Thinking of buying hearing aids online?
Please read this guide carefully before finalising your online hearing aid purchase decision
There's a huge difference between actually buying your hearing aids from an online hearing aid business and buying them from a locally-based business with an online presence such as Value Hearing and Tinnitus Solutions. It is very important not to confuse the two, as one runs their entire business online without any face to face contact, while the other, like Value Hearing, uses the web to promote their hearing services and hearing aids, while providing hearing aids in a responsible face -to- face manner.
The internet is a great way to find information about a particular business or product and purchasing online can also lead to significant savings in many instances. When it comes to medical devices such as hearing aids however, most professional and medical associations would highly discourage the online purchase of such devices. The reason for this is NOT to protect their own interests, but to protect your health and safety as medical products such as hearing aids are often only as good as the fitter's skills and experience. These skills and experience mean nothing if you do not have the client sitting in front of you as you cannot get a proper feel and view of the clients needs and abilities. Without these skills and experience, these expensive devices can cause more harm than good.
On-line hearing aid businesses not only have a website, they sell and deliver hearing aids without that essential face-to-face contact. Value Hearing and Tinnitus Solutions, by contrast, is a bricks-and-mortar business offering a real service that also has an internet presence.
Now you might be tempted by the low prices offered by the online businesses, their promise of a much better deal than your local audiologist can offer and the convenience of shopping from home, but there are a few things you really need to consider.
Request our low hearing aids prices here.
1. When you buy online, you might have no protection
When considering to buy anything including hearing aids online you need to be very careful as you might find you have no protection or recourse when something goes wrong. Make sure the business at least has a business registration number (BN), Australian Company Number (ACN) or Australian business number (ABN) listed somewhere on the website. If not you might find, that if it is ever time to take action to get a serious issue resolved, you don't really even know who the issue is with! You can check if a business has one of these numbers if it is not listed on the website (usually located in their contact us section) by visiting www.abr.gov.au and searching their name. Not all businesses need an ABN to operate so you might wish to visit your local consumer protection website and search for their business name there.
2. Each person's ears, lifestyle and health related issues are different
Hearing loss and the way it impacts on your life is a very personal and individualised condition. As such the correct hearing aid for your needs also needs to be evaluated in a very individualised approach. There's just no way someone who's never met you face-to-face can judge such vital factors as your dexterity, vision, memory or lifestyle – all of which are vitally important to successfully fitting your hearing aids.
Each ear shape is unique with its own natural ear canal resonance which needs to be measured and compensated for when fitting a hearing aid for the best result when listening to speech. The audiologist or audiometrist also needs to measure the hearing aid's output at your eardrum to ensure it is meeting your prescription. Without these measure a fitting is only more or less in the ball park about 30% of the time and you are likely to never get full benefit from your investment.
We take great care and use the very latest face-to-face fitting and real ear verification techniques when you come to see us in our office for a hearing aid fitting. This is impossible to do when a hearing aid is supplied online, meaning you are very likely to have a less than optimal hearing aid fitting.
3. Most hearing aid manufacturers in Australia don't supply to online resellers or support online bought hearing aids
Most Hearing aid manufacturers in Australia have very stringent polices against selling hearing aids online and are unlikely to provide a warranty for them despite the online provider's promises.
You can check to see if this is the case by contacting the Australian branch of the hearing aid manufacturer to see if they supply Australian versions of the product you're interested in to the online provider you're considering.
Like most bricks-and-mortar clinics, we only supply new hearing aids with Australian based distibutors that come with the full manufacturer's warranty and support.
4. Audiologists and Audiometrists are unlikely to support or adjust online hearing aids
Most audiologists or audiometrists won't repair, support or adjust hearing aids you've bought online. If they do it could cost you as much as $1800 per ear. Sometime they can't even adjust the hearing aids bought online as the software and hardware to do so is not readily available in Australia or the hearing aid is not compatible with the Australian version of the fitting software.
Repairs or even simple adjustments could take weeks as your hearing aids have to travel through the postal system and there's no guarantee the work will be satisfactory without you being there to talk to the fitter and provide real time feedback.
Hearing aids bought through a bricks-and-mortar clinic, by comparison, can be adjusted for a small fee at any clinic dealing with that hearing aid brand. We offer you up to three years of free adjustments on any hearing aid purchased from us.
5. If you buy hearing aids internationally you miss out on lots of rebates
In Australia there are rebates which help reduce the cost of buying hearing aids, but only if the have been bought locally. Hearing aids also carry no GST so there is not a GST saving to be had from buying from overseas.
Rebates that can be used towards hearing aids include rebates from your private health insurance of up to a a couple of thousand dollars in some cases. You need to speak to your own private health insurer to determine your benefit.
Another significant rebate is a 20% tax rebate on medical expenses exceeding the $2000 out of pocket expenses threshold. Speak to an accountant to see how this could help you. These rebates can be significant and offset any savings to be had from buying hearing aids online, while offering the peace of mind of an Australian Warranty, the full benefit of professionally fitted hearing aids and the knowledge that you are supporting the Australian economy.
