David Ormerod Hearing Centre: I’m not impressed!
May 19th, 2007 | By Steve | Category: Thoughts
I was doing some shopping in my local Boots last week and, because I had 15 minutes to spare, I decided to pop into the in-store David Ormerod Hearing Centre that to check out there service and prices.
No-one else was waiting or being seen by the assistant so I was shown straight in. I briefly explained my situation to her: Currently have analogue ITEs that aren’t powerful anymore and am looking to go digital. I asked her what brands they were offering and how much they were selling them for - she seemed happy to talk through the makes and models but sidestepped any questions on price. That made me immediately assume that their prices weren’t too good. She was also dead keen on getting my name and address and booking me an appointment with the Audiologist - a bit pushy for my liking!
Next, and this was the question I was really interested in asking, I asked her what would happen if I purchased hearing aids from them and I didn’t like them - what would happen if I just couldn’t get on with them? Basically, was there a trial period? “You can try them for a month and if you don’t like them you can have your money back or try something else. But, the Audiologist will know what you need”. Fair enough, the return policy is fine. But then, and this is where she lost herself a potential customer, she said ,”You know that there is times in life when you just have to get on with things and do the best with what you’ve got. The aid may not be perfect for you but you just need to do the best with what you’ve got”. Are you joking, lady? You want me to pay you somewhere between £1500 and £3000 for a hearing aid that I would just have to put up with? If I’m spending that sort of money I expect something that’s perfect for me - not something I have to try and do the best with.
I headed for the door pretty soon after that.
please do not attend aslexpo. James Steve Kittell the scammer owns this business. He ripped off many people by stealing credit card information. Don’t go there no matter how good it is or not.
As the Customer Care Manager for David Ormerod Hearing Centres and having read your recent review, I would like to respond to the comments made regarding your experience at our centre in Oxford
I’m pleased to hear that our Customer Service Advisor offered the information requested on the types of aids and manufacturers we use. Although indicative prices are available, it is however difficult to offer a specific price at this stage of an enquiry as before a consultation we are unaware of your actual levels of hearing loss, what you would like a hearing aid to do for you, what your lifestyle requirements are, the cosmetics you’re looking for and of course how much you’d like to pay.
The details of the above are all discussed as part of the free of charge consultation with our Hearing Aid Audiologist, and as a Registered Hearing Aid Dispenser, they are qualified to assess your hearing and dispense a suitable solution should a customer wish to proceed with purchasing a hearing aid from us.
Our hearing aids come with a two year manufacturers warranty and we actually offer a 60 day money back guarantee. This gives our customers two months to trial the hearing aid and if not totally satisfied then all monies are returned. Our after care is also included in the price of the hearing aid. We like to see our customers for regular hearing check ups twice yearly to check on your hearing health and to service the aid to make sure it’s working to its optimum levels.
Unfortunately hearing aids do not restore peoples hearing, they work with the residual hearing a person still has and we will always work with both the customer and the instrument to ensure we get the best solution possible for their lifestyle.
We take your comments very seriously and assure you that our customer’s satisfaction is of the utmost importance to us.
David Ormerod doesn’t care about its customers. They are just in it for the money. They try and push the most expensive aid on you. Their customer care call centre is awful with unqualified staff running it. i never speak to the same person twice. The turnover of staff must be huge. Stay clear.
Hi Julie,
Thanks for the feedback.
First of all, I don’t agree with your comment about pricing. The lack of price information up front immediately put me on the back foot - why won’t she tell me, are their prices high? I understand that at that early stage in the conversation she would have no idea of what type of aid I would need - that doesn’t mean that she should try and push me toward the Audiologist instead of talking about prices. I was a potential customer who knew what type of hearing aid would be suitable, I had been for recent hearing tests and I was there specifically to see if you were offering competitive prices. I wasn’t given that information so I left.
On the point about the, “do the best with what you’ve got” comment. I agree with you that hearing aids do not necessarily completely restore someone’s hearing. On reflection, I would assume that this is what the assistant was talking about but it certainly didn’t come across like that at the time - she seemed to be suggesting that I should struggle on with a less than perfect aid rather than return it and look for a more suitable model.
Steve
Firstly, you cannot download an information pack from the Ormerod at Boots site unless you give your name addess, email and telephone number. Whether you yourself are the deaf person or not.
When you do, you will find no information about prices. There is also no technical specification provided about their ranges.
