When buying anything over the Internet, I am an avid reader of customer reviews which can often provide an insight into something overlooked by the seller. I like honest reviews as anything written by “real” people is always more entertaining than marketing spiel. In working for HearingDirect I am lucky enough to receive reviews on our products which are always welcome, often both insightful and amusing. By no means all of our customers provide reviews and one cannot bully them into doing so ….. unless the customer happens to be your father! So this week’s Blog is written by my harshest critic, a grumpy ex-Army pilot, with hearing loss in both ears and no fear of causing offence!
N.B. The HD350 has been replaced by the
HD392 Digital Hearing Aid.
Following written by Stuart’s father on Owning Two HD350s Hearing Aids:
Before the birth of Hearing Direct, I had previously purchased hearing aids from a private seller, the latest and most successful being the Be9, a totally ‘in ear’ system and theoretically perfect. I was delighted with them initially but they suffered a progressive degradation to the extent they were replaced twice. I now realise that, from the outset they should have been stored in an active Zephyr drying container. I do not consider myself a sweaty person but, by the very nature of a fairly tight fit within the ear, it is inevitable that these wonders of micro technology do have to function in a very humid environment which is bad for any electronic item. They were, however, perfection to anyone wishing to disguise their ailment from the world at large as they were, effectively, invisible – so one has to achieve the best compromise.
Accordingly, I am now the very satisfied owner of a pair of HD350s which are a mere 10% of the cost of the Be9s. I now use a desiccator to store the HD350s overnight, and, so far (6 months), they have worked faultlessly. I appreciate the in situ volume controls to suit the environment which leads me on to my only real criticism which is relevant to all external aids. They are, unfortunately, prone to wind noise. I have found that by lowering the volume to the minimum, the volume is reduced exponentially so, unless I have to attend Cocktail Parties in a howling gale, I am a very happy customer of Hearing Direct!!
I also like the lady on the end of the phone who is helpfulness personified and never gets ruffled by my remarks……………
Praise indeed from my harshest critic. He does raise two good points. Firstly a system to dry the aids out overnight should be used. They are really beneficial and I would recommend them to anyone. Secondly,
Joan is brilliant on the phone and provides great support. Whatever your question, she will never be ruffled, so if you are unsure about anything please get in touch.
