A DuBois-based hearing aid company must close its doors and pay
$190,000 in fines after scamming elderly residents across the
region – including in McKean and Elk counties – out of thousands of
dollars after failing to reimburse them for faulty hearing
aids.

The owners of M.E. Jones Hearing Instruments and Marketing
Specialists Inc., both of 101 N. Main St., must also pay nearly
$31,000 in restitution to the victims in what is being called the
largest award obtained by the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer
Protection against hearing aid dealers.

The announcement was made Monday by Attorney General Tom
Corbett.

Mark E. Jones was listed as the owner of M.E. Jones Hearing
Instruments, while Joseph G. Pannette was listed for Marketing
Specialists Inc., which managed customer accounts for the company
and manufactured the hearing aids that were sold to the
consumers.

“This case was particularly egregious because the victims were
mostly older Pennsylvanians who were defrauded out of significant
sums of money as they tried to improve their quality of life,”
Corbett said.

The ruling was handed down by Clearfield County Judge Paul
Cherry earlier this month. At a series of hearings last year,
Cherry said 19 former clients testified against the company, which
continued “unfair and deceptive conduct” even after the final
hearing on Sept. 17, 2004.

Court documents indicate that in July of 2001, the company was
found in violation of state law in relation to hearing aid sales.
According to The Associated Press, the company would set up
temporary operations in small towns across the region, offering a
free hearing exam. However, if there were problems with a hearing
aid, a customer found it hard to be fixed before a 30-day money
back guarantee expired.

Restitution claims ranged from $4,200 for a Bedford County man
to $150 for a Centre County man, according to documents obtained
from the attorney general’s office. Most consumers said they paid
the company between $1,200 and $2,000 for a single hearing aid
device that either did not fit properly or failed to improve their
ability to hear.

Jones’ attorney told The Associated Press the company has been
closed since January, adding his client maintains it was Pannette
who ran the operation. Meanwhile, nearly 40 more people have
allegedly lost money to the company, with authorities currently
pursuing those cases.

According to Corbett, a petition for contempt was filed in
November 2003 after the attorney general’s office received new
complaints claiming the defendants continued to illegally deny
consumers their refunds or honor requests to cancel sales
contracts.

Locally, Charlotte Dean of Smethport said customers would be
told “one thing after another” by the company.

“They would tell me I wasn’t using them (hearing devices)
right,” Dean said. “They would not live up to their standards and
promised us things they didn’t deliver. It just seems a shame that
they can pick on older people that are trying to make a living for
the rest of their lives, take their money and run with it.”

For his part, Garvin Dille of Smethport said dealing with the
company was a terrible ordeal.

“It’s really a scam of an outfit,” Dille said. “They lied to us.
This ruling makes me very happy. I hate to see them practice
anywhere in the world.”

Both Dean and Dille are in line to garner $3,000 in restitution
from the company.

Meanwhile, Ronny McMinn of Ridgway said the attorney general’s
office kept in contact with the company’s victims.

“Everybody at the hearing had exactly the same story,” McMinn
said. “They gave us promise after promise. They are just plain
crooks who put everybody through the mill.”

McMinn – who has a restitution claim of $4,000 – said an
original ruling was supposed to be made by Thanksgiving of last
year – almost a year before the recent decision was handed
down.

Also listed as defendants in the case were Robert Fauls, Richard
Kerstetter and Ricky Pape.