Fantasea housing trouble - buyer beware

[JackConnick]

We've taken responsibility for Bill's dissatisfaction by offering a full refund less shipping. His was a very unusual situation. A long lens like that is not that well-suited for UW, IMHO. No guarantees were made when he bought it. He was offered a refund right after he bought it.

I now have a chart with the measurements I need to see if lenses will fit. But a long zoom can have vignetting issues, etc. We can't really test them all. Primes are much sharper and usually faster lenses that fit ports better.

We were misled by our supplier about the dome port, not Bill's fault and we accepted that it should be made right. There were delays caused by customs that wasn't anyone's fault but led to further understandable frustrations.

But the whole issue boiled down to Bill demanding a full refund and shipping back a badly damaged port. For which we are not responsible.

He's made all kinds of accusations that this was bad quality, or I sent him damaged goods (it was a new unit, fresh from the factory) or whatever. Set out to bash us in public forums, when all I was doing was sending him part of his refund.

Here's a photo. The housing was well-packed with the port cover on, there was no way it was caused by shipping. It is not a design flaw.

He will have deducted dealer cost for another port and the discounted shipping he paid. How is that unfair?

We sell hundreds of housings every year. We can't keep them in stock. This is the only return I've had in a year. I know as much or more about their products as anyone. I dive them and shoot with them, and am testing new products.

Here's a Link to some shots.

We stand behind them with a 2 year warranty and 1 year flood insurance on the camera body. Nobody else does this.

Jack

 

[padiscubapro]

A long lens like that is not that well-suited for UW, IMHO. Jack

Jack,

with the right domed port this lens works wonderfly.. I use it with an ikelite housing and domed port.. Much better pictures than the kit lens.. no problems with the full range of the lens (although I almost always shoot it at full wide)..


Next up is the 8' domed port and the 7-14 lens.. The pics I have seen with this lens are stunning...

 

[JackConnick]

Our new version of the housing will support all our ports including a zoom dome port. In fact, I have one system sold to a user with the 14-55 lens, we'll see how she does.

But sorry, I'm old school, I like primes better. I have a Sigma 17-70 macro that I'll be putting in a dome and trying out on my D80, maybe I'll change my mind. I have shot it in a flat port to some ok results, but nothing like what I can get with my Nikon 60mm macro, both in macro or normal ranges. It's just as easy to move in or out than zoom. I think you loose a lot of magnification for close up shooting with a dome port.

 

[Warren_L]

The fact that this is a negative does not negate its validity. Too often posts like mine are relegated to the old "I hate LeisurePro so don't buy from them" status. I have a legitimate reason for posting a serious flaw in a transaction that may well happen to you.

Yoda, I don't think anyone is discounting the validity of what you're saying. Merely pointing out it can be difficult to find any positives in all this.

 

[SeaYoda]

Yoda, I don't think anyone is discounting the validity of what you're saying. Merely pointing out it can be difficult to find any positives in all this.

My point too .

 

[SeaYoda]

It's interesting that this comes back to a difference in opinion of what my beef is. The scratch is just icing on a very ugly cake. There has been an immediate assignment of blame to me - no possible way that it could have been damaged like the first housing I got. If I am responsible (which may be the case because it was in my hands last) then I will make things right. To immediately jump against me and make this the important issue is not good customer service. This totally misses the issues that I have. That is part of my problem with the transaction.

The real meat of the matter lies in other issues. I disagree with much more import things in the transaction. At best customer service was "we told him" "he did this to himself" "he wants the world", would anyone like to be treated like that? I disagree that I'm responsible (as stated in this thread) for buying a product that I was told would not work from the beginning (I would have to be on a suicide mission or a total loony). I disagree that the burden of shipping should be on my shoulders if the company made the mistake of selling me something that was misrepresented (how be it unintentional). I disagree that there should be a restocking fee for a product that has to be redesigned to do what it originally stated it would do. I think these issues are the ones that I'd most like to have rectified. These are the issues that would affect future buyers. Most people won't have a scratched port to deal with.

