WARREN, Mich. – An elderly Warren woman says she was scammed by a Southeast Michigan hearing aid provider. It’s the same provider tied to a similar case Local 4 has been tracking. Now, AARP is taking extra steps to stop him from seeing more seniors.
AARP Hearing Solutions by UnitedHealthcare Hearing tells Local 4 they’ve removed provider William, or Bill, Robinson from their list and says he’s been reported to the state licensing board. It comes after Local 4’s story on a 99-year-old Birmingham woman who said she’d been scammed by Robinson.
Recommended Videos
Following that story, Warren woman Nancy Russell reached out to Local 4 with a similar story.
If someone was to walk inside Russell’s Warren home, they would see a folder labeled “Bill Robinson.”
Inside, there’s a paper that says, “I am screwed,” written by Russell.
It was last June that Russell’s hearing health took a hard turn.
“They went in and put Teflon coating over it,” Russell said about a procedure she had. “When they did that, they cut what goes from my ear to the brain.”
Complications from that procedure cost her much of her hearing and sent her looking for relief.
She reached out to AARP’s Hearing Solutions by UnitedHealthcare Hearing program.
“It ended up that Bill Robinson called me,” Russell said.
Eventually, Robinson, who is a mobile provider on their provider list at the time, came to her home.
“We bought 2 hearing aids for $2,000,” she said.
She says Robinson told her it would make more sense if it was a private transaction, instead of through AARP.
For an extra 200 dollars, she bought a warranty that covered any loss, damage or parts.
Around Christmas, Nancy needed some additional parts, so she reached out to Robinson.
“We made three appointments with him within two or three months and he would say he would come and he never showed up,” Russell said. “One time was on my husband’s birthday - we were thinking of going to Frankenmuth for his birthday, free dinner, and we stayed and waited for him instead and he never came.”
In April, after months of waiting, she’d reached her end.
“April 7th, I said, ‘If you don’t come, I am considering you have broken your contact with me,’” she said.
Nancy also says she misplaced one of her hearing aids. That’s something the warranty should have covered.
She says she and her husband thought they were the only ones, until they saw Local 4’s earlier report about the Birmingham woman with a similar story.
“If Robinson was sitting right here, if he were me, what would you say to him?” Local 4’s Kyla Russell asked.
“You scam people,” she said. “You don’t want to help people to get hearing aids who need it.”
“Customer care is our top priority,” AARP Hearing Solutions by UnitedHealthcare Hearing program said. “We hold our network of providers to the highest standards to support patient care and quality outcomes, and we regret the inconvenience and frustration this situation caused. We are deeply disappointed a provider failed to deliver on our customer promise. The provider is no longer with our network and was reported to the state licensing board. We were unaware of the issue because these devices were not purchased through the AARP® Hearing Solutions™ by UnitedHealthcare Hearing program. Regardless, we understand how important it is to address these concerns, and we would be happy to work directly with the Russells to find a resolution.”
Local 4 reached out to Robinson for a response, but have not heard back yet.