Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

Costco Kirkland Signature 5.0

This topic is closed.

321 replies213.7k viewsLast reply

Jump
Link to this topic

One of my nine year old Resound got crushed by a car the other day so I ordered the KS5 and should have it on Monday. I ordered the phone clip+ feature for possible music and radio streaming from my iPhone. I have a couple of questions in this regard I am hoping you more experienced users can answer for me.

First, I have never used my while bike riding or doing weights at the gym. The Costco technician told me these new ones have a “moisture barrier” and should be OK with a bit of sweat. Is that true - should I feel free to wear these all the time?

Second, do I use the Resound phone clip+ IOS app to control them from the phone?

Third - is it easy to switch off the iphone clip+ connection so the phone will connect to bluetooth in the car? I like to stream my phone through the car speakers when driving.

Edited

First - some perspiration is okay for short stints, but I wouldn’t wear them in the gym. Even with the coating, mine get a little wonky when sweat drops onto the microphones.

Second - you can use the app, the clip, or the buttons on the aids to control everything.

Third - just switch the clip off as you’re getting into the car. No worries. I’ve even forgotten it was on, but the car bluetooth would connect during a call like it usually does. I’m not sure about streaming though, if you left the clip connected.

In reply to @groberts

@groberts said:

Curious if anybody had the Quintra’s and returned them and got the Kirkland Sig 5’s? (Resound) …THe reason I ask is I am about 7 weeks into my fitting with the Quintra’s and I am struggling. Single beep tones from things like Microwave ovens or beeps in my car are now polyphonic and while the Quintra’s are louder than my former Rexton Revo’s, I am not really hearing any better or distinguishing speech better, even after a couple adjustment / fitting sessions.

You might want to have your dispenser try a different fitting formula with your Quintras. The Rexfit, the default setting, is based on , but does not work for everybody. I have switched a couple of my patients to a different fitting, and it made all the difference. We also do RealEar measurement companywide, and this can be a useful tool during adjustments.

@Eauchiche said:

You might want to have your dispenser try a different fitting formula with your Quintras. The Rexfit, the default setting, is based on NAL-NL2, but does not work for everybody. I have switched a couple of my patients to a different fitting, and it made all the difference. We also do RealEar measurement companywide, and this can be a useful tool during adjustments.

What fittiing do you recommend? I am hanging in there with the Quintra’s. The last fitting appt seemed to get closer. My changed the cup on one ear to a tighter seal since I have different loss and that helped a lot.

In reply to @groberts

@groberts said:

What fittiing do you recommend? I am hanging in there with the Quintra’s. The last fitting appt seemed to get closer. My HIS changed the cup on one ear to a tighter seal since I have different loss and that helped a lot.

I don’t want to interfere in my colleague’s care protocol here, but after looking at your numbers, if you were in my office, I would try NAL-NL1 or . You are sticking with an excellent product. Good luck!

In reply to #209

@Huston_Hearing said: (unavailable)

I’m surprised that this post is still being replied to. It’s a really good resource to a lot of problems with hearing aids. Costco makes a good hearing aid and they are everywhere. That is probably why a lot of people go to Costco to buy their hearing aids.

One thing that I would like to help hearing aid wearers and future hearing aid purchasers know is that its important to shop around. There are pros and cons to every decision. In my opinion, buying hearing aids from Costco or another big chain store is a good idea. But for other people it isn’t a good idea.

I wrote a review on this topic at my website. The post is call Hearing Aid Reviews - Big Chain Stores. I highly recommend anyone who is truly shopping around for hearing aids and deciding whether to go to Costco or not should look at my review.

I’m a hearing aid marketer at a locally owned company and have seen a lot of Costco wearers unsatisfied with Costco’s service after 5 years of their purchase. For those of you out there who purchased hearing aids from Costco and have had the same ones for over 5 years, what has your experience been regarding service?

