I got some great response from my post, and I wanted to introduce this new thread to talk about one of the biggest arguments I got about buying hearing aids online vs. from an audiologist:
“Buying online may be a cheaper in the short term, but over the life of the hearing aid, buying from an Audi is more cost effective due to bundled follow up visits and reprogramming.”
I wanted to investigate this claim, as I didn’t believe there could be any way that follow up visits could account for the thousands of dollars in difference.
I have found that this claim is only valid in the most extreme cases, and although I understand that buying online is definitely not for everyone, I believe consumers with hearing aid price as the biggest factor in their decision should strongly consider buying online.
I know this may be controversial on HAF, and I may receive some harsh criticism, but I truly want constructive feedback on this essay as well as some feedback on our business model. I have been following this forum since we first developed Embrace Hearing, and it has been very influential on the voice of the consumer and industry.
We are not running Embrace Hearing to make a quick buck, we are trying to solve the growing problem in the US that only 1 in 7 Americans who could benefit from hearing aids actually use them, with price being the number one reason
Ross