Siemens, Starkey, and Phonak are the top manufacturer's in the world. Never get a Beltone, Miracle Ear, or Audibel hearing aid. These are franchise dealers with only one brand (Beltone and Miracle Ear make junk aids) and Audibel only has Audibel (a rebranded Starkey). The Costco loving hearing aid salesmen, on these blogs are a joke. Costco is nothing. Costco is not a hearing aid manufacturer. Costco is not an audiologist. Costco does not manufacturer hearing aid performance verification tools. Costco can not help anyone hear better. Costco is nothing but a sign, a storefront, a chain of retail outlets that share central management. If these salesmen understood the vast diversity of hearing impairment, hearing aid technologies, prescriptive fitting rationales, hearing aid verification techniques, maximum aided benefit potential, electroacoustic variables etc... they wouldn't be going on and on about virtues of Costco. Costco is irrelevant to a strategic, science based, hearing aid fitting. That's all they know, so that's all they can talk about. These "experts" aren't even legally allowed to do a diagnostic/comprehensive hearing test. They can't charge for a hearing test or bill your insurance for a hearing test because they don't even know what a diagnostic hearing test consist of let alone how to perform one. They can't legally even remove a small piece of wax from your ear. These salesmen shouldn't be allowed to work in healthcare. They're frauds. They don't even seem to recognize it... as the saying goes, "ignorance is bliss." C-O-S-T-C-O!!! C-O-S-T-C-O!!! Rah! Rah! Rah! What's that spell? Actually nothing. These guys should be reading textbooks with their time not blogging about things they don't understand. If your only options are Beltone or Phonak, the Phonak is a far superior instrument. Unfortunately, it will only sound as good as the person who programs it, and, like these guys, there are a lot of frauds out there. Good luck. You have a 20% chance of being responsibly/accurately fit with a hearing aid in this country.
