Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 10, 2015/09/28) */ Contact Name and Title: Rebecca W [redacted] Contact Phone: [redacted] Contact Email: [redacted] Consumer Complaint: Case # [redacted] I would like to address Mr [redacted] 's statements in the Revdex.com complaint then the history to follow 1) In response to the original hearing aid complaint: To the best of our efforts we did in good faith work with Mr [redacted] in response to all the issues he stated he was having by replacing these with another style of hearing aid which did give him better sound quality and battery life 2) He stated he was never given a trial period which is never the case as we must abide by state law for a day return policy The Delivery receipt attached shows the patients signature acknowledging the policy 3) At no point in my conversations with Mr [redacted] did I ever tell him that he would just have to wear the hearing aids and deal with it I talked to Mr [redacted] many times and was always willing to listen to him and respond to his needs I explicitly let him know that I was available if he needed additional assistance Having responded to the specific points in Mr [redacted] 's complaint I do think that we did respond and initiated a plan of action at each visit as you will see by the history belowThis has not been the progression of events for a patient but sometimes the expectation of aided hearing is difficult On October 2, Mr [redacted] purchase Prime Plus hearing aids in our Ashland office This was Mr [redacted] 's first set of hearing aids and generally patients have a few weeks of adjustments to get used to the sound in multiple environments In the first few months of having the hearing aids Mr [redacted] 's main complaints is that he needed the hearing aids "turned up" because he still couldn't hear his wifeThis again is to make these adjustments as a new hearing aid wearer full volume is never used as it would be a drastic change In November we changed receivers to see if that would help give him some gain some sound quality and this did help Mr [redacted] came in for his regular scheduled appointment for a clean and check in February and at the time this were going well In March his right hearing aid was sent to the factory for repair to the receiver May 27, Mr [redacted] called our Corporate office and spoke to me about his frustrations with the batteries not lasting as long as he states he had been told He stated that he has tried batteries from various manufacturers and none of them get more than a day or In talking with Mr [redacted] he stated he wears his hearing aids on an average of hours per day and maximum battery life should be 2-days It seems to be more the right hearing aid than the left I discussed these issues with Mr [redacted] and we decided that we would provide Mr [redacted] with free batteries enough to get him to his July appointment and he should only be using Beltone batteries He was instructed to keep a detailed journal of battery usage and any other issues and we would decide at that time to have these hearing aids replaced if the issues persisted He was to call me in the interim if there were any problems On June 16, we sent the hearing aids back to the factory as the problem persisted with low battery life At that time we also told Mr [redacted] that we would provide batteries at half price for the remainder of the time he had his hearing aids The hearing aids were completely remade and settings reconfigured On July 1, Mr [redacted] called me and he stated things really weren't any better as far as sound and he was very frustratedAt this point we decided to exchange his hearing aids for a different style hoping this would resolve sound quality issues and battery usageOn July 3rd we exchanged the hearing aids and scheduled a follow up for the following week On July 10th Mr [redacted] stated that everything at this point was going well with the sound and battery consumption His complaint at this time was that when he takes off his glasses his hearing aids also came off We recommended some techniques to minimize this and he also had his glasses adjusted On August 6th Mr [redacted] was seen by our Audiologist and minor adjustments were made and she counselled and we added a sport lock on his hearing aids to help them stay in his ears March 26, Mr [redacted] came in for regular clean and check Mr [redacted] still has complaints of the hearing aids not staying in his ears This was the last visit to our office until this complaint was filed In summary it is not our intention to have a patient feel as frustrated as Mr [redacted] ; on the flip side we have been responsive in working with him at each visit The practitioner in the Ashland office should be Mr [redacted] initial contact but I did tell Mr [redacted] that he could call me at any time although he shouldn't have to Since I was not aware of the continued issues it makes it difficult to address them It has always been Mr [redacted] intent to hear better and he states that he would rather have the in the ear hearing aids like the original style but with a modification of a receiver in his ear which would be a possible solution I