Because this transaction kept moving in a negative direction, I invoked my right to have my credit card company decide what rights I have. If it turns out that Fantasea has all the rights they claim, so be it. I would not go down this road again without being the wiser for my money. I just don't believe it to be the right business model to do these things to someone who gave a company's untested product a good try.

 

[frankc420]

The way I have read this post makes me believe Bill is simply saying, the customer service for this product sucks. Also, inspect your products when you receive them for damage.

That port could have easily been damaged at the factory before the cap was put on, not even the retailer would have noticed it because, it had a cap on it.

IMO, whether there's a scratch on it or not, he should get a full refund. Why? Because the customer is always right... at least that's how it's supposed to be. He said he doesn't remember being in a situation that would cause a scratch, so why not believe him? If your relationship with the manufacturer was better, you could simply tell them it was scratched and they would most likely replace it.

To me, both the manu and retailer should do the right thing and just refund his money. Learn from the transaction and put failsafes in place to make sure it doesn't happen again. If your going to sell over the net, inspect the items before sending them out and put a sticker or something on the box showing it was inspected. Without this, it's your word against the customers, and that's just bad for business.

If there's even a half ***** decent warranty on the housing, it should cover the replacement of the port and all should be good from there.

Just my .02!

 

[RonFrank]

IMO, whether there's a scratch on it or not, he should get a full refund. Why? Because the customer is always right... at least that's how it's supposed to be. He said he doesn't remember being in a situation that would cause a scratch, so why not believe him?

If you have worked in retail, or really any customer facing business, the idea of the customer is ALWAYS right is suicide. My experience is that customers can be total idiots, greedy, and have expectations that go well beyond what they would do for their mothers much less a stranger that wanders into a shop off the street!

If your going to sell over the net, inspect the items before sending them out and put a sticker or something on the box showing it was inspected. Without this, it's your word against the customers, and that's just bad for business.

How do you know that they DON'T inspect the products before shipping them? It is ALWAYS your word against the customer, and while that maybe bad for business, see my first comment!

If there's even a half ***** decent warranty on the housing, it should cover the replacement of the port and all should be good from there.

Just my .02!

Few Warranty's cover damage to an item from misuse. If you drop a new box of china on the floor how is that a manufacture defect?

I'm not taking sides, or suggesting I know everything that occurred during this transaction, but if the public has a general expectation that they can just do what ever they want, and the manufacture and retailer are going to eat a loss... well I don't think the general public believes that.

I can see both sides of this story. The major issue here is really that the product did not work as it should, and had to be redesigned to function properly. THAT is a problem with the manufacture, and that should be handled without the customer taking a financial hit.

 

[RonFrank]

I have shot it in a flat port to some ok results, but nothing like what I can get with my Nikon 60mm macro, both in macro or normal ranges. It's just as easy to move in or out than zoom. I think you loose a lot of magnification for close up shooting with a dome port.

fftopic:

Go back to school! There was a time when primes and dinosaurs ruled the earth... I am also from that time, but with the extinction of the dinosaur, one evolves.

It's not only not just as easy to move in and out vs. zoom, it's often impossible, and you may not have the flash to light the subject if you move back 10 feet. Regardless of what age you are from, a 20mm lens is a very different amimal vs. a 60mm macro.

The Sigma will NOT replace the 60mm macro. What it will do is allow for W/A to normal photography with SOME macro capability. In a dome, the 17-70mm can do good~excellent macro work to 1:2.3, and if you follow SB at all you have seen such results as there are a number of users that have posted macro work from the 17-70mm in a dome.

 

[SeaYoda]

...I can see both sides of this story. The major issue here is really that the product did not work as it should, and had to be redesigned to function properly. THAT is a problem with the manufacture, and that should be handled without the customer taking a financial hit.

I knew you were smart .

The choice of lenses was mine from before this transaction began. The personal preference of a retailer is not an issue here, whether the product supported my lens as I presented my needs is the issue (plus who should be financially responsible if the product could never have supported what was requested). If we can stay on target, I believe everyone will come out happy in the end.