Very interesting article. Just one question: do you REALLY counsel your patients to keep their hearing aids longer than 5 years? Would you keep a 5 year old computer, when the technology is advancing so rapidly? The industry average for people keeping their hearing aids, last I heard, is 5-7 years. This also includes people who replace their instruments every 2-3 years because they want the newest technology. And NO, Costco’s technology is not 2.5 years old! The KS5, introduced last summer, has a newer chip than Forza and more programming options. The Quintra, introduced in September, is also a new product. All of Costco’s locations have demonstrators patients can try before they purchase.

I believe most hearing impaired people would give ANYTHING, within reason ,to hear better. All of us professionals should give them the opportunity to try new products, if there is a chance we can make it better for them.

In reply to #209

@Huston_Hearing said: (unavailable)

I’m surprised that this post is still being replied to. It’s a really good resource to a lot of problems with hearing aids. Costco makes a good hearing aid and they are everywhere. That is probably why a lot of people go to Costco to buy their hearing aids.

One thing that I would like to help hearing aid wearers and future hearing aid purchasers know is that its important to shop around. There are pros and cons to every decision. In my opinion, buying hearing aids from Costco or another big chain store is a good idea. But for other people it isn’t a good idea.

I wrote a review on this topic at my website. The post is call Hearing Aid Reviews - Big Chain Stores. I highly recommend anyone who is truly shopping around for hearing aids and deciding whether to go to Costco or not should look at my review.

I’m a hearing aid marketer at a locally owned company and have seen a lot of Costco wearers unsatisfied with Costco’s service after 5 years of their purchase. For those of you out there who purchased hearing aids from Costco and have had the same ones for over 5 years, what has your experience been regarding service?

We’re surprised that you continue to make such self-serving posts.

In reply to #209

@Huston_Hearing said: (unavailable)

I’m surprised that this post is still being replied to. It’s a really good resource to a lot of problems with hearing aids. Costco makes a good hearing aid and they are everywhere. That is probably why a lot of people go to Costco to buy their hearing aids.

One thing that I would like to help hearing aid wearers and future hearing aid purchasers know is that its important to shop around. There are pros and cons to every decision. In my opinion, buying hearing aids from Costco or another big chain store is a good idea. But for other people it isn’t a good idea.

I wrote a review on this topic at my website. The post is call Hearing Aid Reviews - Big Chain Stores. I highly recommend anyone who is truly shopping around for hearing aids and deciding whether to go to Costco or not should look at my review.

I’m a hearing aid marketer at a locally owned company and have seen a lot of Costco wearers unsatisfied with Costco’s service after 5 years of their purchase. For those of you out there who purchased hearing aids from Costco and have had the same ones for over 5 years, what has your experience been regarding service?

No offense intended, but based on my own personal experiences, your comment doesn’t make any sense to me except as an effort at a subtle and untrue slam at buying hearing aids from Costco. In effect, you are saying that Costco hearing aids are very good but you’ll be sorry when they are 5 years old.

In my case, I bought then top of the line $6,000 Phonak hearing aids 5 years ago and when I was so frustrated with them a few months ago, every audiologist wanted to sell me new ones said almost the same thing - “What do you expect, they are five years old!” So I took their advice that it was time to replace them but INSTEAD of buying new ones from them I went to Costco and replaced my $6,000 Phonaks with $1899 Costco hearing aids and now I can hear wonderfully.

So what’s your big secret - do you claim to have a magic fountain of youth for hearing aids to turn the clock back when your customers come in wearing hearing aids that YOU sold them 5 years ago? How come the audiologists around where I live don’t know about this magic and instead thought I should buy (their) new hearing aids?

In reply to @sfrly

@sfrly said:

They actually did a better exam than two audiologists I went to. Contrary to your self-serving nonsense they sell new quality aids at good prices. they follow up, follow up, follow up. Which is something the private audiologists are horrible at. The only audiologist I’ve seen( who raves about how good her relationship with the costco people is) that seems worth a tinkers d., can do nothing for my speech recognition deterioration.

