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How do I Choose the Best Hearing Aid Service?
A hearing aid service is a business that provides hearing testing as well as hearing aid and assistive listening device sales, maintenance and repair. A good hearing aid service will hold the needs of the client paramount to profit, ensuring that clients are provided with the best possible hearing and rehabilitative equipment. To choose the best hearing aid service, find one that has at least one audiologist on staff, offers many brands of hearing aids and assistive listening devices, looks to build a relationship with its clients and is willing to provide a contract outlining maintenance and repair costs for items purchased.
An audiologist is a doctor who specializes in the human auditory mechanism and auditory processing by the brain. Audiologists are trained to evaluate, diagnose and treat hearing loss, and they specialize in hearing evaluation, rehabilitation services and hearing aid orientation and adjustment. In most regions, an audiologist must be licensed. A good hearing aid service should keep at least one audiologist on staff in order to provide clients with the best possible service. A service might also keep one or more hearing aid specialists on staff who can provide hearing aid assistance and discuss hearing aid and assistive listening device styles with clients.
Choose a service that allows you to select from many brands of hearing aids and assistive listening devices. A hearing aid service that offers only one or two brands might not be able to offer clients a broad array of hearing aid and assistive listening device styles, limiting the technologies available to the client. A hearing aid service that offers clients access to many brands of hearing aids and assistive listening devices will be able to provide clients with individually tailored products that more accurately meet the needs of the client.
Seek a hearing aid service that looks to build relationships with clients and offers as many follow-up consultations as are necessary to achieve success with a new hearing aid. Every hearing aid must be fitted and calibrated to the individual after purchase. Be sure to choose a hearing aid service that offers as many follow-up consultations as are needed. Prior to selling a new hearing aid, the hearing aid service should outline any costs that will be incurred by clients who require more than the average number of follow-up consultations.
Choose a service that will provide a contract outlining any maintenance and repair costs for all items purchased. Warranties on products purchased should be included in the contract, which might also outline costs for battery replacements needed over the course of life of a hearing aid or assistive listening device. Ask about any additional costs that might be incurred outside of those outlined in the contract.
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