Hearing loss from military and HVAC/R Equipment exposure. Have warn hearing aids for decades. Most ear pieces will not stay put in my ears due to jaw movement flexing of my ear canal. I am a techie and want full featured Bluetooth connect-ability. Not satisfied with my Costco supported ReSound GN’s. I am willing to pay for the best options, if I could just identify who can provide them, with proactive support. My Costco provider seems just too busy to provide individual care and support.
Your audiogram shows mild-to-moderate loss, so many aids should work well for you.
That’s a shame to hear that you have a Costco provider who has not been willing to give you extra time. That’s been reported a few times before, but not generally, as Costco providers go. According to Consumer Reports, the level of consumer satisfaction is higher with Costco than with the overall world of providers outside Costco, but problems like these can occur with any type of provider.
And this doesn’t sound like a problem with ReSound aids to me; it sounds like a fitting issue that could occur with any brand where the audiologist was not being sufficiently helpful.
Do you have another Costco within easy driving distance with a hearing aid center you can try? You are allowed to take your aids to another Costco for service. To do this you should call another Costco to make an appointment and just say, look, I need to try a different Costco if they ask why you aren’t going back to your original provider. Sound nice and easy to work with. Generally however private audiologists will not service Costco aids, so you probably need to stick with Costco to get any work done on the aids you have now.
Assuming you have receiver-in-the-ear, receiver-in-canal, or behind-the-ear ReSounds (you didn’t say which type of aid you have now, but those are the three most common at Costco; here’s how to tell what type you have now: What Are Different Types, Styles of Hearing Aids?)… anyway, assuming your aid type is one of those three, a simple change in size of your dome, maybe along with a better form to the tube, and maybe adding sport clips if you don’t already have them, may be all you need to keep your aids firmly in place. If not, especially if you’ve tried that, custom molds in the $100-200 range may solve this issue. Costco can do these. Then you could keep the same aids, which I would recommend trying first if your aids are new in the last year or two. I have heard of a few local private audiologists being willing to order out custom earmolds, even for Costco aids, but if they do, it’s for goodwill, hoping to earn future business. They’re not obligated to do it.
If you’re really determined to change aids, especially if your aids are up around four years old or more (when new aids are worth getting anyway), it will be important to find a local private audiologist who will spend time with you and see that as bundled with your purchase, to get your settings and fit perfect. That’s a bigger key to you being happy than a particular model of hearing aid. Note that it doesn’t always work out that every private audiologist is good at these things, either. Your complaint is a common one here. Do you have any local friends you can ask: “who’s your audiologist, and do you like her or him, and why or why not?”
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I am an old techie. If you want full featured Bluetooth try the Sound World Solutions Companion hearing aids. They aren’t very expensive and if you don’t like them you can return them. I am still waiting for something with better speech intelligibility and the Bluetooth performance of my Companion hearing aids.
Got most all of that.
I have been a bit of a problem for Costco. I originally had Phoneac provided by a WA hearing aid provider. unfortunately when I moved to Hawaii the local providers wanted to charge me virtually the price of a new set just to service them. I ended up going to Costco and they talked me into their Kirkland brand which I found to be totally unsatisfactory. I complained and they provided these Resound GN’s. Then charged me an arm and a leg for all of the optional devices to network them with phone, TV and my computer. These devices have failed right and left and I’m tired of messing with them especially since they’re now out of warranty. I have another years warranty on the GN’s but I certainly am ready for something more suitable to my needs.I would just like to come up with a top end set of hearing aids that enhanceVoice recognition and are directly networkable.The rechargeable feature would also be nice. Is there such an offering, to your knowledge?
Depending upon how much of a techie you really are, you may want to consider programming and tweeking your own aids. If you are willing to go that route you should then get aids that are easier to program and ones where you can get a lot of support. Check the DIY pages.
You may want to try the Rexton Adore Li at Costco. It is MFi and rechargeable. Has premium technology similar to the KS8 and Signia Nx aids.
There is also the Phillips aids which are new at Costco. They are also MFi and rechargeable.
The Phonak Marvel models get rave reviews, here. Fully BT capable. I gather Costco’s version has reduced some features.
I would love to see a chart that compares the COSTCO Phonak Brio M90 HA to a non-COSTCO Phonak Audéo Marvel M90 feature by feature. That way I can decide if it would be worth the extra money to go to a private Audi or just buy the Costco Phonak.
Anyone seen this type of comparison? Thanks
I believe the Phonak Brio has been discontinued at Costco. They now sell the Sonova KS9 which is very similar to the Marvel M90, with a 312 battery, no tinnitus option, an earlier version of the Marvel app, and no Roger support. The basic functionality is the same as the M90, with a few of the bells and whistles stripped out. It has the same android or iPhone wireless streaming support as the M90. There is a 1,500 or so post thread on the KS9 if you really want to dig into the detail of the KS9. The start of the thread have some links which give the basic specs for the KS9 which you can compare to the M90.
I think you need to look for a top notch audiologist/hearing aid fitter and worry less about the specific hearing aid. Look on the Hearing Tracker Website for recommendations in your city. Look online for reviews. Talk to other professionals and get their recommendations and try people out until you find somebody that satisfies you. Keep in mind that your hearing is not going to be restored to “normal.”
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It seems to me that the small 312 battery isn’t large enuf if you do even a small amount of BT streaming or on the phone a little while. Costco does have a longish trial period.
I have the first BT Phonak phone that came out the year before the Marvel.
My aids are connected to my Iphone, my connect clip, and the TV connect everyday. I am getting 5 days out of 312 batteries. My old aids were connected by a streamer pro all day and they get 6 to 7 days. Sure I would like to have the larger 13 battery but that would be a little large for my ITE aids.
So far so good with battery life. About 5 days with music streaming and phones.
Batteries are so cheap these days it didn’t enter into my comparisons.
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Go to the VA they have top of the line hearing devices and should be able to handle the issue you have with the devices slipping. I have been very satisfied with the aids and the service at the VA.
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That was very interesting to hear as I am neither happy nor satisfied with my Costco technician in No. California. He is fitting me with ReSound Gn and when I complained about the hollow sound of my own voice he said it was me and not the hearing aids. Since I’ve been wearing HAs for about 45 years I am familiar with how my own voice sounds with them.
After trying them for 2 weeks, I returned to tell him that the right HA was emitting static and I was not able to wear it and had to go back to my old one in that ear. He could not detect this on his computer so again, it was me and not the HA.
I am not sure that I will keep these and may return them except I’m at a loss to know where to go
from here to find a good Audiologist.
The Rexton Adore Li at Costco has a special Own Voice feature to deal with the issue of own voice and closed fittings.
That’s incompetence. There’s a bunch of small adjustments which may help. Or at least make a change that gets you out of the office. Blaming the patient is just bad business.
Do these Costco operations have a Supervisor?
You are describing tuning issues.
It not the aids, it’s the fitting. Your hearing loss is to a degree of needing a good fitter. Typical fitting for left a right might not be best for you. It appears each ear needs to be dealt with separately to balance the sounds that are best for you.
Maybe asking for someone with more experience with your type loss would help.
Good luck
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I am happy to say that Costco refunded my payment for the Resound HAs. I also showed him a copy of your replies to my message.
Now, of course I must be on the hunt for a very good Audiologist. The Costco man was truly a very poor fitter.
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If your hearing loss is due to military service, why haven’t you got enrolled into the VA and got your hearing aids from the VA with costing you anything.