Hidden Hearing or Specsavers

Dinky22

My father had Hidden Hearing test him at his home and they suggested the H150 hearing aid: price: 4,250 euro for both ears. I then took him to Specsavers and they suggested Simens Best with 48 bands: price 3,695 for both ears. Specsavers said that their hearing aid would have to be replaced in 4 years and that it required batteries every week. Hidden Hearing did not mention any of the above. My understanding (but I could be wrong) was that the hearing aids from Hidden Hearing were for life and that they programmed in the changes over time (maybe I misunderstood). Also, they did not mention changing batteries every week. I do not know the difference between the two hearing aids. There is a lot of money involved and I want him to have the best but I am not sure who he should go with. I would be most grateful for any advise. Many thanks

looksee

I cannot offer any personal opinion on either HH or SS as my own are from a local independent. I have heard good reports of HH, though they are a bit of a plague with advertising. I did checkout SS as I always get glasses there and have been completely satisfied, but I was not particularly impressed by the advice on hearing aids that I got there.

You will need batteries though, whoever you go with. And depending on how long the hearing aids are used each day, you will probably find they last more like 5 days than a week. I don't think I would be concerned about batteries as a reason for choosing one or the other.

Seoda1

Dinky22 wrote: »

My father had Hidden Hearing test him at his home and they suggested the H150 hearing aid: price: 4,250 euro for both ears. I then took him to Specsavers and they suggested Simens Best with 48 bands: price 3,695 for both ears. Specsavers said that their hearing aid would have to be replaced in 4 years and that it required batteries every week. Hidden Hearing did not mention any of the above. My understanding (but I could be wrong) was that the hearing aids from Hidden Hearing were for life and that they programmed in the changes over time (maybe I misunderstood). Also, they did not mention changing batteries every week. I do not know the difference between the two hearing aids. There is a lot of money involved and I want him to have the best but I am not sure who he should go with. I would be most grateful for any advise. Many thanks

Hi

I have no experience of Hidden Hearing or Specsavers to say first off. I have been wearing hearings aids for 40 years and most of this time have been fortunate enough to travel to London to get aids but in recent times it's been too dear to travel.

I can highly recommend Anne Kelly in Dublin, she's up to date on technology, very pleasant and very accommodating with tweaks and adjustments that is often needed after getting new aids.

As for batteries, they last about 5 or 6 days regardless but you can buy them cheap on the net!

Hope this helps!

Dinky22

Thank you Looksee and Thank you Seoda1 for your replies. I now understand about the batteries from your replies. Specsavers said that the Hearing Aids would have to be replaced every 4 years - Is that correct?. Hidden Hearing never said that. Does that mean that one would have to buy new Hearing Aids every 4 years?. I thought (but I may have misunderstood) that Hidden Hearing said that they programmed in the Hearing Aids - they never mentioned about "replacing" the Hearing Aids every 4 years. Unfortunately, my father does not live in Dublin so he could not attend Ann Kelly. Many thanks again.

Seoda1

Dinky22 wrote: »

Thank you Looksee and Thank you Seoda1 for your replies. I now understand about the batteries from your replies. Specsavers said that the Hearing Aids would have to be replaced every 4 years - Is that correct?. Hidden Hearing never said that. Does that mean that one would have to buy new Hearing Aids every 4 years?. I thought (but I may have misunderstood) that Hidden Hearing said that they programmed in the Hearing Aids - they never mentioned about "replacing" the Hearing Aids every 4 years. Unfortunately, my father does not live in Dublin so he could not attend Ann Kelly. Many thanks again.

Every four years, no not necessarily. I'm sure they would love it if you did. They can last longer, it's like a car, if you change it every four years, you'll be keeping it up to date etc but there's no reason the aids can't last longer with reasonable use age and good cleaning habits!

The bigger issue I would see is for your father getting used to aids in the first place. It is a different sound to what he would have been used to all his life and suddenly he's going to hear everything all the time I.e. It's harder to do selective hearing! But go for it, it's better to hear something than nothing!

Who to choose? Pick the consultant you were most comfortable with and felt they explained things well. New aids is a learning curve with ideally follow up appointments until your dad is happy with and you have to feel comfortable with this person!

Good luck!

looksee

Also be sure that your father is really committed to getting used to the aids. It does take a bit of time and appointments and patience to get the best use from them, if he is not really bothered it would just be a waste of money.

cobham

I got my HA from Specsavers and was particularly impressed by person I dealt with there. My package includes free batteries for 6 years (?), annual check up and also they will replace the filter whenever I request it, no charge. It suits me as location is convenient and have been happy down the years with their glasses service.

the_syco

Dinky22 wrote: »

Specsavers said that their hearing aid would have to be replaced in 4 years and that it required batteries every week. Hidden Hearing did not mention any of the above.

At least Specsavers were honest. The batteries will have to be changed more or less every week, and I think 4 years is the life span of hearing aids according to the manufacture. They may, and with decent care, will probably last longer than four years, but nothing lasts forever.

Personally wouldn't touch HH with a bargepole, as I dislike their setup.

Specsavers do offer a cheaper package, but cheaper doesn't mean better. and when spending near to two thousand per ear, you'll want better.

Check the brand of hearing aids, and how elderly people find them.

