Need for better Hearing Aid (HA) and Provider Selection Information

I wouldn't go back to Costco. The products they offer seem cheaper, but don't be deceived. You'll pay a high price for its lack of follow-up service, which is a critical part of any hearing-device package.

Never forget that Costco is a massive warehouse chain, not a healthcare practice. You are always their customer, but never their client. So they are great if you are shopping for jeans or bed linens or baked goods, and they are very happy to sell you their merchandise. Their mindset is, sell and move on.

Whereas a practitioner is obligated to deliver ongoing support after the sale of the device, which sooner or later will need to be serviced. To maintain their license, audiologists have to have some degree of accountability if things don't go well with your device. At my local Costco, however, that follow-up was simply not available. They have no incentive or apparent interest in forming a continuous relationship with you, a person disabled by hearing loss and dependent on their device for your daily functioning.

So for example, you have a problem with your Costco hearing aids? I found I couldn't set an appointment to discuss my issues, as appointments were reserved for the customers who were testing and purchasing devices. So when you have a hearing aid issue, you might leave a voicemail. Maybe someone will call you back during the week (never on a weekend)--or maybe not. So you need to trek out there in person, without an appointment, during workday hours, 9-5. Maybe there's one technician on duty, and they are in the booth, testing a customer for a fitting, so you stand by for 45 minutes until they are done. Maybe there's a line of people waiting, so it's like standing in the returns line at the grocery store. You just wait there in the warehouse for some undetermined length of time, trying to talk to the person behind the counter about your hearing aid problem when they get a minute. Is that what you want to depend on for your hearing health?

Also, in my experience, the hearing aids and their accessories were inferior. I didn't have such terrible hearing loss at the time (~9 years ago), so didn't need a very advanced product, although I bought the top of the line at the time. But I got these big clunky things that tended toward feedback all the time, and they didn't switch functions smoothly. Plus the bluetooth feature never worked, even though I paid extra for it. I'd hate to imagine relying on a pair of Costco hearing aids now, when my loss is far greater.

Maybe services are better at some Costcos than others, but the basic setup and assumptions are the same. Do you want to put your hearing health in the care of a warehouse store? I mean, if it were another kind of healthcare, would you want to sign up with Costco?

If it's just a matter of the dollar cost, it seems to me there are better options. You can get a credit card with 0% APR for 18 months, put a small amount down and pay it off in small monthly payments without interest. AARP teams with Hear USA to get hearing aid discounts--I got 50% off the last time I used it, with a year to pay it off interest-free. Also, Hear.com is a hearing-aid distribution network modeled on a German distribution system. It has a network of audiologists, and a responsive call center that gets you in to an audiologist quickly to address your hearing aid service issues. All of the hearing aids they prescribe are prescription devices made by the major manufacturers. https://www.hear.com/ Or you can join a health network like Kaiser and get discounts on hearing aids because they negotiate a special price with the manufacturers. Medicaid also provides hearing aids.

Of course, in some communities it's possible that Costco is the only supplier within reasonable distance--but in general I think Costco should be a last resort as a hearing aid supplier. I strongly suggest that you check your options. There may well be a better path.

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My experience at Costco In Eden Prairie, MN was just the opposite. The person who took care of me, Scott, was ALWAYS available for a personal or phone appointment. He adjusted my Kirkland (Phonak Marvel) hearing aids so I could hear well in a noisy restaurant. I was so grateful for that.
I later got hearing aids from the VA which were very similar to the Phonaks I got from Costco but the Phd audiologist was not nearly as competent as the person from Costco and no audiologist has been able to make the adjustment for noisy restaurants that the Costco person did.

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I have no complaint on Costco as my experience with my insurance appointed HearUSA is about the same. Majority of Costco's HA cost around $1,500. I went for the Resound which cost $2,600. I have used 4 pairs of HA so far - 3 Signia and one Resound. I don't like all of them and lost faith with HA as they are only 70-80% effective. I still have trouble hearing soft conversation. And the worst was too much outside noises that the audiologists didn't know how to suppress or stop amplifying them. While I was watch TV, the noises people walking on wooden floor behind me , and the noises that my wife was washing plates were too hard to bare. Does anyone didn't have these problems?

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