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Bad audiologist? Or common experience?

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Waited 4 months to get hearing appt in Vegas. First visit hearing test, standard stuff, validated loss from years ago.

History. Sudden hearing loss 2004. Got stapedectomy in 2005, got my right ear back to functional. Been living with it for a while now. Decided to finally (yeah bag on me) try .

Back to the audiologist. After hearing test, doc saw me, steered me away from another surgery on the other ear, and said go get hearing aids. A week later, hearing test doc sat me down. THIS IS MY CHALLENGE. She steered me right to the highest end Oticon. Quick demo. Took her 5 min to program my settings. It was honestly… just ok. But said she couldn’t even show me the other options - 2 lower end Oticons. And I’d have to buy to even try. Didn’t even talk other brands. So I left there with no recommendation other than $7400 and high pressure to buy from them at $7400 even though insurance would make it $5400, but only a few follow-ups covered compared to full coverage buying from the doc

Am I crazy, but should I seek out another audiologist? Or just go to Costco? Or buy the Jaguar sight unseen?

32 people in this conversation28 min readJump to latest

Doesn’t sound like the sort of person you’d want to take problems to. And $6400 with just a few visits included? No.

Some people on this forum would invite their audiologist to their wedding. My two were just plodders. Look around. Btw, 4 months? Around here, they’d pretty much drag you in off the street for a hearing test.

I’ve spoken to a number of people who are just about to get private Aids here in the UK. They’ve all been recommended the top of the range. No mention of the other ones. This is in the UK.

I’m part of a lip reading Zoom group which is why I’ve spoken to a number of people.

Edited

Until an is posted it’s hard to say what’s best for you including going to Costco. It’s never a bad idea to window shop and that includes going to another audiologist and Costco. But a posted audiogram would make it easier for people here to give you what is hopefully unprejudiced advice. As you can already see there are some people on this form who seem to have a problem with people who say positive things about their audiologist. At the same time whoever you deal with should be willing to show you different aids for your loss and not just the top of the line aid. This is where this forum comes in. The more you know the better off you’ll be. Unfortunately too many if us can remember a bad experience buying aids

I would say if they didn’t do on-ear verification of how the aid was working, you don’t know if it was really giving you the gain you need. If it’s programmed CORRECTLY, you should notice a difference in how you hear. This video explains it better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHR0Oa6I-wY17

@scotts said:

She steered me right to the highest end Oticon. Quick demo. Took her 5 min to program my settings.

This sounds very similar to my first hearing aid experience, Oticon also. This fitter was pushy and arrogant, I didn’t buy aids there. I ended up trying three different places that sell and fit hearing aids, all three were very similar. Just wanted to sell the most expensive aids they had. I know there are great hearing aid fitters out there, I just didn’t find any when I was looking.

That’s when I found this forum. Huge learning curve about hearing loss and hearing aids. I ended up self programming my aids from that point on.

Many years later I had another similar experience with a bad fitter. Then tried Costco in San Antonio, fantastic fitter, super friendly and knowledgeable.

My thoughts are you need to find a fitter you are happy with. Get educated about your hearing loss and Hearing aids. This will enable you to make better decisions.
Good luck

That definitely seems high for rush you out the door service. Hearing Tracker has links to deals in Las Vegas for premium hearing aids for around $4500. Costco will be in the $1400 to $2000 range.
Costco should provide considerably better service than what you got.

She programmed your expensive aids based on your audigram and sent you on your merry way. My experience is an is a place to start and then you fine tune the aids. My own experience after inserting the audiogram settings is my aids aren’t loud enough. And that’s just for starters. I think I would go elsewhere. It doesn’t take long to plug in audiogram results

So glad you left without spending all that money! Time to gain some knowledge, and this forum is a great place. The folks here are very helpful.

You are entitled to a copy of your WITH WORD RECOGNITION at no charge. Make sure you always get that after having a test. Post your audiogram here. Knowledgeable folks here can help guide you based on that. I have benefited so much by going this route.

I am also a fan of Costco. That said, this is still a one-on-one relationship. Most Costco hearing centers have several hearing fitters; you may find one more to your liking. Be sure you work with someone who does adjustments (1 of the 3 at my Costco does not!)

Check with your health insurance plan. Costco in USA does not take medical insurance; but some plans will allow you to submit paperwork and receipts, and reimburse you. I was able to do this in 2014 with my first hearing aid. Costco was very willing to provide me with the printouts of the paperwork I had to submit. When I got my new pair in 2019 I had different health insurance with no coverage, so that wasn’t an option.

In reply to @d_Wooluf

Revision on pricing. The Oticon More - 3 levels: $7400, $6000, $5000 - I forget what the difference was that she barely mentioned. My Insurance apparently cuts that down to $5390, $4398, $3398. The insurance gives a few followup visits, while the doc said essentially unlimited followup visits, which can run $300 each over time.

