I little over a year ago, my Compilot II died and I purchased a new one online, from Hear Well, an Amazon seller. Now the new one has died and apparently these things run out of warranty after 12 month. Hear well says it is likely the battery, because they only last about 1 year and that repairs are expensive and I should just by a new one!
Anyway, my choice seems to be between buying new or getting it repaired. I want to try get it repaired, but there seems no way to send it to Phonak without going through an audiologist. I can of course do that, but before I try that option I would like to hear if anyone out there knows of other places, who do this kind of repair? Any idea what a repair costs?
I little over a year ago, my Compilot II died and I purchased a new one online, from Hear Well, an Amazon seller. Now the new one has died and apparently these things run out of warranty after 12 month. Hear well says it is likely the battery, because they only last about 1 year and that repairs are expensive and I should just by a new one!
Anyway, my choice seems to be between buying new or getting it repaired. I want to try get it repaired, but there seems no way to send it to Phonak without going through an audiologist. I can of course do that, but before I try that option I would like to hear if anyone out there knows of other places, who do this kind of repair? Any idea what a repair costs?
Your insight is much welcome
My wife was told by her audiologist they could send it in to Phonak and they would either put in a new battery or more likely replace it with a new unit. She was also told the difference in price between the repair and buying a new unit was about a third cheaper. Perhaps finding a way to go around the audiologist such as through an independent repair shop will cut out the added fee your audiologist is going to charge you for putting it in a box and mailing it off to Phonak. The cost charged by Phonak, Oticon, etc. of pulling the back off the unit, unplugging the battery, installing a new one and snapping the back on is ridiculous. I was quoted $200 for a new battery for my Oticon Streamer and a new one was $250! I ended up going to Amazon buying a battery for an Ipod for around $3 and doing the replacement myself.
Thanks for the response. I agree that the repair cost sounds way too high if it is simply a dead battery (and it is very likely correct). I am quite sure my audiologist will refrain from charging me beyond what Phonak charges. She programmed the unit for me at no cost although I did not buy it from her. It is my back-up unit! I will at least ask her to find out what the charge is.
Luckily for those of us with the first or second generation of Oticon Streamers the battery from Apple Ipods is basically the same as Oticon uses and can be bought off Ebay for less than $5 which is a lot better than the $200 Oticon wants for it!
In case anyone stumbles on to this thread, I can tell you what the price of repair is by Phonak. $160 with 6 mph warranty and $180 with 12 month warranty.
It is still cheaper than the $270 it costs to buy one online. I got my Audi to send it in for me, I don’t think they added any fee, although I did not buy it through them. I am a good customer and have been with them for a while :). Another reason to build a strong relationship with this important person, when it comes to quality of life.
I don’t understand. Is Oticon the same as Phonak Compilot. I just bought a used compilot from E-Bay and it worked for 4 days. I have no lights on compilot at all, even after putting it on the charger. I was thinking of ordering an apple Ipad battery like suggested but want to make sure it will fit the Phonak Compilot. Thanks for your help.
NW Indiana