On January 31 I bought my wife two hearing aids, the Miracle Ear brand, all new. She explained to the sales rep that in both ears she heard noises like chirping crickets, which covered up every other sound. He assured us that once she had hearing aids, her hearing would return and the noises would disappear.
Carmen Ellingson was paid $2,000 by us, and the devices reached us on 2-11. On 2-16 they went back to the store, since her hearing was no better and they caused her ear pain. We picked them up again on 2-22-05.
We went to the Florida Mall location 3 more times to complain that the chirping was still there, and each time the answer was to keep wearing them, as her hearing supposedly would return and the sounds would fade.
That never occurred. Every time we spoke to Carmen, he talked us into keeping the aids, explaining that the warranty could stay in force as long as he chose.
We phoned the company to schedule a return of the aids, but we were told he was too busy to see us, and we kept being put off. At last, on November 11, we visited the Sears store in Ocoee to hand back the hearing instruments. Carmen stated that, by his judgment, we had held on to them for too long, so he could not refund us. He did offer to have the hearing aids remade with a much better product, adding that what we had received was cheaply made. I became angry and asked why on earth they had not used the better product from the start, which would have spared us and him time, not to mention our trips to both locations. This time he had no answer. As my wife and I see it, a Miracle-Ear device contains nothing miraculous. Consider carefully before purchasing anything from this company.
I also contacted Miracle-Ear's corporate offices in Plymouth, MN. Robert Hessian, who is the Consumer Affairs Coordinator (1-800-241-1372), told me that an official at the local hearing center would phone me within a week. The week passed, so I phoned a second time, and his reply was that they would be in touch. Still nothing has come. Eventually I did receive a letter from Robyn Ellsworth, Vice-President, stating that there was no way we would get a refund. I doubt she has heard everything we went through in the visits and phone calls we made to her hearing centers, and judging by what she did, she likely is indifferent. Companies like this are ones everybody ought to avoid. Customers deserve some care, because without us buyers neither she nor her colleagues would have a business.
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