I use Westone or should I say used Westone up until recently. I started getting a lot of molds that were overfilled. Not just a little overfilled, but so overfilled even with otoslik you couldn't shove the mold into a patient's ears.
I was in a routine for about 2 months where I had to break out the dremel and red wing and go to town.
I now order usually from Microsonic or Great Lakes.
As for Westone not helping students out with freebies, that's a little lame if you ask me. I'd ask Microsonic or Resound or Starkey. You can usually get the same products for the same price and they know you treat students well because students will eventually be your customer base.
As for the demo'ing of hearing aids, I used to do this all the time when I worked for a university. I have a mild high frequency hearing loss (too many years of firearms, power tools, and handling ototoxic drugs in Microbiology work) and would always demo the new stuff. I'd always wear the new stuff for a week and then level with patients if I thought it was worth the price.
I loved the Resound Live chipset and love the Alera series right now for the 802 wireless. I always hated wearing a streamer even when wearing a demo set for a week. Wearing a jabra collar clip is much easier. I've always loved the Widex Mind 440 because it was one of the few tinnitus devices that actually blocked mine effectively. The TS for Resound never did much for me.
I think all students should have to wear a pair of demos for a week just to see the pros and cons of hearing aids. I know when I taught undergraduate communication science majors, they had to wear a pair of earplugs for a day and keep a journal of the experience. It helped cement for many what it's like to have hearing loss and live day to day.
I actually pulled this same stunt when one of our high up administrators in a hospital I worked in decided that he didn't want to fund our charity hearing aid program anymore. I told him if he could wear a pair of ear plugs for an hour and function at his job then we would scrap the program. 30 minutes later I had an apology and he had an I told you so. And before you ask how I pull my pants up over my huge balls - one leg at a time just like you.