I'm getting to the point that I know that I need them, but living in smalltown USA, my choices suck!!

My Dad was ripped off big time by the one audiologist we have here, and complained about it constantly, even though he was a plumbing customer of ours.

Along comes Eargo, and I am interested. But the researching more and more makes me doubt them. $2500 is a good chunk of change for me, and I don't want to F up.

So here I am, asking the hive for their wisdom. Thank You!!

I had a colleague get theirs through Costco and he got squared away by them real fine. Obviously, it all depends on your initial evaluation, but check out Costco as one of the options.

Closest Costco is 3hrs, away.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
Closest Costco is 3hrs, away.

Might be worth the drive.

I got mine at Costco and the service is terrific. I had "fit" issues with my first pair, and they adjusted them a number of times. At the end of six months, when I was still not satisfied, they took them back and gave me a different pair at no add'l cost.

Granted, they are only 20 mins from my house, but I don't think you'd get that kind of service from most places.

The collective wisdom here on this topic has long been go to Costco. Best hardware. Best price. My own personal experience with Costco hearing aids is as a son helping parents. They take care of clients well.

We tried Costco, and even chose the one that had the audiologist with the best reputation in our area, but my Dad still can't hear. Perhaps his hearing is that bad, perhaps the aids are a bad fit, but he was definitely not willing to put in the necessary time with multiple visits to optimize the results. He hates feeling like he is putting someone else out or taking advantage of something even when he isn't. Don't be like that, this is a trial and error thing based on what I've seen, and Costco is good about that part.

The three hour drive is a consideration.

But here are my numbers to help you decide whether it's worth the drive. I went to a private hearing doctor. (You can tell this is a big business as they are all willing to give you free hearing tests.) They tested me, said I can use the help as my mid and high were like 40 decibels while normal hearing is 20 decibels range.

They gave me a pair of demo units. It was close close to the top of the line or the top of the mid price range. It was $2600 for each ear.

I went to costco, and their costco brand which is pretty decent and the prices have historically gone down (it's like their hot dog), is $1600 for BOTH ears. The one comparable to the demo pair I got was $2400 for BOTH ears at Costco.

As for visits, I got the hearing aids, got fitted for it. The woman scheduled a follow-up in two weeks. Then six months after. On the second visit, she asked if I wanted a third and I said no. There wasn't anything wrong. I just asked her to add another profile on the smart phone app for me which she did.

Costco also provides the replacement ear pieces for free and filters. So you can give them your situation and they'll give you more to tide you over. You have to buy the batteries which is pretty cheap at costco.

Another feature (don't know if it applies only to my set) is that if I lose it within 2 years, the company will replace it. Of course, the phone app shows you where you last left it but the woman says sometimes dogs eat them or they just get lost. It also has 3 year warranty.

One important part of fitting that not all places do, is what they call real time listening. The basic test is for you to click a button when you hear something through the earphones. Based on this, they adjust the boost for the different ranges.

Real time listening is after they set the hearing aids, you put them on, then they stick a mini microphone into your ear so that they can actually measure the sound that your ear is getting with the hearing aids. My Costco did that, I can't imagine this isn't uniform in all Costcos.

Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
The three hour drive is a consideration.

But here are my numbers to help you decide whether it's worth the drive. I went to a private hearing doctor. (You can tell this is a big business as they are all willing to give you free hearing tests.) They tested me, said I can use the help as my mid and high were like 40 decibels while normal hearing is 20 decibels range.

They gave me a pair of demo units. It was close close to the top of the line or the top of the mid price range. It was $2600 for each ear.

I went to costco, and their costco brand which is pretty decent and the prices have historically gone down (it's like their hot dog), is $1600 for BOTH ears. The one comparable to the demo pair I got was $2400 for BOTH ears at Costco.

As for visits, I got the hearing aids, got fitted for it. The woman scheduled a follow-up in two weeks. Then six months after. On the second visit, she asked if I wanted a third and I said no. There wasn't anything wrong. I just asked her to add another profile on the smart phone app for me which she did.

Costco also provides the replacement ear pieces for free and filters. So you can give them your situation and they'll give you more to tide you over. You have to buy the batteries which is pretty cheap at costco.

Another feature (don't know if it applies only to my set) is that if I lose it within 2 years, the company will replace it. Of course, the phone app shows you where you last left it but the woman says sometimes dogs eat them or they just get lost. It also has 3 year warranty.

One important part of fitting that not all places do, is what they call real time listening. The basic test is for you to click a button when you hear something through the earphones. Based on this, they adjust the boost for the different ranges.

Real time listening is after they set the hearing aids, you put them on, then they stick a mini microphone into your ear so that they can actually measure the sound that your ear is getting with the hearing aids. My Costco did that, I can't imagine this isn't uniform in all Costcos.