Dublin Hearing

Why go to one of the multinationals? They are supplied with their hearing aids by the British agencies, if the hearing aid breaks down they will have to send it to England for repair.
If you deal with your local independent audiologist or hearing aid specialist, a lot of them will get their instruments from the local distributor, with repair facilities and back up in Ireland.

The life of a hearing aid is generally regarded as 4/5 years, But I frequently repair hearing aids that are over 10 years old. If you qualify for a 'Treatment benefit' grant towards your hearing aid, they will allow a grant for replacements after 4 years.

Mod: ease off with the advertising please

Dinky22

Thank you so much everybody for your input. I brought my dad to a local company and they did a very extensive test. This time I had my list of questions. They recommended Oticon - Nero Pro. Price: 2,400 euro for two. Guarantee: 3 years. Free batteries for 130 hours. They would give 2 extra year's guarantee for 200 euro extra - i.e. 5 year guarantee. They said that Hearing aids should last for approx. 10 years. They said that they sell 60 batteries (10 cards of 6) for 24 euro. They said that by buying from them that they could be serviced by any Octicon agency in UK or anywhere outside. They said that with Specsavers & HH that my dad would have to go back to where he bought the HH for service. That Specsavers & HH have a special code (or something like that) that means that the Hearing aids have to be brought back to where they were bought for servicing.

John Holland

Hi - I bought my hearing aids from Hidden Hearing and I can’t complain, I can drop in to any one of their clinics in Ireland to have my hearing aid serviced, plus if I run out of batteries they will send new ones out in the post for free. Before I bought my hearing aids I shopped around and when I asked if I could do the same with Specsavers I was told that it would depend on the franchise locations. I travel a lot for my job so it suits me to be able to call in to different branches with Hidden Hearing.

looksee

Mod: Can we keep a bit of perspective here. What one firm says about another firm is hardly a reliable argument and should be taken with a pinch of salt. The whole argument about servicing is being a bit overstated, the OP's father is hardly likely to be travelling, and in fact generally servicing is not a frequent requirement.

John Holland, welcome to Boards.ie, I hope you will find much to discuss here, beyond HH's service.

ronjonbyrne

At Specsavers they say that the hearing aids are guaranteed for four years by the manufacturer, batteries are free for four years & there is a 90 money back guarantee, no quibble, no fuss.
Yes if the aids need to go back to the manufacturers in the Uk as there are no manufacturers in Ireland.
there is a store to store protocol with specsavers that if you need frequency adjustments then you can go into any outlet in the UK, Ireland, Holland, Scandinavia, or any other country where there is a outlet & they will make the necessary adjustments requested.
All Specsavers Hearcare staff are qualified & registered with the HCPC.
Remember the vital thing about purchasing any hearing aid from anywhere for any price, ( if the person sitting in front of the laptop does not know what they are doing then it`s a waste of your time, never mind the expense).

Don`t be afraid to ask if they are qualified & don`t be afraid to say you are shopping around. look around at what is available & compare competence & value.

Calahonda52

ronjonbyrne wrote: »

....
All Specsavers Hearcare staff are qualified & registered with the HCPC.
.....

What exactly does that mean:

What is HCPC: Is its Harris County Psychiatric Centre?

What redress do you have: is it a regulatory body like the medical council, staffed by their own so see no evil, or in this case hear no evil when it comes to complaints about crap professional service: of course the quality of the rigs is a different issue.

I have just got a test done and am profoundly deaf at the higher end so need to get some hearing aids.

Anybody deal with the Hermitage Clinic where I got the test done: their top end rig is 7k for a pair.
Thanks

ronjonbyrne

Calahonda52 wrote: »

What exactly does that mean:

What is HCPC: Is its Harris County Psychiatric Centre?

What redress do you have: is it a regulatory body like the medical council, staffed by their own so see no evil, or in this case hear no evil when it comes to complaints about crap professional service: of course the quality of the rigs is a different issue.

I have just got a test done and am profoundly deaf at the higher end so need to get some hearing aids.

Anybody deal with the Hermitage Clinic where I got the test done: their top end rig is 7k for a pair.
Thanks

Health care professionals council. The regulatory body for 17 seperate heath care job r titles including care workers, google hcpc.co.uk.
Widex hearing aids with frequency transposition will deal with high freq. dead regions. €3695 for Dream 440 passion RIC's or CIC's & the 50 series from Specsavers would cost from €1300 to €2695 for the pair.

Calahonda52

Sound Much obliged

ronjonbyrne

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Sound Much obliged

Seriously there is no need to spend a shade of €7000, 3695 at most & with the prsi grant €2695

cobham

I am going to put cost of mine in for medical expense against tax so that is 20% discount.

ronjonbyrne

cobham wrote: »

I am going to put cost of mine in for medical expense against tax so that is 20% discount.[/quote
If you pay PRSI you are entitled to a grant against the cost, which could be €500 per ear or half the cost of the aids depending on the price of the aids

the_syco

PRSI grant; http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Treatment-Benefit1.aspx

bipedalhumanoid

John Holland wrote: »

Before I bought my hearing aids I shopped around and when I asked if I could do the same with Specsavers I was told that it would depend on the franchise locations.

That's only because not all specsavers stores are hearing centres. I bought mine at Newbridge and I've been serviced in Tallaght, Dundrum, Dun Laoghaire and Stillorgan.

Obviously you can't take your hearing aids to a store that is only an optician.