Thanks for the response. And yeah, it’s good to know Costco is always there as a backup plan if necessary. Nobody wants to have to spend an extra $1600 like that on a fixed income, but he doesn’t spend much and could afford that if necessary. I could probably sell the Widex to cover some of the cost too if it came to that.
But I don’t think it will. We found a cheaper audiologist (still sprung a $600 “fitting fee” on us at the last minute, but it’s still $1500 less than the first place we went to), she seems very knowledgeable, he got to try out both Oticon and Widex and preferred the sound of the Widex 220, so that’s what he’s going with. I’m pretty sure everything will turn out fine, both audiologists and Costco seem to get plenty of positive reviews, there aren’t a whole lot of people hating their experience getting a hearing aid so I think it generally goes well wherever you buy.
Like you said, it might have been smarter to go with Costco first and then go to the higher priced option only if necessary. He probably would have done that if our family (including me) wasn’t initially hesitant about buying a medical device in the same place you buy baked chickens and tires, for a price that seemed almost too good to be trusted.