The Costco store is large but the hearing center is small, with one or two people working there and if you go on a regular basis for adjustments and trials you get to know the people pretty well. There couldn’t possibly be any upsale because they are on salary, not commission. If they recommend something it’s because in their professional opinion it is the best thing for you. I don’t understand the attitude of people who want to demonize Costco for selling premium hearing aids at a cheaper price. They are not doing anything underhanded. They have a few brands and great service but if you don’t want those, go somewhere else.
Get to know Costco in general. It is an ethical company. They research premium items they want to put their Kirkland Signature name on and I try to buy KS brand items whenever I can, including currently a Kirkland Signature battery in my car (top rated). They also have low employee turnover so many times the same person will check us out month after month.
They have a policy that if you are not satisfied with something, bring it back, whenever. The only exception I know of is electronics, which is 90 days. I have a friend who did something I don’t really agree with but, they had a TV they bought at Costco a few years ago, a Mitsubishi that turned out to have some problem and Mitsubishi just told them the warranty was out and nothing they could do. They called Costco and Costco said they had a 90 day return on electronics but, they bought the TV before they started the 90 day exception for electronics, so Costco said bring it in and we will give you a prorated refund. They ended up getting several hundred dollars back, enough to buy a new TV almost the same size.
In my case I bought a Rexton Insite for my right ear and had a Destiny in the left. They weren’t really working together so I decided to return it. The problem is, the audiologist had left and since it was a small shop, no one was at the hearing aid center. I checked several times and called several times and finally they hired a new audiologist. It was over a month past my 90 day trial and they took the Insite back with no question at all. I don’t think they would do that all the time but with having the shop closed for a few weeks, they made it right.