As the Australian audiology sector has evolved, vertical integration, mainly through hearing aid company-ownership, now dominates the industry. While not applicable to all, many employ cheeky sales tactics, and because they are owned by the products they sell, often upsell or overcharge of products sold.
Examples of some of the practices these clinics engage in are "bait pricing" and "opaque pricing" (luring people in before revealing pricing and then offering discounts). By withholding prices, this creates an opportunity to facilitate a sale with flexible pricing, enhancing the perception of value, whether it actually is or not! This raises ethical questions, because if these "sales" allow them to still turn a healthy profit, what does that say for their ethics when the sales are not in place? Furthermore, as someone who has worked for these companies before, the so called "sales" are often not even sales at all, they are simply marketed to the clients in such a way. Examples of this include how management often permit clinicians to offer up to 30% discounts (at all times). Often, the public would be told "we have a sale on" when in reality, it's just this. This allows for higher sale prices to be made off wealthier clients, while still securing sales from less wealthier clients.
In discussion on the positives of the chain clinics, you can generally trust them to provide you with a premium/quality hearing aid. Quality is rarely an issue with them, and they generally have high standards in clinical services provided. Additionally, they provide a network of clinics Australia wide, making servicing of devices easy when away from home.