Secondly, if you want to find out how much Ormerod systems cost, I suggest you look at the Specsavers site, where they publish the following table:
http://tinyurl.com/2q3hm4
The Ormerod range is roughly twice the price for comparable models, according to figures given to the Keydata market research group.
Ormerod were happy to assure my father that Siemens hearing aids (as supplied by Specsaver to my mother) would be much more expensive. In fact Ormerod sold him a hearing aid at the bottom of the range, for one ear, for the price charged at Specsavers for a pair of their second most expensive model.
“what your lifestyle requirements are, the cosmetics you’re looking for and of course how much you’d like to pay.”
This is an approach used by car dealers, who have the worst reputation among salesmen. Like you, I would have left immediately.
I think Julie Evans has a very good point about working with residual hearing and hearing aids being limited in what they can do, perhaps the shop assistant didn’t put it across very well. As for pricing, many independent dispensers can match and sometimes beat Specsavers, so a table comparing them to the big names isn’t much good. I think the personal service from your local independent dispenser may win out in the end. They don’t have vast numbers to cater for and rely on a good name for their business. Word travels fast.
My pricing page is http://www.peterbyrom.co.uk/price.php
the difficulty for many potential hearing aid customers is that we have very little idea what hearing aids cost.From todays newspaper i can order a free mini amplifier or pay anything between £495.00 to £4629.00 for a pair of hearing aids.At least Specsavers are willing to inform us what we get at what price with which features included with NO extra charge for the very small aids.Why do so many other hearing aid salesmen not advertise price lists?
I have just been fitted with a ReSound Azure hearing aid by a David Ormerod audiologist at Boots and have to say that so far I am 100% dissatisfied. Despite my repeated requests for the smallest in-ear aid of discreet appearance, I was persuaded/advised that the one supplied was the only one suitable for my hearing loss. It was immediately apparent on fitting that the aid was too big, difficult to put in place, uncomfortable, ugly and bulky. In addition, there was massive feedback squealing and rushing sounds, without definite improved clarity in hearing. The audiologist refused to “hear what I was saying”, replying simply that “the computer in the room had a noisy fan” and that “the brain needed to get used to sounds it was not accustomed to hearing”. Being a complete mug, I meekly handed over my Visa card to pay the balance of £2,100 for the aid and agreed to persevere with it until next appointment. I expressed disappointment with the device and was also puzzled by being shown a graph indicating that at first customers show only 20% satisfaction with their aid (which apparently improves over 60 days)! At no time was I informed of any money back guarantee, but was told that after 60 days it might be possible to exchange it for an aid from a different manufacturer. I am feeling so panicky about this hearing aid (wearing it as I type now,to endless feedback squeaks and muffled sounds - and still unable to converse without saying “Sorry??”) that I am even wondering if I should seek legal advice. Due to the audiologist’s implacably bovine response, I am already expecting to be met with lack of co-operation where refund might be concerned.
Hi Virginia,
A few people have reported bad experiences with Ormerod on here but the way you are being treated is truly shocking.
David Ormerod advertise a 60 day money back guarantee - if you are not happy with the service and the aid they have fitted you with then demand your money back. They are obliged to give it and if they don’t I would let them know you will be visiting the Citizens Advice ASAP - it would be illegal for them to not refund you within the 60 day period.
Whatever you do, don’t struggle on with sub-standard aids, there’s no need. There are plenty of great hearing aids on the market and plenty of genuine sellers out there.
It is true, though, that people will take time to get used to new hearing aids so even if they sounded bad/weird to begin with, things could improve. You shouldn’t be getting any feedback though, that suggests that either the aids are turned up too high or they do not fit you properly.
Possibly you could demand an ultimatum: either they fix the problems you are having RIGHT NOW or you get your money back and are going elsewhere. Seems fair to me.
Best of luck and let us know how you got on.
Steve.
Dear Virginia,
im sure ormerods will do all they can to secure the sale to your satisfaction however i think the price you are paying is well over the top ,id contact your nearest Specsavers Hearcare store for another opinion AND A FAR BETTER PRICE !!!!
Dear Virginia,my wife was told by ormerod that she required a hearing aid and straight away was told that it would be £3000,not knowing if this was right we were a bit aprehensive and made enquiries to other aid wearers and they said they were ripping us off,we rang ormerod and told them and instantly thet said that they would reduce the price,needless to say we are looking elsewhere.
Henry
Hi Henry,
I would be very interested to see what Virginia, or another David Ormerod representative, have to say about your experience with them. Although overcharging you and then offering a reduced price is not great for you, as the customer, it probably is very common. It would be the same if you went to buy a car - you would have to haggle or threaten to go elsewhere to get the price reduced.
