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If you're like many of us who search online for hearing aid centers or repair shops, consider what may happen if you don't search with care. Here's a true story.
A guy named James Mock of Phoenix sent his hearing aid to a repair company he found online. Buyer's Haven in St. Paul, to be exact. Time goes by and still no hearing aid. He tried contacting the repair company but they never responded to him. He then tried contacting the Better Business Bureu, the police and the attorney general's offices in Minnesota and Arizona, but that didn't do much for him.
He then went online again and this time did a company search on the Internet. That's when he discovered that there were many hearing impaired people across the nation who claimed that Buyer's Haven, too, deceived them. Eventually, the Better Business Bureau and Minnesota attorney general's office took the complaints seriously and sent scolding letters to Buyer's Haven. It wasn't long before the company went out of business.
What have we learned from this story? Obviously, in order to save yourself from being scammed, it takes a little research on your part. Better safe than sorry, right?
If you find a hearing aid company online that interests you, e-mail them and ask many questions. Remember, no question is a stupid one. Check the company with the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org or call them up (find the number at http://lookup.bbb.org). On their website you can find complaints about a company, if any.
Do an Internet search on the hearing aid company and see if there are any consumer complaints. You can do this by going to a search engine site, such as Google.com, and type in the hearing aid company's name or website URL. You may be in for a surprise.
Use a credit card for payment, don't use a debit card of personal check, that way you can do a chargeback later if necessary. Once you have paid with plastic, print a copy of your purchase and confirmation number for your own records.
Follow the suggested steps mentioned above, not only would you be searching online for hearing aid or hearing aid repair companies, but you'd be searching online with care.
http://www.4hearingloss.com/archives/2005/01/search_for_hear.html
A guy named James Mock of Phoenix sent his hearing aid to a repair company he found online. Buyer's Haven in St. Paul, to be exact. Time goes by and still no hearing aid. He tried contacting the repair company but they never responded to him. He then tried contacting the Better Business Bureu, the police and the attorney general's offices in Minnesota and Arizona, but that didn't do much for him.
He then went online again and this time did a company search on the Internet. That's when he discovered that there were many hearing impaired people across the nation who claimed that Buyer's Haven, too, deceived them. Eventually, the Better Business Bureau and Minnesota attorney general's office took the complaints seriously and sent scolding letters to Buyer's Haven. It wasn't long before the company went out of business.
What have we learned from this story? Obviously, in order to save yourself from being scammed, it takes a little research on your part. Better safe than sorry, right?
If you find a hearing aid company online that interests you, e-mail them and ask many questions. Remember, no question is a stupid one. Check the company with the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org or call them up (find the number at http://lookup.bbb.org). On their website you can find complaints about a company, if any.
Do an Internet search on the hearing aid company and see if there are any consumer complaints. You can do this by going to a search engine site, such as Google.com, and type in the hearing aid company's name or website URL. You may be in for a surprise.
Use a credit card for payment, don't use a debit card of personal check, that way you can do a chargeback later if necessary. Once you have paid with plastic, print a copy of your purchase and confirmation number for your own records.
Follow the suggested steps mentioned above, not only would you be searching online for hearing aid or hearing aid repair companies, but you'd be searching online with care.
http://www.4hearingloss.com/archives/2005/01/search_for_hear.html
