Piss Poor Customer Service from Aqualung/Sunto

[HowardE]

There is always one in every post. The fact is that there product flooded my dealer tried to handle the problem and Aqualung would not cooperate. I will have the dealer send it in even though they are saying they will do nothing because of what was said in another post. I have had issues with other dive companies on various things princeton tech no problem mako spearguns no problem ikelite no problem. Now aqualung and it just so happens to be the most exspensive piece of gear I have and no go. The least they could have done was offer to replace it at cost but to just say we won't do anything is very disheartning.

For all of the nay sayers I suggest you read my post on spearboard. There is a couple of people who have had problems with them. But there is also a guy who had something happen with an oceanic and they were over the top helpfull sounds like aqualung needs to take note.

Ok. Let me ask you this. Did YOU try to contact Aqua Lung directly? You don't even know if your dive shop even called them.

Instead of blaming Aqua Lung and Suunto for your issue which is clearly with your dive shop... Maybe contact their customer service department, and see what happens. Maybe ask Customer Service to find out if your shop EVEN CALLED?

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I took it to the ScubaPro Uwatec dealer - told them the truth, I screwed up, please repair. They told me they don't repair them, but would sell me a new one for half-price. Customer Service - AquaLung ought to learn it.

This is your dive shop's service, not Scuba Pro's customer service. Again... Why praise or blame the manufacturer for a decision that was clearly made by the retail outlet, and most likely never involved ScubaPro at all?

 

[Supermanwoot]

Yeah this sounds pretty bad on suunto's part.

im not sure what i would do except the good news is that if just one part of the computer/receiver combo is flooded and maybe you can send in the flooded part to have it repaired or replaced at a lower price than buying a new computer.

Personally i wouldnt replace my own battery, i just send it in for maintenance and have the manufacturer replace it to make my life easier.

Sent from my DROID PRO

 

[amnbowser]

Look I called sunto my self they would not give me return authorization. I was told that I would have to take it back where I got it from and they would have to return it. This is exactly what I did and then they were told that there was no need. They were told that they would not warrenty it and there was nothing that they could do about it. Now please explain how I haven't tried hard enough to fix this problem. There is nothing like having jack ass nay sayers who always try to derail a post or blame something like this on the customer. First rule of thumb in any customer service indutstry the customer is always right do what is takes to take care of them. Ecspecially when they spent 1000 of dollars on your products bought them from a liscensed dealer and have tried to use the proper paths to solve the problem. As for you nay sayers I would assume that you are the same people who blame the goverment for BP spilling millions of gallons of oil in to our ocean big buisness doesn't give a **** about the people only in profit. This is exactly what seems to be going on in this situation. I tried hard not to loose my temper but I had enough.

 

[redacted]

First rule of thumb in any customer service indutstry the customer is always right do what is takes to take care of them.

Did we change the subject??? I thought we were talking about Aqualung and their dealers.

It may well be the case that your dive shop is not being honest with you. I suggest you try calling Aqualung again and tell them what is going on. Explain to them that you know such failures have been covered for other customers and you don't understand why yours is not.

Truth is your LDS has no warranty obligation to you. Your warranty is provided by Aqualung and you need them to honor it or explain why it is being denied.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

And there are indeed times when the customer is not right. I was raised in the retail gorcery business. Is it the grocers fault when a customer leaves ice cream or meat in the car on a summer day. Some of the morons we had for customers thought it was. And when my grandfather told them he could not replace something they screwed up they bitched at him. Something is under warranty or it's not. There are terms for the warranty, break those terms and you are SOL. It is nice when a mfg will make things right but they are under no obligation to do so. Especially when it is user error and not a defect in the product.

 

[HowardE]

Look I called sunto my self they would not give me return authorization. I was told that I would have to take it back where I got it from and they would have to return it. This is exactly what I did and then they were told that there was no need. They were told that they would not warrenty it and there was nothing that they could do about it. Now please explain how I haven't tried hard enough to fix this problem. There is nothing like having jack ass nay sayers who always try to derail a post or blame something like this on the customer. First rule of thumb in any customer service indutstry the customer is always right do what is takes to take care of them. Ecspecially when they spent 1000 of dollars on your products bought them from a liscensed dealer and have tried to use the proper paths to solve the problem. As for you nay sayers I would assume that you are the same people who blame the goverment for BP spilling millions of gallons of oil in to our ocean big buisness doesn't give a **** about the people only in profit. This is exactly what seems to be going on in this situation. I tried hard not to loose my temper but I had enough.

