(Why) is Costco perceived as second rate? Cultural context?

Question and Answer
#23

If you do locate an audiologist even if they charge, can they program and fit/refit a HA from a manufacturer they do not sell in stores? I ask because I would assume they would only keep software for their brands, and not have the software from all big 6 manufacturers. Or am I off base and they just have them for situations like a walk in needing assistance.

I’m not familiar with the software packages I know folks here use for self fitting. Can an audiologist simply get that package and go from there? Is there a steep learning curve to each, or are they very similar, with just things like features having different names.

As my Starkeys are from a private audi, I don’t have the advantage of a Costco type of a national HA center setup. Would I need to find someone who is a dealer in Starkey to get help?

This is stuff I never really thought about as I’ve never relocated, always living in NYC, but if I do ever move out, it’s something I’ll need to consider.

#24

My take is that you need to find an audiologist who wants to help you. If they want to help you, I’m pretty sure they could get the software even if they don’t carry that brand of hearing aids. Figuring out the software can take awhile, but I would think it would be pretty easy to sort out if one has been programming hearing aids for awhile.

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#25

Seems you are by yourself.

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#26

I bought Siemens for $5200 from an independent / private audiologist that came extremely highly rated. They lasted 5 years. I feel I over paid, but he was a superb audiologist, and that was the cost. He has since retired and sold off to Hear USA.
I shopped at a Hear USA in February due to the fact my Kaiser insurance gives the benefit only to them, through a Senior Medicare add on. It was not a positive experience, and I did not feel I got much benefit from my Kaiser $600 per aid benefit. The lady tested me, and I also got tested by Kaiser. I have a profound hearing loss at high frequencies in my left ear, not quite as bad in my right ear.
There was not any negotiation on price on Siemens, but she low balled a Widex product to me to salvage my sale. At that point, she lost my trust.
We are huge Costco shoppers and customers and I set up an appointment with our local store.
Luckily for me, this store was ranked # 19 in the USA in 2019 amongst Costco hearing aid centers, and # 1 in 2020. Costco has a detailed ranking system which includes returns, as they measure satusfaction levels and not just sales and profits.
My experience with Costco was superb. My audiologist has an electrical engineering degree, and was an independent - with his own business - for 20 years prior to Costco. I bought the ReSound Preza for $2700 - then 2 weeks later Costco dropped the price to $2100 so they gave me a $600 shopping card for credit back. I also bought the multi Mic for TV viewing.
The ReSound app is super! I find the Mic great for TV, but haven’t had my wife use it in conversations with me.
I think Costco gets a bad rep from two areas:

  1. Independents that simply can’t compete with them. Costco’s price is unbelievable, and for the budget conscious customer, their Kirtland product is wonderful.
  2. Costco has I am sure, some poor HA Audiologists, just based on their size and number of stores. In a perfect shopping world, they weed those employees out. I can tell you that getting a real solid HA to properly fit you with the correct specs is most important, more so than brand choice in my opinion.
    Costco has a way to offer remote adjustments on-line, and their warranty is exceptional. I ended up spending less money than I thought I would, and didn’t use my Kaiser HA benefit either. Costco killed that price savings.
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#27

Yup I can hear the echo :wink:

Maybe I am speaking the wrong language :smiley:

More anecdote than analysis - all of which I welcome .

I’ve slightly edited the topic in an attempt to clarify the discussion…

#28

Thanks @timcorbett - your analysis is very welcome. Interestingly you mentioned the “budget conscious customer”. Why not every customer for whom the fitting and function were suitable? What influenced you (perhaps unconsciously?) to mention budget specifically? Certainly it is a point of differentiation from other audiology services.

Looking at the bigger picture I wonder if there is still a hangover with cheap being interpreted to mean inferior? As someone mentioned here, the attitude of "you get what you pay for "…?

#29

You seem ultra focused on that point.
I mentioned budget conscious because hearing aids are quite often for elderly folks that are retired and on fixed incomes.
Some people may equate cheap with inferior - that happens. Why do you seem to be so focused on that psychology of price versus quality?
Consumers look to buy at Costco to save money. My experience with Costco is that they sell high quality stuff at lesser margins, and often require the customer to purchase a higher volume. That is exactly the case with hearing aids, except for the volume part. The HA brands that Costco offers are all legit.
There is no hidden tricks there. If you don’t like a product, including HA’s, take it back for a refund.

