Q: Are there differences between the cheap hearing aids I see advertised and what is offered by your company? There seems to be a large price difference, and I can only afford so much.
A: I certainly understand the need to save money, but there is a huge difference between “cheap” and “good value”. When it comes to replenishing one’s hearing, there are a lot of choices; so many that it’s impossible to know which the best choice is, so for the consumer, the price is the only real thing they have to go on.
While the expression, “you get what you pay for” sounds a bit harsh, there is some truth in it when it comes to hearing aids. Not all the time, but most of the time.
Don’t misunderstand, you don’t have to spend top dollar to get good value from a hearing aid. There are systems that cost upwards of $6 thousand, which I would never recommend to anyone who isn’t independently wealthy, and even then, only if they have a real need for all the bells and whistles. Even then, there are probably better choices, and definitely less expensive ones.
So what are the differences between what we offer and what the others offer for prices that seem way too low to be true? Well, let’s start with the technology. There is a misapprehension that the cost is related only to the size of a hearing aid. Let’s dispel that myth first. At one time, when they were first introduced, the Completely-In-The-Canal hearing aids, (commonly referred to as CIC’s), were ridiculously priced. The cost was justified by the manufacturers by saying that miniaturizing the technology was expensive and packing it all into such a small device was difficult. That was probably partly true. The fact is the size of the technology would only fit if the patient had a wide enough ear canal; if they didn’t, it would never have fit anyway. The second factor was the novelty; anything new in the hearing aid industry is likely going to be more expensive than older technology. In fact that is only partially true; usually what happens is the older technology realizes a price DROP, and the original prices are then attributed to the new products. Thus the wheels of product development keep moving. The outrageous prices really help make up for the fact that these companies spend tens of millions of dollars every year in research, finding out better ways to help the people they cater to. And that is true for almost every major manufacturer of hearing aids, regardless of what anyone’s opinion of the products is. The only ones who don’t spend money on research are a few out of Asia who steal the technology and sell it cheaply. The problem there is that not only is it stolen technology, but it also is made with lower quality solid state products. When you see a hearing aid advertised for less than $300, chances are this is what you’re getting for that price.
Those that are above that level, where the advertising says $300-500, is a different story. It probably is very good quality solid state parts, but the technology is likely to be 3-4 years old. To put that in perspective, manufacturers generally release new product 2-4 times every year, so these could be as old as 6 – 16th generation. Product they want off their shelves to make way for better products. Four years ago, I had to deal with difficulties of the limitations of the hearing aids back then, the complaints where the only answer was “sorry, that’s just the way it is”. It will still happen occasionally, hearing aids are not perfect, just like a cane does not replace the way a leg used to work, or a prosthetic arm does not replace an amputated limb. It’s an aid, a tool used to increase your chances of understanding speech under increasingly more difficult situations.
To find out whether this was true or not, I called one of the manufacturers who offer two brand names of hearing instrument, which I will not mention by name here. The less expensive brand is only sold at one retailer, which will also remain nameless, but they often refer to the product by stating that it is made by the “upscale”, main manufacturer. So I asked the General Manager, “why is this product so much less?” For his full answer I would refer you to our website, I will post the letter there, however, the short answer is, the technology under the secondary product line is older and does not have the same “audiological benefits” as the parent company’s product. Which says to me, in this case, you get what you pay for.