Your lifestyle and situations where you are having difficulty will determine the level of technology needed. If money is no problem, go with the Premium level, it will do the best overall. If your needs don’t demand the Premium level, the Advanced and Basic levels are the exact same circuit with some features removed. You should be able to try a lower level product and then upgrade if the trial is not successful. Make sure they use and speech in noise testing.

Just a few thoughts for what it’s worth, as I’m also in the process of getting my first set of hearing aids:

  • She may steer you a specific direction because she has the most experience with that brand’s software and/or has had a high degree of success with fitting other clients with the brand (if you’re to give her the benefit of the doubt). That said, she shouldn’t be limiting other options. Do some research on which you might be interested in, then bring them up to her in a follow up appointment, and gauge her reaction to that. If she’s not receptive of what you are interested in trying out, or trying to answer specific questions about your hearing loss and how HAs will be tailored to assist with your hearing, then it might confirm that you should go a different direction. And ask plenty of questions about what the differences in tech levels will do for you, insurance questions, etc. It’s likely overwhelming to go in blind when you’re new to this experience and process like me.

  • If you have a pair of demos just on loan for you to try out, that could be why the fitting was generic to your . My audiologist did the same with my demo Paradises. But he confirmed once I actually bought a pair to trial, they would be fitted with (and he did that with the Oticons I am currently in the middle of trialing). So just make sure that when you do decide on a pair to officially do a trial with, confirm with her that you will get fitted via the REM method that has been referenced already in a previous response.

  • Bottom line is that you should feel comfortable with your audiologist. And unafraid to ask questions and expect thoughtful answers. Second opinions never hurt. I’ve spent a ton of time in the past few weeks just learning about some of the current HA tech and how they function relative to how “normal” hearing works, and bridging that gap is a pretty complicated task. There are a handful of HAs that are all considered top of the line hearing tech, but frankly, to maximize the benefit of any of them requires an audiologist that listens to your needs and feedback and takes the effort to program and tweak your HAs over time.

  • Costco: This is purely my opinion and stance from some of the things I’ve read about peoples’ experiences (I got nothing to validate this is the better way to go). If money is not a huge object, I would take the time to find a good audiologist and get your first set of HAs through that person. Given that this is the first time I’ve ever gotten hearing aids, I’m new to the world and experience of using them, and it’s going to take some time for me to fully understand the full range of function and benefits (as well as limitations) they provide relative to my hearing needs. I haven’t yet been fully exposed to all the scenarios in which I will like or dislike them. I plan to have routine followups with my audiologist to understand how to tweak the settings of my HAs so that they sound better to me, or to specify what programs I need in my daily life, etc., so the ability to make constant changes and having that relationship with an audiologist to help is important to me. While many people have had good experiences with Costco (and the cost is significantly reduced for still top tier technology), I’d rather wait until a future set of hearing aids when I already understand what I’m looking for and what my needs are. That way, I know how to express those needs to the fitter and achieve a close to target goal from just the initial fitting at the store. It is a luxury to be able to do that though, as I am still in the sticker shock stage of how much HAs can be to begin with!

Interesting thought on wanting to learn with an (expensive) private audiologist. It’s a perfectly reasonable idea, but my idea is the opposite. I’d rather learn with less expensive Costco (and a longer return period) My thought is that if I could learn enough and my taste getting sophisticated enough, I might appreciate a more expensive audiologist. Although I’ve seen several outside audiologists, I’ve yet to find one that impressed me more than Costco.
I hope you are successful in your quest for good hearing aids and hope you have better luck than I did with private audiologists.

I would agree with the costco route as well. Bottom line though - there are great people that are private audis as well as costco , and terrible people in those positions as well. Just something to keep in mind - it doesn’t mean going one route is better than another, just that not everyone in either place will be a good fit for you.

@janofh said:

not everyone in either place will be a good fit for you.

To me, the idea of “fit” is important, because the relationship with your audiologist is apt to be a long one, with ups and downs. A good fit makes it easier to traverse the rough patches, IMO. (It’s not all about tech specs and features - you have to “click” with one another.)

Best of Luck!

Well I’m curious about Oticon $6000+ people. Trying to understand from these forums is why anyone would just jump to the Porsche Cayman without even trying the Honda Accords or Audi A4s (I get that with cars of course). Is this a full service thing? Truly trusting your audiologists expertise and future ongoing involvement? Or is it a consumer electronics factor - just go with the best overall latest tech, regardless of price. Or is it simple math - $1000 per year based on 6 years avg lifespan isn’t so bad when spread out and considering this is huge for quality of life.

I suppose I’m a Windows/Android guys, never owned an Apple device in my life despite working in Digital Marketing - because they are luxury items and I’m just more thrifty and find satisfaction with decent, common items.

I mean really, why didn’t some Oticon people never even try Costco devices?

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