never again a computer from Scubapro/uwatec

[mikedig30]

I was a big fan of Uwatec dive computer until they where bought by scubapro, forget the life-long warranty. Here is the story:
I bought an Aladin dive computer from Uwatec when it was still independent. I mailed it in twice to change the batteries and paid only shipping and handling. Now Scubapro bought Uwatec and now the charge me 150$ for a battery change, just 15$ less than i paid for it new.
They did not tell me upfront that they changed their polcies. You also have no choice but to send it in since you can't get the batteries and it voids all warranties if you try to do it yourself. So I called Scubapro 12 times. The person who could solve the problem is always" out to lunch" no matter what time you call, you are asked to leave your number and they promise to call you back, of course that never happens. I am an Instructor who for years recommended Uwatec dive computer. NOT ANYMORE, Stay away from Uwatec, no more service and they rip you off if you need a battery change. I now recommend Suunto.

Michael Schulz
mikedig30 at hotmail

 

[oly5050user]

really cannot blame scubapro.the computer was not purchased from them and they are not required to honor uwatec battery change policy.would be nice if they did but they are not required to.if you need someone to blame, blame uwatec for not staying in business and when they were sold to scubapro not requiring them to honor replacement policy.

 

[docbonezz]

NO. When you buy a company you should be responsible for its warranties. Scubapro has always been like this though. I used to own a lot of Scubapro equipment but not any more, thanks to eBay. I now own Aqualung and Suunto equipment. The Cobra computers have user replacible batteries and it is easy to do. I even change the batteries myself on my D9. But if you send it in it is only $55 to have the factory service centers do it.

 

[Rick Inman]

Should have bought it from Leisure Pro.

 

[HelenOster]

Should have bought it from Leisure Pro.

 

[ScubaSteve]

They did not tell me upfront that they changed their polcies.

You mean they did not consult with you before changing their policies? Of course they did not. Why would they? Does Chrysler consult with me before they change a design? Nope. Did you blindly mail the computer in to them without talking to them first? Is this normal. Then what happened? At any point did you think to check with the "new owner" since they had been purchased?

You also have no choice but to send it in since you can't get the batteries and it voids all warranties if you try to do it yourself.

Does this thing eat batteries every month? I have had my computer for 6 years, 350 or so dives and have changed the battery ONLY because I believed it should be changed (the indicated showed 4 out of 5 bars left though). Most manufacturers will also have a 1-2 year warranty. How long was yours? Decades?

So I called Scubapro 12 times. The person who could solve the problem is always" out to lunch" no matter what time you call, you are asked to leave your number and they promise to call you back, of course that never happens.

No matter who or where this is absolutely unacceptable (but not surprising today).

I am an Instructor who for years recommended Uwatec dive computer.

I would rather my instructor NOT recommend specific manufacturers rather than discuss the merits of the different equipment styles. Then I can ask questions and try things to see what I like the best. But perhaps that is just me.

I now recommend Suunto.

I like my Cobra.

 

[Web Monkey]

I was a big fan of Uwatec dive computer until they where bought by scubapro, forget the life-long warranty. Here is the story:
I bought an Aladin dive computer from Uwatec when it was still independent. I mailed it in twice to change the batteries and paid only shipping and handling. Now Scubapro bought Uwatec and now the charge me 150$ for a battery change, just 15$ less than i paid for it new.

That was before my time. When was Uwatec independent?

Terry

 

[drbill]

I just downloaded my Tec 2G for the first time in a month (not diving as much these days). I needed the data in it to fill in a dive where the battery on my Nitek Duo went out. According to the 2G I was diving in water as warm as 80+ F! That's about 10 F higher than the Dive Rite had... and this is SoCal! Interesting.

I had serious problems with my old Uwatec Aladin Pro Nitrox, but Scubapro did a good job of working with me.

 

[SteveAD]

Scubapro has owned Uwatec for over 10 years and you only now have an issue. And this is your very first post on scubaboard? Call the waaambulance.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Just a point of clarification. Johnson Worldwide Associates acquired Uwatec, not Scubapro.

Samuel Johnson of Johnson Wax fame started acquiring variosu sporting goods companies in the 1960's and 1970's and Scubapro was in this mix of companies. At that time they were bacialy independent conpanies that did their own thing and Johnson Wax was basically just a holding company.

Johnson spun off the sporting goods companies as their own separate entity in the mid 1980s and this company became Johnson Worldwide Associates. Over the next decade they expanded greatly into the eurpoean market and by the 1990's 70% of their sales were outside the US. (That is I suspect why Scuapro began to focus on CE standards to such a large degree, with a detrimental effect in performance on many of their second stages as they had to be detuned to meet CE freeflow standards, that were biased in favor of other less stellar performing models sold by eurpoean owned companies.)

During the same time JWA over extended itself and over expanded with the result that in the mid 1990's they restructured, sold off some compnaies and focused the company on a few core areas. A side effect of this change was that JWA became much more hands on in terms of getting invovled in the operational decisions of the companies within JWA. That is the point in time where I began to see significant changes in Scubapro and in particular a change to a marketing focus versus an engineering focus and to some extent soem cost savings efforts (plastic orifices, air barrels, etc)

In 1997 JWA bought Uwatec and since both Uwatec and Scubapro were now owned by JWA, JWA basically forced Scubapro to sell Uwatec computers rather than to choose computers on its own from Uwatec's competitors. A good deal for Uwatec, but not so hot for Scubapro. I really liked the computers Subapro sold before the became a sibling of Uwatec under JWA's banner and I personally got screwed when my computer and eventually the support for it evaporated when Scubapro had to switch to Uwatec.

From the other perspective, Uwatec computers, under JWA, ended up being sold under the same JWA / Scubapro warranty and pricing policies, so the battery charge became an issue if owners could not demonstrate they were the original owner and bought the computer from an authorized Scubapro dealer. So in a sense, everyone lost in the transition.

But lets put this in perspective. If you bought an Aladin computer prior to Uwatec being acquired by JWA, you bought it at least 13 years ago and it is frankly a 13 year old computer - how long to you expect Uwatec to keep replacing your batteries for free on a computer made before Uwatec was even acquired by JWA? Also, Uwatec is in many cases moving to user replaceable batteries so it is becoming a moot issue.

And Scubpro really has nothing to do with your computer battery cost problem. They are just owned by JWA just like Uwatec, and while Scubapro dealers sell Uwatec computers, Uwatec is still its own separate company and is not "owned" or controlled by Scubapro.