Rexton Quintra 2c, Costco's newest?

I purchased my Quintras about a month ago and received the charger as a part of the package. I don’t expect to have to replace any batteries for some time. I was given some 312s to take on trips when I don’t want to fool with the charger. I charge them every night and all is a go in the morning.

I get fitted for my Quintra’s this afternoon …then head straight to a Harvest Festival event at a local church that draws about 7000 people. I will get quite an opportunity to see how they work in an environment with a lot of loud background noise …right away!

How many different programs or settings should I have to choose from?

I will be very interested in your observations. I only have one additional program, TV. I am going to request as many others as I can. TV still sounds tinny.

Got fitted yesterday, but seriously had to run from the fitting straight to a VERY challenging, loud Fall Festival environment with 7000 people, tons of jumping castles, slides, rock climbing walls, live band, …your basic mob scene. I had no time to acclimate or adjust. but I will say this; EVERYTHING was louder than with my former 6 yr old HA’s. (Former = Rexton Revo)

So I really need to take some time and see how it goes. Everything initially is louder. Including my own speech. I hear myself very loudly in my head. I have a FU appt scheduled for a couple weeks for evaluation and adjustment. More to come! Not unhappy at all, just too early to make any qualified comments.

@groberts said:

Are Phonak and Oticon really that much better than whatever top models Costco carries? Reason I ask is that I got a call from a rep at Hearing Planet and he swears my local top audiologist will do better by me with their expertise than my local costco. That said, I am going to give these Rexton Quintra’s and Costco a fighting chance since I have 90 days.

hearing planet is a well known discount shop here. I highly doubt if you will get much better results via hearing planet vs costco considering hearing planet tendency to restrict what the audi can do to keep cost down.

phonak and oticon top of the line aids will be better than anything you find at costco. However, the differences between what costco sells vs the top of the line aids are so subtle only a long time user would be able to appreciate or even notice them. Plus you have to essentially pay double.

independent audi will be best for those with very unique situations like those with most of their loss in the low frequencies (so their audiogram would look like it’s going uphill vs a typical ski slope loss). Or those who are deaf in one ear and need a bicros solution. But even for these losses I think these users should go to costco first to at least get acquainted with all the lingo of buying an aid.

btw please attach your audiogram results in your signature. those without one are assumed to be audis or new users on this board.

@doubledown said:

hearing planet is a well known discount shop here. I highly doubt if you will get much better results via hearing planet vs costco considering hearing planet tendency to restrict what the audi can do to keep cost down.

phonak and oticon top of the line aids will be better than anything you find at costco. However, the differences between what costco sells vs the top of the line aids are so subtle only a long time user would be able to appreciate or even notice them. Plus you have to essentially pay double. …

I made my first purchase of hearing aids five years ago through Hearing Planet, and they were very nice. However, the first audiologist they sent me too was awful. He had a very impressive well-furnished office, but he was rude beyond belief. For example:

1. When I told him that I was unsure whether or not to press the button for sounds that were so low I wasn’t sure I would hear them under normal everyday circumstances, he simply shouted "Just press the button or don’t press the button!;

2. Whenever I asked him followup questions about the hearing aids after the test, his answer was invariably: “I just answered that.” I had to repeatedly remind him that a question is not answered until the patient/customer understands the answer;

3. It took me four attempts to try to get an understandable explanation of the difference to my potential hearing improvement between the Audeo V and the IX and I was still not entirely sure I knew the answer when I left his office so I just chose the more expensive model;

4. He seemed unaware of paid-for services which I thought were included in the price, including unlimited office visits during the advertised 45-day trial period for fine tuning. He said he would limit those to what HE felt was “reasonable” as if I was lonely and would take time to go see him just for fun;

5. He refused to acknowledge the other post-trial advertised services, repair and loss policy;

6. He made several comments to my girlfriend, and about my age, which both she and I felt were out of place and inappropriate and made her feel uncomfortable, and then he told her that if these hearing aids did not work out, that she “could just get a younger boyfriend.”:mad:

7. He told me his future service to me might depend on whether or not I bought a certain dryer from him, and when I asked how much it would add to the cost, he replied: “That will depend on how many dollars I can squeeze out of you!”

I am NOT making this up!

When I reported this experience to HearingPlanet and refused to go back to him, they did send me to a second, very nice audiologist who proceeded to give me a much more thorough hearing test, answered all my questions, was very professional and reassuring and I did make the purchase.

However, I only learned recently that I just missed out on the “wireless” model of Audeos by perhaps a month, but maybe nobody knew about them at the time. This deprived me of being able to acquire and use the streaming equipment Phonak now offers for Audeos. Maybe it was an innocent oversight. I don’t know.

And they cost me three times what the Costco KS5s I am trialing cost. Of course, I realize that technology improves and prices for sophistication comes down, so this may not be a fair comparison.

Best wishes, Nate

@NateS said:

I made my first purchase of hearing aids five years ago through Hearing Planet, and they were very nice. However, the first audiologist they sent me too was awful. He had a very impressive well-furnished office, but he was rude beyond belief.

Thanks for the input and sorry to read about your experience.

I wanted to add in to new users that that I would never recommend hearingplanet for a new user. They are really best for those who have the tools to program their own aids. Long time users who never had problems with having their aids set at the default settings and do not expect a lot of personalization are possibly another candidate for the service.

From what I remember reading about the service is that hearingplanet is just an outsourcing company that assigns the task of fitting and adjusting aids to local audiologists who are willing to abide by their terms. I remember reading somewhere that these local audiologists get very little for each client so they really can’t afford to spend a lot of time on them.

New users really need to do their research and conduct phone interviews for any potential independent audi. knowing what brands (must always be more than 1) they sell is one big indication of how competent they are.

