Hearing tests Costco versus private fitter

I started wearing/testing for hearing aids when they were simply amplifiers. Years ago my wife found Costco hearing aid centers and I started testing with them. Now I am on Medicare and my plan has a hearing aid plan provided thru Nations Hearing. My first set of Resounds from them were basic rechargeable that replaced my old battery Resounds I got from Costco. I had to use one of their approved independent provider, who is an audiologist. Next set I paid extra and got Resound Ones.
This provider uses very old sound booth with simple sound masking technology. Compared to Costcoā€™s intense real ear/bone conductivity testing.
Recently I returned to my fitter at Costco and had my free hearing test. He highly recommended Phillips hearing aids and stated Resound no longer produced hearing aids. I demoed a set and to me, they were too intense.
My simple question, is real ear/advanced testing compared to the old style of testing needed? Am I cutting myself short by settling for this old tried and true type of testing?
Thank you for your input.

The Resound brand is not sold at Costco. The Resound Omnia is the current model replacing the One.

I think there is a Jabra hearing aid sold at Costco that is the same as the latest Resound?

WH

6 Likes

Thatā€™s right. The Jabra Enhance Pro 10 is the Resound Omnia. Previously Costco sold their Bernafon brand aids.

2 Likes

Professionally fit hearing aids use your paper audiogram (or a digital version) to enter your hearing loss into the fitting software, and then use an additional measuring system to achieve REM/Real Ear Measurement. Theoretically, REM should be more precise than only using your audiogram. But not all audiologists perform REM (so thereā€™s that).

Current Costco hearing aids (this will become obsolete);

4 Likes

Iā€™m shocked to hear that a Costco employee said Resound is no longer producing aids.
Iā€™m OK with a provider preferring one brand over another. Iā€™m not OK with giving false info about other brands. I think Iā€™d talk with the person who gave you this wrong info. At best, you didnā€™t hear correctly; at worst, well, thereā€™s no good reason for lying, and you might want to lodge a complaint with store management.

I just picked up a pair of Jabra Pro 10s from my local Costco yesterday, and their documentation is marked ā€˜GN Hearingā€™ for the US, ā€˜GN Hearing A/Sā€™ for the EU, and ā€˜ReSound Canadaā€™ for Canada. Iā€™ve checked a number of pages in the manuals I have, and the content is identical.

If youā€™re looking for new aids, remember that the Omnias are just one generation newer than your Ones. What do they do that your Ones wonā€™t do? And could the Ones be made to do the same thing with adjustments? Or do you just want new aids (which is a good reason to get them, IMO)?

2 Likes

The last 2 sets of Resounds I purchased were from Costco. They have in the past.

1 Like

My old KS6 aids were Resound, back in the day.

My current aids came from Costco. These are the third set of aids I have acquired through the years. My last set was Resound aids. These Costco (Sonova?) aids are the best by far I have ever worn. The fitting and adjustment was expert and spot on. The small amount of assistance Iā€™ve needed was quick and easy. These Costco aids are by far the lease expensive ever. The bluetooth streaming, telephone link and other features are superb. The only ā€œconā€ is these are rechargeable (as were my last resounds) and I prefer replaceable battery aids. Thatā€™s the only way one can ALWAYS have operational aids.

1 Like

Some will say yes, but others say no, Iā€™m in that camp, a lot of us DIY folks donā€™t bother with it at all,but whatever you choose to do, remember that Costco only sell premium models, if you have the Oneā€™s (as I do) I donā€™t see a reason for going for the Omnia (Jabra Enhance Pro 10 at Costco) as itā€™s unlikely youā€™ll notice a big difference between them, Phillips hearlink are quite a bit different as youā€™ve already noted, thereā€™s also the Rexton BiCore, maybe try a trial between them, Costco have a pretty good trial period (180 days) plenty of time make a decision.

2 Likes

They actually handle it differently. You purchase the aids but can return them within 180 days for a full refund. This distinction can be important who are extremely cash strapped.

4 Likes

You are correct itā€™s not a true trial period but considered by most as a return period. That said however, I was fed up with my HA specialist and requested a refund for my Philips HearLink 9030 I purchased 6 weeks prior. I was told it would be easier to select a different brand than to do an actual refund. Because the brand wasnā€™t the problem I chose the refund. But in this situation I would have to say it was being presented as a trial period for the Phillips brand.

1 Like

Yes I think Iā€™ll have to make a note about this, both you and @prodigyplace have raised points that need to be considered, itā€™s a bit harder to get a refund over just swapping over to another brand within 180 days, and you must pay upfront in full.

When I last got my aids 4 years ago the return period was stated in the purchase contract.

Iā€™ve just kind of skimmed this thread, but it seems like the basic thing about Costco that you donā€™t like is that your hearing aids were too loud. Ask them to turn them down. Keep in mind though that for the aids to really help with speech understanding they may need to be a little louder than you might prefer.

1 Like

It might also be they do not like the sound of the Philips aids. Personally I have been wearing Rexton KS8 for the past 4 years and have never been too impressed with their sound. That is one reason among others why I am getting Oticon aids on Monday.

Contained in the thread is a question not a complaint.

In my case the person I was dealing with flat out refused to reduce the volume and only activated the ā€œon hearing aid volume controlsā€ 2 days before I returned them. Beside that was not the only problem I was having.

I am scheduled at Costco later this morning to start over at a different location. I plan on trying ether the Jabra or Rexton this time.

That is a good decision. Years ago I had such issues at one location that I went back to my previous location to get their old settings restored to my hearing aids.

Thereā€™s always going to be people one runs into who are difficult to work with. Could be theyā€™re just having a bad day or inherent in their personality. Glad youā€™re going to try a different Costco. Second opinions are often a good idea in all aspects of health care.

2 Likes