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KS 9.0 hearing aids no longer repairable

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I went into Costco with my KS 9.0 last week, because I was having some intermittent issues- they told me they can do nothing about it- can’t send them away, can’t get parts for them, no support at all, even though I’ve only had them 3 years- I did a quick search, but didn’t find anything exactly on this topic- has anyone else experienced this? I’m ready to switch to a new HA provider if they really just dropped support half way through the expected life span! I assume it has something to do with cutting ties with whatever company was actually making them as I saw no KS branded aids on display anymore…They would only schedule an appt, no details- I am 2 hours away and don’t want to go for an appt if they just want to sell me new aids, but I’m curious if they will are likely to give me any sort of a deal because of this problem? Going somewhere else will be less driving, but likely more money…I just hate dealing with this all over again- I was hoping to get at least another 2 years!

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I’m sorry to read about your troubles. It does seem that Sonova and Costco departed company on less than good terms.

If your warranty through Costco was 3 years and you paid by credit card, then perhaps your credit card would cover you for an extra year. Bit of a long shot, but something to look in to, especially if the credit card writes you check for the unrepairable hearing aid.

I don’t see Costco doing much for you after the warranty period. Fortunately, you paid Costco prices for the hearing aids and not three to four times that amount at another shop.

So even though Costco isn’t going to do much for you, you would still come out ahead buying another pair of hearing aids at Costco.

Another option is to see if an outside repair shop can repair them.

That seems weird. I recently had my KS9.0 sent back under warranty without issue. I got the impression that repairs after warranty might be a little more expensive but still doable. If you did purchase with Costco Visa, that would give you an extended warranty that reimburses your cost. IF Costco absolutely can’t send them back to Phonak, you could try an independent hearing aid repair place (Lloyd’s Hearing aids is a possibility)

Since the KS9 was made by Phonak and I believe is identical to the Phonak Marvel, it shoukd most definitely be repairable. I also believe that US law requires that manufacturers stock parts on any equipment which they manufacture fir 7 years after the equipment is discontinued. I believe that the KS 9 was discontinued less than 3 years ago, so you should be able to expect that repairs are available.

Unfortunately, I’m in Canada, so I’m not sure if we have the same sort of laws about support- I should look into that!
In the past, I’ve paid for my off-warranty to be sent away several times (previous pair that I bought at Costco) and was happy with the results as it was only a few hundred to keep them going for 5-6 years…
I’m actually trying to figure out if this place is telling me the truth or not. I may try asking at another Costco, but, it’s a minimum 2 hour drive one way and the aid has been working quite well most days…just the odd day of staticky, crackly sounds.
The one receptionist lady really seems not to like me and has been quite rude in the past…unfortunately it was she who took my aid this time, but did confer with another employee before coming back to tell me they couldn’t fix it.
I haven’t priced out non Costco HA since 2010- I guess maybe I’ll check that out in the coming months.

I’ve never been to Costco
So I do not know how things work.
All I know is what I would do.
I would talk to the store manager. The guy who could firer anyone. Get him to find out from corporate what the policy is.

In reply to @Member82

@Member82 said:

t’s a minimum 2 hour drive one way and the aid has been working quite well most days…just the odd day of staticky, crackly sounds.

I have had my ks9 since they first arrived. My right one is doing the same sort of noise but seems to go away if I tap on it. Seems to maybe a loose connection? Maybe where the receiver plugs in? Any body have a better guess?

I too live 100 miles from costco so I can’t just drop in. But in the US.
Thanks

@Member82 said:

can’t send them away, can’t get parts for them, no support at all, even though I’ve only had them 3 years

I can tell you for a fact that this is patently untrue. They should have parts on hand, and they 100% can send them in to the manufacturer for an out of warranty repair that will cost roughly $200 per hearing aid.

I have KS8s, made by Rexton. Costco charges $135 to send aids back to the manufacturer for repair after the 3 year warranty has expired. I was told Rexton will not service aids after 5 years from date of purchase. My five years was up in March.
The Costco tech recommended Philips and offered a two week trial period. I’m going in onThursday to get the Philips aids.

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