Beltone practice(s)

Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers
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Well, I got a shock today.

It appears that aside from a network of offices which may or not address warranty issues, Beltone offices are like independent (and, indeed, some, like the one I’ve been to of late, as it has a skilled audiologist, DO handle non-Beltone lines) HA vendors in that if THAT OFFICE (and perhaps even that PERSON) didn’t sell you the aids you need adjustment on, any visit will cost you (unless you happen to have insurance which would pay for it).

After an accommodation which I’d not realized (I was referred by my vendor, who was clearly out of his league regarding my particular needs, as seen in (the VERY long) thread Close to despair after months of audiologists (note: PLURAL!) attempting recovery of music and speech, to a very skilled, multi-line (the owner of all the FL east coast offices allowed her to continue all the other lines, and in fact the company name on the sign outside isn’t Beltone) audiologist’s office and after many almost-weekly visits, have done reasonably well in attacking my particularly gnarly circumstances. But today I was presented with a “put up or shut up” equivalent of a $250/year subscription program if I want to return to that office for further tweaking.

Just wondering: is this standard, or merely a product of the owner of all these branches/outlets? Indeed, my “home” office was put with a previously independent guy, and two other, separate, offices were combined into his. That Vero Beach’s average age is nearly 55, and that’s without considering the substantial influx of snowbirds in the winter, meaning that there are a LOT of hearing aid users in the area doesn’t help. He’s swamped. I used to be fortunate to get in once a month.

But he’s the vendor, and apparently won’t further charge me. Not so much, apparently, any other Beltone office, other than to handle a warranty issue. (I’ve had occasion to do a quickie in/out in other offices when there was an issue with my aids of the time, at no cost, but they were either repair - at a cost - or a warranty issue.)

When we move from this area in less than a year, assuming I can find a Beltone office within a reasonable drive (I know of only one, and it’s over 90 minutes away), will I be paying for each visit, should I need adjustment?

Or is it time for me to figure out how to get the software and a Noahlink and become my own audiologist/technician? My vendor doesn’t have the chops, and when I move, it may be moot, anyway.

Sigh…

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It is common to be charged for services especially if you didn’t buy from that particular business. For specific answers, read your purchase contract. Although Beltone makes fine hearing aids, I think most on the forum would advise against purchasing them because of (I’ll try to be charitable) “variable” business practices.

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And, apparently, I’ve run afoul of them (the “variable” business practices).

I’d never had an issue before, but, on the other hand, also had not had the horrendous experience following my severe ear infection previously, either, which led to the trail shown in the mentioned thread.

So, imputed, these “variable business practices” amount to some branches being very flexible, and others looking more like any independent I might pop into when I’m out of my immediate provider’s area?

And which would charge me for followups, in any case?

I’m a babe in the woods on the subject, never (since 2009) having experienced this…

L8R

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I feel the need to follow up, here, with two things:

First is that it’s entirely appropriate that audiologists be compensated for their time. To be entirely fair, while I have not, if I were to add up all the time I spent with Lauren, I suspect it would be several full work-days’ time, as I’d been there virtually weekly since I started. I would not have reached the overall “Good-Excellent” rating on speech, nor the “Good” on music clarity, without her. Because she didn’t sell me the aids on which she labored, she had no profit in that time spent, and, more-bad me, while I knew that, I didn’t appreciate the impact. If I have to do more with her, I’ll pony up the $20/month, and drive the hour-plus each way, and be very thankful I have that resource available to me. When I finish here, I’ll send her the equivalent statement, along with an apology for even thinking negatively about her subscription.

The second, yet to be fully determined, is that Beltone has this interesting policy of offering substantial hearing-acuity loss-within-2-years clients free new, upgraded hearing aids. See https://www.beltone.com/en-ca/blog/2017/september/hearing-aid-warranties and jump to the BelCare section. As I’m traveling, for 6 weeks starting next week, I have my next (local, with the guy who referred me) appointment on August 8th. Beltone corporate and both the local and remote offices are up to speed on that. Results remain to be seen, but it rather appears that I’ll get a new set. If it’s done through Lauren, and it’s treated as a new sale (with Beltone somehow filling her purse), she’ll have the profit allowing her to continue (happily) to provide ongoing tweaking. If not, I’ll still have a new set with all the latest whizbangs, under a new 3-year warranty.

The journey continues…

L8R

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And the hits keep coming…

My last adjustment started with my speech clarity at Good-Excellent on all settings; music needed some help.

In the process, my speech shit the bed.

And the vaunted Belcare can’t be used because "In order to use remote care, we would have had to set that up in-person. It is not something automatically defaulted to the hearing aids, especially since we are not your original office of purchase. We can activate remote fine-tuning services in our software, but it has to be done initially with the hearing aids physically paired to the computer. It’s due to privacy consent purposes, email set-up on your end, and you would also have to be assigned as a patient to our cloud office location. "

So, no data anywhere else other than local computer, again/still, and if I wanted to purchase something and was nowhere near another office, it’s sorry-charlie, gotta come to the office and set it up in advance.

Sigh.

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All your problems can be sorted if you go DIY, get yourself the Noahlink wireless and Beltone Solus Max and just go for it, no need to wait for anything, do everything in your own time when and where you want.

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  1. It looks like Beltone uses a franchise business model. Each Beltone store is an independent operation, unless it’s part of a group of stores owned by one or more investors. It makes sense that biz practices differ from franchisee to franchisee.

From one of their websites:

Beltone is a safe haven for independent hearing care professionals needing to be part of something bigger to remain competitive. Our primary goal is to support your success by offering you every business advantage. From the moment you join our team, we provide guidance and insight to ensure your success.

  1. Beltone doesn’t manufacture HAs, right?

  2. My bet is that Lauren will get a lot less income, if any, from a warranty replacement than from a sale of new aids.

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No they use ReSound models.