Actually... The customer is always the customer. They may not always be right, and sometimes, you can't make them happy if they're hell bent against it. I owned a retail shop for 10 years, and if you had an idea how many times some jackass who broke something themselves, and brought it back to my store, claiming that forces of nature beyond their control broke the item and they have no idea why or how it happened, and that I am supposed to give them a new one for their troubles?

If you ask me. You probably voided the warranty, and now you're pissed off at yourself, and are taking it out on the manufacturer, since they aren't here to defend themselves. You are one person crying foul, in a very large pool of satisfied customers. What you're saying just doesn't add up. I am not a Suunto owner myself, so I don't know much about their warranties, or their service. But I can't imagine how their dealer can't get you a more complete or more straight answer from them. Truly, it sounds like your dealer is the one jerking you around. If you came into MY STORE, I'd be doing more for you than it sounds like your friends at your LDS are?

There are Suunto service centers in the United States you can call directly (that place in Chicago mentioned earlier in this thread). You can try going to ANOTHER Aqua Lung/Suunto dealer in your area, and see if they can get a straight answer on your product, or try calling Aqua Lung's Customer Service department, and ask for assistance.

 

[NCadiver]

HowardE you are right on target, It sounds like its been working for a while and somebody pull the rig up by the transmitter and broke the seal.

 

[redacted]

HowardE you are right on target, It sounds like its been working for a while and somebody pull the rig up by the transmitter and broke the seal.

So what would be the symptoms of such accidental damage that would not be covered under warranty in comparison to a failure induced flooding that would be covered under the warranty? That is, how does the manufacturer tell the difference to decide, as they have done in the past, to cover such damage under warranty? Can they be reliably differentiated?

 

[JS1scuba]

So I bought a sunto vyper air about a year ago. I bought it from an authorized retailer paid way to much for it. I started having problems with my transmitter it would work only about half the time. I ordered a new battery and when I opened up the case I found out that it was flooded. I took it back to the dealer and had them call sunto. I was told from Aqualung/Sunto that they would not replace it they didn't even offer to sell me another one at a reduced price. I can say that this is the worst customer service that I have ever recieved from a dive manufacture since I started diving. I will not make this mistake again ever. In fact I think I will sell my reg set.

Greetings,

I read this thread with interest and thought I would weigh in here. I am an Aqualung / Suunto Dealer. We sell a lot of Suunto computers as well as Cochran computers. My hands have been on dive computers for more than 20 years and have learned to appreciate that electronics and water sometimes do not mix.

First ....... when you purchased your Suunto computer from an Authorized Aqualung Dealer the computer comes with 3 years of Free Battery changes and installation from the authorized dealers. Your unit also come s with the Aqualung (not suunto) warranty. Which is a pro-rated system whereby the first 2 years Aqualung covers all covered issues at 100% (afterwards its pro-rated for 5 years.)

You indicate that the unit was giving you some pairing issues. At which point you did NOT bring it to your dealer but " I ordered a new battery and when I opened up the case I found out that it was flooded." Not knowing where you got the battery kit from (full factory kit not just battery) I can only conclude that you did not bring the unit to the original dealer.

The transmitters need to be handled carefully. They are not handles, they do become fragile when not properly cleaned of salt water and sometimes they leak. It's a fact. No dive computer from any manufacturer is 100% immune. That said when you opened the unit and found it had water in it there is no way to know what the cause was.

The biggest cause of computer flooding we see is shock to the unit and ...... gasoline fumes from gear kept in garage. The gas fumes eat away at seals and will cause units to leak. It's not uncommon for owners to void their own warranty. In fact its more common than not.

I think you are being overly critical of the distributor on this. Here is what I would do.

Pack the whole thing up. Write a NICE letter explaining the situation. Don't be frustrated.. Send it over to Aqualung's Service Department and wait for a reply. Include a copy of your original receipt. They are pretty responsive.

If the unit was defective (micro cracks, faulty seal, etc) they will do what they can under the warranty system. If the unit was damaged but abuse, neglect, or other issues they will probably direct you back to the dealer. The dealer can then offer you a replacement transmitter at a reasonable price.

Good Luck

Cheers

 

[knowone]

It is good to know famous divers are level headed with problem solving capability.