Embrace Hearing

I was wanting to get the hearing aids during the 15% off but I ran into problems getting a hearing test scheduled and then getting the results of the hearing test. It took me about a month to get the hearing test to Embrace. But they were very patient. Afterwards, I had a question on getting the Bluetooth to work and Tim, the customer service rep, took me through that. It was on a Saturday too. So all in all, I’ve been very satisfied with customer service. They basically filled me with kindness.

I wear the hearing aids everyday for most of the waking hours and I’m very pleased. I really like the way that the Bluetooth works with my mobile phone. I only have to press one button and I get to talk on the phone and the reception is very clear. It’s great. I also bought the TV plug-in thing and what I figured out, which wasn’t advertised, is that I can plug that into my computer and listen to my computer without the need for headphones or a speaker. I’ve been listening to music on that and that is really great. But I’d really like to be able to do that on my phone too.

If I could listen, streaming music, from my phone via Bluetooth, that would be pretty cool. The way it is set up though is the app allows you to control the settings via Bluetooth but the only Bluetooth that works with sound in your ear is when you get a phone call. I also listen to audiobooks and I tried listening to an audiobook directly from my phone but I couldn’t do it. Nonetheless, I love my Embrace hearing aids.

The customer service is good and they've tried to deal with everything I've raised as best they could. I just about called them the other day because I have a connection that I like for both my computer and my TV which works most of the time, but sometimes it doesn’t. But if you wait a little while, they’ll work. It hooks straight to my hearing aid, so that I can listen to my computer or the TV and my wife doesn’t hear it. I came to the computer and it wasn’t working. I tried several times. I tried to call them, but their line was busy. Then I put my hand up my ear and I didn't have my hearing aids in so that was why it wasn’t working.

I like the hearing aids and I have been putting them in in the morning and taking them out at night. I got the best that they sold and the big thing is, I don’t pick up the background noise so much. It’s not perfect yet but it’s so much better than my other ones. I’m happy with them as well as my wife, which is a big thing. It’s not that we always hear each other but it’s not just a continual problem anymore either. These hearing aids from Embrace are working for me. To get the quality of hearing aid that I have would cost me more than double if I went in a normal way. Embrace is making a lot of progress in hearing aids so I don’t have a problem with them. My brother has hearing problems that are worse than I do and he doesn’t wear hearing aids. I kinda wanted him to try some of mine and see how he likes them.

I’ve known a lot of people who purchased hearing aids in the last two years. Within six months, every one of them decided not to use the hearing aids any more for a variety of reasons like dealing with feedback and echoes. I was considering not buying a hearing aid but I finally decided. I do a lot of public speaking and a lot of leading of groups and so forth, and I need to be able to hear. I did some investigating on the web, and I contacted three different companies. The man I talked to at Embrace was incredible. I was also leaning towards trying to buy a device from someone in Baltimore where I live so that they could physically look at it and adjust it, and show me how to do things to it.

This fellow had really good answers for why things would work better with Embrace because they have videotapes. They also have people on call, and they don't have to wait three or four weeks for an appointment to watch those videotapes. It was that man’s pleasant intelligence and conscientiousness that led me to make the decision. I was also very interested in the thing that they call a TV connector, and I definitely wanted one of those. I like it because I don't have to turn on the subtitle or the closed captions anymore. I can understand what people are saying. I don't like everything they're saying on the news these days, but I understand it. I also discovered when I read the literature that came with that device a little more that it can also work with my computer.

About three hours ago, I did a webinar online for a bunch of people. I had had difficulty doing that lately since I lost all this hearing. I just plugged that TV connector into my computer, and it went straight in Bluetooth right into my ear. It was fabulous so I ordered a second one. I don't wanna have to keep moving back and forth between my computer and my TV. It is better because I can listen to that television as loud as I wanna listen to it, and nobody else hears it in the house. That’s a feature I didn't have when I was listening with my real ear.

