A billing dispute over hearing aids offers some valuable lessons

As a former radio DJ and news broadcaster, Kevin Hamilton wore a pair of headphones over his ears almost every working day for about a dozen years. It likely damaged his hearing, leading him to purchase hearing aids last year.

Hamilton used his credit card to pay $2,450 for the hearing aids in September, an amount he thought was full payment. The paperwork he got at the time showed his payment plus his health insurer’s $772 contribution added up to the total cost.

But in January a $1,000 bill arrived in the mail from HearingLife, the New Jersey-based company from which he bought his hearing aids.

Under “description," the bill said “Dispensing fee — Standard." It advised him to pay by Jan. 25 and listed online, credit card, and mail options to do so.

“Thank you for choosing HearingLife for your hearing care," it said.

The bill struck Hamilton as unfair and improper because no one had ever mentioned a “dispensing" fee when he purchased the hearing aids at a HearingLife outlet in Keene, N.H. Nor had anyone mentioned it during several follow-up appointments at the outlet for adjustment of his hearing aids.

“When a bill like this comes out of nowhere, it’s a jolt," Hamilton, of Acworth, N.H., said. “It’s not an insignificant amount of money — and for what?"

Hamilton looked around the HearingLife website and at the paperwork and emails he had received from the company but could find no explanation or justification for the fee. In fact, he found no mention of it at all.

“They seem to think they can pluck invoices from thin air and bill based on a whim," he complained to me. “Who is to say in another month they won’t attempt to levy a ‘sourcing fee’ or ‘management fee. ’ "

Hamilton said he called HearingLife several times and was told twice, “I don’t know why no one told you about this fee but it is standard."

After Hamilton asked for my help, I looked at the paperwork and wrote to HearingLife that it seemed “unfair to spring a substantial charge on him long after the purchase was complete."

I attached a copy of the invoice and a chronology of events in an email to HearingLife. I also called the company’s customer line and its corporate office, each time jotting down the names of the persons I spoke with and what they said (neither provided any real help).

When I didn’t get a response, I wrote again, citing my previous attempts to make contact with the company. I have learned that, when dealing with a recalcitrant company or corporation, it’s important to build a record of your interactions. You hope and expect to eventually get someone to listen to you, and your record will demonstrate the reasonable and extensive steps you have taken.

I finally got this in response to my second email: “Your email has been forwarded for support. Someone will be in contact with you." That was the last time I heard from HearingLife.

But, instead of responding to me, the company had responded directly to Hamilton, saying it had made a mistake in sending him an invoice for $1,000.

HearingLife, in a voicemail left for Hamilton, seemed to blame Hamilton’s insurer, United­Healthcare. It turns out the $1,000 dispensing fee was actually owed to HearingLife by United, not Hamilton. But when United failed to promptly pay it, HearingLife apparently decided to hold Hamilton responsible for it, according to the voicemail.

But once I got involved, Hearing­Life quickly determined that UnitedHealthcare had in fact paid the bill.

In the same voicemail, a HearingLife manager seemed anxious to smooth things over: “Your account is cleared, zero, you don’t owe anything … Everything is fine."

United Healthcare, the largest health insurance company in the country, told me HearingLife sent its invoice to Hamilton “in error due a system glitch."

“We have confirmed with HearingLife this charge has been immediately waived," UnitedHealthcare told me. “Your inquiry is what brought the HearingLife error to our attention."

Hamilton is happy to have this resolved. But why couldn’t HearingLife resolve it without my intervention? Why was he repeatedly told that such fees were “standard" when he tried to resolve it on his own?

Here’s some advice for when dealing with customer service on an erroneous bill or a similar matter:

■ If you are in the right, then make a commitment to persist until you get justice. It helps all of us when you do so.

■ Build a record of your interactions. When you are dealing with customer service on the phone, ask (politely) for names and email addresses and take notes on what you are told. Put your email exchanges, along with your phone call notes, into a chronology of events.

■ Email your chronology to the company using multiple email addresses if you can find them. That puts the company on notice that it’s time to resolve the situation.

■ Try to take a constructive attitude on the phone and in emails. Mistakes do happen. Unfortunately, this one happened to you. Your goal is to solve the problem, not vent your annoyance at being made to spend precious time on this *%#&@ problem! It’s self-defeating to react with anger and condescension.

■ If you don’t understand what you’re being told over the phone, ask the customer service person to slow down and clarify.

■ Let them know you plan to file complaints with the attorney general’s office, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau, or similar agencies.

Got a problem? Send your consumer issue to [email protected]. Follow him @spmurphyboston.