Had my first Costco visit today. Been wearing the same Widex for 6 years and been reading this forum for about the same amount of time. Was interested in the Jabra Pro 20 and the Philips Heartllink. After the testing the Costco Hearing specialist suggested the Philips. No explanations. I asked about the Jabra and she said that many customers did not care for the Jabra because after awhile they had lots of trouble with feed back.
She offered both hearing aids to walk around the store with. When I asked her about what version of the Philips they had she said we only have the latest. I finally got her to say 9040. Apparently they had not gotten the 50 yet. She said I was using only 80% of the loudness and I could use the button to make it louder. I immediately said I could hear slight echoes especially in my voice and she said that was normal and I would get use to it. Walked around the store with my husband and the background noise was very distracting. I had a little trouble hearing everything that he was saying and put the loudness up a few notches. The background noise got even louder. Then went back and tried the Jabra. She wasn’t clear on what the version was but said it was the latest. She was getting very dismissive and there were other customers waiting. I immediately noticed the difference with the Jabras. The background noise almost disappeared. When I got back she gave me a fast rundown of their policy regarding warrentee etc. And then asked me what color would I like. No discussion of the features each had to offer. I did ask about the M&RIE (3rd mic option) and she looked puzzled but then said you wouldn’t like that. That option gives us the highest return rates. Then she asked me which one I wanted and I told her I will be in touch.
Disappointing. I waited almost 2 months for the appointment and then It takes almost 2 hours to get there. Unfortunately her communication or uncommunication rubbed me the wrong way. I have a feeling she wouldn’t spend too much time working on me and my fittings. That was the closest Costco to me. I can also wait until they build the new Costco In Guilderland NY. I may end up getting the latest Resound or the Phonak from a local Hearing aid specialist. At least I would get some good descriptions and conversation.