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| Frequently Asked Questions |
- How do you do hearing aids by mail, especially if they need to be custom-fit?
- Do you offer software that will allow me to make my own adjustments using my own computer?
- What is included with a 2-year Loss & Damage Warranty and is it available for all hearing aids?
- What are your shipping rates?
- Why can't I see your shipping rates before I order?
- How can you program a hearing aid for someone when they order online or through the mail?
- How to retube a custom earmold with Curved Tubing...
- How to retube a custom earmold with Straight Tubing...
How do you do hearing aids by mail, especially if they need to be custom-fit? (Back to Top)
Here at Lloyds, we provide custom hearing aids ranging from the full shell down to the tiniest CIC aid. We need two things to accomplish this. First, we need as complete information as possible on your hearing loss. For the more high-tech hearing aids that require computer programming, that entails your getting a copy of an audiogram (hearing test). This can be obtained locally fairly easily. Many of our customers submit these to us for recommendations and for fitting, building and programming purposes. If you cannot obtain a copy of your hearing test, we do have a free hearing test you can take on our website as well as a hearing loss questionnaire you can fill out. This will give us a very good idea of your hearing problems and has been used to fit, again, tens of thousands of hearing aids successfully.
Second, we need the impressions of your ears. We would send out to you, at no charge, all necessary materials for you to do this right in your home. It is a very safe and simple procedure. Tens of thousands of our customers have done this over the past 45 years without any problems. I'm sure you can do this as well. We send enough material for you to take two impressions of each ear, so you can practice with the first try and see how it all works. But with these two ingredients, that's what it takes to make a custom aid.
Proceeding by mail is a very proven and viable method of getting a hearing aid, and it will save you even more. But the bottom line is that when you get the aid, you will have a 45 day trial (or more if needed) so you can be sure you like everything about the aid....its fit, and its benefit for you. If you like it, you'll buy it. If not, you can certainly return it, no questions asked.
You can give us a call @ 1-800-323-4212 (M-F 8-4:30pm central time) and talk to one of our dispensers to review things as well. Many questions can be covered in a conversation and perhaps you will get a better idea of who we are and how this can all be accomplished. We will do everything possible to help you hear better.
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Do you offer software that will allow me to make my own adjustments using my own computer? (Back to Top)
Sorry but all these computer programmable hearing aids are not set up for the user to be able to program them at home with your PC. You have to have the special software from the manufacturers but mostly, you need an expensive interface "box" that connects between a computer and the hearing aid itself.
If you have a copy of a hearing test, that becomes the basis for our programming of the aids prior to shipping them out. We are very good at programming issues and can do this very successfully. If it needs any reprogramming, you would contact us and describe the problems......then send it in to us and we would make the necessary corrections. It is extremely rare where a person would ever have to send an aid in more than just one time for reprogramming work.
We will reprogram any hearing aid purchased through us for free over the lifetime of the hearing aid. If you did not purchase your hearing aid(s) from Lloyds, we will still be happy to program your instrument(s) for you for a fee of $50/aid. We can program most models from Siemens, Rexton, Audina, Phonak, Oticon, GNResound, Starkey, Microtech, Interton, Unitron, as well as others.
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What is included with a 2-year Loss & Damage Warranty and is it available for all hearing aids? (Back to Top)
Loss & Damage coverage is available only on select hearing aids. If it is an available option, you will find it under the "Warranty" drop-down box. The 2-year Loss & Damage Warranty includes: 1st-year parts & labor coverage, 1st-year L&D coverage, 2nd-year parts & labor coverage, 2nd-year L&D coverage.
If you should need to file a L&D claim, there is a deductible that you must pay to receive the replacement hearing aid. The deductible cost depends upon the brand & model of hearing aid, so ask for specific details if interested in purchasing a 2-year L&D Warranty.
Please note: The replacement aid is a one-time replacement. If you lose or damage the replacement aid beyond repair, you are no longer covered for getting another replacement.
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What are your shipping rates? (Back to Top)
We use either the US Post Office or FedEx for our shipments. Please see the guide below for rates to your area:
US MAINLAND 48 STATES -- ACCESSORIES
Merchandise Total..............................Shipping Rates
$ 0.01 - 25.00 ............................................. $ 4
$ 25.01 - 50.00 ........................................... $ 5
$ 50.01 - 99.00 ........................................... $ 7
Over 99.01 ..................................... *see hearing aid & express options rates
US MAINLAND 48 STATES -- HEARING AIDS & EXPRESS OPTIONS
Service Option..............................Shipping Rates
FedEx Ground ............................................. $ 9.95
USPS Priority / FedEx 2nd Day...................... $ 13
FedEx Next Business Day............................. $ 20
FedEx Saturday Express............................... $ 25
*FedEx services to street addresses only, no PO Boxes.
