It sounds like you are in the Springfield, Ma area and if so, check out Ent Associates hearing aid provider which has a separate office in the same building. Send me a private message for the name of my audiologist there and her phone number. I have been using her for ten years. She started at Mercy Hearing (a non-profit) and then when the new owners of the hospital closed it down, she moved over to this new practice. She is great.
I think the main issue, at least in my experience, is Costco doesn’t allow enough time per visit and frowns on patient’s with hard to fit loss or those that require many visits until they are satisfied. Time equals money and when they give the aids away at almost cost, something has to give. I will be the first to admit they do a great job for many patients, but I also personally saw how they would not allow the proper time needed for certain visits
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After having the hearing test Costco wouldn’t sell me hearing aids because of my results… too difficult for them I guess.
I have taken up a lot of audiologists’ time with many adjustments trying to even understand what people are saying, with not very good results with any of them. So I can understand why Costco didn’t even want to try with my loss.
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Can’t see why that is, nothing that a HA couldn’t help with, sure revise slope on your left, but nothing that couldn’t be fit, they have Brio 5 which would be helpful for you, I’d just find another Costco if you can.
Have you ever been evaluated for a cochlear implant? I’m guessing your word recognition scores wer pretty low and they didn’t think aids would help.
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tenkan, thanks for that idea! I hadn’t even thought of it, since I only live two blocks from our local Costco! For the next time…I will do that. It would be worth the drive into Tacoma.
But I think the Costco people were also looking at my WRS, which is pretty bad.
An ENT thought that would be a good road to go down, then COVID happened… and some of my family members are against a CI, so I’m just sticking with the hearing aids for now. Otter is a life saver!
Why on earth?..
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Fear of a bad result or infection.
Strangely enough @Neville, the Big D as they are known here in the UK (Pre-lingually Deaf) much prefer their children to be born Deaf like them, and most abhor CI, as they believe these to be a slow strangulation of their Deaf culture, and some will refuse point blank to have their Deaf children implanted…… You have to see it from their perspective, they honestly believe there is absolutely nothing wrong or strange about profound hearing loss, as sign language is their first language, and their preferred medium of communication, and they believe CI are destroying their culture, this culture goes back several hundred years…. I honestly empathise with them. Cheers Kev 
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I do empathize with the feelings of those who are part of Deaf culture, and I don’t think they are wrong that CIs are shrinking them. I just didn’t feel that that was the situation here. I suppose I understand when individuals themselves are hesitant to get a CI, but when family members push against it is seems stranger. . . like, not really their decision to make when the person in question is an adult.
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I totally agree @Neville…. I am aware that’s not the issue here, I was just giving an example of why certain folks might object to another family member getting an implant. Cheers Kev
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This discussion is very interesting! When I got my first HAs, I didn’t realize that Costco was an option. When I decided to replace my first set ~6 years later, I decided to go to Costso. I had a hearing test, and found the audiologist to be good, if a bit inexperienced. However I was left with the impression that Costcos hearing aids are much like their TVs - you can get a great price if you are ok with technology that is a year or two old. Maybe this is not the case? In my case, I was told at Costco that CICs that can stream do not exist (even though I already had that capability, albeit with the use of a surflink device, which I was looking to get rid of). She did suggest BTE/RIC but only offered me one option in each format (RIC/CIC), and I was left with the impression that ‘this is what they sell’ not necessarily that this is what would help me. I then decided to go back to my private clinic and had a completely different discussion. There are in fact CICs that can stream, however we talked about the pros and cons of different types, and discussed three different brands (and also discussed different typrs - CIC vs. RIC).
I would not describe my experience at Costco as negative, in fact I have recommended them to a friend who needs HA but can’t afford the price she was quoted at several private audiologists right now. It might just be my experience, I felt that Costco sold a limited selection and picked the best fit, whereas the private audiologist was able to help me compare different brands (not sure how many brands they sell, but we seriously considered 3) to make a more personalized recommendation. Is this worth the significantly increased cost? Only if you can afford the extra cost without sacrificing other things.
