So I had an interesting story by a patient of mine. I dispensed his first set of hearing aids from me in 2006 and he wore them faithfully until they died for good in 2013. He got his second set that he does very well with. In 2012 though he referred a friend to our office (Much appreciated Don!) with her son in tow. They were very concerned with the price of the hearing aids. They found a set of hearing aids by a hearing aid dealer here in town that were $200 less than we were but with less abilities and battery contract that we offered for free, meaning that all things in the service or batteries made it a wash, not to mention that she would have a Doctor of Audiology fit her hearing aids versus a dealer here in Tulsa.
He saw her in church the other day and she lamented her choice in not coming to me almost two years ago. We all have choices. I once purchased a 1997 Dodge Intrepid because I loved the look of it from a dealership in Denver that went by the moniker “Dealin’ Doug” with his diamond rings glinting in the camera. I should have listened to God at the time who was trying to get my attention to NOT purchase that car. I accidently slammed my wife’s fingers in the car door cleaning out the old one (she was fine a few days later) and didn’t listen to the warranty discussion. I didn’t find out until a year later that they created the born on date when they purchased the vehicle versus when I had. Five massive problems later and only 28000 miles in less than three years with a car that was out of warranty, I suck thousands into that car.
Why do I tell you that story? Not to beat up Dodge as a company but to realize that the choices are in front of us. If you walked into a place for help with your hearing and your senses are telling you that trust isn’t there with this place (or it sounds too good to be true)? Maybe it is. Hearing aids aren’t something that you drive up and get your order and leave with your “happy meal” five minutes later. This is a process of better hearing. Don’t be fooled by this process because the hearing aid dealers struggle in adjusting the aids with the complexity that a Doctor of Audiology can accomplish when we focus on the hearing technology as we have.