You might start with the store manager…
Connect hearing does a price match so you can get them at same price Costco is selling them
That has been my experience with Costco as well. Inconsistent. Some are GREAT, but some are AWEFUL. But honestly, the same could be said about the private practices. Just a couple of thoughts… Hearing aids are not like cell phones. Some work better than others. Any of them require a fitter who know what they are doing and how to verify the results. It always bugs me when people say, “A hearing aid should never cost more than…” because you don’t know what the costs of operating a business are in areas other than your own and you don’t know necessarily know what kind of expenses that fitter has. I just bought a practice from a guy who said, “Hearing Aids should never cost more than $4200/pair.” And a lot of people spent $4200/pair with him. And they are all wearing the cheapest Starkey hearing aids they could get and they are all very disappointed with the results. So now they have a negative opinion about the capabilities of hearing aids. But when I put the best hearing aids on them, they start crying because they are understanding so well…
Hearing aid business from large to small are closing down all the time trying to sell based on low price. Why? Because the customers do not come back a second time. Why? Because they don’t provide either the same quality of products OR the same quality of service. In my market, I am the highest priced practice, but my patients are the happiest. 5 practices have closed down in the last 2 years that were all “low price” options. So ALL of their patients who were left are unhappy. HearUSA filed for bankruptcy and they were nationwide partner of AARP… You would think that would be a gold mine. But their model of “discounted” hearing aids DOESN’T WORK in the long run. It costs what it costs to run a successful practice.
Quality of service is the big variable that isn’t solved by prices – high or low.
What I got about the clinic you cited is that he was charging roughly $1000 more for entry level product than the normal going rate.
Price is also the problem the industry has by not attracting the 70% of estimated users with a need.
The evil hearing aid manufacturers exist simply to empty the pockets of the great unwashed.
Sir, I agree with your above statement 100%! “These people” could make more money by lowering their prices and attracting more customers. Not everyone can afford $6000 every 3 years for these things.
But then our hero Costco steps in between the exploited sheep and the vicious profit hungry manufacturers and predatory private practices, raises a hand of warning and says STOP!! THESE EXORBITANT PRICES WILL GO NO FURTHER!! And while you’re trying out your new aids in our store wander around and check the fabulous prices we have on our other great products like slacks from Laos, shirts and sweaters from Sri Lanka and our full line of sport shoes from Viet Nam. And be sure to check out all our great appliances from China.
“These people” could make more money by lowering their prices and attracting more customers.
And you know this how? You’ve taken into account the costs of the research and development required to stay on top of advancing technologies and keep ahead of the competition? You know all the operating costs of each the companies? Payroll? Marketing? Facilities? You’re on top of the taxes and licensing required in each of the markets they’re in? You know the operating costs of the private clinics including the absolutely obscene costs of college and graduate school?
Good thread, I worked with my local HIS to get the prices down to a point where we are both okay with it. A little higher than Costco, but I got the Phonak Audeo V90’s.
Of course, we don’t know all of costs involved. My point is simply this: There is such a vast difference in what the consumer is charged for aids that appear almost equal in value, it causes me to suspect the “costs” are inflated in some cases.
We’ll never have a full picture of the the industry. But there have been some pretty good guesstimates. With using buying groups to lower cost it looks like the premium aid runs from 100% to 150% markup – best case. The gotcha is their volume. This can make a simple clinic vary from failing to nicely profitable. That’s the business model.
Costco has lower cost and reflect their pricing in savings to the consumer. Talking to their people I have found that they regularly provide added training to their team. Evidently, that is to try to have a minimal standard. As we recognize they have good and not so – consistent with the industry as a whole.
Many clinics have a limited clientele. Cosotco seems much busier. Why? Well, price certainly is a factor. But they also have a large walk-by group as they have traffic equal to a good super market. They also have an assistant that does not fit but can answer the questions of passing shoppers. Costco enjoy customer loyalty more than almost any other retail operator. It natural for many with loss to inquire. There fitting rooms at mine are always full.
When I turned 65, I started getting mail which seems the typical promotion vehicle by clinics. They typically offer some great deal. They read like an infomercial. I didn’t trust a word. I visited a clinic operator. They tested me and fitted me with aids and quoted $3200. That was it. No real discussion of my loss or even info about the features. I left dissatisfied.
Look at the person who has aids and their clinic closes or they move. Visit the local clinic and you get the bum’s rush. “We only service what we sell.” is the typical response. Here is a future customer and they drive them away. This is even though they could at least cover part of their cost by selling them their service for a reduced but still as somewhat profitable transaction.
There is no other industry that I am aware of has such a slip-shod business plan.
The response above makes more sense than anything have read! (That includes what I was trying to say!)
Look at the person who has aids and their clinic closes or they move. Visit the local clinic and you get the bum’s rush. “We only service what we sell.” is the typical response. Here is a future customer and they drive them away. This is even though they could at least cover part of their cost by selling them their service for a reduced but still as somewhat profitable transaction.