I was skeptical about hearing aids, and I put mine in right after it arrived. We had a little trouble, and this nice guy talked me through. A little bit of wax had gotten on the thing that’s underneath the wax guard, and he showed me how to take that off. He talked me through cleaning it. After that, I stuck it in my ear. I’ve had none of the problems that my friends reported having. It’s not perfect. I have lots of trouble in noisy rooms, still. Also, I drive a cute little convertible, and I have lots of trouble with the wind in my ear. But those aren’t their fault. I’m a skeptic who has become a zealot for my hearing aid.

About three weeks after I had fallen in love with my hearing aid, I had to fly to a conference where I was giving a paper in Texas, and on the way there, I fell asleep on the plane. We landed and I went to the rental agency, got a car and drove to my hotel room only to discover that I didn't any longer have my hearing aid. It apparently fell off in the plane and I didn't even notice it. I came home and immediately bought a second one. That’s the one I’m now in love with. In fact, I like this one better. It comes with a little wire thing that you’re supposed to curl up in your ear, and you use that to pull it out of your ear. It’s different from the thing that’s connected to the hearing aid itself. With my first one, that little wire thing wouldn’t stay in my ear.

My professional life was becoming more and more difficult before I got this hearing aid. Also, my wife doesn't get mad at me because I can hear her. Embrace Hearing perhaps saved my marriage. The only thing is I don't like the picture of the woman that comes up while the app is coming up on the phone. It’s sexist. I don't know why you have to put a beautiful woman on there. When you open the little app on your phone, it takes a while for the thing to load, and while it’s waiting to load, they have a blonde woman in a red dress leaning up against the side of the wall and that bugs me every time it comes up.

The sales reps were well informed. However, I sent an email and it was slightly incorrect. So, I was scolded by Bran who returned it. He said I shouldn't have sent it there and not to send it there again. They were kind enough to forward it to him but I felt that he was a little rude. At that same time, it said in the instructions that you could ask the right size for the ear portion and I wrote in that same written conversation that the conch lock was not fitting right in my left ear. The gentleman said he would forward me more of those and he would forward me the medium-sized ear portion that goes inside your ear, and that was probably five weeks ago.

We were traveling, so three days ago, I wrote back and said that it has been about at least a month. I didn't know if I should expect those to arrive or if it was lost somewhere in the system. They were attentive when still waiting for me to send my money and then after that, it's kinda like, "Oh, too bad." I wasn’t pleased with that. I've been a little bit disappointed with the service since the purchase but I would recommend Embrace.

I decided to go ahead and I was impressed with the material that I was reading about Embrace on the internet. One of the things that frustrated me though was that it was very hard to find good comparative information on hearing aids. Most people have only had one or two brands of hearing aids in their experience so they either like what they have or they don't but they don't have comparisons. On the other hand, when I called Embrace, I felt like I was getting sound information as opposed to a sales pitch. So that impressed me. They were also considerably less expensive than others and that appealed to me. Embrace operates largely online and their argument is that you pay the $150 to go, have the audiologist check out your hearing and let them know what the audiologist found then they would reprogram the product for you as you need it.

They also said that what often happens is that there's a relatively small amount of money that actually goes into the hearing aid then the prices increase to cover the handling. They also said that you would often find that others would boost that price up. They would tell you you're getting a top-of-the-line hearing aid and therefore it's more expensive. To some extent, that's certainly true. But then the folks are likely to charge you even more and tell you that by paying more, you're getting free service.

There are some people who might greatly benefit by sitting down with a hearing aid technician to walk them through things. But Embrace has online videos showing how to change the batteries and the wax guards, and I'm able to follow the directions. So in my experience, it has all worked the way they have suggested that it should work. So I'm pleased. I paid less than a thousand dollars for my hearing aids and as far as I can tell from talking with other people, they will do just about whatever other people are getting out of theirs.

