Not sure I agree with this statement.
In my older age I have learned there are different types of value.
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Jabra HA update at Cosco. Any details?
An acquaintance who desperately needs new aids called asking about HAs at Costco. I’[m completely unfamiliar with Jabra and Phillips. He has profound loss in his right ear. I don’[t recall Jabra being mentioned much on this forum, or I just skipped over it. Any comments on the reputation or applicability of the remaining brands at costco?
Lots of posts, using the search button I get.
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My Costco says their top seller is the Philips hearLink 9030. She recommends the battery powered versions.
Yep, thanks that helps. Jabra seems to get good reviews, although a lot of folks mention in their threads that they’re little discussed, Same with Phillips.
FWIW the experience with my preferred Coscto is that people are happier with the Philips aids. i am currently trialling the GN Resound One 9 ( same as Jabra) and am returning them due to them not really helping my speech recognition.
I trialed the Jabra’s but found some Resound One’s for half the cost of the Jabra’s. I like the aids, but it’s Costco that is the issue. It’s hit or miss on getting a good HIS. I grew frustrated with my local Costco audi’s, returned the Jabra’s and found a local audiologist who did rem and an initial fit using custom domes on the Resound One’s. I now fine tune by self programming using a Noahlink and the SmartFit software. I really like my aids now.
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Were they technology level 9 like the Jabras? A GN Resound Oe 5 or 7 does not have all the Costco Jabra features.
They are the top level 9 aids, they were used. I found them on the website offerup.com, the gentleman had just passed away after just buying them 3 months prior. I even have the receipt. They were asking $900, I jumped
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Unless you are DIY you may have issues getting them programmed for your audiogram unless you use the same audiologist & they transferred ownership through them… Any warranty work could be problematic too.
Wasn’t an issue when I had the local private audiologist program them. He had no issues doing my initial fit, which also included 2 follow up visits. He also said since I have the receipt, no warranty issues going forward.
Not sure why you think that any audiologist cannot program these aidThat would be like saying if you move your aids can never be programmed or the warranty be valid.
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Many practices refuse to service aids purchased elsewhere. Some aids are locked to particular branded software too.
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Like a lot of areas in Medicine most problems are simple and uncomplicated and easier to manage. I’d guess the 80-90% of hearing difficulties are in that category and don’t need the “bundled services” offered at a premium price at many offices.
The hearing industry is undergoing a sea change in how its product is delivered. OTC hearing aids and COSTCO are disrupters. While COSTCO has been around a while and will likely endure, The delivery of OTC’s appears to be a Wild West arena with little quality control and may well be overwhelmed by inferior product.
Disclosure: I’m a satisfied COSTCO customer.
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I have also been a happy Costco customer. My KS9s are now over three years old and I am thinking of buying new HAs.
I will probably wait and see what Costco’s KS 11s look like, but I have been impressed by the Lumity reviews and might try buying them online through Fit Hearing https://www.fithearing.com/.
Now that adjustments can be made by audiologists online this seems like a reasonable option. It’s more expensive than Costco, but much less than buying from a brick and mortar audiologist. The one drawback would not being able to have REM changes made during the initial fitting, but I wonder how important this is.
Another happy Costco customer here for over 8 years. One advantage of Costco not usually mentioned is that you can get HA service at any Costco. I have dome that and have one particular Costco I avoid due to bad hearing service.
A few weeks ago we were shopping at a different Costco and I knew my KS8 receivers were dying, They were able to replace them during our shopping trip. I am about 2 hours driving away from 3 different Costcos so it was good to avoid another trip for the receiver replacement.
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It might be helpful to mention your speech recognition score. As Dr. Cliff points out, HA’s can never improve your SR score beyond what it intrinsically is when tested aided in your HCP’s office. If you have a 100% SR score when loss is compensated, the HA’s should be able to restore your loss completely. But if your SR is 75% when tested aided by your HCP, no HA will bring you to better than that because the rest of your loss is beyond the mechanical transmission of sound at the appropriate volume to be heard to your eardrum. Your HCP should be able to test your SR when you’re wearing your aids, too.
If your fit uses ReSound’s proprietary Audiogram+ algorithm, you might do better with the NAL-NL2 algorithm. I did. It gives you more high-frequency amplification. My audi also initially used the first-time user settings that are “gentler.” I switched to the “Experienced User. Non-Linear” settings and thought that was a big improvement as well. So, you might talk to your HCP for any HA brand you’re testing and make sure that they’re not just blithely applying the (underwhelming) default new user settings. A big problem for HA OEMS is returns because users might not be accustomed to all the new sounds they’re suddenly hearing amplified louder than they’re used to. So, for those reasons some folks, especially new users, may start out with less than the optimal settings to compensate for their hearing loss.
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I entered my scores from 4 years ago. Right 56% Left 34%. The fitting service was my worst in 20 years anyway.
I have appointments next week for a hearing test from an audiologist followed by an otologist appointment to have my hearing checked medically.
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I found that my Costco seemly pushed the Philips. At least that’s the way I felt. To bad she had no idea how to program then. So I was forced to return them.
So another few of you guys not having any success with your local audiology clinics, this is quite common here on the forum, for all the money and time spent with these people it’s quite annoying, have you thought about DIY, it’s not that hard and plenty of us here on hearingtracker to help you along, something to consider in your journey for better hearing.
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