The Pitfalls of “Locked Hearing Aids:” Doug’s Story
With hearing aid dealers popping up on nearly every corner, many patients (and their families) aren’t aware of the common pitfalls they can encounter when making their selection of hearing aid dealer or audiologist.
Doug, a Raleigh resident and patient of Now Hear This®, shares his story:
“I bought my first pair of hearing aids in 2007 from a Starkey dealer in Nashville, TN. A few years later, my wife and I relocated to Raleigh to retire. Soon after, I wasn’t hearing as well as I thought I should, so my physician referred me to Now Hear This®. He had heard they had specialized equipment that could readjust existing hearing aids. Unfortunately, when I went to Now Hear This® in April …show more content…
I called the dealer in Nashville, where I purchased my aids several times before I heard back. This wasted a lot of my time and I felt like I got the run around before I was finally able to convince a Starkey representative to get in touch with Now Hear This® to have my hearing aids unlocked.
As a result, I am pleased to report that Now Hear This®, used its exclusive technology to fine-tune my hearing aids so they are at the peak of where they can go now. They are not perfect, but so much better. The service at Now Hear This® was excellent. When I am ready to purchase new hearing aids, I will absolutely go back to an audiologist at Now Hear This®. They gave me a much more thorough hearing test than what I ever experienced and explained everything in an understandable manner. My advice to others is never to buy a locked hearing aid, and if you do, return to your dealer and demand they unlock …show more content…
Most of the time, patients have no idea their hearing aid is locked until they seek another hearing aid provider.
Furthermore, at national hearing aid chains you will often served by hearing aid dealers, not licensed doctors of audiology. In the state of North Carolina, licensed hearing aid dealers typically only need a high school diploma and minimal on-the-job training to get a license, whereas audiologists have close to a decade of university medical training in all aspects of hearing health diagnostics and treatment.
Aside from physicians, audiologists are the only professionals licensed to diagnose both the type and extent of hearing loss while addressing other hearing health concerns. At Now Hear This®, we never lock hearing aids and we guarantee satisfaction with a money-back refund. If you know someone making a choice on which hearing aid provider or audiologist to see, please encourage them to pursue treatment from a board certified audiologist and never purchase locked hearing
With hearing aid dealers popping up on nearly every corner, many patients (and their families) aren’t aware of the common pitfalls they can encounter when making their selection of hearing aid dealer or audiologist.
Doug, a Raleigh resident and patient of Now Hear This®, shares his story:
“I bought my first pair of hearing aids in 2007 from a Starkey dealer in Nashville, TN. A few years later, my wife and I relocated to Raleigh to retire. Soon after, I wasn’t hearing as well as I thought I should, so my physician referred me to Now Hear This®. He had heard they had specialized equipment that could readjust existing hearing aids. Unfortunately, when I went to Now Hear This® in April …show more content…
I called the dealer in Nashville, where I purchased my aids several times before I heard back. This wasted a lot of my time and I felt like I got the run around before I was finally able to convince a Starkey representative to get in touch with Now Hear This® to have my hearing aids unlocked.
As a result, I am pleased to report that Now Hear This®, used its exclusive technology to fine-tune my hearing aids so they are at the peak of where they can go now. They are not perfect, but so much better. The service at Now Hear This® was excellent. When I am ready to purchase new hearing aids, I will absolutely go back to an audiologist at Now Hear This®. They gave me a much more thorough hearing test than what I ever experienced and explained everything in an understandable manner. My advice to others is never to buy a locked hearing aid, and if you do, return to your dealer and demand they unlock …show more content…
Most of the time, patients have no idea their hearing aid is locked until they seek another hearing aid provider.
Furthermore, at national hearing aid chains you will often served by hearing aid dealers, not licensed doctors of audiology. In the state of North Carolina, licensed hearing aid dealers typically only need a high school diploma and minimal on-the-job training to get a license, whereas audiologists have close to a decade of university medical training in all aspects of hearing health diagnostics and treatment.
Aside from physicians, audiologists are the only professionals licensed to diagnose both the type and extent of hearing loss while addressing other hearing health concerns. At Now Hear This®, we never lock hearing aids and we guarantee satisfaction with a money-back refund. If you know someone making a choice on which hearing aid provider or audiologist to see, please encourage them to pursue treatment from a board certified audiologist and never purchase locked hearing