The fitter set up the programs at the initial programming. Being an experienced wearer, I knew how I wanted the programs set up, and wouldn’t have taken them without it. I can understand your frustration. Since my Costco is a few miles away, and I can swing by on the way from work, it’s no problem getting them adjusted. The only thing I’ve done is changed from 10 mm open domes to 8 mm open domes, which didn’t require any reprogramming.
Just an update on my situation with the Costco aids (Rexton Gem 12’s). I’m coming up on the 60 day mark into the 90 day trial, and a couple of days ago decided to wear my GN ReSound Pulse aids again and make a decision. I’ve determined that I’ll return the aids.
The price/performance of the Costco Kirkland package is hard to beat, the wearability was excellent, and the sound quality was fine. But I decided to keep wearing the Pulse’s and return the Gems because:
a. the Pulse aids aren’t that old and still function properly.
b. the Pulse aids use rechargeable batteries that I recharge every night, or zinc-airs that last for 10 days.
c. the Pulse aids need no volume or program changes. They’re advertised as hassle-free hearing, and they really do that for me. I put them on in the morning and take them off at night. With the Gems I would use the remote to adjust volume and then switch between 4 programs every day. I sometimes forgot to switch programs until I realized that I was having some trouble, then a switch into the appropriate program would improve things. The Pulse aids just do an excellent job in all my listening environments without me ever having to do anything.
d. maintenance. The Pulse aids are acoustic thin tube aids. When I get wax in the end of the tube, I just pop it off the aid and snake a wire through the tube to clean it out. The Gem’s are receiver-in-canal aids that require a bit more work to remove wax from the domes and speakers.
e. Sound quality. The Pulse’s are warmer, i.e. have a bit more low end to them, without sacrificing the high end. The Gems sounded fine most of the time, but sometimes were tinny or seemed to have an echo. The Pulse aids also pick up less fan noise and general air or white noise than the Gems, though both aids are perfectly acceptable in that regard.
And ultimately, since I have a pair of aids that are still completely functional, and a backup pair of America Hears aids, common financial sense played a big part in the decision.
I would still strongly recommend Costco and the Rexton Gem’s to anyone who fits the loss profile for these excellent aids.
I agree they’re not very good in wind. Walking to a car is no big deal, but if I had to be outdoors in wind for an appreciable period of time, I would have to remove them.
Does anyone make a wind screen for hearing aids?
mrschwarz
I believe that most Siemens hearing aids and the Unitron Next hearing aids come with wind screen. I’m sure there are others do as well.
I must have been wrong. I thought the Gems had it.
I’m surprised by that. Mine were the great in the wind. No noise at all. I was surprised, as the only other aids I have that are excellent in the wind are my Pulse’s, which specifically advertise a wind noise reduction feature. The others were/are all somewhat noisy in the wind.
I noticed when the Gems were being programmed that there’s an outdoor/wind noise program available. Perhaps you could have one of the 4 program settings programmed with that setting.
I am using the 4th program to hold old setting for comparison purposes. When I am done, I’ll have him put that program in its place.
Thanks for letting me know about this.
What are pulses? I still haven’t gone to a store to look at hearing aids yet because Costco is far. I need a behind-the-ear even though I wear glasses. If this pulse is better than the Gem (and it sounds as if it fits inside the ear), please tell me the whole name!
Thank you. The more I read the messages the more confused I get.
Costco is trying to sell us the the revo instead of the gem 12. They say once you get a hearing loss beyond 70 you need to go to the revo. The price difference is a lot. Does anyone know if this is true? I have been reading a lot of comments posted here and it seems that the gem 12 do all the same things as the revo and with how fast technology changes it may be just as well to go with the gem.
Any comments you have would be appreciated.
The Pulse I referred to is the GN ReSound Pulse, which is an open fit thin tube BTE aid. I got them from my local audiologist almost 2 years ago for $4200. Costco doesn’t sell them to my knowledge.
When I bought the Gem’s the fitter showed me a screen on her computer with the fitting range overlayed onto my audiogram, so I could see if the Gem’s even looked like they’d work for me. Since Costco doesn’t work on commission there’s no reason to try to upsell you.
Unfortunately, I can’t google up a datasheet with the fitting range for the Revo and Gem, so I can’t tell how different they are in that regard.
Thanks to all of you who added your input,I decided on the Costco KS(Gem12’s)& have been wearing them ~12 hours w/ a 3 hour nap break.I also got the remote & so far I am very happy w/ them.My fitter (Allen) at the Houston Galleria Costco was very helpful & thorough. He spent ~2 hours w/ me.I can understand TV & conversations again! I went to a poker game & could hear talk down the table & the TV behind me.I had it on Program 1 which uses both mikes.When I had trouble understanding a clerk at Costco, I switched to the directional mike & upped the volume w/ a couple of clicks on the remote.I also have an outdoor program & one for noisy driving(door seal bad on 5 mo. old truck).I’m glad I got the remote-very handy-hang it on a shirt pocket.
One reason I chose the Gem 12 over the America Hears model was the Aqua Protect feature W/the GoreTex over the Mic’s. I walked to the truck in the rain-no problem.Allen started me on Level 2 'cause the computer said my loss was too severe to start at level 1.He plans to progress me to 3 &4 over time.I am already getting used to my voice & rustling of hair & glasses,etc.
Thanks to all of you that make this a great forum/resource for 1st-timers like me! You steered me in the right direction & saved me a lot of money & frustration.I’ll keep you posted.BTW:$2095w/remote &tax on it. Includes dryer,2 cases,3 year warranty,free loss/breakage replacement.90 day trial.
