Oticon ends online hearing aid sales
Nov 16th, 2007 | By Steve | Category: Buying, InformationOticon’s new distribution guidelines state that they will only supply their products to distributors who directly fit and sell Oticon products to end-users through face-to-face in-person consultations. These new guidelines effectively bring an end to customers being able to buy Oticon products via the Internet, mail order or catalogues.
In a press release, The American Academy of Audiology welcomes Oticon’s decision and hopes that other hearing aid manufacturers will follow suit.
I agree with the AAoA’s press release in that customers will receive a better service from a face-to-face transaction. Having said that, America Hears seem to have a good online service. Although the face-to-face service may be more beneficial to customers who have no idea of their hearing aid needs or what type of aid they require, online options like America Hears may offer a cheaper and perfectly adequate option for people who already own aids and are more inclined to know what they want.
Any comments? have you bought hearing aids online? Are you happy with them? If you haven’t bought online, would you consider it?
I’m NOT opposed to buying expensive items online (I bought my car online years ago!), but because my hearing loss keeps changing, I wouldn’t feel comfortable buying hearing aids online. Since Vocational Rehabilitation pays for hearing aids (in the U.S.), I’m okay for now. But when I retire in 20 years, I might consider it!
Cindy
I TALKED TO VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND THEY TOLD ME THAT NO MORE HELPING OFFER HEARING AIDS IT STOPPED 2 YRS AGO. THAT I AM LOOKING FOR BRAND NEW FREE HEARING AIDS COMMING UP DUE I AM NOT WORKING DUE MY SURGERY BACK ARE OUT OF WORK AND UNDER SSDI AND OLD HEARING AIDS SEND OUT STUDY WHAT WRONG HEARING AIDS SO I MOVED ANOTHER STATE IN FLA SO I WONDER HOW WILL WORK THOSE OFF HEARING AIDS SALES BY MAIL OR WHAT PLEASE FEEDBACK HAWKEAGLEUSA at AOL .COM THANK YOU ALAN JEFFERS
My hearing profile hasn’t changed much in 30 years - and I sure plan on buying my next hearinig aids online. Not that I don’t like going to a specialist - but at this point - the extra mark-up that would go to them is not justified - I can use the extra $1000.00 PLUS. The same situation occured some time ago with contact lenses. Origionally you could only get them from a license Droctor. Now it’s obvious you can save a lot of dollars getting “refills” without going to the Doctor - all without negative effects. Oticon may be more “professional” going only to spoecialist - however - that only means I will not buy from them - because that does not match my needs.
I believe there are other issues involved in Oticon’s decision to stop online sales of their products. The typical dealer markup for hearing aids is quite high, and it is not unusual to find the same product online for half the cost. When you’re talking about a $3000 hearing aid like the Oticon Delta 8000, that’s a tremendous cost savings - and that’s just for 1 aid. Because of this cost difference, many people choose to purchase the hearing aid online and then just pay their local professional to do the programming and adjustments. Even with the added expense, they would still save a great deal of money.
Retail dealers know this is going on and have complained to Oticon. Apparently, the company is caving in to pressure.
The internet has changed the business models of scores of different industries. Despite this setback, it’s only a matter of time before this happens to the hearing aid industry as well.
Evidence demonstrates that successful hearing aid fittings require careful counseling, proper selection of circuitry, physical fit and in-depth psycho-acoustical knowledge.
As a long time Oticon specialist I can tell you that it wasn’t just us that complained about internet hearing aids. Customers did also…lots of em.
I could set up a webpage; buy my hearing aids in quantity; not worry about returns as I have little investment and make a lot of money. I could also open a star bucks and double my income.
As a group audiologists’ are caring; knowledgeable; experienced and fair. Oticon would certainly open the doors to internet sales if it meant they would sell more hearing aids in the long run.
The facts are this. An audiogram is a snapshot of a hearing loss. You need to objectively verify how the frequency response is working for a particular client. Two identical audiograms never result in identical settings for high end hearing aids.
If you shop around people like me will sell you entry level digital hearing aids with noise reduction for under a thousand dollars. You would be foolish to buy a high end hearing aid online because you cannot use many of the features; such as datalogging; in situ verification; activity anylyzers; real ear measurments for frequency response settings; auditory training; adjustments for everything from occlusion to permanent distortion; recruitment; tolerance; comfort and most importantly counseling that only applies to your unique hearing loss; all of which CANNOT be measured with an audiogram.
Sales are way up and I sleep well knowing another client will come in smiling from ear to ear tomorrow because I was careful and caring.
As a side note; if you know anyone using an ipod full blast or has a car stereo that rivals a thunderstorm warn them that a figure approaching 10% of college graduates are demonstrating noise induced hearing loss.
If you have a hearing loss be aware that many common medications can increase the rate of inner ear nerve damage. Ask your doctor if there is a less ototoxic drug for you. Also smoking is associated very strongly to tinnitus and high frequency hearing loss as well as ceremun (wax).
Wearing hearing aids is a quality of life issue. If your budget is too tight for high end hearing aids avoid the dissapointment of buying them cheaply online then not knowing if they are working to full capacity.
one more note regarding a previous post.
Before the internet existed I as most professionals would not adjust an in-warranty hearing aid fit by someone outsid of our organization. It would be insane to “adopt” an internet hearing aid customer for the price of an adjustment. If I adjust a hearing aid and the customer isn’t happy all I get is bad word of mouth advertising when in all probability the customer was mis-informed in the first place.
I am very happy with my current Oticon hearing aids but I am not interested in paying double the price for them compared to the internet. Every other electronic item on the planet has come down in cost but the monopolistic audiology “services” sytem prevents buyers from getting the best fair market price for hearing aids. The internet is changing this—for the good of consumers everywhere.
I know audiologists need to make a living for their services. But unfortunately,unscrupulous audiologists are very common; these practitioners typically charge excessive prices for inferior products and provide no “services” beyond initial fittings.
I have worn hearing aids for over 25 years (since my early 30’s) and I am very happy to finally see market pricing competition in this industry. Since my “insurance” never covers hearing aids, I need to shop for the best product at an affordable price.
Opticon should get with it, or risk losing their existing satisfied customer base. I would rather buy direct at a fair market competitive price, and pay the audiologist only for the services I need (one fitting and programming session in several years, in my case).
Hopefully, only the honest and diligent audiologists will survive this change in business model.
I have purchased new hearing aids via the net (http://www.HearSource.com) and have had others repaired. I have had no problems, in fact I love them. Their repair service is faster than my old audi’s office. I agree that internet purchasing of hearing aids is not for everyone. My personal hearing aid programming software took some time to get used to. But I am in control now. My parents could not have done this. But I am capable, it is my hearing and my money and it is my decision.