Leisure Pro warranty policy...

[Leisure Pro Brett]

Both LP and Scuba have sucky websites, so shopping either one is tedious.

markrovner,
Your comment about our website struck me a bit since I get many compliments on our site and not too many criticisms. I am interested in an example of a website that is better, no need for it to be a scuba site, just something that is better. I will be sure to show it to our web master and see what we can do to improve our shopping experience, any input you can give us will be greatly appreciated.

Brett is a real nice guy. I'm glad he fixed this for you. Maybe one day he'll be able to arrange it so that these problems don't hapen at all.

This said, it is a sign that they are trying! You have to give them that!

Hats off to Brett!

CODMAN,
We are trying very hard to get our customers taken care of, but as with anything that involves people, mistakes are made. The best thing we can do is to learn from our mistakes and take care of our customers when they happen. We are trying, and thanks for the compliments.

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

I have worked in the mfg industry and dealt with the large retail guys. Yes they toss it in the dumpter, but they also take a credit on their invoice and if you want to keep shipping to them, you accept the credit that they take. In addition all of the big guys take a certain percentage off the top of your invoice for expected returns. When you play with the big boys, you play by their rules---they are doing you a favor by selling your product and they aren't going to get the short end of the stick.

LP isn't eating anything except a very nice lunch and dinner--no one is eating LP's lunch or dinner

 

[Thalassamania]

Go for a uwatec battery replacement and you'll see it will run you quite a bit of money. Think otherwise if you want but, you'll see

Last time I did one it cost me less than $30.00

 

[Thalassamania]

Lesirepro lies a lot.

Sounds like it could be libel to me. Be interesting to find out who the liar actualy is.

 

[Gombessa]

Geez, this thread is a mess. I just hope everything turned out OK for all parties.

An interesting question that I didn't see answered: it seems LP's policy is to "mimic" the manufacturer's policy. That doesn't necessarily mean LP is obligated to mimic the manufacturer's actions. Sometimes, the warranty language is "to repair or replace at the manufacturer's discretion." Usually, the manufacturer reserves the right to determine whether a claim qualifies for warranty coverage. As such, just because ScubaPro may be giving "free upgrades" to every customer who experience problems with a certain computer (I've been hearing about this Tec2 upgrade thing happening as well), that doesn't necessarily mean LP is obligated to take the same action that SP has decided to take. The real question here is by what standard LP exercises its policy-matching practice. IMO the "charge $100 to pay the difference for an upgrade" would fall completely out of the language of the hypothetical clauses above, and because of that I think LP should have only offered that as an *option* to the customer, as an alternative to repairing or replacing with the same model.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Gombassa,

LP may well have intended to offer the upgrade as an option and either did not explain it correctly or the OP did not understand it. I know the guys on the phone at LP have a NY style economy of words. Everyone seems anxious to shoot down LP based on 1/2 the story, this probably is true with some LDS horror stories too. The bottom line is once a communication channel was opened with LP, they did the right thing. Having it broadcast all over the internet adds pressure to them (and also give them free publicity when it was quickly resolved), but the simple fact is a high profile company like LP is simply not going to screw their customer for long and stay on top. They are on top (at least in volume), there are reasons for this.

 

[markrovner]

markrovner,
Your comment about our website struck me a bit since I get many compliments on our site and not too many criticisms. I am interested in an example of a website that is better, no need for it to be a scuba site, just something that is better. I will be sure to show it to our web master and see what we can do to improve our shopping experience, any input you can give us will be greatly appreciated.

Brett,

I do web strategy for a living (for non-profits) so i tend to be a harsh critic. And just to note, I have spent oodles of money on your site, so it hasn't stopped me from being a steady customer.

My perceptions of the LP site is that it is slow and hard to navigate. Once I get to the page with an item, most of the info i want to see (e.g. more description) is one more click on a tab. With both you and Scuba.com, the search engine is very unlikely to find what i want. Here's an example: I bought a Seaquest ProQDi3 (which i love) from you and now i want a knife that fits the Seaquest grommets. I assume that means deep see. First I couldn't find that as a brand option among your knives, then none of the deep see knives indicate whether or not they will marry up to the BC. Scuba.com is no better.

This is just one example.

Who does it better? Scuba.com is better at including all pertinent info in one place, and very good at posting relevant accessories. But their search engine is way worse than yours. Your Paypal system actually works, and theirs seems not to. You are both excellent in terms of keeping your shipping commitments and emailing me.

Not to be boring, but if you are looking for ecommerce best practice, I'd look at Amazon.

I hope that's helpful!

 

[scubaskipper]

I must be really lucky. My local dive shop will meet any authorized dealer internet price. If something goes wrong, just bring it in and they take care of it. Anything I've sent into the manufacturer on my own seems to take forever to get back. I'd rather let the LDS get all the hassel of shipping, packing, tracking, etc... As far as the hundred for the up grade, if they don't make that model anymore, they can't give you the same in return. If they just gave you your money back, you would still have to pay 100 more to get a comparable unit. If the new model is exactly like the old model, I would feel like I was getting taken advantage of, SP trying to get around a recall of a faulty product or something.

 

[Randy43068]

Gombassa,

LP may well have intended to offer the upgrade as an option and either did not explain it correctly or the OP did not understand it. I know the guys on the phone at LP have a NY style economy of words. Everyone seems anxious to shoot down LP based on 1/2 the story, this probably is true with some LDS horror stories too. The bottom line is once a communication channel was opened with LP, they did the right thing. Having it broadcast all over the internet adds pressure to them (and also give them free publicity when it was quickly resolved), but the simple fact is a high profile company like LP is simply not going to screw their customer for long and stay on top. They are on top (at least in volume), there are reasons for this.

I've nothing but good experiences with Leisure Pro. I sent something back once, they sent a replacement right away. No, or few questions asked.

 

[Marek K]

So... if it isn't stated explicitly ("we'll replace with an equal or better model"), what does a normal manufacturer's warranty require or imply when a product -- still within warranty -- isn't available any more and can't be repaired?