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Private provider vs Costco or other

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Edited

I recently visited a private agency that rhymes with nearing uninhibited (ok, it’s close enough). The audi reviewed my test and then gave the spiel about how I need their services AND the with the best possible technology. I was shown a paper that outlined multiple “levels” given as options, the top tier being 7k, the low tier being around 4k. Still, the audi never identified the actual HAs I might need to consider and gave me a pair of Oticon Reals to try for 7 days. When I returned them after the trial and said I cannot afford any of the price ranges offered, the audi said they actually have a pair of Oticon Rubys for $1999. This was not initially presented. Has anyone heard of these, or know anything about them in comparison to those 7k Oticons? I am 46 with about 15 years of moderate/severe hearing loss and desperately need to start wearing HAs, but these prices seem crazy. I made an appt. at Costco, thinking they probably provide the same “services” that I believe are required of all registered audiologists in the state regardless of their place of employment (fittings, replacements, alterations, check-ins, etc.). Thank you to anyone who can shed light on the Ruby device and/or where I should go in this process if my price range is <$2,500 :slight_smile:

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17 people in this conversation13 min readJump to latest

Welcome to the forum, sure the Ruby are “ok” but my advice would be go to Costco and get the latest premium models for less then $1600, it’s a no brainer good trial period and great warranty.
Post your audogram as this will help others to offer advice.

Edited

Your question is an excellent one… and welcome to the forum.

We had another similar thread just recently which I’d encourage you to read through and then ask additional questions in your thread pertaining to your particular situation if needed.

Is Costco an option?
Just had my hearing checked. My loss is rated at moderate to moderately severe. Two audiologist recommended aids in the $7600+ range. Yikes! I’d like to try Costco first. Thoughts?

As I suggested in that thread, even moderate/severe hearing loss can be treated well at a much lower price point than what was first recommended for you. I assume you’re posting about Hearing Unlimited… it’s okay to be specific here. At some of these chains and private audiologists, it’s like going into a new car or electronics dealer. Many of them will try and upsell you into top-of-the-line gear, but the bang-for-the-buck is lower, and that upsell meets their (luxury car or boat payment?) need$ more than yours. It’s not that there aren’t benefits to high-end gear, but you may have to pay a lot more for relatively small gains in hearing performance. So if your budget would be strained at that higher level, feel free to say, 'I know that’s not necessary, so What Else Ya Got?!?."

Costco (and some private audiologists) don’t play these upsell games. They’ll give you a range of choices. Just keep in mind: prices can escalate faster than benefits.

Also as I said in that thread, you’re buying aids that you should anticipate needing to replace, on average, in about four or five years. Kinda like smartphones. So budget accordingly. Some aids you may get 6 or 8 years, even a decade out of, but especially at that upper end, that’s not the experience of many users. Pricier aids don’t necessarily last longer. Some aids get lost in the first year or two. They take a pounding and wear quickly. Parts may become difficult to come by, because manufacturers discontinue aid models in a couple years. This is a good reason why $2,000 aids from Costco may be a much smarter buy for you than $7,000 aids from HU.

Absolutely, you need Costco! If you are near-ish to one, it’s a no-brainer. The hearing aids sold by Costco are in no way “lesser”. Costco’s buying practices and their sales volume allow them to offer such good deals on high-quality, name brand, hearing aids. There are many reviews, stories, about shopping Costco for hearing aids found on this Forum. Browse here. You’ll be convinced. (I paid those upper prices for hearing aids when I lived out of range of Costco. Now I’m glad to be able to do the sensible thing, as I live 5m. from Costco.)

One consideration is how long the dispenser gives you to “test” the . An audiologist in a private practice limited me to a 30 day period to determine if I was doing well with the HA. I have heard of patients being charged a fee by a private practice if they do not continue and accept the HA. Costco allows a 180 return period with as much follow-up as needed.
In Washington state, Costco practitioners are Hearing Aid Dispensers, not Doctors of Audiology. I would expect Costco to employ HA Dispensers rather than Audiologists anywhere they can.
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to determine which practitioners are just out to make a buck and which practitioners truly care about their patients’ welfare. I am a doctor of optometry and I’m aware of a lot of practices that prioritize squeezing as much money as possible from their patients.

Oticon Ruby is a much more basic technology than the Reals, Costco will be able to provide much better tech at a much better price. Definitely worth keeping your appointment with Costco and seeing what they have to say

I don’t know if you need any more convincing, My two cents run, don’t walk to Costco. The product prices, service and warranty, not to mention the lengthy trial period make them a perfect solution for you. I’ve used them once and was thoroughly pleased. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

You can get top-of-the-line brands through online retailers who work with audiologists, saving perhaps $2-$2,500 off what you were quoted, but that still leaves you well outside your budget.

Go for it.

Costco hearing aids are a great value for the money. Some of the dispensers are not so good. I purchased new hearing aids because I could no longer hear well with my KS7’s (a pretty old model now). As a hobby, I later purchased a ConnexxAir and reprogramed them myself. What a difference. If the HA dispenser at Costco had taken the time to reprogram them well, I probably would not have purchased new aids (non Costco) so soon. So I think the hardware from Costco is a great value, but the programing abilities of the HA dispensers is the luck of the draw. I am sure that some are great but the one at my store was lacking. I don’t know how the consumer is suppose to know the difference. Of course this could have happened at any other place also, I guess.

In reply to @DeafDancingDreamer

Yes, I would say so. And many (all?) Costcos have the ability to make adjustments in your settings by long distance (computer), so you might be able to avoid follow-up trips for tweaking them to you liking. You can ask about that when you have your first visit.

In reply to @raylock1

Hi Ray,

It’s happened to me with two sets of Phonaks dispensed by two separate audis. You’re right. It can happen…

I have a new hearing aid practitioner who has now done a wonderful job setting up my Phonaks.