Typical? Really? That is not only not universally true but there is no way you could possibly know whether it is or not. Most hearing aid wearers don’t post on this or any other forum and opinions formed by gleaning the experiences of those that do, whether positive or negative, are of very little value in providing any statistically significant data. The personal experiences of the people here are just that and no more. Additionally you don’t know whether or not servicing hearing aids is a profitable endeavor. If it was profitable one would think that there’d be many exploiting that opportunity. I can think of any number of reasons why many small clinics, especially in small markets, would not want to engage in servicing instruments outside those they supply and fit. But are there none? On the contrary. When I was playing with the idea of having a friend of mine who is an HIS who lives 1000 mi away from me supply and fit my aids I had to consider finding a local means of servicing things in a pinch. Not only were there several within driving distance happy to service them, but they were also willing to honor warranties. So whose experience is typical?
Now if we can believe CDC statistics 12.7% of Americans have hearing loss in both ears. Only 20% of those who would benefit from aids actually use them. That would be around 6 million or 2% of the population. If we reduce that to include only those who move after purchasing their aids and need service somewhere other than where they bought them we have a rather minuscule number and hardly one that would encourage dedicated service facilities in any other than large population areas.
Costco provides a service and there are people who benefit from it. Great. But that is the end of it. Like any personal experience, anecdotal evidences prove nothing beyond that particular experience. I don’t like Costco and I don’t like them like I don’t like Walmart, K-Mart, Target, or any big box super store because they take dollars out of the local economy and send them back to a corporate location. They destroy local businesses, pay sub standard wages and are a large part of the reason why folks don’t make enough money to shop anywhere else. Where is the neighborhood market owned by your neighbor? The hardware store on the corner or the drug store owned by the pharmacist that lives in the next block? All gone the way of the carrier pigeon. But that’s OK because I’ve got my fill in the blank and besides every one else is out to screw me.
Well, anecdotal or not, what I said here is born out in many threads here. It isn’t a huge data set but it is what is available.
To correct one error, Costco does pay well above the average wage. It is above $20/hr. That’s huge for retail. I find them more consumer oriented than any in the market. Satisfaction is well above the norm for both big box and local.
As to Target, they were started by an old line retailer – Dayton-Hudson. Certainly superior to Walmart – there we’ll agree.
What I see from the two post is two, divergent and anecdotal views – nothing more.
Costco may pay better than the others but the big box criticism still stands. It has a negative impact on the local economy as it drives the individual out of the retail market and sends its profits somewhere else. That is not anecdotal. The statistical data cited is also not anecdotal. Hearing aids are not a large market and incapable of supporting a service industry in any but the largest population areas. That is likewise not anecdotal. The only part of my post that is anecdotal is my search and find of a local provider of service. But I didn’t claim it was anything else. I simply asked which was typical? And that was a rhetorical question.
The opinions expressed here are certainly no huge data set. In fact it is so small as to be insignificant. Divide the number of members here by 6 million to see just how insignificant. If folks are pleased with what is offered at Costco fine. But the idea I see repeated here that all private practices are out to rape the individual is born of ignorance. It is unfortunate that some folks have to justify their own decisions by belittling alternatives. Too often the root of it is envy and envy is an ugly thing.
I get you are all bent out of shape because you can’t get a malt at the drugstore run by old Mr. Jones. Sadly, he lacked the economy of scale to compete. Maybe you’d like to bring back pot belly stove and spittoons too but it ain’t gonna happen.
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LOL. The above may or may not be correct but no matter as it has no bearing on the validity, or rather lack of it to be more accurate, of what you’ve expressed in this thread. The maneuver is a rather transparent admission of defeat. Now if you’d like to pursue the idea that corporatism, whether global or just intra national is better than “neighborhood malt shops” I’d be happy to oblige but you might want to brush up on the topic first.
I’ve been to an audiologist and left dissatisfied after we timed out due to fitting issues.
I’ve done business with a practitioner who was a good technician, but a lousy business person (example: habitually turning up 1/2 hour late for the first appointment of the day, saying “I just have trouble getting out of bed in the morning” – comment made at 10:30 am. BTW, this practitioner lost his two shops in Sears stores, and was forced to open his own store front, and was out of business withing 2 years.
My current order is being filled by Costco. We will see how this goes. So far, so good. Very professional.
Competition and the Baby Boomer wave will change the industry, probably for the better. Competition and published pricing will help (thank you, Internet). In general, the larger the market, the higher the volume, the quicker that the OEMs will recoup their R&D costs and make some money.
Competition and the Baby Boomer wave will change the industry, probably for the better. Competition and published pricing will help (thank you, Internet).
Just like the auto industry right? Sure.
The idea that there is such as thing as a competitive market is a fantasy. All smoke and mirrors. Centralization, which has moved beyond national borders and is quickly becoming global, has killed it. But that’s a topic for a different venue.
I guess that I would point to Costco as the leading competitive force in the HA industry. It certainly seems to be having an impact.
If Samsung decided to get into the business, that would also be interesting…