There are a lot of people who were born deaf who see themselves as special and not handicap. Good for them. I applaud their attitude. But to think thats how others should be especially their children is absolutely ridiculous. The people in this forum have experienced what it’s like to hear and what it’s like to lose their hearing. I don’t see anyone say they’re glad they lost their hearing. People deaf from birth have no idea what hearing is like so can’t really judge. They say they’re not handicap but let’s be serious. They are, as we are. Asking them how they feel about being deaf when they’re lying in the gutter because they didn’t hear that car horn. I’ve worked with a lot of deaf people. I respect their ability to adapt to their loss. But I’ve also seen a lot of near accidents because they can’t hear. One thing about the deaf. They see my aids and they come over and talk to me about it. It’s the hearing that make the rude and cruel remarks
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Hi @hass5744, I have always, or since I was very young, I have been fascinated with “Deaf Culture”, they do have some strange/peculiar ideas, that are very much indicative to their culture… Not surprising though, when they are cut off from mainstream society via oral language. For instance, in the hearing world, we pick up a lot of information just through conversations, or indeed just listening to others talking, some of this may register on our memory, these conversations tell us of folks personal prospective on any given situation, and usually what the outcome was… A simple example here, a friend & former sign language teacher, (My teacher) born profoundly Deaf, with sign language as her first language, a lovely lady, and very intelligent, with a beautiful sense of humor, well she had a small fire at home, which she managed to put out, and someone said, “Why didn’t you call the “Fire Service/Brigade”? (Fire Brigade here in the UK) Her response was, “But, who would pay”! She genuinely thought at around 70 years old, you had to pay if you called out the Fire Service! Now you and me would be very aware, via previous conversations, listening in or perhaps the news, that this is free at the point of service, but to a Deaf person, they might be oblivious to something that is so fundamental… That shocked me, It was an eye opener, to say the very least! Cheers Kev
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My mother used to say don’t call the fire dept because they’ll do more damage getting to the fire than the fire itself will fo. So who knows
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@MDB The jury’s still out for me on Costco as I’ve yet to be fitted there, but it’s certainly been my experience that some kinds of hearing loss are tougher to fit and some independent audiologists are better at it than others.
Not good ways I know of to find a good fitter other than trial and error. Maybe now that so many hearing aids are capable of remote tuning, a grapevine or recommendation service will develop so you can find fitters anywhere in the world who are good at working with a particular type of hearing loss. Assuming fitters would be willing. If part of the price you pay to an indy for hearing aids is long-term service that model may have to go by the wayside though and that might not fly.
My Sonic Enchant 60 pair is about 4 or 5 years old, and the HIS at HearingLife has been trying for 2 years already to get me to buy a pair of Oticon OPN (with the idea that I’ll hear so-o-o much better in noisy environments). 
I bought a Costco membership this summer with the thought of getting a pair there. But now I doubt I will do that, after all.
I’ve been pretty happy with the Sonics overall. The KS10 looked like a winner to me. I gather that Oticon and Sonic are probably going to provide sound pretty similarly, whereas Phonak (and KS10) likely will process sound in a different way than what I’m used to, which I might or might not like. That’s a small point in favor of Oticon, in my mind. Costco doesn’t sell Oticon. (But then, they quit carrying the KS10 also… oh well.)
Recently I came across some info about REM. I am quite positive that the HearingLife HIS never did this test. It makes me think, maybe I could have a better experience elsewhere.
Another factor is the thought that it might be nice to have a real doctor of audiology doing the testing and recommending, versus someone with less training. But what would that cost me?
The cost question may have just resolved itself and made my mind up for me. Yesterday I looked at next year’s “silver” plans on the government’s Health Care Marketplace online; lo and behold, I found that I qualify for a plan that has a $50 deductible and a 5% copay after deductible on hearing aids. After the first of the year I’ll check to make sure, but it looks like I can go to a shop with real audis and wind up paying less than at Costco.
As an old acquaintance used to tell me, “Ya can’t beat it, with a stick!” 
I’m definitely picking up a new pair sometime this spring, because come summertime I have to go on Medicare (higher cost, and no HA coverage)! 
Look at Dr. Cliff’s best practices. Whether it is an AuD audiologist or a hearing aid dispenser if they use best practices it is a good step in the right direction. A good dispenser will do just as good a job and an audiologist the key word is “good” regardless of which you go to.
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I read something from Dr. Cliff just today that said, if they aren’t doing REM, you have not been properly fitted!