First Time Visit to Costco

Hearing Aids
#1

Had my first Costco visit today. Been wearing the same Widex for 6 years and been reading this forum for about the same amount of time. Was interested in the Jabra Pro 20 and the Philips Heartllink. After the testing the Costco Hearing specialist suggested the Philips. No explanations. I asked about the Jabra and she said that many customers did not care for the Jabra because after awhile they had lots of trouble with feed back.

She offered both hearing aids to walk around the store with. When I asked her about what version of the Philips they had she said we only have the latest. I finally got her to say 9040. Apparently they had not gotten the 50 yet. She said I was using only 80% of the loudness and I could use the button to make it louder. I immediately said I could hear slight echoes especially in my voice and she said that was normal and I would get use to it. Walked around the store with my husband and the background noise was very distracting. I had a little trouble hearing everything that he was saying and put the loudness up a few notches. The background noise got even louder. Then went back and tried the Jabra. She wasn’t clear on what the version was but said it was the latest. She was getting very dismissive and there were other customers waiting. I immediately noticed the difference with the Jabras. The background noise almost disappeared. When I got back she gave me a fast rundown of their policy regarding warrentee etc. And then asked me what color would I like. No discussion of the features each had to offer. I did ask about the M&RIE (3rd mic option) and she looked puzzled but then said you wouldn’t like that. That option gives us the highest return rates. Then she asked me which one I wanted and I told her I will be in touch.

Disappointing. I waited almost 2 months for the appointment and then It takes almost 2 hours to get there. Unfortunately her communication or uncommunication rubbed me the wrong way. I have a feeling she wouldn’t spend too much time working on me and my fittings. That was the closest Costco to me. I can also wait until they build the new Costco In Guilderland NY. I may end up getting the latest Resound or the Phonak from a local Hearing aid specialist. At least I would get some good descriptions and conversation.

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#2

Too bad. I guess Costco can be hit or miss, good or bad, depending on the location and the specialist you get. I bought 2 sets of HAs over a 6 or 7 year period, worked with 3 different specialists and my experience was mostly good. I was always treated very well and have zero complaints about the service I got. I definitely saved a bunch of money. But, I was not super pleased with the HAs. I ultimately gave up on Costco because I wanted HAs and accessories they didn’t have and I found a super audiologist.

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#3

Sorry to hear about that not so good experience.
Do you know if she was the only fitter there? Might be a second choice.
Good luck

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#4

I would get the Jabra pro 20. What do you have to lose. You have 180 days to return them if you’re not happy. Why spend more money elsewhere without at least trying them.

They do REM so that’s a good thing.

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#5

“They do REM so that’s a good thing.”
She told me 90% of the customers ask to change from what REM suggests and that.nobody actually likes what REM considers perfect hearing.

#6

To me a red flag is the hearing specialist saying they had lots of problems with the Jabra with feedback. Although some hearing aids are better at suppressing it, ultimately it’s a fitting issue. Get an appropriate fitting dome/mold for the ears and run the feedback management and it should work. Granted if one wants an open fitting and wants lots of gain, it’s not going to work but they should be able to tell you that.

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#7

Usually REM adjustment to the target curve may sound overwhelming to first time hearing aid wearers. The right thing to do is still do REM, but use the automatic adaptation feature in the hearing aid software to start out at a lower volume, then after a certain period, bump that volume up a little more, then wait another period and bump it to the default volume level. That way, the beginner users can get used to a gradual increase in volume to adapt to all the new sounds they hear now more easily.

Or if the user is used to the mid volume level instead of the default (higher) volume level, they can have their HCP adjust the gain curves across the board to drop a few dBs of gain altogether permanently.

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#8

That’s odd because how would anyone know if the REM was right or wrong.

The REM shows the ACTUAL SOUND the hearing aids hear so from what I’ve read it the only way to get a real close fitting the first time. Then they can do adjustments from there.

There’s many more experienced people on this forum who could give you the best advice.

