Article: Listen Closely When Buying Hearing Aids: Pitfalls Abound; Customers Find Trial Period Can End Too Soon

Sometimes consumers get the feeling corporate America has turned a deaf ear to their complaints. But the hearing aid industry?

Just ask Janet Bell -- but make sure to speak up.

When Bell, 79, bought a pair of Miracle-Ear hearing aids at Sears in the Westfield Shopping Center in Wheaton two years ago, she wanted what every hearing-impaired consumer wants -- simply to hear better. The retired Montgomery Country librarian's hearing had deteriorated so much that she hesitated to go to her church and book club meetings.

"I felt like a lump sitting there and not hearing what anybody was saying," she says. "I was ready to give up going anywhere."

After an audiologist examined her and suggested ...

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