be more pleased. Tried using Truhearing but no one returns calls… A red flag for me. Also, TH won’t list the locations of their dealers. You must call and be assigned.
Then, Costco was less money for the latest Phillips HA that came out in August. I got them a few days ago at Costco. I will not be dealing with TH but Costco in the future.

No experience with noisy rooms or situations at this point. Otherwise, excellent improvement with hearing, like being reborn. Service at Costco was excellent, the agent took as much time as necessary to fit and explain all facets of these new devices. The cost was less than TH even though TH is a part of my insurance…

Having gotten my hearing aids from TruHearing (via my health insurance company) about a year ago, I can advise you to *avoid this company* like the plague. Their “customer service” will give you a lot of excuses but no real help if you have issues with their hearing aids. I am out a couple of thousand dollars because of this and am now in the process of finding alternative hearing aids. Again, *DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH TRUHEARING*. *They are UNETHICAL*.

I am glad to see dissatisfaction with Truhearing filter down to the consumer level. For years, the professionals I know have avoided doing business with Truhearing. It was not a good deal for the consumer or the professional. The only winner was Truhearing.

I used TruHearing once and would never use them again. TruHearing may offer a discount on equipment but what they don’t tell you is what happens after the sale. I shared my bad experience with three audi’s and they confirmed the downside of TruHearing.

I purchased an aid, and after 3 adjustments the audi’s office said it would be $75 per adjustment thereafter. I pushed the issue and the explanation was this. Audi’s can package a better offer than TruHearing which includes the aids, batteries, ear and adjustments. When a client walks in the the audi office after being referred by TruHearing, the audi by contract can’t offer the client anything else other than the TruHearing package. If the audi offers anything else, the audi risks losing the contract with TruHearing. In my opinion if a client is going to spend thousands on aids and service, the client should be offered all options. Audi’s sign up with TruHearing to get traffic through the door. As I said, all the audi’s conceded that TruHearing isn’t necessarily the best option.

I have tried Truhearing 7IX before and it’s just another replica of Rexton Reach, Signia, etc very identical.

I had no issues with TruHearing. I was able to get the local offices from the customer rep (believe in CO). Three were local and one had fit my mother a year prior under Medicare with a simple set Signia - she did not need any bluetooth etc. They ended up being $700 and the service, followups were very good.

My experience was the same, but it was my insurance company that mis-guided the process. There was no insurance contribution, only GREAT PRICES in the end all out of pocket. It was for Spheres but they do NOT have i90s 0nly maxed out at i70. They were 3k with molds. After runaround, I went to a clinic through my HMO that provided $5K for a pair. 6 AUD, CC-A and MA with 8-20 years exp, a Cochlear mapping specialist and very good ratings. I paid $1800 for i90 Sphere,.which was probably retail with silicone slim tips and they followup.

Suggestion is to shop around. Tru charges $50 for a full test, assessment and gives price and all details on site - no obligations. If you try, and go Costco you have 6 months to return, no questions asked. Costco has newest GN in the Jabra and a new Starkey both with noise technology. Molds for me were $45 each from Costco. I got a set for my backup Lumitys. FYI Sennheiser is the older Phonak Lumity.

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