Why hear. Does Not Discount
Every day I come to work with one purpose: to help people hear the world more clearly, confidently, and comfortably. Hearing care is deeply personal work. It requires time, skill, and trust — and it deserves honesty. That’s why at hear., we don’t discount, and we don’t offer “free” hearing tests. Not because we’re trying to be different for the sake of it, but because the way hearing care is priced in New Zealand has drifted far away from what is fair, transparent, and respectful to the people who rely on it most. I want to explain why.
1. When a hearing test is “free,” someone pays for it.
A hearing assessment takes clinical skill, specialised equipment, and time. When it’s advertised as “free,” the cost doesn’t disappear — it’s simply shifted. The reality is that the people who eventually purchase hearing aids end up paying for every “free” test the clinic has provided throughout the year. The cost is bundled into the price of devices, often without the patient ever realising it. At hear., I believe you should only pay for the service you receive — nothing more, nothing hidden.
2. Free testing undermines the value of the profession.
Audiologists spend years training to understand the ear, the brain, and the complex relationship between hearing and wellbeing. When our work is given away as a marketing tool, it sends a message — intentionally or not — that the assessment has little value. But it does have value. It’s the foundation of every decision that follows. When the profession is pressured to provide clinical work for free, it creates stress, reduces job satisfaction, and erodes the integrity we work so hard to build with patients. I want to practice in a way that honours the profession and the people it serves.
3. Free testing is a marketing tactic, not a healthcare decision.
“Free” is powerful advertising. It brings people through the door. But it also creates an expectation: if the test is free, the clinic must make its income somewhere else. That “somewhere else” is almost always hearing aids. This model encourages sales-driven care. It blurs the line between what is clinically necessary and what is commercially beneficial. That’s not the environment I want my patients to walk into.
4. Ultimately, you pay for the free service — through higher device prices.
When clinics offer free tests, free coffee, and free consultations, the cost of running that environment doesn’t vanish. It is recouped through the price of hearing aids. That means people who genuinely need devices — people whose lives are limited in some way by hearing loss — end up subsidising everyone who came in “just because it was free.” To me, that feels unnecessary and unfair.
At hear., you pay only for the care you receive. No hidden cross‑subsidies. No inflated device prices. No pressure. Just honest, evidence‑based audiology delivered with respect for your time, your trust, and your wellbeing.
That’s the kind of clinic I want to run — and the kind of care I believe you deserve.