**Next Day & Saturday Express are not available to all areas. Please check http://www.fedex.com/ for more information.
US HAWAII / ALASKA -- ACCESSORIES
Merchandise Total..............................Shipping Rates
$ 0.01 - 25.00 ............................................. $ 4
$ 25.01 - 50.00 ........................................... $ 5
$ 50.01 - 99.00 ........................................... $ 7
Over 99.01 ..................................... *see HI/AK hearing aid & express options rates
US HAWAII / ALASKA -- HEARING AIDS & EXPRESS OPTIONS
Service Option..............................Shipping Rates
USPS Priority ............................................ $ 13
FedEx 2nd Day ............................................ $ 35
*FedEx service to street addresses only, no PO Boxes.
**FedEx Ground, Next Day & Express Saturday are not available. Please check http://www.fedex.com/ for more information.
US MILITARY APO/FPO -- ACCESSORIES
Merchandise Total..............................Shipping Rates
$ 0.01 - 25.00 ............................................. $ 4
$ 25.01 - 50.00 ........................................... $ 5
$ 50.01 - 99.00 ........................................... $ 7
Over 99.01 ..................................... *see hearing aid & express options rates
US MILITARY APO/FPO -- HEARING AIDS & EXPRESS OPTIONS
Merchandise Total..............................Shipping Rates
USPS 1st Class .............................................. $ FREE (Hearing Aids Only)
USPS Priority ................................................... $ 13
*"Estimated Transit Times" must be extended due to remote deployment locations.
US TERRITORIES -- ALL PRODUCTS
Service Option..............................Shipping Rates
USPS Priority ............................................ $ 13
FedEx International .................................... $ 35
*FedEx services to street addresses only, no PO Boxes.
Please check http://www.fedex.com/ for more information.
CANADA -- ACCESSORIES
Service Option..............................Shipping Rates
USPS International 1st Class .................... $ 9.95
USPS Global Priority.................................... $ 25
USPS Global Express ................................. $ 45
FedEx International ..................................... * call/email for quote
CANADA -- HEARING AIDS
Service Option..............................Shipping Rates
USPS Global Priority.................................... $ 25
USPS Global Express ................................. $ 45
FedEx International ..................................... * call/email for quote
OTHER COUNTRIES -- ALL PRODUCTS
Service Option..............................Shipping Rates
USPS Global Express ................................. $ 45
FedEx International ..................................... * call/email for quote
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Why can't I see your shipping rates before I order? (Back to Top)
You can pick and choose shipping rates in the second step of checkout process. After you enter your billing and shipping information in Step 1, you will be brought to the shipping rate selector which is Step 2. Why do we do it this way? Shipping rates all depend upon where the package is being shipped and is also based on your merchandise total, so we need that information prior to calculating your shipping options.
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How can you program a hearing aid for someone when they order online or through the mail? (Back to Top)
We have been dispensing hearing aids for the past nearly 50 years primarily through the mail.........directly to the user. This is definitely a viable method of fitting a person. I know the common thinking is that you have to go to an ear doctor (and actually we do recommend that a person see an ear doctor to be sure the problem is not earwax or some other medical condition). However, you should be aware that many ENT''s have audiologists either on staff or that they work with who are standing by to sell the patient a hearing aid. No announcement is made about the fact that seeing the ENT is a Dr./patient session. When a person gets fitted for a hearing aid, the client is now becomes a consumer of an electronic device and has many choices other than just the doctor''s office to obtain hearing instruments.
The instruments we dispense are name brand aids made by mfgrs like Siemens, Starkey, GN ReSound, Oticon, Rexton, Widex, Phonak, etc.
Proceeding by mail is a very proven and viable method of getting a hearing aid, and it will save you even more. But the bottom line is that when you get the aid, you'll have a 45 day trial (or more if needed) to be sure you like everything about the aid....its fit, and its benefit for your hearing problems. If you like it, you can keep it. If not, you can certainly return it, no problem.
For many of the current hearing aids on the market, we do need a copy of your most recent hearing test for both recommending appropriate products as well as programming the units to your particular hearing loss. The majority of the products we dispense are digital programmable instruments, and we are very adept at programming a variety of brands. The numbers run about like this: roughly 75% of the customers for whom we provide programmable aids find that the aids are programmed right on target the very first time out. So, about 25% of our programmable aid customers might need some tweaking (reprogramming) once they''ve had a chance to wear the aid around awhile. They then communicate to us what they''d like to have changed with their aid(s). Based upon that, the customer sends it in and we do a reprogram of the aid. Usually it''s just a little bit of fine tuning. And about 9 out of 10 then find that just that one reprogramming effort does the job. There are very few who need more than one trip back for this. So the numbers are very good in your favor that we would be able to get the aid programmed in an excellent manner with a minimum of "hassle."