In reply to @raylock1

Re your experience at Costco:
One of the technicians at the Hearing Center will be the Senior, and overseer of the others. You could also let him/her know about your dissatisfaction with the one. It would help them improve overall.

In my case I was dealing with the senior person (there were only two)
Ray

I am sorry to have to say this but the quality of the programming help (both audiologist and dispensers / both stand-alone store and Costco) is really hard to determine ahead of time. My husband started wearing aids in the late 1970’s and I have worn them for over 15 years - - so LONG experience. Try to talk to the practitioner ahead of purchase about things like “how many times can I come back for tweaks” and do they use “Real Ear Measurement” when having difficulty with a fitting. Can you trade the first trial pair for a different “brand” if they just do not seem to be working . . . .
I am currently wearing Signia’s that I purchased in 2021 after trialing SEVERAL different brands thru a brand new provider who had little business during Covid!!
I recently had them majorly retuned because I could not tell the difference between “tall, paul, ball” without lip reading. The first retune did little to help, so I asked for Real Ear Measurement and went back a second time. That time, the provider switched the “program” she was using from “the manufacturer’s program” to some kind of “national standard” program which made a HUGE difference and then further tuned that with Real Ear Measurements!! WOW, what a difference!!
I am still adjusting to some of the high pitches I obviously have NOT been hearing. But I can actually follow a conversation with SOME background noise!!! Still lipreading in those situations, but such an improvement!!!
But that took about an hour ON TOP of the first retune time!!! And time is money. So, I can understand why sometimes folks do not get this result. I knew enough to “push” for better/more - - but how many folks go home, provider said it has been retuned and then just do not understand why they still cannot understand speech well???
Sorry for being so long winded, but it really is a complicated relationship!!

Your post is very helpful.

“That time, the provider switched the “program” she was using from “the manufacturer’s program” to some kind of “national standard” program which made a HUGE difference and then further tuned that with Real Ear Measurements!! WOW, what a difference!!”

The devl is in the details.

In reply to @lsmith77025

@lsmith77025 said:

I am sorry to have to say this but the quality of the programming help (both audiologist and dispensers / both stand-alone store and Costco) is really hard to determine ahead of time. […]

–without disagreeing about that, I’ll note that with respect to:

Try to talk to the practitioner ahead of purchase about things like “how many times can I come back for tweaks” and do they use “Real Ear Measurement” when having difficulty with a fitting. Can you trade the first trial pair for a different “brand” if they just do not seem to be working . . . .

The answers for Costco are: as many times as you need, although each time will require an appointment that may require a wait that varies by location; yes, Real Ear Measurement is a standard procedure; and yes, you can try a different brand if (I assume) it seems reasonable that it might provide a better result.

@brec said:

for Costco are: as many times as you need

Which I’m so glad for, as I’ll be needing a good many appointments to get things right!

@brec said:

although each time will require an appointment that may require a wait that varies by location

Unfortunately here it’s a 2-3 week wait due to a shortage of audiologists, but they’ve just hired a couple more so hopefully that won’t be the case for much longer.

UPDATE! First I want to thank everyone for answering my question and providing such detailed input and perspectives. I feel very lucky to be a part of this community now and will reference the threads often as I continue on this journey.

So, I went to Costco on Friday and met with the fitter. She said most of her clients went with Philips 9040s. She mentioned the others and said she did not recommend the Rextons (albeit without much reasoning but whatever). I tried the Philips and they were as expected, and seemed very similar to the Oticon Reals I trialed in terms of actual feel and sound. I almost didn’t even try to the Jabras, but I am SO glad I did. To my surprise, they felt so much more comfortable. In addition, the loud obnoxious crinkling sound I heard every time I moved my head while wearing the Oticons…was simply not there. Sure it happened when I purposely moved my hair, but otherwise, nothing. I kept trying to make it happen but I just wouldn’t! I was amazed. There is no real explanation for this, it could just be the way they sit on my ears, the microphones, who knows. But as an active person with long hair that is always being flip flopped from one side to another, this was a dealbreaker and I purchased the Jabra EP 20s. My observations over the last few days are as follows:
-The comfort is unparalleled compared to my old Resounds, the Philips, and Oticon Real. Fro reference, I have smaller, more narrow ear canals but nothing special.
-Everything just sounds more ‘natural’, for lack of better phrase. There were times I wondered if they were working because I only heard silence, only to then suddenly hear someone walking up to open a door 20 feet away, or flushing a toilet upstairs, a bird chirping outside, or a siren. Back to the silence. This is a vast difference from the other where it just seemed to amplify everything no matter the setting. Yes I hear the floorboards creak and other things I never did, but it’s just not annoying like it was with the Oticons.
-The app does seem more functional than the Philips and Oticon apps. I also learned from a youtube video that the directionality function that “disappeared” with a recent app update can be modified by the fitter if I want it.
-It helped tremendously to go to the appintment armed with the knowledge I learned here. I brought notes. My fitter was very nice and clearly knowledgeable, but fast talking and quick to get the fit so I could have easily walked away with any pair of HAs without much discussion.
-I am almost DISGUSTED by the fact that there are private agencies and providers out there that charge in excess of $7,000 and 30 days for returns for the exact same HAs and services as Costco, when Costco’s prices are 1/4 of that with a six month guarantee. There simply is no difference except price so someone can make a commission.
Why anyone would choose the former is beyond me. Don’t! Thank you, everyone. Much love.

The smaller places don’t live in the same economy of scale as Costco. They get better deals from the makers because of volume. And sunk costs for running the store are off the table. So they can offer a lower price. Some places can’t even buy the aids for the prices Costco sells them.

WH

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