Hi Julie....we meet up once again. And YES. The answer is yes that Costco does lock up their own name brand hearing aids so that only their hearing aid specialist can unlock them and make them work for you the customer. They will provide the hearing tests and give you a 'fine set of aids' but if you try to take them to a neighborhood audiologist and have them tested or readjusted - your audiologist will be unable to do anything with them or will find there is a limit to what they can do with them. The assumption is that there are plenty of Costco shops around the nation, so that if you have a problem, you can either mail them to your nearest one and have it fixed or you go the nearest one and have it fixed. They don't operate in the sense of asking questions about day to day needs, taking care of fixes when there stores are not close by, and high level of hearing loss that their hearing aids would not help
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Wherever you purchase you hearing aids from anyone, be it from a name brand store, an online MD, or your neighborhood audiologist group, the supplier (seller) should provide you with the brand of hearing aids they are trying to sell you and a type of warranty that goes with that particular HA. The warranty can vary depending on what type of aid you have purchased and who the party or manufacturer is that providing the time line of coverage. The warranty may have a short window of time for a trial use to see if they work for you and then a time frame of time for coverage for damage and usage.

TODAY, Prices will be reflective of the aid(s), level of qualify, hearing aid features, warranty coverage, and hearing aid specialist/audiologists services. This is the bundled services that includes all costs. That is why aids are so costly but bear in mind - you are purchasing a computer for your ear. Each aid is manufactured individually by at least 45- 50 people who are putting together a piece of equipment that will help you hear well. A simple hearing aid may not produce the same type of quality as one that has a list of 10 items that it may be able to do. HOWEVER, not everyone's hearing is the same either. My hearing which is mod/severe requires very expensive hearing aids that produce features that someone with little hearing loss would not need because they can hear what I can't. Not hearing is NOT like Not Seeing. You can't put a pair of glasses on my ears and expect me to hear.

Everyone wants to get in on the game now and sell hearing devices for hearing better. There are so many advertisements out there for aids that it is almost easier just to walk away. BUT the truth of the matter is, your brain needs to hear and the best thing is to make sure it has the best aid out there for YOU. If Costco is for you, then so be it. Any hearing aid that will help you to hear is better than none. Research shows what happens without any stimuli and it's not a pretty picture. Start looking now. Do you research. Ask questions of any and every company you look at. See your doctor/audiologist for a good baseline hearing loss - so you know what level you are at. Then from there - you can seek out a hearing aid(s) for yourself. Eloise

The OTC Hearing Aid Act was signed in 2017 - so that you and I can shop for hearing aids. So there are plenty of them out there. And don't forget the t-coil so your can hear on your cellphone... I't a must.
http://www.hearingreview.com/2017/08/president-trump-signs-otc-hearing-aid-legislation-law/