Help for my mom on surprise credit card

[SevenFilerCA]

Hi there,

I have a question on behalf of my elderly mom. She went to a hearing aid place and bought some hearing aids without realizing (a) the full price of the hearing aids, and (b) how the hearing aid company was arranging for her to pay for them. They arranged for her to apply for a high-intereste credit card and put the balance on there with 12 months no interest (which would all come due at the end if she hadn't paid the balance by the end, presumably). The monthly payment would still be several hundred dollars a month, which she can't afford.

When the credit card came in the mail, she didn't know what it was and cut it up. Then they started calling her, and she didn't know what it was for. Finally she put it together that the credit card was for the hearing aids. She had thought the hearing aids price was half what it turned out to be, because she was misled by the single hearing aid price. Once she found out the real price, she tried to return them, but it was too late. Also, the hearing aid company is saying they don't have anything to do with the money because her arrangement is with an outside financer, so they can't help her.

I'm asking the hearing aid people to fax me all the documents she signed, and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do in terms of showing that they didn't give her all the information or misled her in some way. Does anybody have any ideas?

Also, what happens if she just doesn't pay? In what ways can we dispute this?

Thanks for any ideas.

[BigJohn]

An issue of not hearing over a hearing aid sale?

First, how old is your mother?
Does your Mother have insurance that covers hearing aids?

[SevenFilerCA]

She is 75, and she has Medicare, but I believe she responded to a flyer in the mail and that this is some kind of retail outlet. Perhaps it's a good idea to see if Medicare can reimburse some of this...

[SevenFilerCA]

"An issue of not hearing over a hearing aid sale?"

I just got this!

Okay, I'm hold at Medicare (estimated 15-minute wait...)...

...well, actually in the mean time, I looked it up on the medicare website - no coverage for hearing aids.

[BigJohn]

Does she have only medicare or one of the supplements?

[BigJohn]

Does the store accept Medicare? I think all of them do.

[catleg]

This sounds like a somewhat predatory practice. You might try and contact some kind of elder care type organization in your area and find out what they say.