would have to get authorization from Beltone Electronics to make another exchange and will only proceed with this if Mr [redacted] is okay with this resolution Sincerely, Rebecca W [redacted] , Vice President Beltone Audiology and Hearing Care Centers Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 13, 2015/09/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) First of all, a day trial period was NEVER mentioned in any conversationsperiodIt was several months after the days that the original hearing aids were replaced with the same type but, NOTHING changedThen those were replaced with hearing aids that fit behind and outside of the earI would have NEVER consider this type the first place I did complain about these hearing aids about the fitment but, was always given one reason or another why this is how THESE hearing aids work...NOT to my liking at allI had nothing but problems with the fitting from the startI did give time to get adjusted to them but, to no avail, they DIDN'T work for meAt my last appointment, March 15,I finally expressed my thoughts that this type hearing aid WOULDN'T work for meI would NO longer wastes my time coming to any more appointmentsI reached out a couple of times and left messages at the Medina off but, NEVER received any return calls
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 9, 2015/10/21) */ On September 18, Mrs [redacted] called our Cuyahoga Falls Office to make an appointment for a hearing test they were referred by their insurance company BC/BSBoth Mrand Mrs [redacted] were present at the appointment on September 28, Our Audiologist spent hours with the [redacted] 's doing a thorough test and discussed optionsWe verifying insurance benefits provided by the [redacted] 's and it was decided by them that it was time to purchase hearing aidsPer their insurance a medical clearance was needed from their physician which we received the next dayHaving a deposit and physicians clearance it is at this point that we processed the order On October 2, the [redacted] 's brought in Mrs [redacted] 's Sister to be tested (I will not provide her name at this point due to HIPAA regulations unless permission is given) as were told she also had hearing loss and the [redacted] 's were happy with their experience with usWe were unable to test Mrs [redacted] 's sister due to her inability to speak so she could not respond during the testing processIt was as this point the [redacted] 's let the Audiologist know that they wanted to cancel the hearing aids they ordered on September 28thWe asked them to complete the return paperwork so we could process the reimbursement of the deposit minus the non-refundable fee as stated in the signed contract (see attached)It was stated by Mr [redacted] that they wanted to cancel because his wife was going in for surgery and they didn't want to do this right now We understand buyer's remorse and have no problem cancelling the sale per the customer's requestWe also know that we in good faith signed an agreement and must abide by the statues of the law covering our promises to the patientA purchase of hearing aids is not a or minute process so to spend hours with someone for them to say this was "against my perspectives" is disrespectful to our AudiologistThey provided to us their insurance information to verify benefits, they provided their physician's information to get the medical clearance, a contract was signed by both parties and a deposit was given to show good faith for us to process this purchaseThe secretary did not tell the customers that if they did not sign the paperwork they would lose their deposit and this is not company policyThe non-refundable fee was discussed with the Audiologist and he explained it was our right under the contract and initialed by the customer Every customer has the right to change their mind and we respect thatIt is really a shame that they could not have called our company to reconcile this matter internally as this all could have been avoidedAt this point the [redacted] 's have filed a Revdex.com complaint, disputed the transaction with Discover Card and just today we received a letter from the Ohio Attorney General's OfficeIt is not always the fault of the business that a customer changes their mind but in this instance we are the ones being discredited for their actionAt no point did we misrepresented our services or product to the [redacted] 's By law we need to reimburse the customers within days but we have been notified by Discover Card that this charge is in disputeWe do not want these funds returned twice and will not reimburse with an open disputeI have contacted the credit card dispute center and am waiting for a response Either the [redacted] 's can cancel their credit card dispute allowing us to reimburse the deposit or we can wait for dispute process to play out Rebecca W [redacted] Vice President Beltone Audiology and Hearing Care Centers Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 11, 2015/10/23) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Some of Beltone's statements are not trueRobert said our insurance was in their network but, we were told by our group insurance agent, Blue Cross