Gardner Audiology Empty promises and disinformation Crystal River Florida

I received in the mail an “RSVP” from Gardner Audiology late May, 2013. The body of the document read :

“We invite you to Lend Your Ears for a free candidate screening during the final days of our Hearing in Noise Comparison Study".

Patients and Healthcare Providers:

Through our surveys and research of over 6000 hearing aid fittings, Gardner Audiology has identified the fabulous five affordable hearing aid features (see back) that will help you maintain speech understanding in noise and crowds.

We'd like to loan you a hearing aid with these features in exchange for sharing your opinion on a pre and post fitting questionnaire exams, lab services and follow up visits are free of charge. At the end of 30 days, you will return your study aids or you may purchase them. It's your choice.

There also followed additional 'come ons' in the last paragraph.

I have been a hearing aid user for the past 10 years, of what at the time was the cutting edge of digital aids. Within this time there have been improvements in digital aids in suppressing background noise in noisy environments. My 10 year old aids still were working perfectly, but the chance to up grade to a newer digital technology interested me. For this reason, I responded to Gardner's solicitation.

My first appointment was 6-13-13 at which time Dan  Gardner declared one of my aids “was not working” and the other “wasn't working properly”. This should have been a tip-off as to what was to come. Both were working flawlessly. Wanting to educate myself as to what I could gain with a new set of aids, I overlooked this and made an appointment for the “free 30 day trial”.

Long story short, my return was 6-20-13, at which time after questionably accurate disinformation and double talk I was told I would not “get the 30 day trial aids”. I was told it was necessary for me to get x rays of my inner ear and

see a physician in that field to qualify for the 30 day trial period. Then followed the unbelievable statement by Mr. Gardner: “then you may find your current aids are what you need”. Yeah-I remember, the one's that had one “dead” and the other “not working properly”.

I am dumbfounded as to why I was lied to (including other questionable statements to which I could allude) and given the “car dealer” run-around. I was a current wearer of digital aids and was genuinely in the market for new aids that would offer the claimed improvements over my 10 years old aids.

New aids are well within my disposable income. Apparently Mr. Gardner (mistakenly)  deemed me unable to meet his (imagined) financial criteria of a PAYING customer. 

The multiple mailers and newspaper ads generated by Gardner Audiology offer services which are not forthcoming. Maybe next time I should wear a suit and tie. Pretty uncomfortable here in Florida, however. 

Gardner Audiology- a strange experience I would suggest others avoid..