Toothdoc, that’s fantastic news! It’s always great to hear another success story. Hopefully you’ll come back and tell us more after you’ve had them for awhile. Every bit of info, positive or negative, only helps those that follow.
Good luck and best hopes for continued enjoyment!
First,I’ll answer some questions posted by others.Definitely buy the remote-I use it throughout the day.The trial period is 90 days.Yes, they are very H2O resistant: I jumped in the shower w/ my left one in & washed it down the drain-I thought.The wire caught on the cross-bars in the drain. We found it after I finished my shower. I blow-dried it on low for 5 min.,then put in their heater for 24 hours-works same-verified on their computer.Only 2 adusts-1 to max volume on program change beeps,1 to to drop high freq boost -6dB.Birds,yelling by others,rustling papers were uncomf.I had been wearing the open domes, which have slots all around
the speaker & a membrane over the speaker.Today, I put on the solid wall domes which have perforations only over the speaker. Voila!(sp?). Minimal feedback,dB gain significant,no echo in my own speech. Why no occlusion?My dispenser,Allen, at the Houston Galleria Costco has been so helpful,I am saddened to have to tell him that I need a different type aid.(1)I put protective maskson on &off all day,& am constantly pulling the unit out from behind my ear.(2) In a noisy environment,having a directional mic that points at the ceiling doesn’t help.I can’t understand people down the poker table from me.I am going to get some ITE’s so the directional mic will be pointing in the direction I’m looking,& there will nothing external to hang up on. I bought these /over the AH equivalent because of their water-resistance,but since neither half-shells are,I’ll probably go w/AH.Self -tweaking will be very convenient. Any feedback on ITE /SIE comparison appreciated.
I just ordered a pair of Kirklands today - my first HAs. Only thing that bothered me with the sample pair was an echo when I talk. The fitter said I’m just not used to hearing my own voice, but I don’t think that’s it. Any suggestions on what I should ask for when he programs my aids later this week?
Jeff
Good luck with your HA’s. Costco is a good company but the success of HA’s depends on the fitter. Be perisitent and don’t readily accept the fitter’s explanation that things will improve with time. Costco is a good company but so much of the success of your HA’s depends on the fitter. After many attempts to get my HA’s fitted and adjusted correctly I finally gave up and went to a different Costco - What a difference a fitter makes. After just one visit, the fit is so much better and the adjustments are in progress. I am now getting explanations that make sense - Just wish I did not waste the first 3 months.
Be persistent with your fitter and don’t hestitate to take advantage of the 90 trial period.
Bob
Pastor Jeff: You used the word Echo. A true echo means the sound is delayed by more than 20 or so milliseconds. Which is it…a true delayed echo or just your own voice almost instantaneously coming through the aids.
Technical Note: Modern aids have a through-put processing (transfer function) time of just a few milliseconds which is not normally detectable to the human hearing system. Ed
By “echo” I mean that when I talked it sounded as though my head was inside a 55 gallon drum. There was no similar distortion of other voices. I am accustomed to hearing my voice amplified and on recordings and it wasn’t like that. More like when the audio guys at church are fooling around and add reverb.
-Jeff
One audi told me my hearing loss is strange and said the best hearing aid for me will be the phonak exelia art ITC custom mold because I have low frequencey loss but the price of art is very high. I read good feeback about costco hearing aid here and most of you seem happy with the price and the quality of the aids and 90 day return policy. my question is does costco have any blue tooth in the canal hearing aids? I am going to take my audiogram and go to a near by costco on monday. also, does the Rexton cobalt 16 come in different styles?
Thank you,
R/L
250 = 40/45
500 = 50/55
1000 = 70/65
2000 = 60/55
4000 = 60/50
6000 = 50/55
8000 = 45/25 
Last night I picked up my Kirkland Signature hearing aids at Costco. I must say that the audiologist seems to know what he’s doing, but he’s a real character. When I asked about a remote he said, “Ok. If you really want to waste your money I’ll get one for you. Not everyone has an extra hundred dollars! But if you buy it it will end up in the bottom of your drawer.” I didn’t buy it - although I can always do so later. When I asked about Verete hearing aids he said, “Sure, if you really want to spend an extra $600 I can get them for you. But with your hearing it’s not going to make much difference. You don’t need the bluetooth. It doesn’t work very well, and you can use your old earpiece while wearing your hearing aids. You can still use your Iphone earbuds too. For me, there are a lot of other things out in that store I’d rather spend my $600 on.” When he gave me the “kit” of accessories that come free with the aids he said, “You’ll never use most of this stuff, other than the batteries, but they want you to think you’re getting something free so here it is. Maybe you’ll find a good use for it.” On the other hand, he gave me a magnetic brush with a magnet in it for installing the small batteries - a freebie that he apparently provides on his own initiative. “You can spend an extra $600 and get aids that use bigger batteries. It will take 20 year to make up the $600 in what you save on batteries!”
So far they feel pretty good. I’m overwhelmed by some of the background noise, and my left ear feels a little tender. But I’m hearing so much more that I want to hear as well.
He programed 1 as regular hearing, 2 as front mics only, 3 for riding in a car, and 4 as increased volume.
Did anyone else notice the increased tire noise from cars? Weird.
I’ll report new developments, and always appreciate advice and information you think may be relevant.
Thanks,
Jeff
Nice post, PastorJeff. I hope things continue to go well for you. I tend to agree about the remote; I got tired of carrying it everywhere.
The accessory I found useful was the drying tray. I highly recommend a Dry and Store for your aids, but the drying tray that Costco provides is better than nothing.