I agree completely. I’m in the process of getting my Costco Kirkland 5s adjusted. I have had far, FAR better service from Costco already than from the audiologists from whom I bought $4k-$6k aids in the past. The private audiology industry for years made a killing off seniors who had a lot of money and didn’t know there were alternatives. So they (in my opinion) were able to take an aid that cost them $400-$500 and sell it for thousands of dollars. Those kind of margins will attract outfits like Costco who can come in, sell at a third the price of the private firms and still make money. They’ve done this in eyeglasses, funeral stuff, gasoline, you name it.

And they treat their employees well. What’s not to like?

The private audios will say that part of the astronomical cost of their aids is the service, but I have had uniformly terrible, reluctant, grouchy service from audios to whom I returned for better fittings (I’m a musician with congenital nerve deafness so I’m a tough fit in the best of circumstances.)

With Costco, so far, so good! I’m the opposite of the original poster – I cannot imagine why a knowledgable customer WOULDN’T go to Costco!

/john

In reply to @seb

Excellent points, Seb

Thanks for teaching us all.

elijah

@seb said:

I think all you need to do is look at Costco’s policies regarding hearing aids and compare them to most audiologist practices policies and you will see why people go the Costco for their hearing aids. Contrary to what you have said, Costco does have current aids in the Rexton, Resound and Bernafon lines and they offer them at a substantial reduction in price over there audiologist counterparts. They also offer a 90 day no hassle trail with most audiologist only offering a 30 day trial or 45 day trial if mandated by state law and at Costco if you want to return the aids they will give you ALL your money back, at an audiologist you will only get back what you paid minus a percentage for the time they spent on you or what they are allowed to keep as mandated by state law.

As for locked hearing aids: I was told some were and some weren’t but with 600 stores you have a good chance of finding a Costco that can service or adjust your HA’s at no further cost to you. I would guess you would have difficulty finding many audiologist who would adjust your unlocked Costco HA’s anyway and if they would they would probably charge you a couple hundred bucks to adjust your Costco HA’s or those even bought from another audiologist.

I have also been told by audiologist knocking Costco that they can’t clean your ears and they don’t offer as comprehensive ear exam as an audiologist does or would. That’s probably true at Costco if your being seen by a HIS, but if they are an audiologist working at Costco I would bet they could legally clean your ears if Costco allows it. My own experience with Costco is that they gave me a more thorough exam than I ever received by an audiologist and the only time I had a lot of wax in my ears at the audiologist I was sent to the hospital they were affiliated with to have my ears flushed out. Another thing the patient screening questionnaire was basically the same at both Costco and my audiologist and they are both legally obligated to refer any patient with one of the RED FLAGS to a doctor or ENT office to be checked out.

Regarding there service and repair program: they offer a very good loss and damage warranty and will adjust your aids for as long as you own them. I’m not sure about Costco not servicing HA’s after 5 years being a company policy or the fact that most manufacturers won’t service an aid that is 5 years or older, in either case, I asked this question at my local Costco and they said if the manufacturer couldn’t service the HA they would recommend a private repair center that they have used in the past. However, lot of audiologist won’t service your aids after 5 years either and only want to sell you new HA’s after 5 years, because that’s how they make their living. Also, if you take your HA’s into your audiologist for servicing out of warranty aids they are going to put them in a box and mail them to a repair facility that you could do yourself and for this service they are going to charge you several hundred dollars. Another thing about Costco, because your a MEMBER and you have a problem with the HA after the 90 days or even several years they would do everything they can (even give you a refund) to keep you happy, I don’t know many or any audiologist offices that will do that.

The one thing that Costco hearing aid centers have going for them is they are part of a big corporation taking up a small part of a large warehouse, so they don’t have to worry about employees, healthcare,rent, heating, electricity, etc. these are all covered by Costco and so if they have a problem with a few customers it’s not going to cause a huge financial hardship like it would with a small audiologist office. So with the buying power that comes with 600 plus store and the fact that their overhead is much lower than and audiologist can offer, they can offer what most audiologist can’t regarding price, long trial periods, warranty and service.

In reply to @donheff

@donheff said:

First, I have never used my HAs while bike riding or doing weights at the gym. The Costco technician told me these new ones have a “moisture barrier” and should be OK with a bit of sweat. Is that true - should I feel free to wear these all the time?
.

