concern about phonak reliability
Danny
forte e4. While she was programming the hearing aid it failed or
malfunctioned. She did call phonak and they are sending a replacement. I
wouldn't mind it so bad if I did'nt have to drive 150 miles round trip to
see my audiologist.
Does phonak have a high failure rate?
Also I am wondering if phonak is having financial or management problems.
Before ordering the phonak hearing aid my audiologist made the comment that
phonak has a high turnover rate( I assumed she meant employee turnover).
Danny Nunley
Virgil L Malmberg
hearing aids. However I have been trying a pair of BTE with Audio Zoom and
remote control for about 3 weeks. I have made 4 return visits to my
audiologist--none of them related to Phonak's however. But on a couple of
occassions I had questions that he couldn't answer and he just picked up the
phone, called them, got right thru, and the questions were answered. I
assume therefore that their customer service may be pretty good. I am
comparing the Phonak to Siemen's Prismas and as far as I can tell from such
brief usage they appear of comparable durability.
Danny wrote in message <9085938...@nntpcache1.nortel.net>...
>
>Does phonak have a high failure rate?
>
>
>>Danny Nunley
>
>
GLucas4189
Reliable.
Graham
Glen R. Meier
>
> I went to my audiologist today to pick up and do trials on the Phonak Nova
> forte e4. While she was programming the hearing aid it failed or
> malfunctioned. She did call phonak and they are sending a replacement. I
> wouldn't mind it so bad if I did'nt have to drive 150 miles round trip to
> see my audiologist.
>
>
> Before ordering the phonak hearing aid my audiologist made the comment that
> phonak has a high turnover rate( I assumed she meant employee turnover).
>
> Danny Nunley
Phonak has been a great company within the hearing aid field. They are
known for their durability and I have no problems with recommending them
if they match the patients needs. They have many inovative designs and
they work hard to insure long lasting hearing aids.
As to the "turnover rate", I think what you audiologist was referring to
was the manufacturers ability to receive a defective hearing aid and
quickly repair or replace it and get it back to the user. The hearing
aid spends very little time "in-house" getting fixed at the
manufacturers. In this instance, having "a high turnover rate" is
actually a compliment!
I do not work for Phonak or have any "ties" to them except they are one
of the many brands of hearing aids that I dispense. They have been a
good company and I would say they have a good reputation within our
field. I hope you have better luck with the next hearing aid. I would
also suggest having your audiologist do an electro-acoustical evaluation
and trial programming of the hearing aid BEFORE having you drive 150
miles for your fitting.
Good luck!
Glen
----
Glen R. Meier, M.S., CCC-A, FAAA
gtn...@netins.net