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Costco and Phonak separation

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So I have been wearing Costco KS9s for several years now. I typically change my own domes and . When I run out, I go to my local Costco for the “free” supplies. Whelp, they aren’t going to be free anymore apparently. Since Costco and Phonak have parted company, Costco now pays for the different supplies. I did my end of month maintenance on Thursday and realized I was out of my wax guards. So yesterday I stopped at the Costco where I usually get my supplies. When I asked about getting another package of wax guards, I was told that I couldn’t get them – even though the receptionist was holding a package in her hand. She kept telling me that she couldn’t give them to me. The fitter came out a little bit later and explained that now Costco had to pay for all the little bits used to support the KS series hearing aids. He told me that going forward I would have to pay for the domes and wax guards. But he didn’t know how much they were which was why I couldn’t get a package. Eventually he gave me one package but no domes. He told me I would have to come back to purchase those things going forward. So much for supporting their ‘flagship’ product. I had already planned to go to a different audiologist (through my medical provider) given that Costco wouldn’t be carrying Phonak products anymore. I prefer Phonak because of the way they can interface with my android phone. Just wanted to give other KS product users a heads up if they haven’t already run into this.

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I’m guessing they’d still change out domes and filters at no charge though? That’s what they promised me, not to give me supplies to do it at home. I have KS9s too. So far no problems. They were recently sent back to Phonak and replaced. So far my KS9s meet my needs. Not sure what I’l replace them with. I suspect all aids within a few years will have really good bluetooth connectivity. I like Phonak’s , but there’s a good chance I’d try Phillips .

I would hope that you could still get your domes and filters changed at no charge, but right now that seems to be an unknown. Additionally, I prefer to change my domes and filters myself as it means I don’t have to drive over to a Costco for something so simple. I’ve been doing my own domes and filters for over 10 years and I just don’t want to have to go in every month for service – at least for the domes. I had already made the appointment for the new audi and I’d rather just make sure that I can manage my own .

I recently purchased my first hearing aids, Phillips 9040, from Costco. Much of my reason for getting them from Costco was based on their extremely generous, compared to a private practice audiologist, support. I was pleasantly surprised to to hear I would get free supplies like domes when I needed. Repairs after three years, are expected to be at a relatively modest cost. Why wouldn’t that also be true for supplies? Also, I know that Costco is a business that must cover its costs. To expect not to pay in perpetuity for hearing aid supplies, even for a brand they still carry, seems unrealistic. Consider what you would pay in total cost from your new audiologist and you will probably conclude supplies would be much more costly than free. Have you tried to purchase supples from Phonak? If I needed new hearing aids in three years, I would seriously think about new ones from Costco with the latest technology and know I will have saved more than enough from my first purchase, compared to a private audiologist, to pay for my new ones.

The issue here is that there was no notification. Most of us heard about the original separation of Phonak and Costco here. Not from Costco. Or Phonak for that matter. No I don’t care about the cost of purchasing the filters or domes or anything else. However, my original KS4s were covered right up to the time I purchased my KS9s. So a pretty significant time frame. And when I saw my Costco fitter this past summer, there was no indication that there would be a fee coming for the parts. My problem was that Costco was unwilling to sell the item to me. They could have called a different store to find out what the selling price was – we are talking about an area where there are 7 Costco stores within easy driving distance. How hard would it have been for them to pick up the phone? I am glad you are happy with your Phillips 9040. My issue is I prefer the technology that for now is ONLY available on Phonak hearing aids, so Costco can no longer be in the picture. I will still gladly recommend them to people needing , but unfortunately they will no longer work for me. By the way, I had absolutely no issue with paying for the CeruShield unit. Just in case you thought I was trying to get it for free

I’m glad that you have discovered that Phonak will forever meet your needs. That may be similar to my always wanting only Apple products. And I agree that Costco should have communicated their policies in dropping Phonak. But I personally expect to always consider other hearing aid brands whenever I need them because I know that all brands are constantly developing new technologies to compete. Another discussion here had informed conjectures about whether Oticon technology was shared by Philips. To me the more important issue is whether either of those brands (Oticon or Philips) is better for me than Jabra or Rexton because these brands are owned by among the largest hearing aid companies in the world. With their tremendous resources, they will constantly try to beat competitors by discovering and delivering new ways to better serve patients. Right now, I expect to always consider whatever Costco sells that will best meet my needs, and that, in the future, may not be with current brand offerings or models.

That’s the way I feel. I had Phonak in the KS9 and KS10 and liked them. The 9040 is so much better than the KS10 for my particular hearing loss that it isn’t even funny. I continue to be shocked at how much better and more natural-sounding my hearing is, YMMV.

Technology is changing so rapidly that brand loyalty is not factor w/me.

Edited

In reply to @mmcarr719

@mmcarr719 said:

when I saw my Costco fitter this past summer, there was no indication that there would be a fee coming for the parts. My problem was that Costco was unwilling to sell the item to me. … My issue is I prefer the technology that for now is ONLY available on Phonak hearing aids, so Costco can no longer be in the picture.

