Excellent service by Aqualung. Not

[BoltSnap]

It is the dealer who sold him the products issue not AL Canada issue. AL isn't denying him warranty completely, it is just saying it isn't covered in Canada since it was bought from a dealer in a different territory, he has to go to that territory to get warranty service. Same thing for buying cars, if I buy a Ford from a US dealer and I ship the car to a country in Europe or the Middle East, I won't get any warranty service in Europe or Middle East at all. I am in Libya now and if I buy a Toyota from a local dealer, I get full warranty but if I buy a Toyota from Dubai because it is cheaper and have it shipped to me in Libya, no warranty or support from the local dealers in Libya at all. People do it all the time but they know about this part and take their chances.

At any rate, I don't think that the HP seat is expensive enough to make it a big deal.

 

[runsongas]

I would assume if I bought a product from a dealer the manufacturer recommended that I could get it serviced by a place that services the product anywhere in the world. Isn't that supposed to be one of the benefits of going with a big name like Aqualung or Scubapro? I've certainly seen people recommend brands for that particular reason on SB hundreds of times. Maybe they were all wrong.

There is a difference between paying for service vs getting it fixed for free by the manufacturer

 

[runsongas]

So if you go overseas and have a problem with your reg you cannot get it repaired if it's a warranty issue, but you can buy a new one that you will have no warranty on once you get home. Great plan, great CS!

No, you just choose to pay the local shop to fix it or rent some regs for the rest of your trip. If it is a warranty issue, you have to take it back to your LDS when you get home.

 

[runsongas]

According to the original poster, the seller in question IS listed on the aqualung website as an authorized dealer. So either she's lying or Aqualung is in the wrong. So far, they haven't shown up to say the former, so I believe the latter.

We still don't know which shop for sure the reg was originally bought from. If the shop is actually Canadian, then why the hell is the reg from europe?

 

[diver0008]

I would assume if I bought a product from a dealer the manufacturer recommended that I could get it serviced by a place that services the product anywhere in the world.

I think that the issue here is warranty repairs. RA (return authorization) numbers and the subsequent billing procedures are usually very tightly controlled. Dealers and distributors cannot take chances with them.

"Hey, I bought this on-line. Can you send it to Aqualung for me, or just fix it and send them the bill?"

It just ain't that easy.

 

[gcarter]

I am in Canada and have many AquaLung products. I purchased them all in Canada either from an LDS or from a Canadian on-line retailer. I have had truly exceptional, fast, and hassle-free service from AquaLung Canada for parts and service, far beyond my expectations.

I would not expect that if I went south or overseas to bypass the established chain of distribution (grey market). The regional networks, and authorization of dealers exists for a reason.Without it, anyone could buy and sell anything anywhere. No manufacturer could manage that chaos. By circumventing the manufacturer's authorized system of distribution to save a few bucks you relinquish your right to the excellent service a registered product bought through an authorized dealer includes.

But I have been in business for a long time, and understand the rules.

In the OP's case here, the true culprit is the vendor who sold outside of his region, cheating his fellow dealers in other regions out of their entitlled share. The OP is certainly a victim, not of Aqualung, but of an unscrupulous vendor. A hard lesson to learn, and one not to forget.

I would hope that the vender gets taught a lesson too.

Lets be clear: it is actually quite easy to "manage that chaos". These rules / stipulations have nothing to do with that, and all to do with a manufacturer enforcing a) regional pricing and b) sales territories.

 

[gcarter]

I would assume if I bought a product from a dealer the manufacturer recommended that I could get it serviced by a place that services the product anywhere in the world. Isn't that supposed to be one of the benefits of going with a big name like Aqualung or Scubapro? I've certainly seen people recommend brands for that particular reason on SB hundreds of times. Maybe they were all wrong.

Service, when preceded by the word warranty, does not have the same meaning as service on its own.

A major difference is who pays. That goes a long way to determining what you can get where.

 

[Shotmaster]

I manufactured products and provided a limited lifetime warranty on them to the original purchaser. As long as the purchaser had a written sales receipt from any of my distributors, the warranty was honored, where that person resided had no bearing whatsoever. If they retuned it with an rma, it was replaced with a new item. I manufactured body armor and military equipment. Our quality control was so tight that we never had an issue with any armor product and only average 1 returned sewn nylon product per year. And this is for equipment used in a combat environment. I think what Aqua Lung is doing is Bull Crap and very short sighted. The old saying goes "a happy customer will tell three people, a mad customer will tell hundreds!" I had an Army Captain return a rucksack with some webbing that the stitching had ripped out for about 7", upon inspection it was determined that it took several thousand pounds of force to pull the stitching. I sent him a brand new one, my staff said it wasn't fair wear and tear, I said ship it! I received a nice letter thanking us for replacing it, saying that he wasn't asking for a warranty as the rucksack was damaged while it was fully packed with equipment and strapped to the side of a HMMV when they had side swapped a telephone pole while on patrol in Afghanistan. He wanted us to repair it, and was very pleased when he got a new one instead. Point is, don't be short sighted, customers are the ones who pay the bills after all.

 

[Sevenrider860]

Went to AL website, went to "Find a Dealer", put in my zipcode, got a list of dealers. There is no indication whether that dealer is authorized to sell online or not.

This needs a fix I think.

I did the same thing. I agree that there was no indication that a dealer was authorized to sell online or not, but the list of dealers returned to me did not include any dealer from Europe.

 

[Sevenrider860]

Aqualung's own website says the store is an authorized retailer.

In that Country/Region. I changed my location to Canada and searched for authorized dealers. I was not presented with any authorized dealer in Europe.

From the "Register a Product" page:


Nothing there about circumventing authorized system of distribution or whether or not the purchase was made online. If I find the product cheaper in Estonia, and buy it from an authorized dealer, I should expect that warranty is valid, no?

I think AL should update their site. They need a fix.

I don't believe the dealer locator allows you to search by name. It has you enter a zip/post code. I entered mine and I was never returned a dealer in Europe.

Using your example for Estonia, I found the authorized Aqualung distributor for Estonia...Ursuk Oy.

You can order an Apeks DST online from Ursuk Oy online. The warranty terms they communicate are below. You notice they do not say to take the product into your local dive shop to make a warranty claim. So It is very clear what I should do with a faulty DST that I order from them. I contact Customer Service at Ursuk Oy and they will handle the warranty.

Products sold at the Web Shop have a general warranty of 12 months against production or material faults, if not otherwise stated on the product page in the Web Shop. The receipt/delivery note should be kept during the warranty period.

In case you find that an item delivered by us to you is defective you should contact Customer Service at info@ursuit.com or by calling +358 (0)20 779 8850 as soon as possible to issue a formal complaint. This will speed up the handling of the claim and you will get more detailed instructions on how to proceed with the matter.