But, since we do sell brand name aids, sometimes our customers do elect to go to a local office to have their aid reprogrammed. There's nothing wrong with that method either. You might have to pay a local person $50 or so to do it, but you'll still be many hundreds, if not thousands of dollars ahead by purchasing through Lloyds. We could help you find an office to work with if you don''t have a cooperative local hearing aid provider.
I hope this has been of some help in answering your questions. You can give us a call @ 1-800-323-4212 and talk to one of our dispensers to review things as well. Many questions can be covered in a conversation and perhaps you will get a better idea of who we are and how this can all be accomplished. I can promise you we will do everything possible to help you hear better again.
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How to retube a custom earmold with Curved Tubing... (Back to Top)
Curved tubing is designed to feed directly into your earmold without the need for an extra "L"-shaped adapter in the earmold because the tubing is pre-curved. Curved tubing should not be used to replace Straight Tubing, and generally Curved Tubing is used for most hard plastic earmolds and occasionally in some JB1000 soft earmolds, though the majority of JB1000 soft earmolds use the "L"-shaped adapter which utilizes Straight Tubing.
Custom earmold tubing is a critical element of a person's hearing system. Tubing should be replaced at least once a year, otherwise it gets very hard and brittle and can develop cracks which can cause feedback.
To get the old tubing out of your earmold, an easy way to loosen things up is by heating up a cup of hot water to a temperature like a piping hot cup of coffee. Place the earmold (of course disconnected from the BTE) and tubing in the water....let it soak for about 5 minutes. This will heat up the mold and loosen up all the old glue holding the old tubing in place. You can then pull out the old tubing much more easily.
Next, clean out that hole well. I find using a drill bit in your fingers is a good tool for this. Just twist it around and it will pull out bits of old glue and plastic. Don't attach it to an electric drill....you don't want to be drilling out a whole new hole accidentally.
If you have a hard plastic mold, then you'll want to apply some nail poish remover (the stuff WITH acetone, none of the acetone-free or aloe vera removers) to the part of the new tubing that will go inside the custom earmold. This nail polish remover acts as a very good glue. If you have the JB1000 soft mold with curved tubing, then you'll want to use model airplane glue instead...this can be purchased easily at many hobby stores that carry model kits. Acentone doesn't bond with the soft material. Next, be sure you have the tubing lined up right when you insert it so it goes up to the right direction to attach it back up to the hearing aid once it dries. Let the bonder dry, then trim the tubing to the proper length and you should have it.
It's as easy as that. If you need any further assistance, you can always give us a call and we'll be happy to assist.
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How to retube a custom earmold with Straight Tubing... (Back to Top)
Tubing is the connector piece between a Custom Earmold and a Behind-The-Ear hearing aid. It's the part that carries the sound out of a BTE aid down into a person's ear canal. Straight tubing is designed to work in conjunction with a special "L"-shaped adapter which is attached to the earmold (called a 119 elbow). Straight tubing should not be used to replace Curved Tubing, and again can only be used in conjunction with the "L"-shaped adapter.
Custom earmold tubing is a critical element of a person's hearing system. Straight tubing should be replaced at least once a year, otherwise it gets very hard and brittle and can develop cracks which can cause feedback.
It is easy to replace your own tubing. Separate the earpiece and tubing from your hearing aid (if the old tubing is really old and stuck on very tight, heat the tubing with a hair dryer - low heat - for a minute or two to soften it up). Once it's pliable, you should be able to disconnect the tube from both the hearing aid's earhook and the "L"-shaped adapter attached to your earpiece. Be careful that you don't pull the "L"-shaped adapter out of the earmold, but if this happens you can reattach the adapter to your earmold and secure it with a small dab of silicone glue (available at most craft or hobby stores). Then you install the new tubing and cut to the proper length.
Sometimes it can be difficult to put the new tubing on the adapter and/or your BTE's earhook because the diameter of the tube just doesn't want to open up far enough. To expand the tubing, you can use a sharpened pencil and your hairdryer again. Place the tubing over the end of the sharpened pencil, then heat it with the hairdryer. The tubing should become flexible enough for you to open it up a bit more by shaping it to the pointed end of the pencil. You can do the same thing on both ends in case you have difficulty attaching anything.
It's as easy as that. If you need any further assistance, you can always give us a call and we'll be happy to assist.
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