GREENSBORO, N.C. — Dr. Aline Kent knew the day was coming. The issue was hereditary, and it was most likely just a matter of time before it impacted her. Sure, enough about seven years ago, she started to have problems.
“It became difficult to understand people. I went to the doctor, and he recommended I see an audiologist, Dr. Kent said.
Her hearing was fading, and it would apparently get worse over time. Dr. Kent needed hearing aids to help her function.
“They are not cheap - that’s for sure,” Dr. Kent said.
The hearing aids worked great, but after seven years, her hearing was getting progressively worse, so she needed a new pair. Dr. Kent searched online and looked up plenty of reviews before finding a company that had hearing aids within her budget.
“I did a lot of research before choosing what to buy,” Dr. Kent said.
The hearing aids were ordered but took several months to be delivered. Eventually, they arrived, but almost three months after she purchased them.
“I’m not sure why it took so long. They kept giving me excuse after excuse,” Dr. Kent said.
When the hearing aids arrived, Dr. Kent immediately tried them but didn’t like them. They did not fit her ear that well, and she was unable to adjust them to make them fit.
“I tried to reach [the company] but couldn’t. We called the phone number I can’t tell you how many times,” Dr. Kent said.
It had been several weeks by now and Dr. Kent was still unable to reach someone from the company. She started to send multiple emails and after almost a month, she even tracked down another email address to send a request to return the hearing aids.
Frustrated and confused, Dr. Kent would eventually contact the Attorney General and was able to track down a mailing address. Dr. Kent packaged the hearing aids in and sent them back to the company.
She continued to wait for a refund that never came, again reaching out on the phone and through emails.
“I would try to contact them but never heard back,” Dr. Kent said.
By now, it had been more than four months. Dr. Kent feared she would never get her money back. She contacted News 2 in hopes we may be able to assist.
“Finally, I got to the point where I was not getting answers, so I reached out to News 2,” Dr. Kent said.
We tried emailing the company and searching for any other phone numbers. We also tried all the numbers that Dr. Kent had called. It took several calls and several emails before we heard back from a representative.
The person told us he would investigate the matter and get back to us. A few days later, we received an email explaining the company has a 30-day refund policy.
We explained that Dr. Kent had tried to speak with someone, but was not able to reach anyone. A few days later, we received an email letting us know the company would provide a full refund.
“News 2 really came to fight for me, (they made) a difference, they really did,” Dr. Kent said.