Look at the person who has aids and their clinic closes or they move. Visit the local clinic and you get the bum’s rush. “We only service what we sell.” is the typical response. Here is a future customer and they drive them away. This is even though they could at least cover part of their cost by selling them their service for a reduced but still as somewhat profitable transaction.
Typical? Really? That is not only not universally true but there is no way you could possibly know whether it is or not. Most hearing aid wearers don’t post on this or any other forum and opinions formed by gleaning the experiences of those that do, whether positive or negative, are of very little value in providing any statistically significant data. The personal experiences of the people here are just that and no more. Additionally you don’t know whether or not servicing hearing aids is a profitable endeavor. If it was profitable one would think that there’d be many exploiting that opportunity. I can think of any number of reasons why many small clinics, especially in small markets, would not want to engage in servicing instruments outside those they supply and fit. But are there none? On the contrary. When I was playing with the idea of having a friend of mine who is an HIS who lives 1000 mi away from me supply and fit my aids I had to consider finding a local means of servicing things in a pinch. Not only were there several within driving distance happy to service them, but they were also willing to honor warranties. So whose experience is typical?
Now if we can believe CDC statistics 12.7% of Americans have hearing loss in both ears. Only 20% of those who would benefit from aids actually use them. That would be around 6 million or 2% of the population. If we reduce that to include only those who move after purchasing their aids and need service somewhere other than where they bought them we have a rather minuscule number and hardly one that would encourage dedicated service facilities in any other than large population areas.
Costco provides a service and there are people who benefit from it. Great. But that is the end of it. Like any personal experience, anecdotal evidences prove nothing beyond that particular experience. I don’t like Costco and I don’t like them like I don’t like Walmart, K-Mart, Target, or any big box super store because they take dollars out of the local economy and send them back to a corporate location. They destroy local businesses, pay sub standard wages and are a large part of the reason why folks don’t make enough money to shop anywhere else. Where is the neighborhood market owned by your neighbor? The hardware store on the corner or the drug store owned by the pharmacist that lives in the next block? All gone the way of the carrier pigeon. But that’s OK because I’ve got my fill in the blank and besides every one else is out to screw me.
