Kaiser Permanente Hearing Center – Oakland

Looking for information on this place before making an appointment to get hearing aids … hard to find anything about them…

WORST RECEPTIONISTS EVER. For a person that works in a «hearing center» I’m shocked at how little respect and knowledge they have about deaf people or people with hearing loss.
I’m profoundly deaf, but they decided to just «talk at me» instead of speaking at a slower pace or enunciating the words carefully. When I asked the woman to write down what she was saying, she practically GLARED at me and left with a huff to get paper and pencil. I felt very confused and left out, even after writing on the paper, she still insisted to «talk at» me. The whole entire time I felt tense and not welcome. It was like she purposely tried to make things difficult for me. They also charge an arm and a leg for their services. $ 300 to get my hearing aid fixed! Completely outrageous. This place is NOT deaf friendly. The audiologists are also lacking in the knowledge and customer service areas it seems. Too bad. I hate this place with a passion. Someone fire that godawful receptionist with the tattoos all over her horrid body.

The staff at this hearing center is not friendly or helpful. New hearing molds are $ 150 — which is outrageous! The first audiologist we went to was very nice and helpful — can’t remember her name. The second audiologist we saw was rude, and did not provide valuable information. She seemed like she was in a rush and annoyed during the appointment. I actually chose to make an appointment with another Kaiser Hearing Center for my daughter. Hopefully the service will be better.

I was fitted for hearing aids a month ago. I called today and the receptionist had no knowledge of what might have happened and why no one called me. She said my audiologist was out for a few days and did I want an appointment three weeks out?
I said no and she said the audiologist whould phone when she returns. A month?

I’ve called a few times and had a difficult time with fairly rude receptionists. I always get the sense that I better talk fast and not ask any tricky questions. Also, it’s probably not entirely their policy, but 185 dollars for custom ear plugs and you cannot take or save your molds meaning if they get lost, it’s another 185 dollars. Need to find a better place to get these.

I got some ear plugs custom made here. I wanted them for swimming in the Bay. My ears got really cold when I swam and this did the trick. They’re also great for keeping the noisy neighbors at bay. They cost about $ 80 and I had to go in twice (once for fitting and once to pick them up). I’m really happy with them.