Blue Shield, that Beltone is not in their network, we are not sure which is correctIt did not take hours for ***'s test, etcWe had a letter for a free testRobert of Beltone told us that they would not charge our Discover until [redacted] received her hearing aids [redacted] did not receive Beltone's hearing aidsWhen we noticed Beltone charged our Discover against their statement we were unsure of their credibility and sincerityLater they would not agree with Ohio Law section It is not true that Mary, ***'s sister, could not be tested becaused of her disabilitiesWe decided not to have Mary tested at Beltone at that timeShe was tested my another Audiologist, the technician relayed very well with MaryHer test was completed in about a half hour with the hearing aidsMary responded a lot better wearing her trial hearing aidsThanks, [redacted] Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 19, 2015/11/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) My answers to this case are correctI made the appointment with Beltone to be within our budgetWe were under the impression that our insurance would payBut, later we found that our insurance wouldn't have paid which would have added to our costWhen it was mentioned that I didn't want Beltone, we were told there would be a $charge.Beltone ask us to sign a Discover Card releaseSo, with the charge of $we would only receive $ Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 17, 2015/11/18) */ The [redacted] 's statement that they did not accept our resolution to this dispute leads me to believe I need to clarify the original statement as the patient and her husband are under the impression that we were not going to reimburse all fundsThe course of action in my original statement was that we need the patient to stop the Discover card dispute so we could reimburse them or we would let the credit card dispute run its course uncontested in which case they would get their reimbursement in that mannerAs long as the credit card dispute was active we would not send a separate transaction as it has happened in the past we have reimbursed a customer and then the credit card company takes the money back again thus causing significant work on our part to retrieve the over payment The original statement by us was not to dispute complete reimbursement of the deposit but to defend ourselves against accusations The funds were withdrawn from our account by Discover Card on November 7, in the amount of $reimbursing the customers entire depositI can provide documentation of this transaction from our bank if needed Best Regards,
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 10, 2015/09/28) */ Contact Name and Title: Rebecca W [redacted] Contact Phone: [redacted] Contact Email: [redacted] Consumer Complaint: Case # [redacted] I would like to address Mr [redacted] 's statements in the Revdex.com complaint then the history to follow 1) In response to the original hearing aid complaint: To the best of our efforts we did in good faith work with Mr [redacted] in response to all the issues he stated he was having by replacing these with another style of hearing aid which did give him better sound quality and battery life 2) He stated he was never given a trial period which is never the case as we must abide by state law for a day return policy The Delivery receipt attached shows the patients signature acknowledging the policy 3) At no point in my conversations with Mr [redacted] did I ever tell him that he would just have to wear the hearing aids and deal with it I talked to Mr [redacted] many times and was always willing to listen to him and respond to his needs I explicitly let him know that I was available if he needed additional assistance Having responded to the specific points in Mr [redacted] 's complaint I do think that we did respond and initiated a plan of action at each visit as you will see by the history belowThis has not been the progression of events for a patient but sometimes the expectation of aided hearing is difficult On October 2, Mr [redacted] purchase Prime Plus hearing aids in our Ashland office This was Mr [redacted] 's first set of hearing aids and generally patients have a few weeks of adjustments to get used to the sound in multiple environments In the first few months of having the hearing aids Mr [redacted] 's main complaints is that he needed the hearing aids "turned up" because he still couldn't hear his wifeThis again is to make these adjustments as a new hearing aid wearer full volume is never used as it would be a drastic change In November we changed receivers to see if that would help give him some gain some sound quality and this did help Mr [redacted] came in for his regular scheduled appointment for a clean and check in February and at the time this were going well In March his right hearing aid was sent to the factory for repair to the receiver May 27, Mr [redacted] called our Corporate office and spoke to me about his frustrations with the batteries not lasting as long as he states he had been told He stated that he has tried batteries from various manufacturers and none of them get more than a day or In talking with Mr [redacted] he stated