Hi folks, first post but have been ghosting for a while.
I’m close to getting a and like what I read about y’alls experience with Costco.
I noticed on their website that they have a more expensive membership that rebates 2% at the end of your membership year, BUT your purchases have to go through the front check out.
The question is, does the hearing stuff go through the front check out? Or did you pay at the audi?
No numbers to post yet, too new into the discovery process.
Hi folks, first post but have been ghosting for a while.
I’m close to getting a HA and like what I read about y’alls experience with Costco.
I noticed on their website that they have a more expensive membership that rebates 2% at the end of your membership year, BUT your purchases have to go through the front check out.
The question is, does the hearing stuff go through the front check out? Or did you pay at the audi?
No numbers to post yet, too new into the discovery process.
GREAT forum BTW!!!
Hi Spanke, welcome to the forum. To answer your question about Costco:
payment/checkout goes through the dispenser, not through the front check out. You do have to show your membership card.
A little info on my Costco Hearing Center experience:
I had my first appointment the day before yesterday (Monday) and the guy was very nice, and seemed to have good knowledge about the products. The experience was very low key with absolutely no upselling. He looked at my (I brought a recent one with me so I did not need to have one done at Costco), and discussed what he thought would be the best for my hearing loss. He answered all my questions, again with no pressure to get me to spend more money. I even inquired about a more expensive option and he told me it was not necessary. I ordered the ReSound Futures (Alera) and should have them in a week to ten days for trial, which is 90 days with a 100% money back guarantee. Can’t beat that.
The only problem (if you want to call it that) was that the earliest appointment I could get at my closest Costco (which is 5 min from my house) was for the end of August. I called the next closest one and had an appointment within the week. The fitter explained that the store nearest me was one of the larger stores and had been one of the very first to offer Hearing Aids, and they also covered a much larger geographical area than the one I eventually went to. I found it took me the same amount of time to get to the Costco where I actually ordered the HA’s than it used to to go to my audi where I got my first HA’s. So for me that is a wash, and obviously the wait for an appointment depends upon which Costco you go to.
Overall Costco Hearing Center experience so far: excellent.
Next we will see how good the fitter is at programming.
I noticed on their website that they have a more expensive membership that rebates 2% at the end of your membership year, BUT your purchases have to go through the front check out.
I’m not sure you’re correct that hearing aid purchases don’t qualify for a 2% Executive membership rebate just because they are paid at the hearing aid counter and not at the front register. I find the rules a little confusing. Check out the fine print on page 5 of the booklet here about how the Executive membership 2% rebate works: http://content.costco.com/Images/Content/Misc/PDF/Member-Benefits-Costco-Services.pdf26
They don’t specifically identify hearing aids one way or the other, but they do indicate that some other purchases besides the front-end register purchases do qualify for the 2% rebate. (“…[purchases qualifying for the 2% Executive membership rebate are made at] front-end registers and most ancillary business registers at Costco warehouses and Costco websites…” The Hearing Aid Department at Costco is an “ancillary business register.”] On the other hand, it appears to me in the fine print that photo counter purchases, and insurance and travel purchases (these are not done in-store, anyway), among other things, do not qualify. There is a number you can call for questions before paying for an Executive membership.
The other thing you can do is get an American Express Costco card first and use that to pay for the aids which will get you an extra 1% rebate from AE (though you may be able to get that as well with another card you already have). One of the better features of American Express is that in my experience and in the unlikely event you need it, they are good about extended warranty claims. You will be given an opportunity to get instant approval for an AE Costco card when you sign up for membership at Costco, or you can apply later.
Also keep in mind that Costco and AE Costco rebate checks must be cashed (not necessarily spent) at Costco. You can’t deposit them at a bank. You can cash them out 100% at the Costco customer service desk, or you can buy something at a Costco register and get the balance back in cash. Costco warns you will they will not replace a rebate check if you lose it or fail to use it before the check expires. All this may diminish the value of Costco rebate checks to you somewhat. It certainly means that Costco and AE are not actually paying out 100% of the rebates their members earn.
[quote=hamjor;60182]…>snip…("…[purchases qualifying for the 2% Executive membership rebate are made at] front-end registers and most ancillary business registers at Costco warehouses and Costco websites…"] …<snip
I got the Executive membership because the rebate cash back thing would save me more than the membership costs. It was explained to me by the audiologist and the store asst. GM who happened to be there at the time. The sale went throught the Hearing Center register.
When I stopped at the CS counter a few days later to get a new picture made and card printed they looked it up and verified.
Another thing to be aware of with the Executive membership: If you do not earn back a rebate covering the increase in your membership fee from Gold to Executive (which means spending more than $2500 a year in rebate-eligible purchases, because 2% of $2500 is $50, the difference in fees), if you take your rebate check to the membership desk, they will keep it and pay out $50. In other words, they will increase your rebate so you do cover your upgraded membership fee. But you have to ask, and you’re not supposed to cash your rebate check first and then ask later.
Of course, if as Don suggests, hearing aids are rebate-eligible, you are likely to make up the fee upgrade the year you buy the aids. But in the event it doesn’t work out, or in future years if you keep Executive membership, there is that fallback.
Thanks, hamjor. Went to Costco yesterday and signed up for the Executive card then ordered a pair of Verites. Now I have to wait 2 weeks.
I would think they would inventory their three big sellers (KS, Resound Future, and Verite) but they always have to order at my Costco too. Let us know how it goes with the Verites. I was interested in those also when I got the Futures.
Got the new aids! Only took a week. I can’t believe how many birds there are…lol
The Verites wear well. I don’t have any thing to compare to, but they are comfortable.
I’m getting a fair amount of feedback on the “Quite surroundings” program setting, high volume. I get less in the “Noisy surroundings” program and I seem to be spending most of my wearing time in that one. I’m hoping my LD can program the feedback out. I have one open dome and one tulip.
We went to a club last night (Elks) and the aids did pretty well. I could understand the table talk noticeably better but not as well as I thought I would.
When I took them out last night for the first time, my hearing felt as if I were under a pillow. It was unpleasant.
I’m hearing a lot of strange sounds now. My PC’s fans sound like rain falling, kind of crackling like. I’m sure from my readings on this forum that my brain will relearn those sounds.
