Hearing Clinics of Virginia

Review: Hearing Clinics of Virginia advertises free programming for hearing aids purchased elsewhere on their website. I was charged $600 for this service and was not aware that I would be charged at all. Also, the hearing aid was only programmed to replace settings on a hearing aid eaten by a dog. I was charged for a programming service that I did not receive.. The settings were already on file as we had purchased the original hearing aids from Hearing Clinics of Virginia and the settings were the same. I was charged twice for the same service.Desired Settlement: I want the $600 refunded to my credit card. The fee is outrageous and the online advertising is false advertising.

Business

Response:

Revdex.com spoke with [redacted] from the business. They advertise free screening. however, any service that is performed may carry a charge. Those services and fees are explained before any amount is charged to a customer. The customer was made aware of the price before it was charged or service was performed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The company actually did not tell me upfront any fees associated with this service to program a hearing aid which is advertised for free on their website. In fact, before [redacted] angrily left without performing this service I was made to pay the $600 fee. I tried to get the charge reversed as my daughter did not want to return to the office after being treated so rudely by the doctor and they would not return my calls. We chose to go to the 2nd appointment because they had not refunded my money. We are dissatisfied with the programming as he never asked her if the programming was acceptable and he just ended the appointment. We have to take them elsewhere at this point because we will not deal with this location again and my child is too uncomfortable to return. We are not satisfied with the programming or the charges associated which were listed as free.

Business

Response:

[redacted], please see below for the response provided to [redacted] The line item on the site could besubject to misinterpretation and has since been removed. Beyond that, thispatient’s situation and the accompanying diagnostics required were highlycomplex, versus being a simple ‘plug-and-play’ reprogram. Our most experienced audiologist spentseveral hours consulting with the patient and her parent, trying to diagnosethe problem with the aids purchased online and repair them, also replacingparts as described below. In hindsight,the ‘reprogramming aid’ pulldown that was used for the invoice should have read‘service fee’, and I have since coached our billing staff accordingly.I can understand the frustration and anger of thisparent. After forty three years as anaudiologist with experience in a physician's private practice, twenty years at[redacted] and eighteen years in my own practice, I have beenfrustrated and angered that parents of young children cannot find insurance orgovernment assistance in paying for hearing aids. I hope that everyone reading this willcontact their state and federal representative and support legislation that isnow in congress to provide support families of children with hearing loss. The frustration that you thought was aboutthe way you purchased the hearing aid for you daughter was really myfrustration that I could not duplicate the performance of the hearing aid thatI had fitted to her with the aid you got online.I was relieved that I was able to diagnose the problem onthe second visit and achieve a good result. My records indicate that you and your daughter were in our office on twooccasions for a period of time that was over one hour. We had to replace a partof the hearing aid that was not appropriate and have guaranteed the part andthe service for the next twelve months.I am sorry about the typographical error on our website thatled you to believe we were able to program any hearing aid for free. I am sure that you would agree that we couldnot stay in business if our patients bought aids online and then came to us forfree programming. Our charge representsthe cost of having the equipment, knowledge and full time staff to make surethat your daughter receives the best care possible and will have access tosupport going forward. Children with hearing loss should have access to safe andeffective hearing aids selected, fitted and supported by people trained at thegraduate level and licensed as audiologists with offices accessible whenproblems occur. Only proper legislationrequiring insurance companies to provide this care will solve thisproblem. In the meantime, we are forcedto charge for our services in order to maintain the level of care that hasserved our community for eighteen years.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]

Regards,

We were never in the office for an hour except in the waiting room or while her hearing was being tested which we also paid for. The hearing aid program plugged in to this set did not work as well and the wiring did not correct the issues and we have to see another audiologist to fix the issues as she will not wear them. You never readjusted any of the settings after you plugged in the settings. I'm not sure why you are lying about this or the length of time we actually were back in the office. My child was uncomfortable with the way she was treated and how we were immediately ushered out of the room before she had a chance to listen to them for even one minute that she did not have a chance to explain they were not working right. You can choose to think you provided a decent service but you are totally wrong. Obviously there was some type of issue going on that caused you to treat us in an unprofessional manner. I was also lied to about the wires being included in the $600 fee. The other audiologist offices I called did inform me that your fee is outrageous by the way. We are in multiple hearing impaired groups and also involved in the ASL community attending weekly lunches. I will be sure to let everyone we know with hearing loss know about your lack of ethics and professionalism. Everywhere I can possibly leave feedback for your business I will. As a business owner I always put the customer first. Most successful businesses do. If you do not provide adequate and professional service you cannot expect happy customers. This experience will not be repeated as we will never come back to your practice. Before you charge excessive fees it is professional and expected to discuss the cost of service. This will help you In the future. But it's your attitude that will keep us away and the fact the programming was unacceptable.