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New COSTCO (their own) Batteries

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I have been buying hearing aid batteries at COSTCO for some time now and they lasted about 6 days. They are now selling their own brand, and I find that the COSTCO batteries last 4, and sometimes 5, days. There has been no substantial change in the hearing environment I am exposed to. Has anyone experienced a difference?

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The only difference I have found with Costco batteries (repackaged Rayovak) is that during the winter I only get 12 days and when it is warmer outside I get 14 days. #13’s

That’s odd. I’ve been getting 3 days out Costco batteries. All of a sudden Costco changed to packs of 40, and suddenly I’m getting 4 days.

As far as I can tell the batteries are and have always been Ray-O-Vac.

@Alec said:

I have been buying hearing aid batteries at COSTCO for some time now and they lasted about 6 days. They are now selling their own brand, and I find that the COSTCO batteries last 4, and sometimes 5, days. There has been no substantial change in the hearing environment I am exposed to. Has anyone experienced a difference?

Did you perhaps get some old stock? I have seen some reduced life when using batteries that were older than their expiry date,

Alec,
Another good thing about Costco, if you take the batteries that aren’t lasting as long back to the store they will probably give you a new pack. Once you are a member of Costco they will pretty much take anything back to keep you happy. good luck!

Thanks for letting me know about returning batteries, seb. And, prodigyplace, I have recently started paying closer attention to expiration dates on batteries. I had not noticed them before. The new ones from Costco expire in 2016, so that is not the problem. I will keep using them to see how long they last. I suppose it is always an ongoing issue.

Hz…250…….500….1000….2000…… 4000….8000
L…….55………55…….55……45………50…….50
R…….60………50…….55……55………60…… 60

The new batteries are identical to the rayovacs they sold before…the only difference is more to a pack for 9.99 now 40 vs 30 for 7.99… hell of a deal…

All seem to expire the beginning of 2016 …i have purchased a couple of years supply from a couple of stores…(in case the Myan’s are partially correct…)

I got 5 days fom old packaging and five from new packaging…

I hate changing batteries… JUST HATE IT… I wish they made the future with a bigger battery… the aid is small and no one has yet been able to tell I am wearing an aid until i take it out and show them…

size matters but battery life matters more to me…

they appear to only be working on more efficient chips to gain more life…

YMMV

I use the Costco 312’s. Each evening I take them out before placing the on the drying plate. The next morning I place the batteries back in the “opposite” HA - left to right, right to left. The batteries have been lasting me on average seven days.

I bought (60) 312’s for $15 off someone from ebay that had a 2015 expiration date. Tried them and 4 out of 10 were dead. After a number of e-mails back and forth finally got a Return Authorization. Then found out it would cost more to ship it back then was worth.

Should have saved all the agravation and just went to Costco. (which I later did), they worked perfectly – Spent $10 for 40 how can you go wrong.

@backhoeken said:

I bought (60) 312’s for $15 off someone from ebay that had a 2015 expiration date. Tried them and 4 out of 10 were dead. After a number of e-mails back and forth finally got a Return Authorization. Then found out it would cost more to ship it back then was worth.

Should have saved all the agravation and just went to Costco. (which I later did), they worked perfectly – Spent $10 for 40 how can you go wrong.

I’ve been using the Costco brand for about two months on my Starkey Wireless Series 3’s. I get 7 to 8 days out of them. I imagine that will go down when I get the Surflink Mobile, which I expect they will have in late 2013 or early 2014. They really don’t know how to deliver on promises nor how to keep their customers informed.

Depends on how much streaming you do. The battery life will be shorter once you get the Surflink Mobile, but you might be buying new ’s before you receive it. I hope you haven’t paid for it yet, if you have I’d ask for my money back until you receive it. A friend of mine paid for his last October and still hasn’t got it and on his last visit to his audi asked for his money back and said he will pay for it upon receipt, his audi said he would have to find out if he could refund the money from Starkey, he’s waiting for an answer. He also told his audi that if they didn’t want to refund the money for the Mobile he would return the HA’s for a refund and cancel the whole deal since they haven’t honored the contract he signed when he bought the HA’s

Edited

Yeah, I think my audi would go for that. His probably will too, it he audi reaches the right people at Starkey. It’s amazing how clueless they are about the bad will they are creating. If I was an audi, I’d be beyond livid. It’s bad for cash flow, it’s bad for customer service, it’s bad for PR, and yet, Starkey seems to be taking it casually, and arrogantly. They think they are Apple or something, except Apple delivers on its promises.

