Hearing centers in Costco stores are always tucked away in a back corner that says "hearing." They usually only have one tech, one or two others who answer phones, sell batteries and accessories. You can check online to see pricing, but, if your hearing is bad enough to have brought you to this list, you probably will be moved right past the lowest priced one or two models. I have their Zerena aid, two steps up from the base model, but there are others even better. The tech will fit you with an aid and tell you to walk around the store for a few minutes to see how much it helps. It would be a good idea to take someone with you (familiar voice you haven't been hearing well) to get a better feel for how much the aid helps. If you decide to buy, you pay then but have 30 days to bring it back if you're not happy, for a full refund.

When I bought mine a year ago, I didn't have a smart phone, so the telecoil wasn't activated. When I got a smart phone last spring after my "good" ear was affected by the Meniere's monster, the tech activated the telecoil and paired the aid with my phone, so that calls (and Siri's directions if you turn that on) are sent directly to the aid, right in your ear. Good news for me is that I can actually hear and understand using my IPhone; bad news is that we have no reception here and, even though I've enacted the WiFi, it's not strong enough to yield decent reception, either for me or for the caller. I haven't yet been able to set up Apple ID, which is necessary to get apps, even free ones. I think that's because the WiFi doesn't work well enough (you need both computer access and the phone to set up Apple ID, dammit).

If you don't think the tech is right for you, try another Costco if there's one within a reasonable distance. The tech at the Salem, Oregon store is more aware of current apps than either of the audis at the CI center I went to for testing; not even the doc there was aware of Live Transcribe! I got the audi to print out test results to take back to Costco to have my aid adjusted (after my hearing took the huge downturn).

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