he wears his hearing aids on an average of hours per day and maximum battery life should be 2-days It seems to be more the right hearing aid than the left I discussed these issues with Mr [redacted] and we decided that we would provide Mr [redacted] with free batteries enough to get him to his July appointment and he should only be using Beltone batteries He was instructed to keep a detailed journal of battery usage and any other issues and we would decide at that time to have these hearing aids replaced if the issues persisted He was to call me in the interim if there were any problems On June 16, we sent the hearing aids back to the factory as the problem persisted with low battery life At that time we also told Mr [redacted] that we would provide batteries at half price for the remainder of the time he had his hearing aids The hearing aids were completely remade and settings reconfigured On July 1, Mr [redacted] called me and he stated things really weren't any better as far as sound and he was very frustratedAt this point we decided to exchange his hearing aids for a different style hoping this would resolve sound quality issues and battery usageOn July 3rd we exchanged the hearing aids and scheduled a follow up for the following week On July 10th Mr [redacted] stated that everything at this point was going well with the sound and battery consumption His complaint at this time was that when he takes off his glasses his hearing aids also came off We recommended some techniques to minimize this and he also had his glasses adjusted On August 6th Mr [redacted] was seen by our Audiologist and minor adjustments were made and she counselled and we added a sport lock on his hearing aids to help them stay in his ears March 26, Mr [redacted] came in for regular clean and check Mr [redacted] still has complaints of the hearing aids not staying in his ears This was the last visit to our office until this complaint was filed In summary it is not our intention to have a patient feel as frustrated as Mr [redacted] ; on the flip side we have been responsive in working with him at each visit The practitioner in the Ashland office should be Mr [redacted] initial contact but I did tell Mr [redacted] that he could call me at any time although he shouldn't have to Since I was not aware of the continued issues it makes it difficult to address them It has always been Mr [redacted] intent to hear better and he states that he would rather have the in the ear hearing aids like the original style but with a modification of a receiver in his ear which would be a possible solution I would have to get authorization from Beltone Electronics to make another exchange and will only proceed with this if Mr [redacted] is okay with this resolution Sincerely, Rebecca W [redacted] , Vice President Beltone Audiology and Hearing Care Centers Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 13, 2015/09/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) First of all, a day trial period was NEVER mentioned in any conversationsperiodIt was several months after the days that the original hearing aids were replaced with the same type but, NOTHING changedThen those were replaced with hearing aids that fit behind and outside of the earI would have NEVER consider this type the first place I did complain about these hearing aids about the fitment but, was always given one reason or another why this is how THESE hearing aids work...NOT to my liking at allI had nothing but problems with the fitting from the startI did give time to get adjusted to them but, to no avail, they DIDN'T work for meAt my last appointment, March 15,I finally expressed my thoughts that this type hearing aid WOULDN'T work for meI would NO longer wastes my time coming to any more appointmentsI reached out a couple of times and left messages at the Medina off but, NEVER received any return calls
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 9, 2015/10/21) */ On September 18, Mrs [redacted] called our Cuyahoga Falls Office to make an appointment for a hearing test they were referred by their insurance company BC/BSBoth Mrand Mrs [redacted] were present at the appointment on September 28, Our Audiologist spent hours with the [redacted] 's doing a thorough test and discussed optionsWe verifying insurance benefits provided by the [redacted] 's and it was decided by them that it was time to purchase hearing aidsPer their insurance a medical clearance was needed from their physician which we received the next dayHaving a deposit and physicians clearance it is at this point that we processed the order On October 2, the [redacted] 's brought in Mrs [redacted] 's Sister to be tested (I will not provide her name at this point due to HIPAA regulations unless permission is given) as were told she also had hearing loss and the [redacted] 's were happy with their experience with usWe were unable to test Mrs [redacted] 's sister due to her inability to speak so she could not respond during the testing processIt was as this point the [redacted] 's let the Audiologist know that they wanted to cancel the hearing aids they ordered on September 28thWe asked them to complete the return paperwork