Wayne.Roorda@f14.n385.z1.fidonet.org (Wayne Roorda) (10/10/90)
Index Number: 11026
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
Hi George,
In a recent message you mentioned about your hearing aid
being outdoors for a winter and you had it repaired for
$60.00. You just "lucked out" that it was even repairable.
The reason your repair was so "cheap" was because used parts
were used to rebuild the aid. When a dispenser sends an
aid out for repair, such as in your case, he usually has a
couple of choices. One being, use used parts for rebuilding
the aid at a lower price and no warranty, but sometimes that
can be for 30 - 90 days. The other is to request the use of
new parts for the rebuild with a 6 month warranty.
BTW I am not a dispenser or a repair site. I'm one who asks
a lot of questions. :-)
Wayne
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!385!14!Wayne.Roorda
Internet: Wayne.Roorda@f14.n385.z1.fidonet.orgStu.Turk@f26.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Stu Turk) (10/10/90)
Index Number: 11028
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
I find it hard to believe that use _parts_ are being used for the repair of
hearing aids Wayne. I can understand a repair service having a used circut
board that they have repaired from a previous job and swaping it with yours to
get the job done quickly, then repair the guts from your aid to put into the
next one they get. But the actual repair itself doesn't make sense to use
used parts; if a microphone element is corroded you don't replace it with
someone elses corroded element -you put in a new element. The same thing for
resistors, small electronic parts, and plug sockets. Removing the old parts
just to reuse them would cost more than the new parts (unless they are using
slave labor to do the work).
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!26!Stu.Turk
Internet: Stu.Turk@f26.n129.z1.fidonet.orgJack.O'keeffe@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Jack O'keeffe) (10/17/90)
Index Number: 11122
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
WR> Well that's what I was told. Used parts are used to rebuild
WR> unless new parts are specified. I'm with you as I found it
WR> hard to believe. But, at the price what could one expect?
WR> My guess is there may be a limited number of parts
Hearing aids are incredibly primitive devices, Wayne. Have you
ever disected one? (I've made do-it-yourself repairs to mine on
a couple of occasions - much to the horror of audiologists - and
as you know mine are somewhat more complex than most).
The typical aid has only three working parts, a microphone, an
amplifier, and a receiver. These can be had for, say, $20 each
or possibly less. A telecoil, if you're fortunate enough to have
one, would add another $15. So $60 is probably a fair price to
replace any one part. I question whether used parts are ever
recycled, except possibly in modular aids. It wouldn't be worth
the effort.
I hear that one of the major optical companies is considering
a hearing aid operation with on-site assembly, like they are doing
with eyeglasses in the shopping malls. One hour delivery.
The real tragedy is the dispensers' resistance to true digital
signal processing aids. The one attempt at this (Nicolet's
Phoenix) appears to be defunct. All because dealers would need
to make a modest investment in new fitting equipment. This after
the findings that digital signal processing can enhance the clarity
of the speech signal and discrimination in many difficult situations.
The manufacturers marketing efforts are targeted solely at the
dealers, not the end users of their products. The hearing aid
industry is the last surviving enclave of obsolete analog audio
technology, in a universe that has long since recognized the
advantages digital signal processing.
... Caveat Emptor!
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89!Jack.O'keeffe
Internet: Jack.O'keeffe@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.orgWayne.Roorda@f14.n385.z1.fidonet.org (Wayne Roorda) (10/18/90)
Index Number: 11173
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
Hi Jack,
JO> So $60 is probably a fair price to replace any one part.
JO> I question whether used parts are ever recycled, except
JO> possibly in modular aids. It wouldn't be worth the effort.
Well I think you and and I are both nearly in agreement here.
What George was referring to was that they had to rebuild the
entire aid. And the company does do that at a flat charge,
regardless of how many parts have to be replaced. My guess is
that the law of averages works in their favor so the odd time
out for disasters in this case they are covered for the loss
when all the parts have to be replaced. And keep in mind the
warranty period is probably only for 30 - 60 days. Whereas,
with the use of "new parts" at a higher price you get the
warranty for 6 months.
Wayne
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