One of the reasons I was also willing to try Embrace was all of the reviews they had online. They were not all positive but everybody said that the company has been very quick to respond to their questions, and that has been my experience as well. Over the phone, they were certainly helpful in terms of telling me what I might expect. When I called to discuss things, they did a very good job as well. The technical person answered my questions and provided information. I sort of anticipated that at the end of that time, he was gonna turn me back to the sales force or try to push me to order right then but he didn't. He simply told me to get back with them if I had any other questions. So I've been very positively pleased with the relationship.

I've also had emails from them telling me things I might try. I got an email suggesting that because of the way the batteries are designed, if when you first put them in, you take the little tab that covers the battery off and expose it to the air for a few minutes, that will increase the life span of the battery by 25%. And that's certainly in the range of what my experience has been. So that is one example of their follow-up and taking care of me.

In terms of the hearing aids, I think the audiologist was correct. I'm not always sure whether I am benefitting from them or not. But there have been a couple of times that I've seen evidence that they're doing me some good. On Saturday mornings, I ride my bike while my friends are jogging and sometimes, that means that I am behind them rather than with them. Previously, I had found that it was increasingly difficult to keep up with the conversations. But since starting wearing the hearing aids, I've noticed that I'm much more engaged in the conversations. I am probably also more comfortable with the small children when I'm telling stories.

The aids I've got are programmed for hearing in large conference rooms where I want to hear the speaker in front of me and mute the sounds behind me, and I think I can detect the difference. I am more comfortable in those situations when I change the program for that setting. There's also a setting that is supposed to mute road noises and when I tried that on one occasion, I found it easier to listen to the radio. The road noise was significantly less and that was even in a pickup truck with larger than usual tires where the road noise is greater than it would be in a passenger car. The hearing aids are helping me some and in situations that I value having better hearing. I've also been very impressed with how comfortable they are and I've told other people if they start looking for hearing aids, they ought to look at Embrace.

It's the first pair of hearing aids I have and when I first put them on, I'm hearing things that I didn’t even know existed, like the keys juggling in pocket. I have pretty severe hearing loss on a certain sound. It isn’t just an amplifier. I'm about down to 10%, and then all the sounds I could hear fine. But it worked out good. I'll have other people buying from them. Definitely, the price is right and they’re good hearing aids.

I went to a professional audiologist and then two other places, and then the results of those tests were the same. I scanned the results, sent it to Embrace, and I got my hearing aids in seven days. They followed up a couple days later with a telephone call. I had a little bit of an issue with something because the little cover on it was a little too big for my ear canals, and they told me that they could work with me on that. They helped me find the right one that fits. I’ve been really, really pleased with them. I’m 62, and I’m living on a farm so I needed something I can really count on.

There’s been a couple times that I’ve had to call them for different things. If they don’t answer right away, they get back to me in a very short period of time. Their email responses are great. The hearing aids that I have are so intuitive, even more so than the older ones that I had. I don’t even know that I’m wearing them. Embrace is absolutely worth checking it out because there’s something there for everybody that would like to have hearing aids.

From the time I originally ordered the hearing aids, they asked for an audiogram, which we had done by a private audiologist. I sent them the audiogram via email. They programmed the hearing aids and contacted me to tell me all about it. However, they shipped it out with signature waived. I don't know why they did that as it is a very expensive item. The postal service failed to even ring the bell to say that they were making a delivery. They just left the item on the front lobby stairs. They should definitely have somebody signing for an item like that. Fortunately, my mom got home after it was delivered. Also, Embrace's audiologist called up three times, before it was shipped and after it was shipped. Their follow-through was excellent and they made sure the hearing aids were working properly. They also sent a lot of documentation on how to use the hearing aids. Except for the shipping issue, everything else was excellent.

Other people considering Embrace should get an audiogram done in order for the hearing aids to get programmed. It's something the company needs in order to configure the hearing aids because they have different programs for normal speech, music and loud noise. Otherwise, there's no way they can actually set it up properly.