Good luck.

^ I second this.
I just got my Kirkland 8.0 from Costco a few weeks ago.
I'm still in the learning process since I never had hearing aids.
Private audiologists wanted $5000 to $7000 for a pair of hearing aids.
I do have insurance that will pay $2000 a pair every 3 years.
Through my research online and starting a thread on my Tundra forum, I went to Costco.
For my situation, my hearing loss is 4k and up, the $1600 Kirklands worked just a good as the $7000 independent audiologist suggestion.
Also I have an app on my iPhone that I can change volume, change programs, check battery levels, etc. with my iPhone.

Another thing about Costco, the give you a 180 day money back guarantee.
Or you can try a different hearing aid if you like.

You need to get tested for your hearing loss.
I hear just about everything, my loss is upper frequencies that effect patterns of speech no matter who is talking to me.
I hear birds chirping, sirens, train horns in the distance, but a restaurant or crowded room background noise kills me on a one on one conversation.
Talking to my wife was me saying 'what' several times a day.
I could hear her talking, but I couldn't decipher what she was saying 100%.
These Kirklands have helped with that.

So that stated about needing a test, an Eargo, or any other in the canal aid, wouldn't help me.
It would actually hinder my hearing.
The Kirkland has an open dome in my ear canal that lets sound in, but it amplifies the frequencies I'm lacking.
Even after 2 weeks, i can tell the difference of not having them on.

I researched buying online, but the aids still need to be programmed and fitted.
So I'm going to give these Kirklands a month or so before I file my insurance for reimbursement.
They're more expensive aid is the Forte, but the Costco audiologist says the Kirlands are more advanced and have a better phone app.


I understand it is a long drive to Costco, but I'd call them and make a hearing test appointment.
The are also open Saturday and Sunday.
I took their test (it matched my private audiologist test perfectly), ordered and paid for their Kirkland 8.0, picked them up 2 weeks later.
I have another checkup 3 weeks after I picked them up.
After that, I don't need to go back unless there is an issue.

Google search Kirkland Signature 8.0 and see what you can find on them.
Here is one review....

Kirkland Signature 8.0

My Dr Audiologist told me my hearing loss is one of her most difficult. Up to about 1000cycles my hearing is perfect. Then it drops like a rock to 90db and never recovers more than 45db above that. Because my best hearing and my worst hearing are so very very close together in cycles, even my 7000$ devices do not do wonders.

I did see Costco prior and they honestly said I need a real audio doc.

I am lucky Costco, Cabelas, Home Depot and Jerry's (more a local grown than Home Depot) are all minutes away.

Another Costco fan here. My first pair of hearing aids from an audiologist were around $4,000 for the pair. They lasted about six years.

I tried Costco. Purchased the Kirkland hearing aids (made by Resound) and paid around $1,900 for the pair. These have an app for my iPhone to adjust sound, three presets for different situations and bluetooth. That said, I don't use the built-in gizmos often, just put them on and call it good.

Three hours is quite a ride, but it may be worth it.

Waiting for my appointment for fitting of my new Costco aids. My local store is 3 weeks out, yeah they are selling that many.

My insurance policy has a hearing aid benefit, but my copay is 1500. per ear. And that's for the entry level instruments.

Your quote of 2500 bucks is pretty cheap in the grand scale of things.

I would take the ride to Costco.

Bob

Add me to the satisfied Costco customer list

For my first set of hearing aids I went to the Cleveland Clinic. I wanted to go a known place and get evaluated. On purpose I purchased a set of top line hearing aids. The hearing aid cost $6 k +. The Whole experience went well. I had noticed that many people who had hearing aids did not wear them all the time. I wanted start off the best i could.

Moving forward 3 years one of the aids had an issue. I had heard of Costco and decided to give them a try. This was 2.5 years ago. Very good experience. I purchased KS6 hearing aids for $1700. For me they have been just as good as the high $ aids from CC.

This has been my experience. Like many things in life you will have to adjust. At times the noise in Resturant’s and other places will be chaotic but you will learn to filter it out.

quote:

Originally posted by rbert0005:
Waiting for my appointment for fitting of my new Costco aids. My local store is 3 weeks out, yeah they are selling that many.

My insurance policy has a hearing aid benefit, but my copay is 1500. per ear. And that's for the entry level instruments.

Your quote of 2500 bucks is pretty cheap in the grand scale of things.

I would take the ride to Costco.

Bob

Did you go with the Kirland 8.0?
I couldn't decide between those than the Resound Forte.
I figured I'd try the Kirland first, since they were cheaper and if I wasn't happy try the Forte.
I tired both at my intial testing, but both the Costco audiologists I worked with really pushed the Kirklands.
Good thing I have 180 days to decide..

