It’s to keep up the premise that they are independent: what you see advertised and the ranges they sell in most volume ‘might’ not be exactly the same.
It’s a Sonova delivery service at the end of the day. They control where the profits are taken on the supply chain.
I recently got my hearing aids from Boots. You can book appointments online, but the key thing is to book a full hearing test not a quick screening test. I tried other places in the past and my hearing was always fine - even though it didn’t feel fine. I felt this time that everything had been thoroughly checked and I do indeed have a hearing loss. I could have managed longer without aids, but got fed up with constantly asking my husband to repeat what he’d said as well as the fact that my dad and my grandmother both had dementia and I felt I should give my brain all the opportunities I could.