Bare/Divetank Customer Service

[sharkster]

I'm considering the Bare HD Tech Trilam suit as an alternative to the costly DUI TLS350. The question I had was about after-purchase service - I have heard that Bare is not so great, and since I'm in the US and they are in Canada my suit will spend a week sitting in customs each way if I ever send it in for service. Also they only offer a 2 year warranty (not sure if this extends to seals) whereas DUI has 7, with 1 on the seals.
However Divetank seems to offer a warranty over and above Bare's, and also they have warehouses in the US that I believe are authorized sevice depots.
So does anyone have any experience, good or bad, with getting a Bare suit serviced, either through Bare directly or through Divetank? Is the latter always an option? Hopefully the HD Tech suit will hold up pretty well (I hear it's tough, no leaky seams or anything) but you never know.

 

[cap_bert]

I have had nothing but good luck with divetank. They do whatever they can to help. I bought a 7 mil SGS suit from them, and the glideskin on the legs fused together. I sent it back, bare looked at it, and covered it under the warrantee. they gave me a brand new 7mil arctic suit because the sgs is out of production. It did take about 3 weeks round trip which was sort of a downer, but tollerable. Bottom line is that it was good experience. Divetank had also offered to give me a "less-than-cost" discount if bare didn't cover the suit. I thought that was nice thing to do as well. I hope this helps.

 

[cmt489]

While I am very happy with my Bare custom drysuit and have not had to have it serviced yet, I was very upset with how long it took them to make it. Granted, it was a production line change but, IMO, taking almost a year from date of order to production is too long (plus they lost the measurements so we had to start over again!). Hopefully this will not be the case for you. Are you thinking of going custom or off the rack?

 

[sharkster]

While I am very happy with my Bare custom drysuit and have not had to have it serviced yet, I was very upset with how long it took them to make it. Granted, it was a production line change but, IMO, taking almost a year from date of order to production is too long (plus they lost the measurements so we had to start over again!). Hopefully this will not be the case for you. Are you thinking of going custom or off the rack?

I've also heard bad things about Bare's turnaround time which makes me leery about getting one of their suits. I've heard that DUI is great about it though, so I'm weighing whether the price premium is justified. Will going through Divetank mitigate this, since they will be able to service the suit themselves? Or do I have to go through Bare directly for some things?
I'll probably fit into a medium just fine with a boot change, but going to a custom cut with Bare is so cheap I think I'll go for it - unless it takes a year to make!!!

 

[scubatoys]

We have a ton of Bare Drysuits heading toward us, and since we're there largest US dealer, they have assured me that customs suits - top to bottom will ship in 3 weeks at the outside... Minor changes, like ring cuffs, add a pocket to a stock suit, 5 days.

Haven't had the oppertunity to test them yet, but they've been very good about all my other shipping of product, so I see no reason to doubt them on this.

 

[sharkster]

We have a ton of Bare Drysuits heading toward us, and since we're there largest US dealer, they have assured me that customs suits - top to bottom will ship in 3 weeks at the outside... Minor changes, like ring cuffs, add a pocket to a stock suit, 5 days.

Haven't had the oppertunity to test them yet, but they've been very good about all my other shipping of product, so I see no reason to doubt them on this.

Cool! You know I've always wanted to come to your shop, and I'll probably be in DFW the weekend of the 11th for the DUI rally. Maybe I'll pop over and pick you brains about a Bare suit, hopefully you'll have some HD Tech Trilams by then that I can check out. It might be hoping too much that you've got a stock medium with size 12 boot riding in with that order

 

[cmt489]

We have a ton of Bare Drysuits heading toward us, and since we're there largest US dealer, they have assured me that customs suits - top to bottom will ship in 3 weeks at the outside... Minor changes, like ring cuffs, add a pocket to a stock suit, 5 days.

Haven't had the oppertunity to test them yet, but they've been very good about all my other shipping of product, so I see no reason to doubt them on this.

To be fair, they were changing their whole production line and did advise in the beginning that the suit would take longer than normal but 10 months, IMO, was ridiculous. They also refused to give any discounts even after the extensive delay. To make matters worse, I think my LDS is the largest distributor of their suits and we are located in Vancouver, where, I believe, they are too!!!

I sincerely hope they do keep their promise to you for both your sake and your customers' sake. Quite frankly, I wasn't impressed with Bare's customer service on this one but my LDS was great! They even came to my house to remeasure instead of making me come in when Bare lost my measurements.

On a side note, though, I am very happy with my suit!

 

[ae3753]

Recently ordered a DUI CLX450 from DiveTank. There was pattern change for stock sizes, but we were unaware of it. As the result, the stock suit we ordered ended up being too large.

DiveTank has been great about working through the problem. Their customer service and attitude is very positive. I'd order from them again.

-Don

 

[PAdiver93]

I'm considering the Bare HD Tech Trilam suit as an alternative to the costly DUI TLS350. The question I had was about after-purchase service - I have heard that Bare is not so great, and since I'm in the US and they are in Canada my suit will spend a week sitting in customs each way if I ever send it in for service. Also they only offer a 2 year warranty (not sure if this extends to seals) whereas DUI has 7, with 1 on the seals.
However Divetank seems to offer a warranty over and above Bare's, and also they have warehouses in the US that I believe are authorized sevice depots.
So does anyone have any experience, good or bad, with getting a Bare suit serviced, either through Bare directly or through Divetank? Is the latter always an option? Hopefully the HD Tech suit will hold up pretty well (I hear it's tough, no leaky seams or anything) but you never know.

Ordered a wetsuit from them and my buddy did the same, also boots, gloves, will order a new vest... Love them - great prices and very easy to deal with (biggest compliant - shiiping takes kinda long.... or am I simply impatient (8-10 days)).

 

[spectrum]

In my experience Divetank has been excellent.

However if they do not have the item on hand and it's coming from Bare beware. Bare's commitments were not always met. My experience has been with wetsuits FWIW.

Pete