Costco hearing aids

[dirtold]

I got my aids from HA Tech of some sort, no PHd. He was a Seimens premium dealer and has a storefront location. I do believe a state license of some sort is required to fit aids. This is in Oklahoma.

[system]

@JReis

When I visited a local Audi, I noted on her wall a Phd in Audiology from PA [I live in OR]. When I ask her about it, she told me she got it On-Line and correspondence. I do not belittle that because a lot of people have educated themselves very well through correspondence schools and more On-Line fully accredited courses are being offered by such institutions like Yale. Here’s what she told me about the law: You MUST have your Phd in audiology in order to prescribe hearing aids…??? Does that make her more competent than the Costco, or any other tech???

I have a clinical doctorate (an Au.D…not a Ph.D) And I suspect this is what the audiologist u saw also had as I know of no Ph.D program that is distance-learning. I also got mine via distance -learning. As far as I know in Oregon you need a license to dispense hearing aids but by no means do u have to have a Ph.D.

A degree does not make someone more competent but it does mean they have more education behind what they r doing. I feel that experience goes a lot farther than degrees.

[velotrain]

Hi -

I’m researching HA’s for my 93-year old dad, who lives in north-central NJ, while I’m up in Boston. I’m going down there in about a week and would like to buy him a new set of HA’s. I’ve located the CostCo that handles these which is nearest to him, and plan to call them, but had some questions that I thought I’d ask here.

• I’m not currently a CostCo member (I live alone and don’t need that volume). However, I don’t know if I should get the membership since I’m buying them, or will he need it for post-sale service? If yes, does that mean I’ll have to renew it each year for support/tuning?

• I know they offer a 90-day trial period, but are there any “restocking”, etc. fees? Also, do they let you trial multiple pairs at once, or does it have to be serial? I gather that it may take several tries before a person “gets the right one”, but it would seem to be easier (?) to try a simultaneious comparison, although I realize it takes some time to get adjusted to each one - and have it adjusted to you.

• Will they let me make an appointment for us to see an audiologist? He has a hearing test, unless they insisty on doing their own.

Here’s his “profile” – from November:

Hz.250…500…1K…1.5K…2K…4K
L…55…45…65…80…….110…NR
R… .50…55…75…90…105… NR

• I saw a post that it might be wise to visit your audiologist for tuning when the manufacturer’s rep is there, or buy a brand where the audiologist can contact the manufacturer for tuning help, as these things have become so complex that no one audiologist can know everything about all the brands/HA’s he sells/services.

How does CostCo service relate to this? Are either of these possible?

I understand that CostCo will not fawn all over you as an independent audiologist might, but I would say that something like 98% of the posts I’ve seen about them have been favorable.

thanks, Charles

[Currently]

Do you know how to recognize a good audi?

Watch and listen to your father … he will tell you when his needs are being met.

It really is as simple as that.

[tooltime47]

I think Delmar on this forum can answer most of your questions since he is an audi at Costco.

[Um_bongo]

@velotrain

Hi -

I’m researching HA’s for my 93-year old dad, who lives in north-central NJ, while I’m up in Boston. I’m going down there in about a week and would like to buy him a new set of HA’s. I’ve located the CostCo that handles these which is nearest to him, and plan to call them, but had some questions that I thought I’d ask here.

• I’m not currently a CostCo member (I live alone and don’t need that volume). However, I don’t know if I should get the membership since I’m buying them, or will he need it for post-sale service? If yes, does that mean I’ll have to renew it each year for support/tuning?

• I know they offer a 90-day trial period, but are there any “restocking”, etc. fees? Also, do they let you trial multiple pairs at once, or does it have to be serial? I gather that it may take several tries before a person “gets the right one”, but it would seem to be easier (?) to try a simultaneious comparison, although I realize it takes some time to get adjusted to each one - and have it adjusted to you.

• Will they let me make an appointment for us to see an audiologist? He has a hearing test, unless they insisty on doing their own.

Here’s his “profile” – from November:

Hz.250…500…1K…1.5K…2K…4K
L…55…45…65…80…….110…NR
R… .50…55…75…90…105… NR

• I saw a post that it might be wise to visit your audiologist for tuning when the manufacturer’s rep is there, or buy a brand where the audiologist can contact the manufacturer for tuning help, as these things have become so complex that no one audiologist can know everything about all the brands/HA’s he sells/services.

How does CostCo service relate to this? Are either of these possible?

I understand that CostCo will not fawn all over you as an independent audiologist might, but I would say that something like 98% of the posts I’ve seen about them have been favorable.

thanks, Charles

Do Costco have a proper power/frequency shift aid on their pricing? Most of what they seem to fit will not hit that kind of HF sloping loss.