so we could process the reimbursement of the deposit minus the non-refundable fee as stated in the signed contract (see attached)It was stated by Mr [redacted] that they wanted to cancel because his wife was going in for surgery and they didn't want to do this right now We understand buyer's remorse and have no problem cancelling the sale per the customer's requestWe also know that we in good faith signed an agreement and must abide by the statues of the law covering our promises to the patientA purchase of hearing aids is not a or minute process so to spend hours with someone for them to say this was "against my perspectives" is disrespectful to our AudiologistThey provided to us their insurance information to verify benefits, they provided their physician's information to get the medical clearance, a contract was signed by both parties and a deposit was given to show good faith for us to process this purchaseThe secretary did not tell the customers that if they did not sign the paperwork they would lose their deposit and this is not company policyThe non-refundable fee was discussed with the Audiologist and he explained it was our right under the contract and initialed by the customer Every customer has the right to change their mind and we respect thatIt is really a shame that they could not have called our company to reconcile this matter internally as this all could have been avoidedAt this point the [redacted] 's have filed a Revdex.com complaint, disputed the transaction with Discover Card and just today we received a letter from the Ohio Attorney General's OfficeIt is not always the fault of the business that a customer changes their mind but in this instance we are the ones being discredited for their actionAt no point did we misrepresented our services or product to the [redacted] 's By law we need to reimburse the customers within days but we have been notified by Discover Card that this charge is in disputeWe do not want these funds returned twice and will not reimburse with an open disputeI have contacted the credit card dispute center and am waiting for a response Either the [redacted] 's can cancel their credit card dispute allowing us to reimburse the deposit or we can wait for dispute process to play out Rebecca W [redacted] Vice President Beltone Audiology and Hearing Care Centers Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 11, 2015/10/23) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Some of Beltone's statements are not trueRobert said our insurance was in their network but, we were told by our group insurance agent, Blue Cross Blue Shield, that Beltone is not in their network, we are not sure which is correctIt did not take hours for ***'s test, etcWe had a letter for a free testRobert of Beltone told us that they would not charge our Discover until [redacted] received her hearing aids [redacted] did not receive Beltone's hearing aidsWhen we noticed Beltone charged our Discover against their statement we were unsure of their credibility and sincerityLater they would not agree with Ohio Law section It is not true that Mary, ***'s sister, could not be tested becaused of her disabilitiesWe decided not to have Mary tested at Beltone at that timeShe was tested my another Audiologist, the technician relayed very well with MaryHer test was completed in about a half hour with the hearing aidsMary responded a lot better wearing her trial hearing aidsThanks, [redacted] Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 19, 2015/11/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) My answers to this case are correctI made the appointment with Beltone to be within our budgetWe were under the impression that our insurance would payBut, later we found that our insurance wouldn't have paid which would have added to our costWhen it was mentioned that I didn't want Beltone, we were told there would be a $charge.Beltone ask us to sign a Discover Card releaseSo, with the charge of $we would only receive $ Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 17, 2015/11/18) */ The [redacted] 's statement that they did not accept our resolution to this dispute leads me to believe I need to clarify the original statement as the patient and her husband are under the impression that we were not going to reimburse all fundsThe course of action in my original statement was that we need the patient to stop the Discover card dispute so we could reimburse them or we would let the credit card dispute run its course uncontested in which case they would get their reimbursement in that mannerAs long as the credit card dispute was active we would not send a separate transaction as it has happened in the past we have reimbursed a customer and then the credit card company takes the money back again thus causing significant work on our part to retrieve the over payment The original statement by us was not to dispute complete reimbursement of the deposit but to defend ourselves against accusations The funds were withdrawn from our account by Discover Card on November 7, in the amount of $reimbursing the customers entire depositI can provide documentation of this transaction from our bank if needed Best Regards,