Dodero Hearing Center

Review: I am back in Spain suffering from inadequate hearing and completely disappointed in my inferior service with you. You have left me without normal hearing or even hope of having any adequate hearing as a result of the $4000 spent to achieve better hearing with you. I assumed you were a professional with the skill needed to aid those needing expert advice. You seemed to have the top hearing service Santa Barbara and I had no warning that you couldn’t achieve success in aiding my hearing problems as you stated, I gave you warning of my problems and history with infections and past experiences with your past partner, Dr. Busby when had I lived in Santa Barbara. Previously. I have suffered for two years now of inadequate hearing since first coming to see you, feeling that it was the time to get “it fixed” while back in Santa Barbara.

After fitting the new Oticon hearing aid I needed to return to Spain. After a short time there however the aid proved not right and I had to stop wearing it and use my old hearing aid. I judged that I would get more help when I returned the following winter to Santa Barbara and have more necessary adjustments made as you led me to believe. .

Upon my return to Santa Barbara last winter you were not able to be in the office so I saw Ms. Leone who was your substitute. After a couple of meetings she finally told me that there were no further adjustments that would ever make this hearing aid work for me because it was not strong enough. She suggested I go to an MD who could fit me with a super strong hearing device which would cost me at least a couple thousand dollars more. Also that there would be no credits to me for the money already spent even for the extra devices I had bought for hearing on the telephone. TV and in the lecture halls of public buildings which were especially wired for hearing.

I surely feel that I deserve some sort of benefits. These devices were several hundred dollars each and only work with the Otican hearing aid

I am back in Spain now with no use of the telephone since I cannot he, alone in the countryside with no one to help me with my inadequate hearing. Life is very very difficult for me now and I have no way to get help with a new hearing aid until I am able to return to the US again. I also found that the softwear to adjust this hearing aid was blocked and no one else could have adjusted it

Somehow this is all very wrong and a total injustice to people with disabilities – I am appealing to the Revdex.com in Santa Barbara for this reason.

Sincerely,

S[redacted]Desired Settlement: Replace with a new hearing device.

Business

Response:

In response to a complaint sent on 05/26/2015, the following is an accurate account of this case. As a note of importance, in the thirty five plus years I have been providing hearing health care to our community, this is the first complaint I have had to respond to from the Revdex.com. This is a very complex case and I will do my best to clarify the specifics. The patient has an underlying medical ear condition which creates large fluctuations in her hearing acuity and word discrimination. She was initially seen in my office on 04/04/2012. Prior to being fit with a new left hearing aid on 08/06/2013, the patient was medically cleared by the House Clinic, Los Angeles, on 07/22/2013. Because of her chronic hearing condition her hearing tests show a fluctuation from a moderate hearing loss in her left ear to a profound loss. She has been fitted with the latest Bluetoothtechnology to maximize her hearing in theaters and tv. Because of the occurrence of another ear infection and as a result of another further decrease in hearing acuity, the patient saw Dr. Armin Alavi, ENT for a recent consult and hearing test on 03/03/2015. His test results show a continued severe to profound decrease in hearing and word understanding. The patient has been seen over a dozen times in our office, has had three medical consults by otolaryngologists and six hearing tests. On 02/13/2015, we have an email from the patient stating how much better she was hearing since her last visit to our office. On 04/02/2015, the patient was again seen in our office with the hearing test from Dr. Alavi’s office. A possible solution was offered to the patient at this time. The solution would provide more power for her current hearing aid without having to purchase a new one. We were going to rush the order so it would arrive by 04/18/2015. Her last remark tous was that she was leaving for Spain in a few days and was not able to accommodate us in her schedule. In summary, we have done all that we can possibly do to give this patient the best possible hearing she can have. We have no control of her chronic ear condition and fluctuating hearing loss. The ‘no cost’ offer made to her on 04/18/2015 will remain until August 31st, 2015. However, because of the condition of her hearing loss as stated above, the patient may still need to purchase a stronger hearing aid. This will be our last attempt to maximize her hearing. As you can see, as an office, we have done all that we could do using a multidisciplinary approach including multiple medical consults, tests, and follow-ups. If the patient desires to make an appointment for the aforementioned, is important that we have ample time to see her before leaving the country. Sincerely,D[redacted]