I just purchased the Costco KS9 and have an appointment for followup this next week. I have worn Costco’s KS6, Resound, for years but have flung them off one too many times with mask use and the wire is now spinning on one hearing aid, and there is no longer any service available for them.
I do have some issues with the KS9 in connectivity. I try to answer the phone with my hearing aids, and it does not answer in my hearing aids, rather, chooses the iphone setting in calls. Unfortunately, the hearing aids answer, and the caller is on standby for quite a while while I’m trying to get to the phone, open the call menu, and click on the “audio” section and select hearing aids - even that doesn’t always work as it disconnects the bluetooth completely at that exact moment. They “appear” connected in the bluetooth section in the phone settings, but the app says they are not connected, and they start their connecting process. The one time everything appears to work so far is if I initiate the call. I have gone through all the disconnect, reconnect, app reinstall, etc., but nothing seems to be working. I have designated that the bluetooth device is a hearing device, etc. Okay, so the only difference I can see from my KS6 and the 9s is MFI - Made for Iphone. I have looked through every setting to see if there’s something to make the answering mode default to hearing aids, but I cannot find anything. Searching online, it appears that to make it the default mode would be to identify the hearing aids in MFI in which it doesn’t ever find the hearing aids; rather, just continues to search forever (I am guessing they are not MFI hearing aids). I have several calls made to Costco, but we keep missing each other as the bluetooth randomly disconnects for whatever reason, and I don’t hear the call at all. In addition, when I place my ear to the receiver as I cannot get connectivity to work, I can no longer hear that way. It is a very tiny sound in the far-off distance. Also, when I am able to get them to work, the person I am talking with hears background echos and crackling. Do I have to purchase a new phone as well? Does Costco sell hearing aids with MFI anymore?
I was born with a “cookie bite” loss, which involves nearly all speech sounds. I have become very astute as reading lips and word recognition based on whatever sounds, or portions thereof, I am able to hear. Unfortunately, I am very dependent on connectivity of my hearing aids to converse with people unless I can SEE what they are saying.
Does anyone have any guidance on connectivity and how to get my KS9s to connect consistently? I am sure it is my operator error, but I just cannot figure it out. Secondly, do you know if connectivity is better in the KS10?
And a little off the KS topic, I have to express to others that may understand how difficult it has been to go out and even shop with masks. I can barely make out anything people are saying as the little I do hear is distorted. I have politely informed people that I am hearing impaired, and they respond by yelling, which does nothing for me to understand. A few people, graciously, have pulled their masks down so that I could see what they are saying, but I even had a pharmacist refuse to talk with me and wrote notes and pressed them against the plastic COVID barrier with a long line of people waiting. Just yesterday, I did not know that a person I just had the “I am hearing impaired” conversation with yell from behind a shelf how many tablets I wanted. I had no idea they were even talking until a person behind me tapped and said they are asking how many? 12 or 24? Frustrating! I am not sure how to convey it better. I am assuming most are in the same boat. Sorry for venting.
Any info would be much appreciated. : ) Hoppy Easter!
Michelle