Do leave a comment here and let us know how you get on with your search for a new hearing aid.
All the best,
Steve.
I came across this site by accident but what interesting reading. Firstly Specsavers cannot compare prices directly as their ‘advance’ system is manufactured for their use. Other systems quoted may seem similar but this is not a direct cost comparison. It is worth noting that you still need to spend £1595 at Specsavers to match current NHS technology. Now I know all the problems, I am an NHS Audiologist and am also qualified as a Registered Hearing Aid Dispenser so try to see things from both sides; Specsavers do sell cheaper hearing aids but they are more basic; Ormerods should not treat people as they have done in the correspondance above. My advice, if you cannot get an NHS aid easily or wish for a more cosmetic solution always go to an Independent supplier, not a big company. Hearing aids are not perfect even if they cost a lot of money! But always remember you are buying a complete service, not a toaster. The costs will always reflect that a good, correctly fitted aid should last at least 5 years with no further charge except breakdown out of warranty, when you cost that out the price may seem more realistic but do shop around!!
i am also nhs and privately qualified, specsavers are changing the private hearing aid industry for the benefit of the consumer providing affordable hearcare for all,ormerods at least provide price information for the customer.
Both ormerods and specsavers provide hearing aids manufactured by top suppliers ie resound .siemens.. phonak and starkey.. the specification of which are well beyond anything available on the nhs.
id suggest more independent hearing aid dispensers provided comprehensive price and product information as both specsavers and ormerods do
Eddie
I hope you don’t think the cheaper end of the private market is above NHS specification otherwise you are not up to date with what the NHS have to offer.
karen
its unfortunate but so many people dont like our nhs bte hearing aids and go private initially for cosmetics,,,some of the people are happy to pay for similar technology as the nhs aid with a much more cosmetic option…its a pity the modular ite aid which the nhs trialed was scrapped..still the spirit and prisma product are a long way off the private hearing aid dispenser offer
I am thoroughly dissatisfied with my Ormerod hearing aid (in the ear type). With telephone calls I hear whistles, when I go to concerts the sounds are “cracked” and distorted, in fact I am better without an aid, as a singer I still cannot distinguish what the conductor says. When these aids were prescribed I told the audiologist my specific problems and the aids have been adjusted several times over 2 years. The audiologist agrees thatI only have a moderate hearing loss, so it should be correctable.
dear doreen if your low freq hearing is good it may be that you need an aid which is more open in style to allow natural sound into your ears …are your aids the completely in the canal style? as these are notorious for causing occlusion problems even with venting… a behind the ear aid with a life tip on is the most effective open fitting siemens phonak and resound produce the best of these ….hope this is of some help
I bought my hearing aids from Ambicare in Swindon, who were subsequently bought out by David Ormerod. On needing to have them repaired - AGAIN, I sent one to David Ormerod to find, a year later, that the price of repair has risen by £30! The assistant assured me it was because they ofered a full service - which I got from Ambicare for £30 less!
I suggested she read the comments on this website to see that I’m not the only one who feels ripped off. I guess she won’t. I wish I’d never bought them - they cost nearly £4000, with a yearly upkeep of £200! It’s not my fault I became very deaf at the age of 7 and I resent the money-making scam in the private sector and lack of funding in the NHS that I’ve experienced since then.
Hi Kim,
I think there are a lot of people out there sharing your view about the price of hearing aids. I’d be really interested to find out how much vendors pay the manufacturers for each aid - I can’t believe that hearing aid technology is that expensive.
Are Karen mentioned, when you buy a hearing aid you are also paying for the after sales service - but even so, I still think they could be considerably cheaper. It would be interesting to see what would happen if a vendor sold aids at the smallest possible margin - would they get many more sales due to the lower cost, I bet they would? Also, thinking about the service: I bet the majority of people go for the fitting and then never return - I bet in most cases, the service amounts to maybe 2-4 hours consultation at the most.
kim
all hearing aids purchased privately have a 2 year warranty… average repair costs out of warranty cost about £75,00 from specsavers..about £125,00 from ormerods and other big chains these then should have a futher 6 month warranty on them.
there is a repair shop which deal directly with the public its partially owned by starkey call 0500 262131 for contact details this will be cheaper still .i will find there number and put it on this site asap.
steve the margin on hearing aid sales is considerable have you noticed that no manufacturer produces a recc retail price for there products?
big chains such as ormerods and hidden hearing.. amplifon scrivens simply take the cost price and multiply by 5 or 6 hence an aid sold at £2000 cost the retailer about £400,00..only specsavers and many independents work on much smaller margins it pays to shop around for new aids and even aftercare…..
the overheads for the big chains are huge,, rent commision advertising etc there businesses have been built on the bedrock of big mark ups and to try to change it is difficult since something or some people would have to go to reduce costs,
specsavers have gone for and are achieving volume in terms of customer numbers there model is built on best value at lowest cost providing affordable hearing care for all ,,hence there rivals are really cheesed off and slag them off with no basis of truth simply to confuse the customers.
