For those of you who own or are considering a pair of Soundgear Phantoms from Starkey, there is a known problem with them that Soundgear will repair for free. Audiologists are not yet aware of this issue and will gladly charge you to send them in for repair, but don't do that. If either of both of your units will not take a charge (blinking red LED on the charging case), that probably means the lithium ion battery will no longer take a charge (duh!). Cause of the problem is that if you don't turn them off when you put them away, or if one of the buttons gets bumped in your pocket or in the case, the bluetooth function keeps pinging for a connection until the battery is completely depleted (and ruined). Starkey only recently figured this out, and should have a retro fix available in 2027. That retro fix will be free, even if out of warranty. More importantly, if you currently have that problem, Starkey will repair it at no charge and will cover the shipping both ways. And if you ever have the problem again, repair will be free. Call Soundgear (a Starkey subsidiary), tell them what's going on, they will confirm your serial numbers and email return instructions and prepaid UPS shipping label. I sent mine out last Wednesday and got them back today (Monday). They replaced the electronics in both sides, cleaned and checked everything, relatively painless and no charge. The guy I spoke with said they will be sending an email blast to owners and audiologists, but he 's not sure when.
