Faulty Firmware on Mares Icon HD

[njdivebuddy]

In May I purchased the Icon. It came with Beta software for Dive Logging. I installed it and tried to connect to my Icon on my laptop. It did not recognize it and it appeared to be a driver problem. I contacted the dealer and the said I would have to send it back to them and they would send it back to Mares for repair. I contacted Mares and expressed my concern with the amount of time it was going to take in conjunction with how much I spent and Scott agreed that I shouldn't have to wait. He made arrangements to ship it to him directly. I did ship it overnight and insured it for $1300 which cost me just shy of $48. He found that it was a firmware problem and he could not get it fixed in a reasonable amount of time so he got the approval to just send me a whole new unit. I was happy with this and received my new Icon in time for my next dive. I have contacted him and others that I could locate e-mail addresses for on the website about the cost that I incurred. I have given them almost 2 weeks to respond and so far nothing. It is like my e-mails go into oblivion. I have even offered that they could just credit me toward the air integration if that ever comes to fruition. I'm really unhappy with the customer service experience. I would like to think if you spend this kind of money on a product that they would spend some of it on staff that answer questions. Any feedback with suggestions on how to best rectify this would be great.

 

[njdivebuddy]

If anyone needs the e-mail addresses to Mares I can give them to you. They only take a week and a half to contact you back. Then they respond with offers to correct the situation. They offer what you're not asking for. I'll take the free stuff but answer my questions. Sounds like they need a Customer Service department.

 

[Liquivision]

First of all whenever you make a warranty claim, it is your responsibility to cover the cost of shipping the product back to the factory. For example on my HDTV, I was told that in the case of a problem I would have to ship the HUGE TV back to the factory at my expense, which could cost me hundreds of dollars. So I'd say there is no real way to get back your shipping expense. If the warranty explicitly states that the company will pay for your shipping costs, that's a different story, but I have never heard of such a warranty.

Secondly, and more worrisome, is the description of the problem. If there is a bug in the firmware in the Icon HD, who says that a new unit will be any different? Maybe all the units have the software/firmware bug, in which case a new unit would not fix anything. Sounds like what you really need(ed) is a software/firmware upgrade which fixes the software bug.


Eric Fattah
Liquivision Products

 

[njdivebuddy]

It was a version problem. The version on the unit was too old to accept the driver updates without flashing the whole thing and starting over. It was quicker to send me a new unit with a current Firmware version.
In regards to the warranty service; I have never had to send something brand new back at my expense when it is a problem that came with the product. If it was a scratch or something else that I caused and the manufacturer warrantied even though it was not there fault but was still covered because they said it should not happen, then yes, I would bear that cost. But this was an internal problem not caused by any outside, or environmental interaction. If your new car required some type of correction with it's computer (we'll call it a recall) and they would need to keep your car overnight or longer they would supply you with a loaner. If they don't you go to another dealer. This is the type of warranty problem that I had. On a positive note, the new unit works great and connects to my PC as described. The dive log on the PC is very user friendly and full of helpful information. I still keep a paper log, but this digital log helps to fill in some of the blanks.

 

[njdivebuddy]

Also, I was not asking for a direct refund or reimbursement of the shipping cost. Just a consideration of a credit towards what they have been promising to be coming soon. The AI. By giving me a credit they are ensured to get more of my business. I know that Scott was doing me a favor by allowing me to ship it directly to him rather than the DS, all to give me faster service. My intent is not to bash the company for the problem with the computer. It actually functions exactly the way they said now that I have the new one. This is the only avenue that I have found that truely gets a response from Mares, since they don't have a real structured customer service department.

 

[tardmaster]

njd-

go to the manufacturers forum on here for mares. ALL OF THIS HAS BEEN POSTED ON ADNAUSEUM. Mares has a rep on here. His name is Zak. He is very helpfull.

 

[njdivebuddy]

Thanks NTA,
I'm new to this board and that was the kind of help I was hoping for.