Dear Friends,

Our family has been a part of the hearing aid industry since 1947.

We continue our effort to make a positive difference in our industry, community, state, and country.

In the past few years I have often been asked how I came up with the concept of providing major brand hearing aids and quality service at discount prices, provided by Audiologists and Dispensers, throughout the United States.

This is a brief explanation on how Ahearingaid.com came to be.

In 1983 after spending eight years in the U.S. Air Force, as a Fire Fighter, I joined my family's hearing aid company in Southern California, called OTO Products. OTO Products was, at that time, the largest hearing aid and accessory business on the West Coast. OTO Products was a hearing aid and accessory wholesaler and had hundreds of Audiologists and Dispensers that would buy various items, such as hearing aids, batteries and impression material each month. In 1985 I was promoted to sales manager of the hearing aid division at OTO Products. One of my job responsibilities was to know the various hearing aids from over 22 different hearing aid manufacturers and to represent OTO Products at the trade shows and conventions.

In 1987 I left my position with OTO Products and I accepted a position with Phonic Ear as Territory Manager for Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Phonic Ear was at that time and still is a leader in FM Systems (Auditory Trainers) used in classrooms, courtrooms, theaters, etc. Phonic Ear also manufactured augmentative communication devices that are used by individuals who can not speak also Phonic Ear was at that time the U.S. distributor of Phonak hearing aids.

Through my work with Phonic Ear F.M. systems I met many families that were struggling to save enough money to buy their child both a hearing aid and a FM System. I remember thinking to myself that if I ever got the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people struggling to make ends meet, by making hearing aids, FM Systems or anything else less expensive, that I would gladly accept that responsibility. Several years later I would have that opportunity.

In 1987, while working for Phonic Ear I read an article in one of the trade journals. The article featured several hearing aid manufacture presidents answering various questions. One of the questions posed to each of the presidents was "If you could change anything about the hearing aid industry what would you change." Each of the presidents answered this question without knowing what the others had said. Almost every one of the hearing aid manufacturers presidents said they would change the delivery system and sell hearing aids directly to the consumer, through licensed hearing proferssionals. These answers were of particular interest to me. At that time most hearing aid manufacturers advertised their products to and through the hearing professionals and not directly to the consumer. For the manufacturers to sell hearing aids directly to the consumer would require a change in the entire hearing aid industry and more importantly, it required advertising directly to the consumer. In 1987, the only hearing aid manufacturers that advertised directly to the consumer, that I was aware of, was Miracle Ear and Beltone. That is why most of you have heard about Beltone and Miracle Ear and maybe not some of the bigger companies that manufacturer hearing aids.

Fast forward 9 years. In September of 1996, after being taken advantage of by an employer (not in the hearing industry) and after losing my best friend, my Dad to cancer, I dropped to my knees and for the first time in years I prayed. I prayed for God to create a company for me so that no employer could ever again take advantage of me. I prayed for God to create a company that would pay my bills, a company that would help others and a company that I would not be a slave to. That was my heart felt prayer on that cold day in September 1996.

Within one month of that prayer I learned of an Internet seminar being given at the Hilton Hotel in Woodland Hills, California and hosted by AT&T.

I went to that seminar. One business owner after another got up in front of our group and told us how they were able to take their businesses to a brand new arena, the Internet. It was then, at that moment that the initial idea of Ahearingaid.com was born. For the next several months I was consumed with the thought that here was an opportunity to make good on a promise that I had made to myself almost ten years prior, to help make a positive difference in the lives of people needing hearing aids and related products and services.

In my company we don't have "sales people". Our responsibility is to help and educate you as well as give you the very best service and prices. We are here to help you and your loved ones and we take this responsibilty seriuosly.

In Spetember of 1996 I searched the Internet to see if anyone had already thought of my idea. There were no companies selling hearing aids bundled with services and there would not be any others for another three years. There were a few companies that were advertising hearing aids in their local area with no real savings. It was advertising as usual.

In 1997, prior to our company opening our doors for business, digital hearing aids, depending on where you lived, were being sold for approx. $4,000.00 each. Our company immediately made a major positive diffence in the cost of digital hearing aids. We sold the exact same hearing aids with the same exact services for no more than $2,500.00 each. Digital hearing aid prices have since come down everywhere, including our company.

From October of 1996 until March of 1997, those five months were spent putting together a concept and a Website, where people who need information, services and/or hearing aids, could receive such help from licensed Audiologists and Dispensers at a "real" savings. Next, I talked to Audiologists and Dispensers nationwide and invited them to join our newly formed organization. I found that most of the Audiologists that I talked to liked the idea of my company sending them referrals. After all, we do not charge the hearing professionals to join our network and we do not charge for our referrals. If they were in business to make money we were helping them do that too. If they were in the business to help others we were helping them to do that.

At the end of our first year on the Internet we had about sixty-eight hearing professional offices. At the end of our second year on the Internet we had about three hundred and fifty hearing professional offices. Now, after almost nine years of being on the Internet, we now have affiliated offices across all of America.

Because we buy and sell so many more hearing aids than the normal retail hearing aid office we can afford to charge you less money for the same exact hearing aids and our price already includes the cost for services and counseling from licensed Audiologists and Dispensers in your local area.

We have been truly blessed. The hope that I had so many years before, to be able to bring more affordable services and products to the hearing impaired and deaf community is being realized everyday.

We are not in competition with any company. We are here to provide you with the very best care, the lowest prices and the best hearing professionals in our industry. We compete with ourselves to make sure that we meet and exceed your expectations.

Ahearingaid.com and our network of providers are committed to serving you.

Ahearingaid.com