Horrible Customer Service Experience

[mathauck0814]

Interesting opportunity for a competing manufacturer to "invest" and steal a customer. Though I notice Halcyon and/or Dive Rite (others) aren't stepping up to give this guy a wing and earn his business forever.

Probably because their gear would succumb to the same fate on account of the OP's behavior not changing and their names getting dragged around needlessly online.

My wife dives a DSS setup (with the original bladder, shell, et al for well over 200 dives) and is very happy with it. Tobin makes himself available to discuss products on the phone and answers questions honestly - in some cases even talking you out of spending money on things that he doesn't feel you need. I don't believe his credibility can be called into question given the number of experiences many in this community have had with him and his products.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Though I notice Halcyon and/or Dive Rite (others) aren't stepping up to give this guy a wing and earn his business forever.

I have no issue with either the OP or DSS/Tobin but you are taking a HUGE leap of faith here. If I were a competing manufacturer I would be very leary and hesitant to "give anything away". Nobody knows if the OP has caused the problem. He believes he did not but then why would anybody else risk their profitability and reputation for such a small item?

 

[mathauck0814]

I have no issue with either the OP or DSS/Tobin but you are taking a HUGE leap of faith here. If I were a competing manufacturer I would be very leary and hesitant to "give anything away". Nobody knows if the OP has caused the problem. He believes he did not but then why would anybody else risk their profitability and reputation for such a small item?

That was exactly my point. Though I was calling bullocks on the OP's contention that he did nothing wrong. IF this were a simple customer service issue - it would be an easy thing to capitalize on from a competitive perspective. The fact that none of the competition has stepped up to realize that opportunity tells me (as a marketing and PR consultant in my "real" life) that even the competition doesn't buy this guys story.

 

[Wookie]

5 pages of response. The OP thinks he was treated poorly. Tobin thinks that he has been more than fair. We seem to have a difference of opinion, and there isn't any more story here.

If someone had a lousy dive boat experience on another boat and I gave them a free trip to make up for it, we'd sure have lots of lousy dive boat experiences, wouldn't we.

I'd love to see Patrick's response has this been an Oxychek issue.

Tobin makes a great product. My next wing will be a DSS. I think we can safely assume that the OP will not be buying any more DSS wings. Maybe I'll make up for the lost business.

 

[Moonglow]

Well Frank, we won't really know Patrick's likely response until one of his bladders fail.

 

[mathauck0814]

If someone had a lousy dive boat experience on another boat and I gave them a free trip to make up for it, we'd sure have lots of lousy dive boat experiences, wouldn't we.

Clearly you can't comp everything for everyone. But picking high profile complaints with lots of visibility is a strategy employed by a lot of businesses. Once the volume of high profile complaints with lots of visibility tips the scale into the realm of being ineffective, organizations use different methods.

I've certainly had boats (and airlines and hotels and other businesses) provide me with compensatory services when I was dissatisfied. When that happens and their second chance resulted in my being impressed with the service I've been effusively supportive of those brands. These things can be effective if done right with the right opportunity.

My guess is that this particular customer didn't represent that opportunity.

 

[Wookie]

You are correct, but this is scuba diving. Although ScubaBoard is the number 1 scuba related forum, it still reaches far less than even a single percentage of divers, and of Tobin's customers. Maybe less than that, as Tobin's customers tend to be more tech related than recreational, and the real way Tobin gets his customers is word of mouth.

I"m not dismissing the OP's concerns, I also didn't interpret the OP owning 6 wings quite the same way Tobin did. I have 6 wings also. No one dives them but me, I don't lend them out, and I didn't see that the OP did either. I have the dual bladder doubles wing, the single bladder recreational wing, the wing from another manufacturer for evaluation, the single bladder doubles wing, etc. etc. In any case, I have gotten pinch creases and holes exactly the way Tobin described. I solved the problem by never removing by BPW from the tank.

I think that a lot of readers take these kind of complaints with a grain of salt. That makes the complaint and the method of distributing it perhaps less effective than other possible methods. I don't see this as a high profile complaint worthy of another manufacturer stepping in to offer free product. YMMV.

Again, the OP feels that the bladder was somehow defective, Tobin doesn't think so. I think a $50 replacement bladder offer is fair, and I hope Patrick offers me the same courtesy if mine does indeed break. It does seem a little odd that the OP has 6 of these or similar wings, and only one of 2 identical wings have given him problems, and it's only his wing that is the one with the problems.

 

[Scott]

I have to wonder how much effort the OP gave to resolving this privately over the phone or via email before jumping into the lions den. Dirty laundry aired in public always shows the poop stains.

 

[mike_s]

I think a $50 replacement bladder offer is fair, and I hope Patrick offers me the same courtesy if mine does indeed break.

wait a second..


all this whining is over a $50 replacement bladder after the OP dropped his plate and "pinched it" ?



reading back that $50 includes installation (labor) and testing?


I'm not trying to take sides here.... but if I did that with my wing and plate, I'd be especially happy that I didn't get charged $200 plus.

 

[ScubaSteve]

The OP's stance is that he did nothing to "pinch it".

wait a second..


all this whining is over a $50 replacement bladder after the OP dropped his plate and "pinched it" ?



reading back that $50 includes installation (labor) and testing?


I'm not trying to take sides here.... but if I did that with my wing and plate, I'd be especially happy that I didn't get charged $200 plus.