Costco 1st Time?

[CowboyRon]

I am trying to find an affortable and effective options for heating aids. I bought Siemens CIC in 2005 for $5500 and found they were totally useless and ineffective. The practitioner kept reprogramming and saying the would work for me until I finally got totally frustrated 6 months and 20+ visits later. They are now in my JUNK drawer.

I have a somewhat unique work situation that requires clear concise communication (hearing) for safety reasons. I work outdoors in education/counseling role with children, teens and adults some of whom have disabilities. Its important that I hear the participants' voices versus and overamplified background (wind, leaves rustling, other environmental noise) and my own voice booming.

I've seen two audis in the past 3 months. They are recommending aids which run $3500/ear. With no specific guarantee that they will meet my needs.

I can't afford an 'arm and a leg' for hearing aids. What are my alternatives??? A friend recommended Costco because she purchased hers there. Her work situation is quite different fro mine.

[ed121]

Costco gives you a guarantee of satisfaction or 100% refund. Ed

[wibnrml]

Costco has a 90-day trial period for HA's

http://shop.costco.com/en/In-The-Warehouse/Hearing-Aid-Center/General-Information.aspx

Please be aware. Just because your freind bought the HA's from Costco does not mean their HA’s will work for you.
It all depends on the brand and quality of HA's.
Do not get caught up in price comparisons, unless the HA's are the exact same make and model. Get the aids that are recommended for you. Use the trial period offered by the fitter, All 90 days of it if that is what is offered. It takes awhile to get used to hearing sounds you haven't heard in years and the time allowed can be used for adjustments.
If that HA doesn’t work for you. Return it and try a different model, or go elsewhere and repeat the process.
Be patient. It will happen for you.

Find out what brand the Costco fitter is recommending. Kirkland is not a HA maker. It is a rebranded HA.

Good luck.

[CarScott]

Originally Posted by CowboyRon

I am trying to find an affortable and effective options for heating aids. I bought Siemens CIC in 2005 for $5500 and found they were totally useless and ineffective. The practitioner kept reprogramming and saying the would work for me until I finally got totally frustrated 6 months and 20+ visits later. They are now in my JUNK drawer.

I have a somewhat unique work situation that requires clear concise communication (hearing) for safety reasons. I work outdoors in education/counseling role with children, teens and adults some of whom have disabilities. Its important that I hear the participants' voices versus and overamplified background (wind, leaves rustling, other environmental noise) and my own voice booming.

I've seen two audis in the past 3 months. They are recommending aids which run $3500/ear. With no specific guarantee that they will meet my needs.

I can't afford an 'arm and a leg' for hearing aids. What are my alternatives??? A friend recommended Costco because she purchased hers there. Her work situation is quite different fro mine.

The rule of thumb is that a pair of current digital aids can cost $2000-$6500/pair. When you pay more money you are receiving technology that is better able to manage background noise. Once you strip away all the claims and fluffly language, the upper tier technologies are all focused on improving your speech clarity even in background noise.
You may be able to achieve most of your needs for $4000/pair but not much less. You should use the Open Fit and Receive in Canal behind the ear aids with custom, open fit earmolds; they offer the most flexibility, less occlusion, and less awareness of your own voice. Also, a remote control can be particularly helpful in adjusting background noise levels.
Unitron makes very good technology at a more affordable price than Phonak (their sister company), Oticon, Resound, etc. Their Lattitude 8 model has automatic directional mics, program button, remote compatibility, and bluetooth compatibility if you want to add it later. This is a very full featured device that should be in the $4,000/pair range.
Costco uses hearing aids from Siemens, Bernafon, and some ReSound models. Most of these are one generation old. While not always a bad thing they do not represent the cutting edge of technology. The quality of their hearing dispensers is hit and miss; the formal training is fairly minimal so the quality of fitting depends on their years of experience (yes, true of most fields but particularly so here). Pricing is quite good - nothing there is more than $4,000/pair with common models at $3,000/pair. Bear in mind that you may be getting what you're paying for.
In the end a good "value minded" audiologist should be able to meet most of your needs with good technology from a reputable brand for much much less than $3,500/pair.

[CarScott]

The final line in my post above should end with "$3500 each" -- you should be able to obtrain useful aids for $2000 each, not $3500 each.

[CryMeARiver]

There are alot of things I like about Costco's hearing aid centers. However, I caution anyone with a mid to low freq hearing loss and near normal or mild hi freq loss. The booths that you go into are not sound proof like you get at an audiologist's office. They are "sound limiting." I've had a very stable audiogram for 25 years (although word rec continues to decline) and my hearing test in costco's booth was crazy. I was bombarded by the warehouse drone and couldn't hear any of the beeps let alone the words. It was a very bad and stressful experience for sure.

[ed121]

It would be a surprise to me if Costco would sell aids that are out dated technically. They are a major buyer of aids and factories would certainly supply them with their newest models.

Ed

[CarScott]

Originally Posted by ed121

It would be a surprise to me if Costco would sell aids that are out dated technically. They are a major buyer of aids and factories would certainly supply them with their newest models.

Ed

Ed, that would seem to make sense but the ReSound models in Costco are hearing aids that have been on the market for over 12 months and have been superceded by new models in August 2010. They are not the new Alera or Dot2 models. "Outdated" is probably the wrong word - they are a generation old but not outdated.

Word is that ReSound agreed to Costco distribution with the caveat of withholding the latest models (ostensibly to appease the larger independent market that accounts for most of their sales).
The Rexton and Bernafon models in Costco are their newest models but Rexton is a secondary Siemens brand and Bernafon is secondary Oticon brand. Neither of these use the latest technology from those larger parent companies.

[hearhear]

Originally Posted by CarScott

"..... Most of these are one generation old. While not always a bad thing they do not represent the cutting edge of technology. ..".

I think one should ask if the "cutting edge" represents a better level of hearing ability. If you look at the newer Resound Alera that I don't believe Costco sells right now, I think it is totally wireless, in the fitting as well. I'm not sure that it is a step up in hearing technology but just more features which most people, I don't, might not care for.

I'm at this juncture of making a choice on a new pair of HA's and am having a hard time trying to decide whether I should go to Costco or the traditional indpendent audiologist. Independent audiologists are not always independent, they have tied themselves to generally one supplier though they will deny that fact in the beginning until after you have had your hearing test. I think it has to do with deals that they work out. You will find that your audiologist that dispenses brand X will not know very much about Y or Z. They are not keeping up with technology because when I ask them questions about new developments they don't seem to know or actually don't care because they are only selling mainly one brand. So I have not, as yet, seen a good reason for paying a huge markup to the private practice audiologist.

At Costco at least you get some choice, but it is true also that the Costco dispenser (he/she is not an audiologist) does not inspire confidence, at least the couple I talked to.



Costco

[cleocat]

I for one, found the Costco dispenser in Houston to be superior to the Ph. D. Audiologist who fitted my first aids and left me to fend for myself after the 2nd visit. At the time I had no clue that I should have been in her office every week until the fit was "perfect". My Costco dispenser has held my hand every step along the way to make sure everything was right.
AND, as for the hearing test at Costco, it was every bit as detailed as the one at my ENT's office and at the audiologist.