BLOOMHEARING in Australia

[Ken]

I recently posted about a hearing clinic in Canberra which had some
good features. Today I learnt that a local audiological firm has
joined a national network of hearing clinics under the name Bloom
(http://www.bloomhearing.com.au). They seem to specialise in Widex and
offer 'free testing and fitting'. Why anyone seeking expert health
advice would be attracted by the fact that is is free escapes me.
('free heart surgery!!' "no win no fee!!")..
In hearing assistance as with any other health problem, or, indeed,
any problem, good help does not come cheap and nor should it. The
following is a quote from an audiologist:which I have previously
relayed to the group

'Most people have a story about a friend or relative who tried a
hearing aid and found that it didn't really help. This person often
convinces people not to 'waste their time' with hearing aids.
When someone fails to benefit from a hearing aid it's generally
because they were not fitted with an appropriate hearing aid; they
were fitted by someone who was not qualified; or they expected too
much, often because of misleading advertising.
The most appropriate hearing aid is one that helps the person to hear
better. Recent advances in hearing aid technology have gone a long way
toward improving a hearing aid's performance, particularly in
background noise.
No hearing aid in the world will only amplify a person's voice and
not the background noise. Products that claim to eliminate background
noise are at best misleading. People with normal hearing hear
background noise and hearing aid wearers will hear the same background
noise. A properly fitted hearing aid will go a long way toward
reducing background noise but it will not eliminate it. If anyone
tries to sell you a hearing aid claiming it will eliminate background
noise, run for the door'

Why people capable of offering this sort of lucid, and sound, advice
would purport to offer free services escapes me. Of course the
services are not free. Rather they are hidden in the cost of the
hearing aids. This, at once, artificially inflates the apparent cost
of the aids and attributes zero value to the audiological services
(which many members of this group will agree can be life-altering).

To me 'free testing and fitting' sounds like 'free test drive'. It is
time that every audiologist faced up the the question: 'Am I selling
my professional skills or am I selling hearing aids'?. Obviously an
audiologist who offers free testing and fitting will not eat unless
he sells hearing aids.