Steve,
My TransEar is almost a year and ½ old now, and I'm extremely pleased. Like Katie said, it looks somewhat similar to a "regular" (air conduction) hearing aid. But the behind-the-ear piece feeds a wire down to the ear, rather than a hollow tube, and that powers the vibrator inside your ear (you won't notice the vibration at all if it's fit right). That in turn transmits through the skull to the good ear, where it's picked up by the cochlea on that side. You won't get any directionality, but you'll be able to understand people in a group better, and background noises like air conditioners, etc., won't be nearly as bothersome as without without it.
Anybody who quoted you $15,000 is completely ripping you off. I was quoted $3000 + the fee for the mold, but was able to get 10% knocked off that (and continued to hear about that for the remainder of the first year - almost made it worth paying the extra $300 just to not be reminded of what they did for me, almost as if to say I shouldn't expect 100% service afterward). Most everyone else here in the forum seems to have paid in the neighborhood of $3000 or just a bit less.
If your audiologist isn't experienced with the TransEar (and many still are not - some don't even know about it), make sure you like your audiologist, that s/he is willing to patiently take some time to listen and also explain, and that s/he is quite willing to work WITH Ear Technology (the TransEar company) in the early days and weeks after you get yours (if you do). The Ear Tech. people are fantastic in trying to make each device work for each patient, and are both helpful and cheerful. Unfortunately, my audiologist got angry when she learned I'd called the company about a problem (just a basic question that I didn't think she'd be able to answer since she was new to them also). And though one of the Ear Technology people said she'd be happy to talk her through re-programming the TransEar early on, my audiologist refused and did it on her own (very unsuccessfully). I came very close, several times, to just turning it back and eating the cost of the mold but recoup my TransEar investment. But I'm very happy I stayed with it - mainly thanks to outstanding customer service by the company (which shouldn't have even had to be the case - the audiologist should have been a decent interface between patient and company). Ironically, after going through multiple broken wires, and even a broken or loose plug in the first year, I've had zero problems for way over 6 months - probably more like 8-9 months. I can't help but wonder if the broken wires were a result of the frequent pulling/pushing when I had to have all the reprogramming done so many times because of the audiologist's difficulty in doing so.
Bottom line: the device is great, just make sure you get a good audiologist willing to work with both you and Ear Technology. I would personally love spending a fraction of the cost of a BAHA with nothing permanently implanted in my skull and get nearly the same bone conduction (not quite as good, I'm sure, but well worth it). And don't be worried about it being a "new" device. There are enough of "us" out here now that the company has worked out most of the initial kinks to be expected with a new product. I'm coming up on 2 years of SSD in a month, and have had my TransEar 18 of those months, and wouldn't take the money back now for the device for anything.
Chris
P.S. A good friend who's a PhD audiologist told me he's never done a BAHA. While there are certainly those who'd disagree with him and who've had good experiences with them, he does not like the idea of drilling into the skull and permanently implanting the anchor for the device. He first suggested a CROS device for me (with which he's had a lot of experience). But I'm very happy having a device only in my "dead" ear, with my "good" ear completely open. He's now learning about the TransEar. I'd have had him do it if he didn't live a 5 hour drive away - almost wish I had now, looking back.