6. Do you know who you are dealing with?
It's easy to make an online hearing aid business appear larger than it is by using a virtual office to handle mailing and receptionist work, so when you buy your hearing aids online that impressive looking company you bought them from may simply vanish when you need them.
When you deal with us there's no doubt that you're dealing with a substantial business with actual street addresses and actual people seeing you in real offices.
7. ..... And now for something completely different:
Some online providers lure you with the promise of one brand before offering you something completely different. Their aim is to make you call to persuade you that another brand is better suited to you. This is often quite evident it they list a hearing aid and state Call Us! or something similar.
We make it easy to get a free hearing aid quote and do not employ such unethical techniques
8. Can you verify their qualifications?
It's impossible to verify the qualifications of an audiologist online – you might as well be “fitted” by a receptionist in India using the manufacturer's software to calculate a highly inaccurate “average” fitting for your hearing loss.
Online companies claiming to have Australian audiologists involved should be treated with skepticism as it's a breach of Audiology Australia's ethics to supply hearing aids without face-to-face contact.
9. Beware of “special software” or “- web pages”
Some online providers promise “special software”, questionnaires or impressive looking web pages to help you find the best hearing aid, but a close examination shows them up as electronic smoke and mirrors. You can test this by printing out the first set of “results” then hitting the back button and completing the questionnaire again with a completely different set of responses – you'll probably be offered the same hearing aids!
No simple computer algorithm can replace the years of training, insight, experience and continued professional training you'll get from a face-to-face consultation with a certified hearing professional from Value Hearing and Tinnitus Solutions. Most of these websites also do not take into account test results from the latest hearing assessment techniques we employ to pin point what level of technology is most suited to your hearing loss.
10. Very cheap hearing aids aren't worth the money
Reputable hearing aid manufacturers don't sell very cheap hearing aids, so any hearing aid costing only a few hundred dollars will be well below the Office of Hearing Services' specifications for the most basic hearing aids supplied to Australian pensioners. You're also unlikely to find anyone willing to support them in Australia.
Some webpages promise premium technology at low prices with the option of self programming. If you really look at these hearing aids in detail they are no better than some of the most basic hearing aids available from your local audiologist, sometimes at even lower prices locally. On top of that they do not tend to be from the best hearing aid brands at all, but rather a generic hearing aid using very old technology.
We would also not recommend self programming as hearing loss and hearing aids are complex issues that audiologists get years of training in, and even then don't always get right. So how could you expect someone knowing next to nothing on the subject to obtain a beneficial and safe hearing aid fitting?
11. All potential issues take much longer to resolve
When dealing with an online hearing aid business, any repairs, no matter how small take much longer to resolve. Even a simple hearing aid adjustment or simple cleaning that would have taken 10 minutes in a local clinic could take two weeks in back and forth postage to get it resolved. On top of this major inconvenience, you are also required to pay at least the postage to the company in the first place, costing you more in the long run than you might have bargained for.
If you choose a local clinic, you can often simply walk in or call for an appointment to get the majority of issues dealt with within minutes rather than weeks. On top of this you can tell the audiologist or audiometrist straight away whether the adjustment is suitable. When dealing online, an incorrect adjustment, which is more likely as you are not present to give your feedback, could result in more expense and more wasted time.
12. Make sure you have enough time to return the hearing aid for a refund if you are unhappy.
Some hearing aid providers might offer no or limited money back guarantee on your hearing aid purchase if dissatisfied. You have to be careful that you are getting sufficient time to really try and get used to the hearing aids, while still allowing sufficient time to get the hearing aids back to the supplier. You also have to consider that it takes at least a month to really get used to hearing aids and that people often go through what is called a honeymoon period in the first month. After this honeymoon period is over the initial wow factor dissappears and only then do you get a real idea whether or not a particular hearing aid is truly the right one for you.
We could recommend at least 45 days money back guarantee so that you have enought time to try the hearing aids, get used to them and have an opportunity to return them in time if you need to. Value Hearing & Tinnitus Solutions actually offer 60 day money back guarantee to all our clients in order to ensure that get true benefit.
13. Avoid the traps and pitfalls!
There are a lot of traps and pitfalls to buying hearing aids online and a lot of unscrupulous businesses targeting vulnerable people out there. That money saving bargain may just turn out to be one of the most frustratingly expensive purchases you've ever made.
So what do I do if I can't afford hearing aids?
Well perhaps you can! There's a massive range in hearing aid prices and it pays to shop around for your best local prices.
CHOICE magazine recommends this in their July 2006 edition:
http://www.choice.com.au/Reviews-and-Tests/Food-and-Health/General-health/Conditions/Hearing-aids/Page/Hearing%20aids.aspx
Value Hearing and Tinnitus Solutions strive to offer Australia's lowest prices on quality hearing aids supplied in a face-to-face manner. We'll strive to beat your written local quotes from other bricks-and-mortar suppliers*. Get a Free Quote here.
* Conditions: The competitive supplier must be local to you- .i.e within a 50 km radius from your home. We will offer you the lower quote under the same terms and conditions as it would have been supplied by the competitor who's quote we are beating.