I am very surprised that you had this issue. The purchaser has no control over what hearings aids the seller carries after the purchase! This certainly has not been my experience, as I have KS9s and have received continuing excellent service of them, right up to the present, from two Costco Hearing Centers, including both cleaning of the aids and replacement of external parts like domes and receivers, and the presenter on The Hearing Club on Youtube, whom I believe is a Costco fitter, recently wrote:
“… you don’t need to buy new hearing aids every 2-3 years. You can use yours long as you can if you want. Perks of Costco is you get retested every 2 years and they can update your current hearing aids to your new and make adjustments so they sound clear and good again.”
See Comments below video

I think there is a difference between dropping off your hearing aids at the center and getting the changed for free as opposed to asking for an amount of wax guards and domes and taking them home for free.

If you stop at a Costco, chances are you are going to buy something. If you grab a handful, then you don’t need to stop at Costco for months.

The Costco personal stated they didn’t have a price, so buying them was out of the question at the time. I suspect that Costco isn’t going add them to their list of products they sell. So if one wants to buy a bunch of them, they will have find a seller outside of Costco. So perhaps this a downside to buying your hearing aids at Costco if you live far away.

We know that one person had their old hearing aids updated for free a few weeks ago. So that service appears to not have changed.

Edited

So

@user990 said:

I think there is a difference between dropping off your hearing aids at the center and getting the wax guards changed for free as opposed to asking for an amount of wax guards and domes and taking them home for free.

Exactly! But to spite Costco for this momentary omission (my guess being that the manager was merely struggling to figure out what Costco’s policy was going to be before he/she knew) he’s going to punish them by upping his game to pay $6000-10,000 to an audiologist even if next year’s models at Costco duplicate Phonak’s combo Bluetooth solution?

Phonak Launches The First Real Bluetooth Hearing Aid1

The Phonak Marvel is the first hearing aid to allow stereo streaming from any Bluetooth-enabled audio device. Android, iPhone, MacOS, and Windows supported!

Forgive me if I’m failing to appreciate the momentousness of the described deprivation, but during the long Pandemic, I bought such incidentals for my KS9s online from Amazon and eBay and didn’t give a thought to missing the “free” ones at Costco.

In reply to @mmcarr719

@mmcarr719 said:

My issue is I prefer the technology that for now is ONLY available on Phonak hearing aids, so Costco can no longer be in the picture.

My hunch is that in a year or two, another major co. will duplicate Sonova’s SWORD technology and it will be more widely available, including at Costco. If they don’t, I can always switch from Android to iPhone to stick with then good Costco choices - no big deal when and if my newly reprogrammed and adjusted KS9s need to be replaced. For now, I am enjoying Phonak technology at Costco prices. And I have had no problem receiving cleaning, and external parts replacements.

Edited

Phonak hearing aids connect to Android phones for phone calls and streaming, as well as connecting to any bluetooth device, such as tablets, laptops, TVs, all without any intermediate device. No other brand does that.

In reply to @NateS

Just followed up this link. I deeply love my Phonaks, but this text just makes it sound like they invented the wheel. Streaming stereo output to TWO earpieces? Well, any Chinese four-dollar pair of earbuds can do that brilliantly, so why was that so hard to implement in ? High power consumption? Just make your rechargeable batteries double the size, so they will support heavy streaming during a full day’s use- plenty of unused real estate behind my ears. Finally, why not adopted the latest version- version 5 came out two years before the Marvel series was released, but even the latest Phonak models are still 4.2. Looks like the company spends too much money on marketing, and too little on R&D.

@RobHooft said:

Streaming stereo output to TWO earpieces? Well, any Chinese four-dollar pair of earbuds can do that brilliantly, so why was that so hard to implement in HAs?

But an ear bud doesn’t also have to act as a hearing aid with potential high power gain when is bad. Along with other features!

Yes, I understand also need to amplify the stream with an equalizer function- I just don’t see the technological miracle there as compared to the audio processing of live audio that (all) HAs do, which is indeed far more complex.

In reply to @NateS

I had an audiologist that would dispense domes/waxguards 2 or 4 at a time. I fired them. I had made many trips to a bad part of town where parking was a nightmare. Along the way I had bought boxes of domes from ebay.
Dave

In reply to @Don

“Phonak hearing aids connect to Android phones for phone calls and streaming, as well as connecting to any bluetooth device, such as tablets, laptops, TVs, all without any intermediate device. No other brand does that.”

I just went to CostCo and was looking at for my wife. Phillips says they do in their brochure.

I like my KS10, hopefully they keep on working. CostCo cleaned for free and gave me domes and .

In reply to @RobHooft

@RobHooft said:

Streaming stereo output to TWO earpieces? Well, any Chinese four-dollar pair of earbuds can do that brilliantly, so why was that so hard to implement in HAs?

Link us to any $4 earbud that is bluetooth and has pass through.

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