Embrace Hearing

The customer service with Embrace was great but I had to send the hearing aids back three times. The first time I sent it back, they didn’t correct the problem. So, I had to send them back again and they had to fix it. Then they had to send them back to Embrace to reprogram. The two times I sent it back, it got sent back to the original manufacturer for a problem and when I did, they FedEx-ed everything so it was a one day process. When I dealt with Embrace and had to come back from there, it went to US Postal Service and it took several days. So, they need to consider the fact that you’re out of hearing aids for several days. If you do next day, it’s better. The hearing aids have been in the mail longer than I’ve had them in my head but I’m not complaining about the customer service because they’ve been in contact with me every step of the way.

Right now, I’m trying to get used to hearing sounds again and my left ear is worse than my right ear. I have tinnitus where I have ringing in my ear, so they were dealing with that and we’ve been adjusting the volume up on my left ear, which is why I have them now. So, I’ve been wearing them probably about a week now since I got them back and so far, they seem to be good. I'm hoping they got it squared away.

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.

I got the medium hearing aid from Embrace but I don't use it all the time. I took too hard the fact that a hearing aid doesn't give you perfect hearing, but it helps. When I wore it to a restaurant, it gave me some difficulty because the background noise was loud, and it tended to override the voices of the people at the table. That may be because I have a simpler model that doesn't really allow all the fancy accommodations. And I also hadn't bought anything with the view to be comfortable in large groups. I wanted something to be comfortable in small groups.

It took me a while also to become adept at putting them in. It was a little difficult, and my ears would hurt or itch or feel very uncomfortable. But after a while, that settled in. And now, I'm pretty good at putting them in. When I wear them, the hearing is quite more agreeable. I find a significant difference, and I hear considerably better with them on than off. I'm quite pleased with them. I have recommended the hearing aid to a number of people.

A co-worker of mine did demo a set from a private doctor and they were gonna try and get him for the same thing, $7,000. He wound up going to Costco and said that pair was about the same price as what Embrace is and it's just as good as the $6,000 pair they were trying to push on him. Embrace Hearing aids are fine. One of the best features I like is this Bluetooth thing. I work around a lot of noisy equipment and I put these in my ear, phone would be in my pocket and I don't have it on vibrate.