Price aside, Oticon got high marks for sound clarity (as did Costco’s discontinued Kirkland brand), while the other brands we rated received average scores.Īll but one brand received high marks for ease of changing or charging their battery (the exception was Lucid, which received an average score), and all received average to high marks for reliability and visibility to others. Our ratings of individual hearing aid retailers include, in alphabetical order, Audibel, Beltone, Connect Hearing, Costco, HearingLife, HearUSA, Miracle-Ear, Sam’s Club, Starkey Store, and TruHearing. For those who qualify, then, the Veterans Administration is also a good option. Perhaps because of this, wholesale clubs were near the top of the chart for overall satisfaction based on retailer type, as rated by 24,483 members, topped only by the Veterans Administration. In fact, Costco is by far the most popular individual hearing aid retailer in our survey. (Though the company no longer sells its in-house Kirkland brand, it still sells hearing aids from other brands.) Costco, which topped the list in overall satisfaction, is the only retailer to receive top marks for price transparency and for the selection of price plan options. In our survey, more than half of the 24,483 members who reported on the type of retailer where they bought hearing aids said insurance covered none of their initial costs.Ĭostco also stands out as a retailer, according to the 9,407 CR members who rated individual retailers. (See our roundup of OTC hearing aid brands here.)Īs you probably already know if you’ve shopped for hearing aids, insurance for these devices is often spotty, and some insurers-including Medicare-offer no coverage at all. That also might drive some consumers to try out over-the-counter hearing aids instead, now that they are available. Value is an important factor to consider, because it is the strongest predictor of members’ overall satisfaction with their hearing aids.
Still, our survey revealed a few good alternatives: Phillips and Rexton also received high marks for value, but all other brands got average to low scores. That’s unfortunate for consumers, since Costco’s Kirkland brand was the only brand to receive top marks from members for value, which we defined as satisfaction with a hearing aid’s performance vs. As it has in previous surveys, Costco’s in-house brand of hearing aids, Kirkland, landed at the top of the ratings, with an Overall Satisfaction score of 78 (out of 100), followed closely by the Phillips, Oticon, and Phonak brands, all at 75.Ĭostco discontinued sales of Kirkland brand hearing aids after the survey was fielded, and these aren’t available to consumers any longer. More than 6 in 10 members said they were completely or very satisfied with their hearing aids.īut the survey reveals some differences from brand to brand.
0 kommentar(er)
