Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

SpecSavers UK Maximum Hearing Aid Trial Limit

This topic is closed.

22 replies2k viewsLast reply

Jump
Link to this topic
Edited

I have just trialled my 2nd pair of ’s at SpecSavers and decided I prefer In the Ear as opposed to ’s but the Audiologist informed me the maximum number of HA’s I could trial was two and that I would get a full refund and would need to look elsewhere for my HA’s.

This has absolutely shocked me are SpecSavers being unfair or is this standard practice across all Aud clinics?

Just for clarity I trialled Specsavers Advanced Elite - Which were Phonak Paradise Equivalents - Unitron brand I think (or is that transformer lol) and then Phonak Lumity 90 Lifes - They let me switch to Lumity 90 RH (the one) but when I found out it did not include the battery charging case I rejected them… (and nor could you get one for this model).

8 people in this conversation8 min readJump to latest
@Wiggy90 said:

This has absolutely shocked me are SpecSavers being unfair or is this standard practice across all Aud clinics?

It is shocking, you shouldn’t be limited to just two, of course you should be able to trial/choose others, just as you would with other things in life, take their advice and shop elsewhere, any Costco nearby?

@Wiggy90 said:

I am not sure that Costco in the UK do Hearing Aids

Just to say that Costco in the UK do, do hearing aids. All on their website but compared to USA we don’t have many stores.

Just to correct so when people look at this thread they get the correct information.

I just spoke to Specsavers customer services and to be fair they were very good and advised that each Specsavers franchise (UK) sets there own limit to the number of trials that you can have.

They advised that I could go to another Specsavers store outside the area I am currently in but warned me that obviously they all are limited to the standard Hearing Aids they have all have listed.

I think I just need to come to terms with the fact that for my hearing loss if I want the best quality of hearing I need a rather than an … Although watching YouTube videos I think that you can get Ultra Power Receivers in full shell ITE aids but obviously they will be very visible. Maybe go for Black so they looks like ear pods. :slight_smile:

In reply to @Um_bongo

I was thinking the same thing. So taking a random guess at an hourly cost professional services, they maybe provided ~$1000 of free service to this person.

I don’t know that two trials and a cut-off is the right approach, but surely the field as a whole hasn’t figured out what is yet.

I don’t think it matters in a simple first fit for a trial, which can be done in 10mim, even pre done before the client shows up, but Specsavers /Costco have a different business model from your normal brick and mortar store as you know.

Ah, I hadn’t considered that they were just demo’ing first fits. That does speed things up, and makes a head-to-head trial a bit useless.

In reply to @tenkan

I’m aware Specsavers has a more ‘splash and dash’ approach to the fitting process than elsewhere, but looking at it from the outside as someone who runs a few hearing centres, I can see why they might have this type of thing in place.

You run on low % ‘partnership’ margins, you’re in hock to ‘Doug Almighty’ for your business loans, your store upgrades and everything in that space down to the staff name badges. The corporate office sets your pricing and offers, tells you how much you’re going to be squeezed for this month and what your current ‘efficiency rates’ are.

Then you’re faced with Customer X, who wants a little more time/handling/demos that doesn’t quite fit in your ‘sheep dip’ client processing strategy. You’ve got two choices, either roll with it and get the complaint from Corporate that your numbers/fitting efficiency has gone down or bump the client and chalk it up as a ‘probably not buying anyway’. Then use the next fitting slot for someone who is ready to pull the trigger.

I’m not saying it’s right, but I can tell you that Pareto does hold pretty firm for most of our clients too. Being ‘outed’ as one of the of the 20% that needs the 80% of the work isn’t ’nice’, but if you consider the net losses to the client vs the net loss to the shop, it’s obvious who’s come out ahead in this one.

In reply to @Wiggy90

Hi, Just curious, what did they charge for the Lumity Life?

You know you could couple the charger to a standard USB power bank, or plug it in to the car. train seat, plane seat etc.

@Um_bongo
Price for Lumity Life Ultra Power x 2 with custom moulds was £2895, including power case… The price would be the same for whatever Lumitys you buy, or for that matter the Virto Paradise…

@Wiggy90 said:

with custom moulds was £2895, including power case

That’s pretty much your answer. You’re burning through their £6-700 margin having cost X hours, ordering and re-stocking charges. If you choose a supplier that runs on the basis of a ‘no frills’ service, that’s what you get.

If you were in any doubt, it literally says so above the door (for glasses, obviously).

So @Um_bongo is there no way forward for the difficult case to get what his hearing is capable of?
It obvious from your track record that you are prepared to go the extra mile but what hope for the average punter out there, how do we find your equivalent?

Edited

Very possible to get audiologists who will endure a longer fitting/trials process, but it just costs more. In all honesty people get snarky when you say the ‘top end’ is now £4595 (Oticon Real1 ), but that allows us the latitide to do free demos, take time on fittings with Speech Mapping and not restrict follow-up visits.

Not everyone needs it but it’s great for peace of mind if it’s there.

I’d try your local AIHHP member as a starting point or a personal recommendation. Though I’d also recommend Lisa Binns if she’s got a place near you.

In reply to @Neville

Neville, I have chosen to respond to this post but could have been others.

Assuming the business model includes $1,000 of customer care within the pricing of $5,000 for aids (numbers for illustration), one customer may walk in, get aids, get them fitted and walk out after 30-45 minutes, job done. Another may require a number of repeat visits.

The book value for care is $2,000 but not dispensed evenly. A bit like an insurance policy. The company guesses that X customers will not make a claim and spreads the claim cost from Y customers across the whole client base.

Yes, provide some people more service and some people less for the same price. That is how places could choose to manage it.

It wasn’t so long ago that people just got what their clinician dispensed, so there will likely be growing pains transitioning to a multi-trial model.

Also, if you’re the easy guy, is that your preference for how it should work? You pay extra for the guy who wants to demo more devices.

I’m not sure what my preference would be.

This discussion is very interesting hearing it from the business model point of view.

But from a customer point of view there like everything else in life now, there is so much more information out there. Maybe there always was.

All I know is that apart from the shear power of my new Lumity Life 90, my 7 year old Virto V90 are better at adjusting to things in all situations and including the compilot they were cheaper from a premium seller than my the Lumity.

However I do realise I spent a long time getting them right, but also the programming from my V90 were transferred to the Lumity and the new ones became a lot better and now I may just need to do a bit more tweaking…

I don’t know it just seemed easier then…

Related discussions