Al,
I just found out last week that 7 years ago Starkey gave their employees in LA a little over a months notice that they were moving their operation back east and the employees would be out of work at that time. So not only do they treat their customers badly but they also do it to their employees too.
Side note to the Southern CA employees: They all got together and started www.DIRECTHEARINGAIDSERVICES.com18 in Garden Grove, CA and they now repair all makes of ’s and I have used them and they are quick, reasonable and do a great job!

In reply to @Big_Al

It really is not useful to compare battery life unless we know the aids in which they are used? The newer type of high-end aids use a lot of battery power if one is taking advantage of all their bells and whistles. I am about to move to Resound Verso 9s and am worried that they use 10s.

Edited

This turned out to be incorrect. I have been using the Verso 9’s with some bluetooth streaming for about three months now, and am very happy with them. Previously I was using Rayovac 312s with my Phonak Smart IXs and they lasted 5 days. When I moved to the Versos (that also take 312s) they only lasted 4 days. I have just bought a pack of Kirkland 312s, to try them out (did not know they are made by Rayovac) and they are lasting about 4.5-5.0 days (I keep a record). This could be just because I am using the streaming less. Nevertheless, the Costco batteries are at least as good as my previous Rayovacs, and cost less than half the price of the most heavily discounted Rs. The Kirkland package says “No battery lasts longer. Use by 07/01/16.” I am a happy camper!

In reply to @geospyder

@geospyder said:

I use the Costco 312’s. Each evening I take them out before placing the HAs on the drying plate. The next morning I place the batteries back in the “opposite” HA - left to right, right to left. The batteries have been lasting me on average seven days.

I do the same. They last 7 days or so. Compare the price $ 9.99 - 30 batteries to my audiologisy Rayonac 4 batteries - $4.99. I do not mind that they last 7 days only:D:D

In California, the Costco batteries come in a pack of 40 for $9.99. If you are taking the batteries out of your ’s each night try putting Scotch tape over the holes and removing it in the morning, you will get a couple extra days out of them.

I use Costco batteries whenever I can because they’re about 1/4 the price of those in my local pharmacy. With any brand of batteries I’ve tried, I get 6-7 days from one pair if I remember to open the doors at night, and only 4-5 days if I don’t remember to do that.

In reply to @Barrie

@Barrie said:

This turned out to be incorrect. I have been using the Verso 9’s with some bluetooth streaming for about three months now, and am very happy with them. Previously I was using Rayovac 312s with my Phonak Smart IXs and they lasted 5 days. When I moved to the Versos (that also take 312s) they only lasted 4 days. I have just bought a pack of Kirkland 312s, to try them out (did not know they are made by Rayovac) and they are lasting about 4.5-5.0 days (I keep a record). This could be just because I am using the streaming less. Nevertheless, the Costco batteries are at least as good as my previous Rayovacs, and cost less than half the price of the most heavily discounted Rs. The Kirkland package says “No battery lasts longer. Use by 07/01/16.” I am a happy camper!

Streaming does shorten battery life, no question, more than ordinary use. If I’m not going to be streaming at all, I set my ReSound Aleras in airline mode by holding down the button as I close the battery door which disables streaming, and I can squeeze an extra day of battery life out of the 312s. I’ve also had good and equivalent results with Rayovacs and Kirklands, which make sense since Rayovac makes the Kirklands.

In reply to @seb

@seb said:

In California, the Costco batteries come in a pack of 40 for $9.99. If you are taking the batteries out of your HA’s each night try putting Scotch tape over the holes and removing it in the morning, you will get a couple extra days out of them.

Is this actually worth it with the more wear and tear on your hearing aids from opening and closing the battery draws fully? To me… The wear and tear on the hearing aid is more important then longer battery life.

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