I went to Miracle-Ear at Sears Hearing Aid Center in Rome, Georgia. My husband and I talked to Ms. Shelia J. Helms about the different types and prices of the hearing aids. Ms. Helms made an appointment for a hearing test.
My hearing test lasted one and one-half hours. Ms. Helms showed me the results, which she said showed a 45% loss in each ear. Ms. Helms made an appointment for a fitting.
The fitting lasted approximately an hour. Afterward, I signed the purchase agreement. The total cost was $4,590.00, which was the cost after a 50% sale price. Ms. Helms made an appointment for me to pick them up after they were made at the factory.
At this appointment, Ms. Helms had my aids ready for me. When she tried to put one in my ear, she had to force it in, and it stuck out and stretched my ear. She tried to force the second aid in and could not do it, so I said I would put it in myself and did so. It stuck out and stretched my ear, too.
I signed the bottom of the purchase agreement again, and so did Ms. Helms. My husband wrote a check for the required $590.00 down payment. The balance was put on a Sears card, which we had applied for at the hearing test, because Ms. Helms said that if we used a Sears card, we could get no interest for 8 months.
After several days one of the aids stopped working. We returned it, and Ms. Helms sent it back to the factory for repairs. In the meantime the other aid was so painful that I could not wear it anymore, and it had made sores in my ear. My husband and I went back and took that aid with us to return it for a refund. She said we had to have an appointment to do that. We were very upset, and I had to leave because I was so upset and crying.
My husband went back after he had made an appointment. He had the aid with him, and Ms. Helms said the other aid was back. My husband told her they did not fit and hurt his wife's ear so badly that she did not want them. Ms. Helms offered to remake them. My husband said he did not want them and wanted the refund. Ms. Helms said she could not refund 10% of the down payment for the total cost of the aids.
My husband then asked to speak to her supervisor, and Ms. Helms said she was the supervisor. My husband asked who her supervisor was in the store. Ms. Helms said he worked out of Valdosta.
So my husband said he wanted a full refund, and Ms. Helms said that his wife has to sign for a refund because she signed the contract, and then we would not get the $459.00 back. My husband said that he wrote the check and signed it, so he should be able to get the money back himself. She said she could not give it to him.
I was so upset by Ms. Helms and the way she treated us after I left that day crying that I cannot go back there.
My daughter was able to find the phone number of her supervisor and called his office in Valdosta, Ga. She left a message for him about the problem with Ms. Helms not giving us a full refund and asked him to return the call.
The person who answered the phone said that Mike Miller was the area supervisor for about 15 Miracle-Ear stores and would give him the message. We have not heard from Mr. Miller about the problem.
The day my husband returned the hearing aid, he signed a copy of the purchase order. My daughter has noticed that, compared with the original pink copy that I have of the purchase order, some alterations have been added in four different areas where numbers have been added.
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