When I went to Costco for my first appt, the HIS took my audiogram and did all the settings in the computer and programmed a “demo pair” for me to try in the store. I definitely got the tinny treble sounds that indicated I was getting the boost in high freqs I need. Like you, when I took the HAs off after the demo, I had the heightened sense of muffled hearing that you experienced.

On the day I returned to pick them up, the HIS had already programmed my HA’s and set up the accessories prior to my appt so they were ready to go. He simply walked me through everything, we did the REM, and I was good to go. They sounded exactly as I remember the demo pair sounding previously and I couldnt be more pleased.

I told you all that because I think it is an example of how Costco is supposed to properly treat a customer and ensure that the HA’s are properly fit. After reading your post, I believe your HIS did not fit you properly. I would speak with the manager and explain what happened and ask to work with another more experienced HIS - or perhaps the manager him/herself (My HIS was the manager).

I am very very pleased with the professionalism and expertise of my HIS at Costco and the level of service and quality of HA. Hell, another HIS that I havent even worked with knows me and greets me by name every time I have been there. I am very glad I went to Costco and I would recommend them to anyone.

I see so many different terms being used for the dispensing person in all these posts. I think I have been wrong to use the term audi or audiologist loosely.

The dispensing person at my CostCo fitting had this title on his business card:
“Senior Hearing Specialist” but I don’t really know what that means in terms of state licensure or training. So I googled the term and found this definition being provided by CostCo for hiring purposes:

https://wfa.kronostm.com/index.jsp?LOCATION_ID=42795183275&locale=en_US&applicationName=CostcoNonReqExt&SEQ=postingLocationDetails&POSTING_ID=96985296921

So I still don’t know for sure what that means in terms of a state license, but it gave me a clearer idea of what CostCo requires in terms of experience, etc.

I will say that my Senior Hearing Specialist definitely seemed very, very knowledgeable and competent in running and reading the test, and in adjusting both the demo HAs and the ones I was fitted with when I walked out of the store for the trial. I was very pleased and impressed both with him and with the whole experience.

Is this term a work of art in the profession, or just an employee title created by CostCo. If I referred to him in future posts as an “SHS” would anyone know what I meant?

If I get a chance to glance at the certificates on the wall at the time of my scheduled adjustment, maybe I will get more clarity on his state certification. But in my layman’s opinion so far he is highly competent.

Regards, Nate

I believe the term Senior Hearing Specialist is a Costco position. He/she would be the manager of the hearing aid center in the store. The term HIS is a licensing term which indicates completion of an accredited 2-year program (the equivalent of an RN). An Audiologist is a doctor although I think Ive seen reference to some of them having “only” a Masters Degree.

http://www.spokanefalls.edu/techprof/HIS/Home.aspx

Phil:

Unfortunately they don’t offer the ‘demo’ service of trying before you lay down your ‘hard-earned’, but still have the Costco 90 day money back guarantee.

Don’t feel deprived about that, Phil. That’s really they way it worked for me here in the States and I assume in all CostCos.

The only free “demo” I received was to spend an hour or so walking around the store shopping while wearing the inhouse demo which was temporarily programmed based on my Audiogram. Once I returned back to the hearing dept. and said “yes I want to start my 90 day trial!” I signed papers charging the full amount to our AmEx credit card, selected my color choice, and the order was placed.

Based upon the reported experience of others, I am confident of a full refund should they not work out within 90 days, but I did have to prepay in full when the order was placed. Of course, I’m enjoying them so much I can’t imagine returning them at this point, but that’s a different issue.

Best wishes, Nate

So far my Quintras are working well. I have had them for a little less than two months and have been back for two adjustments. I only have one program, TV, as the automatic setting seems to take care of most situations. Still have a little trouble with some voices on BBC shows, but it is OK most of the time. However since this is my first venture into HAs I am not certain what I should expect. I wear them from 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. each day and only remove them for showering or when playing tennis or shooting trap and sporting clays. I am very happy with Costco and the person that I deal with. Her attitude is “call me if you want help or an adjustment” and she is willing to take time with me. So far, so good. I believe that I made the right decision. Also, I have not yet found a reason for buying any Bluetooth device.

hey Gang, I’ve been wearing my Quintra’s for 10 days. I got 8 days of battery life before replacing. VERY happy with that.

As for the improvement in my hearing, I have been struggling, but think I need to get some frequencies adjusted. They might be set simply TOO loud. and that is augmenting everything I hear, so in any environment other than quiet places where there is one voice or TV, I feel challenged. I firmly believe they will be great once I get them dialed in. They are smaller and more comfortable than my former 6 year old Rexton Revo’s. I will also try to get a copy of my audiogram or take a photo of the frequency curve on the computer screen at the costco audio center. My next appointment is this Wednesday.

I have three programs, Auto, Noise and Music. None are really much different or better than the other. My HIS as Costco said it would be ideal to get the Auto mode properly adjusted to the point where that works for me 90% - 100% of the time. But it still makes sense to have a couple programs that have noise cancelling or maybe more focused / directional settings. What do other users think?

How many programs are realistic and make sense?

Great choice. I love my KS5

Elijah

@iarooster said:

In an earlier post I mentioned that I’d follow up on a report as to what the independent audiologist recommended. She recommended the Phonak Audeo Q, subtly pushing the Q70 and Q50. Overall, a less impressive visit than my stop at Costco. The office was nicer, but the hearing test was abbreviated, and I didn’t get to try out a pair of the Audeo’s like I did the Quintras. In fact, she didn’t even have me try on an aid so I could feel what it was like. Perhaps the aid she was showing me was a nonfunctional dummy, but it still could have been placed in my ear.

Leaning strongly on going back to Costco to try out the Kirklands…