Hi, my dear mother was conned into buying a pair of ormerod hearing aids, the behind the ear type, she was 87 when she bought them and only wore them for a couple of weeks, then was taken seriously ill and unfortunately passed away. After sorting out the funeral and banking etc. ect. I contacted the ormerod centre in Hanley where she purchased the aids from for a cost of £1700 and was told that I was eight days late to claim anything back, even though the aids are brand new and one was never worn as it buzzed. To say the least I feel bereaved and robbed at the same time. My advice to anybody wanting a hearing aid would be to look elsewhere.
Hi Joyce,
I urge you to speak to Ormerod’s management about your situation. You would hope that they would see sense and refund your money.
Maybe someone from David Ormerod’s would like to leave a comment here and leave details so that Joyce can contact you and hopefully claim her refund?
Surely this could be considered an exceptional circumstance in which the refund could be given?
Hi
As the Customer Care Manager I would be more than happy to hear from Joyce and would ask her to contact me on 01492 877989
all retailers have at least a 90 if not 120 day return agreement with suppliers joyce should get all her money back minus perhaps 20 pounds for earmoulds at the most these behind the ear aids can be refurbished easily and sold onto another customer. Hanley office should be thoroughly ashamed
Karen,
I am a private dispenser who also spent two years working on behalf of the NHS as part of the Public Private Partnership. The facts in your post are untrue.
I quote ‘ specsavers are cheaper but they are more basic’ and ‘It is worth noting that you still need to spend £1595 at Specsavers to match current NHS technology’ Absolute rubbish, the NHS standard is the prisma 2 pro, which is comparable with the BOTTOM of the specsavers range i.e. £595 for a pair.
Its unfortunate that NHS audiologists seem to despise the private sector, and spread misinformation.
In my experience I can honestly say that most people who have NHS hearing aids don’t use them, and its not all down to the lack of choice of the type of aid. Sometimes the type of patient we see need a little bit more TLC , rather than the ‘ get em in , fit em and then get em out ‘ experience which is certainly the norm in nhs audiology departments I have seen.
NHS provision of hearing aids is at best poor, and at worse a drastic waste of taxpayers money. The sooner NHS hearing aids are available on the high street (i.e. a voucher system) the better… patients need a choice of model, and the choice of where to have them fitted. Hearing loss is not an illness, so why should patients have to go to hospital??? Specs wearers dont.
I have just received an invitation from David Ormerod based at Boots Leeds, to attend a Your Hearing Care Advice Day. To quote from the letter ” Your Hearing Care Advice Day appointment is reserved for , date and time stipulated. Please note appointments are strictly limited - you must confirm if you wish to attend”
I received this letter last Saturday and rang to confirm my appointment late afternoon Monday, only to be told that the stated time of my appointment was already booked by someone else. I was understandably quite annoyed having scheduled the appointed day around the time stated in my letter.
Whilst the lady I was speaking to was very polite I am left wondering why letters are sent out stating appointment times. I can fully appreciate that any visiting hearing aid expert needs to be fully booked for economic reasons but not at the expense of customer care.
May I suggest that if David Ormerod continues to send out these appointment letters that certain strategies are put into place:
a) the letter states very clearly that stated appointment times will be held open until a set date.
or
Open letters of invitation are sent out asking people to ring for appointment.
I understand that if the latter was in effect there could be a tendency for people not to book whilst the current strategy does get people through the door.
I have always been relatively happy with the treatment I have received from my Leeds centre until today. I might add that I am one very disgruntled client.
lets be honest the whole intention of a hearing care advice day is to sell you something else ie an upgrade to a newer model .most companies try this within 2 years of the initial purchase which considering the fact you spent a significant amount is dissapointing .you should always get at least 5 years from any system before looking at an upgrade and hearing aids can always be repaired at any age ie starkey all make repair 0500 262131..
