I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that because they’ve been used to seeing their KS9, KS10 being rebrands of Phonak models (minus the tinnitus availability), it’s not far fetched for them to jump into the conclusion that the Philips aids must be rebranded Oticon aids.
But they should know better because Kirkland Signature products (KS being the Costco brand name) are always rebrands of something else. So if the Philips 9040 is called the KS11 or KSxxxx (whatever), like how the KS9 and KS10 are branded, then it’d be easier to mistaken it as a “rebrand” because it bears the Kirkland Signature brand. But it’s not a KSxxxx, it still bears the Philips brand. So it’s not in Costco employees’ place to be telling customer that it’s a rebrand unless it actually bears the Kirkland Signature brand.