To everyone else;
I went one doctors office, an ENT, a few years ago and talked with their audiologist after testing.
We discussed hearing aids ranging from $3300 to $6000 PER EAR.
She stated I was so borderline on needing them or not so I held it off.

The local Hearing Aid Express, where I went a couple months ago, is where they recommended ReSound LiNX 3D that range from $4000 to $7000 a pair.
They love it that my insurance pays up to $2000, but I'd still be $2000 to $5000 out of pocket.

Costco, on the other hand, doesn't file insurance, so they never pushed that into the discussion of what to get.
Though my research the Kirland Signature 8.0 are Rexton brand hearing aids manufactured by Sivantos, the same company that produces Signia hearing aids
I also found that the Costco Resound Forte ($2400) is the same thing as the ReSound LiNX 3D 9 ($7000), without the tinnitus management feature and another adjustment.
Even though I have tinnitus, it mainly bothers me at night and my ceiling fan helps mask it.
I don't need a masking mode in my hearing aids for it.

I go back next Sunday for a recheck.
I've been making notes of this and that to discuss with the Costco audiologist.
People think you buy hearing aids and them you hear perfectly immediately.
That isn't the case for me at all.
It is truly a learning process to retrain your brain to hear things better than without the aids.

For those of you who wear hearing aids, do you also have tinnitus? I do 24/7 plus serious hearing loss. I know aids won't help with the tinns but will they still help with hearing loss

quote:

Originally posted by swani:
For those of you who wear hearing aids, do you also have tinnitus? I do 24/7 plus serious hearing loss. I know aids won't help with the tinns but will they still help with hearing loss

Yes, I have tinnitus 24/7 also. The hearing aids (Costco) definitely improve my hearing, especially high frequency. In fact, I believe the tinnitus is slightly less when I'm wearing the aids... not much, but some.

quote:

Originally posted by swani:
For those of you who wear hearing aids, do you also have tinnitus? I do 24/7 plus serious hearing loss. I know aids won't help with the tinns but will they still help with hearing loss

I have tinnitus as well. I also have hearing aids through Costco. I have the ReSound Forte's The app does not have the Tinnitus management feature built in, but there is a separate ReSound App called Relief that works with them and can help train your brain to ignore it.

I just wish Costco did kid's hearing aids.. Two partially-deaf daughter's ears cost me a fortune.

my mom is deaf as hell and will not admit it. I wish to hell I could get her to a Dr and get her some damn hearing aids. Its frustrating to talk to her anymore.

"What?"
"Going to the store"
"Whos making smores?"
"No mom, going to the store."
"Say that again?"
"IM GOING TO THE STORE"
"Why are you getting upset?"
"BECAUSE YOU CANT FUCKING HEAR!"
"What?"
"YOU CANT FUCKING HEAR!!!!!!!!"
"I don't want a beer..."
"FORGET IT, BYE MOM!"

I use Hearsource. Home-programmable so no audiologist involved, other than getting a diagnosis (required, I think, by Federal regulations before buying any hearing aid).

My dad had hearing troubles and though he got really nice (and pricey) aids, he could never get them programmed to work for him. When they did work (at the audiologist's office) they wouldn't work at home, at the movies or in restaurants.

So when it was my turn, I wanted something I could control, and program and tune myself. This is not a step for a technophobe - audiologists know their trade and there are a lot of features/controls/options to tweak, with a learning curve.

But, hey, if I get it wrong I just change it. Beasties connect to the computer via a USB box ("Emintech") they provide, and tweaks to the settings are done on your PC by their program (not sure if they have a Mac option - I'm on Win7)

When I got mine it was $995 per aid and they came with the home-programming stuff automatically. Looks like now their prices have dropped and you buy the home-programming stuff (Emintech & software) separately. Lower net cost. Anyway, here's a link.

It does take some tech-savvy and a willingness (in my case) to learn by doing. These have tiny buttons you can switch between four modes...so when I want to see what effect a setting might have, I leave one baseline mode in a known-good setting, and use the other three to experiment. I cycle through all four, and see what I like, wherever I want to test - in my office, at the movies, in the restaurant, etc.

Not for everyone, but they are less expensive than some and give you more control than most, if that's of interest.

quote:

Originally posted by swani:
For those of you who wear hearing aids, do you also have tinnitus? I do 24/7 plus serious hearing loss. I know aids won't help with the tinns but will they still help with hearing loss

Yes I believe the hearing aids help in dealing with tinnitus. I also believe I have trained myself to ignore the tinnitus except when it is brought up. I'm hearing it now when it came to mind reading the post!