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#30

No, Costco is not perceived by me as second rate. They’re just as good as the good independent audis in fitting hearing aids, and in some cases just as bad as the bad independent audis.

I actually perceive Costco as first rate and the independent audis as second (or even third) rate in terms of the price value, and the length of the trial period, not to mention the 5 year warranty with their credit card purchase.

The ONLY reason why I wouldn’t want to go to Costco is if they don’t carry the exact specific brand/model of hearing aids I want to buy (and I’d have to be a very discerning buyer at that to be that picky). Even if they don’t, but as long as they do carry a “cousin” version of that model which is close enough in features for much cheaper, then I wouldn’t hesitate to prefer Costco for the price value and long trial period, 5 year warranty.

Maybe the only negative thing with Costco, and this is due to their own success in beating most other dispensers in price, is that most of their stores are wildly popular and very busy with dispensing hearing aids that it may take longer to get on their schedule as compared to the independent audis. But that’s more like a badge of honor, not a second rate issue.

Folks who perceive Costco as second rate are probably those who didn’t know about the Costco price value/long trial period/longer warranty (if bought with their credit card). They probably get that perception because they paid a lot for their hearing aids from the independent audis and feel like they need to defend their purchase by giving Costco a second rate perception so they don’t feel so bad about over spending for their hearing aids. Those smart enough will probably get over this self-incurred second rate perception soon and will probably ditch their independent and over-priced audis and switch to Costco next time they need a new pair of hearing aids. For those where money is no object, they’ll probably continue to perceive Costco as second rated and stick to their more expensive audis.

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#31

Thanks @timcorbett - I apologise if I was being unclear.
I am not particularly focused on anything apart from trying to understand the apparent suggestion/perception that Costco services are not first rate. I wondered if your comment on budget - which is often brought up in the wider community amongst other apparent negatives (see my quotes in the first post) - was an unconscious example of this and was hoping if you analysed your own views you might be able to shed some light on the question. I was looking for your insight :slight_smile: . I was not meaning to be derogatory in any way! I also look not just at budget but service and expertise as possible grounds for differentiation although I get the impression here that there is little difference between Costco and others in this regards - You can get excellent or terrible service either way :smiley: .

Thanks @Volusiano:
I can certainly understand people trying to validate their own (expensive) decision by running down the cheaper alternative - Human nature. A lot of the negative comments I see posted appear to be posted from ignorance rather than experience. I also have noted several private practitioners (not on this forum) running down Costco which is completely understandable wrt their business model!
[ As I mentioned in the first post - I too would be happy with well fitted appropriate HAs. If Costco can do them - I will go there. If not, I would go to a private audi who MAY be able to either supply a more appropriate unit or better fitting…]

#32

I don’t think people on this forum are representative of the general public. Sure, some of us might have been at first, but it doesn’t take reading too many threads before we start to wise up.

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#33

In my country, an audiologist can work with a doctor’s referral, ie at the expense of health insurance. and the audiologist who sells hearing aids are mostly traders who sell aids.
I have noticed that retailers do not offer the service I want completely, they do not give enough attention to fully adjust it, their goal is to sell the hearing aid in the shortest possible time. I can come adjust several times but again they often ask me
What do I want them to do?

When I was a child, I went to speaking and listening exercises at a polyclinic called Suvag. There is an audio pediatrician who is also an audiologist who often asked me questions

Does noise bother me?
Is the sound too loud or too deep?
Is the voice when it speaks too mummy?
etc.
And he would also check my understanding by reading a book or magazine and I have to say what I hear.

Hearing dealers don’t do that, they just ask me what I want them to do.

Fortunately, I can ask a general practitioner for a doctor’s referral if I need to adjust my hearing aid at the expense of health insurance.

By the way, I envy you in America and Great Britain, Australia for having Costco, which offers you top-quality appliances at a much lower price. I’ve been thinking about ordering a hearing aid from Costco by mail, but I’m not sure if Costco sends it by mail?

