Costco or Sam's Club?

Sam Club and Costco are great for toilet paper. I would not recommend either warehouse hearing aid dispenser because they only sell hearing aids with locked software. Would you buy a new car that can only be serviced by one dealer in town. Hearing aids are high maintenance items. I don’t want to wait in line like I do at their tire department to have my hearing aids adjusted or repaired. Always buy hearing aids with open software platforms.

Well, Kathyjoe is right to a point. It seems most clinics only wish to service aids they sell. Getting them to service an aid they didn’t sell can be frustrating and costly. Every Costco outlet will service their aids for life. Their aids are medium high end aids with good features and they provide a selection from all but two (Starkey and Widex) of the major manufacturers. Costco gives best bang for the buck.

I just ordered the KS6 from Costco. So far I am happy with the service I have received. Each time I have wanted an appointment I have gotten in within a week. The tests they administer are comprehensive and they let you demo the aids. They really took the time to help me make a decision.

@chickenmama said:

I have the option to do either Costco or Sam’s Club for my hearing test and HA purchase. What is recommended? Experiences? This is a first for me…

Hello chickenmama: If you have the option at both location I would take advantage of a “second” opinion and have my hearing tested at both location. particularly if this would be the first time you have a hearing test. After both results are available consider your options for selecting the HA that may benefit you base on the most severe results of the test.
Like everything in science dealing with heath issues- Nothing is 100% perfect.
In early 2001 when I was diagnosed by my urologist that I had prostate cancer. I was then reviewed by three different laboratories for the severity in the Gleason Scale.(Gleason Scale was at that time the standard use in the medical profession to determine the severity / advance of the cancer.
The range is from 1 to 10 with 10 being the most “aggressive”. One lab called it a “6” a second lab called it a “7” and the third lab called it an “8”. Needles to say when I went for treatment with the Radiation Oncologist we decided to take the worse case scenario - the 8 - and proceeded to treat it on that basis. I am glad I did since I have survived over 13 years with no return of the cancer.
Note: The three labs involved where from top medical institutions: Kaiser Permanente - Stanford Hospital - and the VA.
The more information you can find about your hearing the better prepare you will be to make a wise decision. Good Luck.

@kathyjoe said:

I would not recommend either warehouse hearing aid dispenser because they only sell hearing aids with locked software. Would you buy a new car that can only be serviced by one dealer in town.

In my experience all the audiologists/hearing centers sell certain brands of HAs, and every HA maker except America Hears provides the software & hardware to support those brands ONLY to audiologists/hearing centers who sell their products. So, as I see it, all HAs except America Hears have “locked software.” The HAs sold by Sam’s Club are are from America Hears, so presumably can be programmed with software & hardware available to the consumer from America Hears.

IOW, I think your post is a bit misleading.

Ed

The Consumer Reports survey put Costco as #1 in hearing aid retailers at a score of 89. Sam’s Club came in 4th with a score of 81. Costco ranked higher than Sam’s Club in Options, Selection, Answering Questions, Training, Price Transparency, and Price Plan Options.

Firstly, there’s absolutely no reason why software should be of concern to you in regards to hearing aids. The specialist or audiologist is in charge of the software, the consumer should be more concerned about hardware.

Furthermore, private practices are more notoriously known for not wanting to work on hearing aids which were bought through a different practice. The Costcos and Sam’s Clubs contractually offer service for the life of the hearing aids as long as you go into a costco or sam’s for it. There’s hundreds of different locations in the country to receive such service.

Lastly, Costco and Sam’s both let you schedule appointments for exams and servicing. I don’t understand why you believe you’d have to wait in line like you would at the tire department. You call and make an appointment, just like any other doctors office. I’ve waited MUCH longer at my private practice audiologist AFTER scheduling an appointment to have service done, which I still had to pay a co-pay for.

FWIIW: You are replying to a 5.5 year old post.