Referring to Hazel Brindle’s memo I too received an invitation to the open day at the Leeds Branch of David Ormerod and phoned their Head Office first thing Monday morning and received the appointment I had been offered in the correspondence. I feel you may have been very unlucky in not getting the appointment you required.
Like Hazel I have been very satisfied with the service I have received from the Leeds Office and Mr Duffy has always been available to help when my existing aids have developed any slight fault. Shirley has also been very helpful and pleasant.
Went to see David Omerod Centre in Jan afer ad in paper. Saw gentleman who was very keen to help me. He wanted to see if he could use me to advertise aids as I was in my 30’s and had a hig frequency loss that no one could really explain how I got. He was very lovely and wanted to look in to options available for me. He said he could work out a payment plan so I could pay back the amount over finance or if I was able to advertise them I would get money back that way. Anyway after feeling like someone was really going to help me I never heard back and had to contact the centre who finally got the man to call me. Basically nothing had been done and he told me to contact the nhs and see if they could provide me with something better (currently have open fitted oticon spirit 3’s). I explained this was the best the nhs had (like I had told him at appt) and he told me to wait another 6 months and see if the NHS get anything else or keep an eye open for any offers they may have coming up!!! I felt so stupid after thinking they were actually going to help me and had made me feel alot better then basically forgot about me and then could not be bothered to do anything for me!
I have completed the comments form from there centre but not heard back! No surprise there then!!
ormerods like some other companies are trying to present a much more “young and sexy”image for hearing aids ,this is largely due to the fact that 49% of the company is owned by Phonak a hearing aid manufaturer who also promote the “sexy” image much to the dismay of the royal national institue of the deaf.
Hence these companies are anxious to find people like yourself to “advertise” their product, 90% of which will be phonak because of the business relationship between them.
The nhs can give you just a good a product in an on the ear style with thin tube and open dome ideal for moderate high freq losses.
sorry to hear that your yet another dissapointed ormerod customer, i have heard similar experiences from far too many of my nhs patients !!!!
I have been to numerous shops they all tell porkies get your money i paid for a cic like one advertised in shop when mine arrived it kept falling out i said the one in the shop is smaller they said no i checked it was i took the aid home 1,900 kept falling out lost it and 1,900 never again will make do with nhs ones which i find sound better but not cosmetic but there you go .
vivienne thats terrible sounds like it never fitted properly inthe first place ,,,could you claim on house insurance for lost aid?
you paid an over the top cost also for a cic!!!
id go back to who you bought it from and ask them to replace free of charge im sure the suppliers would be happy to oblige …which make was it and where did you get it from??
I may be able to offer some advice to anyone asking. I have worked for a hearing aid manufacturer as well as a hearing aid retailer for many years. I have been involved in the sales, training and product design at all stages. I have trained both NHS and private hearing aid audiologists and worked closely with all national and most independent dispensers.
it is interesting to see some of the comments - some of which are simply untrue. Regarding the private versus NHS hearing aids. The current digital aids available on the NHS would typically retail around £1500 each - I can back this up if anyone wishes to challenge me. These aids are therefore pretty good. The reason manufacturers don’t state a recommended retail price is that it varies too much between dispensers and is therefore meaningless. A hearing aid that is sold at say £1000 would have typically cost the dispenser around £200 (cost X 5 as a general rule). One of the reasons for this huge mark up is that the marketing costs to actually make a sale are around £400 per client! The UK market is perhaps the most expensive for the private purchaser because the NHS provide the vast majority of aids free. Whilst the NHS aids are pretty good, it is impossible for them to keep pace with the rate of new technological breakthroughs due to their long winded tender process. When the NHS started doing digital aids they were the best but are now mid ranged. It is important to understand that what you are really paying for with a private hearing aid is the 5 years aftercare consisting of re-testing and fine tuning of the aids. This is something the NHS cannot offer. If you value your hearing and you want to hear the best you’ll have to pay for it. Regarding where to go to get an aid. As mentioned, I have knowledge of the whole of the private market. In my experience, there is good and bad in any of the national companies as well as the independents. I have heard several criticisms levelled at Ormerods (DOHC, David Ormerods or Boots). I have worked with them for many years and find them to be a reputable company - as are indeed all the national companies. Some independents are good but likewise some are very bad. You will get more consistency with a National but at a higher price. Whilst Specsavers appear to be offering lower prices, you will find that their average selling price is actually the same as any other National company - this is known as upselling and proves their marketing is working. Any questions????