[Don]

@velotrain

Hi -

I’m researching HA’s for my 93-year old dad, who lives in north-central NJ, while I’m up in Boston. I’m going down there in about a week and would like to buy him a new set of HA’s. I’ve located the CostCo that handles these which is nearest to him, and plan to call them, but had some questions that I thought I’d ask here.

• I’m not currently a CostCo member (I live alone and don’t need that volume). However, I don’t know if I should get the membership since I’m buying them, or will he need it for post-sale service? If yes, does that mean I’ll have to renew it each year for support/tuning?

• I know they offer a 90-day trial period, but are there any “restocking”, etc. fees? Also, do they let you trial multiple pairs at once, or does it have to be serial? I gather that it may take several tries before a person “gets the right one”, but it would seem to be easier (?) to try a simultaneious comparison, although I realize it takes some time to get adjusted to each one - and have it adjusted to you.

• Will they let me make an appointment for us to see an audiologist? He has a hearing test, unless they insisty on doing their own.

Here’s his “profile” – from November:

Hz.250…500…1K…1.5K…2K…4K
L…55…45…65…80…….110…NR
R… .50…55…75…90…105… NR

• I saw a post that it might be wise to visit your audiologist for tuning when the manufacturer’s rep is there, or buy a brand where the audiologist can contact the manufacturer for tuning help, as these things have become so complex that no one audiologist can know everything about all the brands/HA’s he sells/services.

How does CostCo service relate to this? Are either of these possible?

I understand that CostCo will not fawn all over you as an independent audiologist might, but I would say that something like 98% of the posts I’ve seen about them have been favorable.

thanks, Charles

I’ll take a shot at some of the questions:

I have seen two professionals at my Costco, both audiologists. One held a doctorate in audiology (the current requirement) and one held a master’s degree in audiology. Those with master’s degrees who were audiologists before the requirements changed are grandfathered in and can remain licensed audiologists.

During one adjustment session with my audiologist she called the manufacturers rep and the rep talked us through some setting changes.

If you will be taking your dad in every time then it might work better if you have the membership. Yes, you have to renew it every year. If you get an executive membership you get some cash back on your purchases and since your first purchase will be a large one, it will more than pay for the membership. I don’t think you have to continue the executive membership the next year.

Probably not a good idea to try more than one at a time. You have to have several adjustments and get used to the sound so trying several at once would be confusing. You and your audiologist should carefully consider all the facts beforehand and choose the most likely candidate, then do every kind of adjustment you can to make that one work. If after all that it just doesn’t work, return it and try the second most likely candidate. Costco offers a 90 day return with no restocking. You get back every penney you spent. I’ve done it and it is painless, just like any other Costco return (they are known for an easy return policy).

They will probably accept another audiologists hearing test if you have an audiologist you are more comfortable with.

My wife and I use Costco as our go to place. If we can’t get it from Costco then we will go somewhere else. Besides the bulk things you would expect, like a case of green beans, they have smaller quantities and reasonable quantities of things you might use a lot. For example, they have a box of 52 instant oatmeal packets (different flavors). But, they also have individual items in a lot of areas, like electronics, small appliances, clothes (great clothes), fresh food (meats, desserts, fresh fruits and veggies in the cold room), jewelry, pharmacy, personal products (toothpaste, soap), cleaning products, optical, and a great photo center. OK, end of Costco commercial.

[JReis]

I have the Kirkland BTE HA and am wondering if anyone knows of a way to couple them to cell phone beside the new Costco available remote that costs $399??? I would just like to couple my cell phone to my HA and not have to deal with all the other accessories that come with the new Costco remote.

Thanks in advance for any info.

jr

[Don]

@Um_bongo

Do Costco have a proper power/frequency shift aid on their pricing? Most of what they seem to fit will not hit that kind of HF sloping loss.

They have Rexton Bridge (Siemens Motion???) and offer the “P” (70 Db) and the “HP” (80 Db). They may have other power models. Just below the power category, the Rexton Cobalt (Siemens Pure) offers a 65 Db receiver.

Don’t know about frequency shift. From what I’ve seen they carry Rexton, Bernafon, and Resound so if one of those has a frequency shift model they can probably get it.

[Don]

@JReis

I have the Kirkland BTE HA and am wondering if anyone knows of a way to couple them to cell phone beside the new Costco available remote that costs $399??? I would just like to couple my cell phone to my HA and not have to deal with all the other accessories that come with the new Costco remote.

Thanks in advance for any info.

jr

I don’t think there is anything. The problem is that there has to be an intermediate device for cell phone bluetooth because there has to be a microphone (separate from the phone itself) and the hearing aids do not actually use bluetooth. It is the intermediate device (like the Rexton BLU RCU) that talks to the phone and talks to the hearing aids. There is probably some proprietary process for the device to talk to the hearing aids.