I wear a different brand of ’s but I think the issue of exercise and sweat is more or less the same for all HA’s. I sweat a lot when I exercise, it is often literally dripping off my head. I have purchased protective “socks” from Eargear, http://www.gearforears.com/ and they are quite effective in keeping the sweat off the aids. They are very good when biking, not the least because biking outside in the air actually dries the sweat a lot faster than in the gym. I basically use them all the time for biking, but not so much at the gym. I go to a very noisy gym and I take classes that involve loud music and it is kind of nice to not hear all of it.:slight_smile:

@seasonedears said:

I wear a different brand of HA’s but I think the issue of exercise and sweat is more or less the same for all HA’s. I sweat a lot when I exercise, it is often literally dripping off my head. I have purchased protective “socks” from Eargear, http://www.gearforears.com/ and they are quite effective in keeping the sweat off the aids. They are very good when biking, not the least because biking outside in the air actually dries the sweat a lot faster than in the gym. I basically use them all the time for biking, but not so much at the gym. I go to a very noisy gym and I take classes that involve loud music and it is kind of nice to not hear all of it.:slight_smile:

Just wanted to clarify a couple of things:

  1. No Costco location is permitted to clean ears. We do a medical referral out for that.

  2. We still service hearing aids that are over 5 years old. In office procedures are free. If the aid has to go in for repair, it is a $135 charge, and includes a 6 month warranty.

In reply to @NateS

@Eauchiche said:

Just wanted to clarify a couple of things:

  1. No Costco location is permitted to clean ears. We do a medical referral out for that.

  2. We still service hearing aids that are over 5 years old. In office procedures are free. If the aid has to go in for repair, it is a $135 charge, and includes a 6 month warranty.

Thanks for clearing up and refuting what “Huston Hearing” was implying regarding 5 year old purchased from Costco.

Sounds like the vaguely implied “You’ll be sorry 5 years from now if you buy from Costco.” is nonsense.

If I misunderstood what HH was implying, I hope he/she will post a clarification.

Best wishes, Nate :smiley:

I’ve been seeing mixed reviews abut Resound Phone Clip+. Curious if anyone is using one, can you please give me some feedback on how they’re working out for you? Especially how is the sound quality to make phone call? Thank you very much.

In reply to @PastorJeff

Hi, new here but have been reading since I got my KS5s a month ago. I am interested in the Directionality and have a question, is that a separate program by that name or is BD incorporated into any existing program?

Thanks, DJK

Edited

Directionality is normally chosen as the default program #1 as it is the most versatile. It CAN be incorporated into any other more specialized program, but it in the default settings for other program options (such as restaurant) it is not preselected.

In general, the basic purpose of the extra programs is best achieved with a fixed directionality - either directional or omni- and the Binaural Directionality programming is designed to let the aids make the directionality selection on their own.

By the way, when in the Binaural Directionality setting, each aid will normally “idle” in an omni setting, and upon presentation of speech signals, the aids will decide if either ( or both) should shift into directional mode.

In my particular case, I use the Binaural Directionality program almost exclusively (95% +), and use a modified “Party” program (fixed directionality + extra noise reduction + extra speech emphasis) in extra noisy environments.

In reply to @DJK

@DJK said:

Hi, new here but have been reading since I got my KS5s a month ago. I am interested in the Binaural Directionality and have a question, is that a separate program by that name or is BD incorporated into any existing program?

Thanks, DJK

Directionality is a feature of the hearing aids as well as the name of the program that implements it. The feature is only active when you’re running that particular program. It’s not available in any other program.

@rasmus_braun said:

Binaural Directionality is a feature of the hearing aids as well as the name of the program that implements it. The feature is only active when you’re running that particular program. It’s not available in any other program.

My Audiologist has mine set up as:

Program 1 = Directionality
Program 2 = A copy of Program 1 (also Binaural Directionality), but with a boost to speech sounds and a boost in noise reduction
Program 3 = Party ( directional mics and boost to both speech sounds and noise reduction)
Program 4 = Music (omni mics and no noise reduction).

Are we mistaken about program 2?

Related discussions