@julieo4 Great advice. I think many states require that the hearing aid dispenser has a trial/return period. My experience has always been with an audiologist who is a private dispenser and holds a doctoral degree. The practice used to be part of an otolaryngologist practice and still occupies space within that doctor's office, but the two operate independently. I personally like having the services of the otolaryngologist there in case I need wax removed or anything like that. Other than that though, Costco does a good job from what I have heard.
Real Ear measurement for some reason is generally just done on pediatric patients at my audiologist but I requested it and they did do it. It definitely made a small difference.
I hate to admit this, but I am not sure if my HAs have telecoils! I think they do not -- they are Oticon Opn1 HAs. They are Bluetooth enabled and talking on my iPhone with my HAs is far better than talking on my landline phone. My HAs do have a number of programs that can be used to adjust volume, and supposedly other things but I don't find them to be much help.

@boomerldy I don't think any HAs are great in restaurant settings. The best I had for that was some Phonaks. Their directionality was great. When I put that program on in a restaurant if I faced the person speaking I could often hear them better than the other people at my table could! I switched to my Oticons because at the time they had the best technology for clarity which had become a large problem for me.
JK