I’ve had Siemens CIC hearing aids since 2010, and as I’m replacing them I went and signed up to Costco (here in Oz) to begin the process. I’ve done lots of reading here over the years, and it was quite evident that Costco should be the first place I go after becoming so jaded about the hearing industry first time around, and it exceeded my expectations.
I’ve read a lot of reports here with the usual stuff about getting what you pay for, poor service, machine instrument fitters yadi yadi ya etc, but for me it was the opposite. I was assessed by an audiologist with a Masters degree, and given by far the most comprehensive testing regime in my life. Every hearing shop I’ve ever been in has only put me through a lot of beeps under headphones. At Costco I had that plus speech testing with a number of accents, the bone testing (sorry, have forgotten the correct term for that where it measures the bone behind the ear), and this all went on for an hour.
No hard sell at all, just a list of compatible devices and their pricing for me to go and contemplate at my leisure. Cost was 50% of what I paid for a very similar setup in 2010.
I’m having ear impressions cast this coming Thursday, by which time i’ll hopefully have decided which way I’m going to jump, Rexton/GNResound/Phonak.
All in all, very happy with Costco, and bought a bag of tasty bread rolls and a slice of pizza while I was there - a first for me at the audiologists