Hopefully some of them will chime in.

As someone else has said is this person the only Hearing specialist at your store?

#9

It’s not about whether anyone knowing if REM is right or wrong, it’s about people not being used to REM adjusted target values because it can sound uncomfortable to people who are not used to the target gains yet, because usually the measured gains tend to fall short of the target gain, so REM confirms this and lets you boost the measure gains up to the target gains. But this may make some people uncomfortable in having to listen at a louder level. To them, uncomfortable equals bad/unwanted in the beginning.

But they don’t realize that if they go through an automatic adaptation period, their brain will adapt to louder volumes gradually until it doesn’t feel uncomfortable for them at the default volume level anymore. The automatic adaptation feature on the hearing aid is where the gains are deliberated lowered to maybe 60% in the first phase, then 80% in the second phase, and finally to the full 100% of the default volume in the last phase. Each phase can be user defined to be a week or 2 weeks or a month or whatever.

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#10

Ok. I think I understand. I just know that everything I’ve read or watch on video says to get the REM to get the closest fit to work from. I don’t have hearing aids yet. I’m in the process

Maybe I’m just misunderstanding it.

Are you saying that you can get just as good initial fit without REM?

#11

If REM is available it is by far the best first fit.
It’s the logical way.

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#12

I think I got a pretty good initial fit without REM but I am going in for my REM testing on my second fitting on Saturday.

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#13

Not sure what I said that gave you this impression? But yes, in theory, if you’re lucky and your hearing aids deliver the prescribed gain as accurately as what it is targeted to deliver, and your ear canals are just like the model ear canal shape the prescription gain assumes them to be, and your receivers perform up to spec 100%, then REM might reveal that the real ear measurements are already at target across all the frequency ranges and no adjustment is necessary.

But you wouldn’t know if your whole hearing aid system is on target or off target unless you get the real ear measurements done in the first place, right? So REM is a best practice to do this verification for you. You might not need to have any adjustment done, but you don’t know this possibility unless you get the measurements done in the first place. But if you had it done and you’re way off, then you’ll be glad you had it done so it can be known so that it can be adjusted. You’ll also be glad to have it done even if no adjustment is required, because you now know that no adjustment is required.

#14

If you had to wait 2 months for an appointment, @bluckie1, it suggests that that Costco has high demand and that the hearing care professionals are squeezed for time. It’s not likely to get better… Maybe when the new store opens in Guilderland, things will ease up.

I had a very good experience with Rextons at Costco.

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#15

I have to wait over 3 months for my hearing appointment and they have 3 Hearing specialists. I still think if I were her I would get the Jabra 20 and return them within the 180 days if she wasn’t happy. She said she has had aids for years so she should know how they sound better than a new person. Maybe the HA was just having a bad day. It happens

I just can’t see paying double that somewhere else.

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#16

I agree and it is keeping me undecided about going elsewhere. If it was a shorter trip to the closest Costco I wouldn’t hesitate about purchasing it right now. I could always request a different Hearing Specialist or go to the next closest Costco. The 2 hour one way trip is not comfortable (at our ages) and it is making me question that action. I’m glad I was able to try those two HAs on in the store. That alone at least made the initial trip acceptable.

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#17

@redrav585 Not sure if this is what @Volusiano is referring to:

Gain at 70%

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Gain at 85%

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Gain at 100%

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#18

Totally up to you. Maybe you could call and purchase them over the phone seeing you already had the hearing test. Then you would only have to drive to pick them up at the fitting. Being an experienced hearing aid userI would think it would be easier to get the first fit close to what you really need.

I know Costco is pretty good with customer service so if you have a problem you can speak to them about it.

Anyway, Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

#19

He needs to get REM also.
It would be an important appointment.

#20

Doesn’t the REM happen at the fitting? That’s what I was told. I was told by Costco that they give you a hearing test first and then do the REM when you go pick them up at the fitting after ordering them.

The only thing they said is you have to pay before they would order them