Bare Drysuit Repairs Problems

[Blackwood]

That's ridiculous, Scott.

I've been fighting a leak in the left wrist of my DUI for a few months now. I had Karim over at Hollywood Divers take a look at it. He pressure tested it, sent me photos of all the leaks, and patched it, all for 65 bucks.

Early 2010 he's taking the zipper repair course from DUI.

I'd recommend him for local repairs (though I know you aren't exactly local anymore).

 

[Redondoscubadude]

My suit will stay in LA area next repair time. A couple of people and Barry told me they had good results with Bare so hopefully this will have a happy ending and they will do right by me. I will post the results.

 

[Blackwood]

Barry doing it himself or just using his position as a dealer to push things through?

Either way, would be good to know. Good luck.

 

[Redondoscubadude]

Update: I did a test dive in the pool and found no leak in the zipper. After sending Bare pictures they called last week to request I send them my suit so they can replace the zipper. Hmm... yeah right.

 

[dave4868]

Update: I did a test dive in the pool and found no leak in the zipper. After sending Bare pictures they called last week to request I send them my suit so they can replace the zipper. Hmm... yeah right.

Are they still confusing your suit with the one with the leaking zipper with which it was switched?

Did they say they actually did a pressure test and found a leaky zipper on your suit?

You told them the zipper is fine, I assume.

Did you get charged for the pressure test? You might dispute that charge, too, since it may be questionable.

So, what's your opinion, poor record-keeping? Or something worse?

Dave C

 

[Redondoscubadude]

Dave- I think they switched the suits before testing based on the repair lady telling me "my" suit hadn't been made in years when she called to discuss the zipper issue.

I just heard back from Bare. They have agreed to only charge me for the neck seal and replace the zipper free of charge if I experience any leaks in the next week or so diving or just want a new zipper. I think this is fair and am glad we could reach an agreement since I like my Bare wetsuit and Drysuit and would like to continue being a satisfied customer.

 

[a22shady]

Sorry to hear you had a Rough start, But I am even more glad that you got it corrected and they stood behind there name as you would expect them to. I am sure it was not worth the aggrivation but atleast they Gave you the correct suit and your money back and now you have a credit for a free Zipper replacement on top of it. I Just purchased 2 Bare suit's last may one for myself and G/F and have had no problems with them all though all i did was call a few times, but they responded quikly and very couteous. I guess in the end I am happy to see them make right with the customer.

 

[MJW_diver]

I've recently tried to claim for leaky seams under BARE's Lifetime Warranty. Their response? "This suit is uneconomic to repair, we can offer 25% off a new suit"

It took them over 10 weeks to come back with that, and zero useful updates in the mean time.

I do not recommend buying BARE products. Used to, but no more.

 

[kablooey]

This is truly a Frankenstein thread, but I'm all in for keeping it alive.

I dived a Bare drysuit for about ten years (sorry, I forget the model).
I really put some miles on that suit, so I shouldn't complain.

My suit had the diagonal front zipper. There's a stress point just as the zipper arches over the shoulder, and unless you're aware of it and are very very gentle, you'll eventually cause the zipper to come apart at that point.

So, twice over the ten years I paid out around $400 each time to have the zipper replaced.

Finally the seams started to go.
I heard that Bare has/had a lifetime warranty on seams. I gave their customer service a call, and they'd never heard about any such warrenty, but they said they'd look into it and give me a call back. The next day they gave me a call and said "Surprise! Yes", that my suit was covered and I could send it in for free seam repairs
It was like I was the first one ever to ask for it.

Shortly after that I had an opportunity to get a keyman DUI, so I never sent in the Bare for the seam repair.
It was ready for the drysuit graveyard anyway.

I loved that old suit, and I really got a lot of dives out of it, but I wish I didn't have to pay $800 for new zippers.
But time fades the bad memories, and all I remember now are the great dives I made in that old Bare suit.

K