What to do when you can't afford expensive hearing aids

Welcome back, Kotter.

Another choice for a low cost hearing aid that is more than a simple ‘PSAP’ device is a SIEMENS LOTUS 12SP type of hearing aid from eBay. There are a few models and are priced starting at around $100 each. I bought two of the earlier 12SP’s (that had three small adjustments for overall gain, frequency related boosting and maximum sound limits) a few years ago. My hearing loss is the typical higher end frequencies. I tried the prior Costco Kirkland 6’s for three months and ended up returning them in that I thought the two Lotus 12SP’s were giving me very similar results.

I see there are newer Lotus 12SP’s out that feature “6 Channels 4 programs” … they omit the small adjustments mentioned above and probably replace them with the 4 user selectable programs. I don’t have any experience with these new models.

Some of these also look to be on Amazon these days.

So an approach could be to buy one of these 12SP’s and give it a try to see if it helps you. I it helps … good, buy another and use them. If it doesn’t help, you’ve only invested $100-$150. If you buy from Amazon, You can probably just return it if you’re not satisfied.

Good Luck!

Actually, purchasing a pair on eBay might be a pretty good gamble. If you’re like most people and have hearing loss in the higher ranges. You could question the seller in this regard. Perfect solution? No, but you said any help would be welcome. JMO.

The problem with them (Lotus12) is reliability. I went thru 6 of them over the course of about a year. They could be found for around $50 at the time.

So, green as grass, I bought some used Siemens for $500. Those lasted about a year. The repair was $300 (2) that was fortunately refunded when the heat related (guess) problem didn’t go away. Of course there isn’t a factory warranty and aids from all brands fail with regularity. Used and Chinese seem more prone. I was lucky in one respect. My ENT had an audiologist who provided adjustments for a 1-time $75.

Of course it was about 2+ years and compared to the alternatives ($3-6K) it was cheap. Looking back, I’d have to say too cheap and problematic. For me, Costco works out to be just as about as cheap and supported.

I’m concerned that we’re starting to get more posts that sound like marketing and endorsements.

If you mean my post, you’re 100% wrong. After being financially raped by 2 different private audiologist who pushed me around, didn’t listen to what I wanted, and taking a whopping total of $700 in trial fees when I walked away unsatisified and still without a hearing aid, I found Hearing Revolutions and couldn’t be happier. I got top of the line hearing aids - The Widex Dream 440 back in 2015 which one audiologist tried to gauge me for $3800 each, for $2000 from Hearing Revolutions. That’s no small savings. I only needed one because one of my ears needed a cochlear implant and can’t use any hearing aid, but for someone that needed two, that’s basically saving them $1800 per aid. And recently, I use upgraded to the Widex Beyond 440 and got that for $1750. I’m done with doing it the old way and getting ripped off. The same local audiologist sells these same hearing aids to his regular customers for alot more. It’s pretty stupid not to save thousands per hearing aid when you’re getitng thr same exact warranties and service.

I’m glad you were happy with them. Perhaps it’s just a personal preference, but I always prefer hearing about somebody’s experience rather than being told I should do something.

@sabrin514 These posts have no relevance on a hearing aid forum. There are numerous political forums where you can make your viewpoints known, but this is not the place.

Use to be amazed now simply amused!

For once I’m speechless.

@Abarsanti said:

These posts have no relevance on a hearing aid forum. There are numerous political forums where you can make your viewpoints known, but this is not the place.

I think it’s all cleaned up now. Thanks to all who flagged the off-topic content, and to @jonat for getting us back on the tracks.

@MDB said:

I’m concerned that we’re starting to get more posts that sound like marketing and endorsements.

Agree. Just a reminder to all that we are monitoring for suspicious levels of link sharing and promotion on this forum. I know sometimes people just have a good experience and want to share it with others, but the moderators will all be looking for patterns of abuse, and I welcome the support of the community in helping us to identify those users who are here to promote rather than to contribute. Thank you.

Hi … I have one hearing aid … i can give you for free. This is adjusted for about 50% loos on low tones. This is not a cheap one. It’s a widex c4-9 …Regards arild

I have severe loss(80db) and have worn hearing aids for 40+ years.
A year ago I stopped attending meetings because I couldn’t hear people in a room with background noise.
My Rexton Bridge P(Costco) aids(5 years old) only worked in a quiet environment with people near by.
I bought several PSAP devices out of desperation.
The best of them was a Bellman Mino.
I use it with the Bellman earphones alone(no hearing aid )
The device, phones and shipping were approx. $240 from Amazon.
I haven’t worn my hearing aids in months, only use the Bellman
I can attend meetings and participate.
There are several tutorials on youtube that explain the device and its use.
I intend to try Costco again when the mfrs. start producing aids with Bluetooth 5 remote connectivity to Android phones.