There is a risk that it will break down, then it will be complicated to send it for repair

I could do the adjustment in my place in Croatia with a private audiologist or I could buy Noahlink myself and adjust it as I wish.

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#34

To best of my knowledge, Costco won’t send you hearing aids. If (and that’s a big If) you feel comfortable adjusting your own hearing aids, you can get relative bargains on EBay, but you need to know what you’re doing. Getting hearing aids repaired isn’t that challenging in US. Don’t know about other countries. At least in US, getting an audiologist to adjust hearing aids that they didn’t sell can be challenging.

#35

Where do you get the Costco ratings? I would love to see that!

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#37

Just ask your Costco store what their rank is in the Costco system.

#38

Ebay should be avoided because they sell hearing aids without a guarantee.

I have heard that the hearing aid guarantee is also related to the customer.

But under warranty issues I meant, if my Costco hearing aid breaks down, I am forced to send it to the nearest Costco where I bought it. To me, Great Britain is 1600 kilometers away, and Costco is the closest there.

Adjustment I think would be the least of the problem, pay an experienced audiologist or learn to program hearing aids yourself. I watched my audiologist selling hearing aids, it doesn’t seem like a complicated procedure.

#39

Warranties are pretty much through the seller. If you’re going to venture out of buying from somebody who is going to fit your hearing aids, you’re pretty much on your own. There are great values in used hearing aids and there are places to get them repaired at a reasonable price. This approach is not for the meek or uneducated. Don’t underestimate the challenge of finding somebody to adjust your hearing aids. Do it yourself is doable, but again not for the meek or uneducated.

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#40

Costco Canada is quite good. At least in my area, they are entirely staffed by audiologists who follow best practices and there’s a fair bit of oversight to make SURE they are following best practices. I cannot say the same of Costco US? From what I’ve read, they may have an audiologist who did 8 years of university, or they may have a hearing instrument specialist who did an 8 month internship, or something in between. (The hearing instrument specialist programs in my area are also quite strong. I gather in some states they are similar, but in other states it’s laughable.)

You’ll probably find great individual providers at Costco and crappy individual providers at Costco just like anywhere else. But in terms of generalities, I suppose I would expect on average audiologists with resumes strong enough that they can be picky to not necessarily want to work rotating evenings and weekends (exceptions always made for life circumstances). I would also expect that the types of patients seen at Costco is a bit more narrow (predictable), and so audiologists who might be more interested in seeing a wider scope of practice wouldn’t work there either. I can think of a number of colleagues who have worked at Costco for a little while and left out of boredom.

From what I understand, there’s also a big difference in pay between Canada and America. Canadian audiologists who I know working at Costco are paid very well, whereas my understanding of Costco America is that is doesn’t pay its audiologists that well. Again, you can never predict someone’s life circumstances and so maybe you’ll find someone working for less than they are worth because of personal or family choices or whatever. But if you are a bright star of a clinician and Costco pays beans, on average, that’s not where you’ll choose to work.

I know nothing about Costco Australia.

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#41

This is probably different in different places, but in my Costco, they shut down at 6 on weekdays and have shorter hours on Saturdays. Last time I paid attention to hearing department hours, they were closed on Sundays.
Also, my Costco audiologist (and she’s an audiologist, although they do have a second person in the department now who isn’t) told me she’s at Costco because in the private practice where she worked, she felt like a car salesman. I assume that means making sure no one who crosses the threshold walks away without aids. I know that first private audi I went to tried telling me how much danger I was in of dementia if I didn’t get them.

I bet there are more reasons for people deciding to go one route or the other than any of us could guess.

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#42

I will say this when I went to an Audi for a hearing test and was t never pressured to get aids.I don’t even remember being told what aids this Audi carried . That was 2004 and I was stupid enough to get aids from an internet hearing aid company and it was the worst experience of my life.

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#43

Yes, I think part of this comes from other products that Costco sells that are stripped down versions sold elsewhere. Consumer electronics for instance, Costco gives a manufacturer a price point for a given item (let’s say TV), and then it’s up to the manufacturer what to remove or disable to meet that price point, if anything.