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Costco selling returned hearing aids as new?

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I bought hearing aids and picked them up from Costco today. When I got home I played around with the Phillips app on my phone. Some other woman’s name came up when I connected them besides my own showing up. Does this mean Costco resold these returned aids to me? How do I find out. For $1500.00 I do not want used goods.

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Yeah not a good look, most likely demo models they have for people to try in the warehouse, they forgot to remove the bluetooth pairing, did the Costco Audiologist fit new receivers in front of you?

The app will not connect two hearing aids that do not have the same user name at the same time, that is not a “pair” of hearing aids.

Need to ask Costco. Re sold does not necessary mean re used. I suspect they were set up for somebody who decided not to buy them.

In reply to @Louie

@Louie said:

That’s definitely resold. There is no other way any other clients name would appear in the device.

For a demo around the warehouse they need to be programmed, so it’s not necessarily “resold” but still that’s not acceptable regardless.

@raylock1 said:

I suspect they were set up for somebody who decided not to buy them.

Yeah that could well be it, not a good look tho.

@Gail_G said:

This is really bothering me.

You have every right to return for an exchange for “new” these would usually come sealed from the “factory” so there’s no reason for them not to set your up in front of you for peace of mind.

The sale of a demonstration aid(s) under the guise of a new device is arguably even worse. And you would think if they were set up according to your they should have your name in the Bluetooth ID, and not someone else’s. Can you even be sure they were calibrated to your file/hearing loss?

@Louie said:

Can you even be sure they were calibrated to your file/hearing loss?

Yikes! that would pretty obvious if they were set up for someone else to most, this is why it’s always good to have your fitting report printed or emailed, actually I wonder if the “other women” has got the OP’s set.

@Louie said:

The sale of a demonstration aid(s) under the guise of a new device is arguably even wors

I’ve had 9040s on loan from Costco. They had ‘loaner’ clearly marked on them. They may have set them up for someone who never collected them. Are you saying that when you looked for devices to pair, one of the aids came up as something like “Gail’s hearing aid” and the other came up as someone else’s hearing aid? That would have made things difficult with the app?

In reply to @d_Wooluf

It came up with right ear Gail and showed both right and left ears as Kim. The hearing aid specialist is somewhat aggressive so I’m reluctant to point this out on my one week’s appointment. I’m not very happy with them so far. She insisted on giving me and my voice sounds like I am in a tunnel. She said I would get used to it but I won’t. Also my hearing is the same as with my old aids. No big improvement . I may return them and get a pair in a sealed box as suggested by another poster.

Return them and when they ask why, tell them. If the intimidates you, is there another in the store you can make an appointment with? Another store close enough to go to?

In reply to @Gail_G

If you’re so uncomfortable with the hearing aid specialist that you can’t even bring this up, I’d advise seeing somebody else. Any medical relationship relies on trust and openness.

In reply to @tenkan

@tenkan said:

I wonder if the “other women” has got the OP’s set.

That was my guess as well. Seems likely to be a human error screw up. From all other accounts Costco isn’t stingy with aids, which matches my experience. Receiver wire broke on my 2.5 yr old KS10s. Left them for full checkup mentioning shortened battery life. Marked the old ones. 10 days later entirely new set. Same serial and programmed same as when the originals were first programmed as opposed to using my programming on the originals. Very happy with Costco.

What does OP mean? I go back at the end of next week. I feel the aggressive HAS might give me trouble about it. Her attitude is that she knows better about my needs. I’ve worn aids for over 30 years so I’m not a rookie . Also the programming is off. It’s very loud out of the charger. I have to turn them down every day. Everything sounds like I am in a tunnel. Hopefully this can all be cleared up and i can get a pair that haven’t been used and will be programmed properly.

In reply to @Gail_G

Looks like you’ve received set pre-programmed for someone else.

It’s wrong on two accounts:

1, They shouldn’t be setting them up without you there as the Feedback manager needs them to be on your ears.

  1. It’s caused exactly this kind of mix-up. Having multiple sets of live hearing aids on your desk gives rise to not knowing which is being connected during programming sessions.

I’d not be too harsh on them about this, it’s an error, probably well beyond ‘having a bad day’ but certainly unintentional. Take them back and point it out: ask if you can see someone else there if it’s affected your confidence in their ability.

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