Problems with SUUNTO

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Australia
# of dives
Having used SUUNTO computers for most of my diving career, recently im having extreme difficulty with contacting their customer services.

I've had my d4 for a few years now, before that a VYPER and before that i think it was a zoop or geko (cant quite remember) after having no issues with them and looking after them perfectly.......earlier this year, working as an instructor i sent my d4 off for a battery change. I was told by the SUUNTO dealer that it would probably cost alot for this to be done as it is an old model and would be better off just buying the new model- d4i or d6.....finding that a little odd, i decided to send my d4 and see what Suunto said regarding the battery and cost. In fact the dealer was wrong, there was no problems with getting the battery changed, and all was fine.

Until last week, my 2nd dive since having the battery changed by Suunto (the first dive was to approx 6m depth, just to test a new wetsuit i had recently purchased) My second dive...The Yongala Wreck (Fantastic if anyone is thinking of going, do it!) Computer is fine, descending down, and about 20 minutes into the dive it starts bleeping, telling me my depth is continuing down- fast. i compared to my buddy's computer (also a suunto d4) and sure enough we were at 23m.....suddenly my computer is down at 80+ meters and telling me i had over 70 mins deco time.....obviously something wrong. We aborted the dive, and returned to the boat...computer still bleeping and still descending past 80m. Eventually the computer seemed to give up, the screen went blank.

No obviously I understand these things happen, (however a little miffed that it was SUUNTO who changed the battery) what has led me to write a thread is the sheer disregard SUUNTO have shown when approached, to query this matter. I sent them an email explaining what had happened and where best to go to, if possible, get it fixed. The SUUNTO dealers in this area (north queensland) are few and far between and when I've spoken to them in the past they give off the impression that sending a computer back to the manufacturer is a waste of time and why not just buy the newer model. So i sent SUUNTO an email.....their response:

''Thank you for contacting suunto support, we are really sorry that you experienced this inconvenience. We kindly advise you to take your dive computer to a local dive shop, as they can perform additional tests. You can find the nearest suunto authorised dealer dive shop using our dealer locator. Please do not hesitate to get back to us with a feedback to this issue so we can further assist you. Should you have any other questions please do not hesitate to get back to us. We highly appreciate if you could answer a short survey regarding the quality of our customer support it will only take two minutes.'

So after receiving what i can other assume is a automated email, sent by someone called Conrad, i replied advising them the nearest authorised dealer was hours drive away from me and having dealt with them before i was reluctant to go back there, i asked if they could recommend another dive shop that would be able to assist. That was on Monday, so far i have had no response.

I wonder if anyone has had similar dealings with SUUNTO....or if anyone can point me in the direction of someone who can help. Im slightly annoyed after being an instructor really recommending SUUNTO to students and fellow divers, their support team aren't really that great.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
I moved away from Suunto due to small display, non-user replaceable batteries and not being the best tool for deco. Battery replacement on my D9 was always a headache. I know that salt and other mineral deposits on the sensor can cause faulty depth readings if not cleaned on a regular basis. My wife still uses a Zoop without any issues.

IMO your dealer is trying to make an extra sale by being bit "hard-assed" and not trying to help you. I moved to Shearwater some time ago and found their product fantastic, but more importantly have awesome customer support and they go the extra mile to keep their clients happy.
 
It's interesting and sad to hear suunto is still having sensor issues. In the past, they had admitted to a "batch of bad sensors", but it seems there is still something going on. If you can afford to move away from suunto, there's a chance you'll save yourself some headache. If your computer is out of warranty, it's trash at this point. Suunto won't fix it (even if you offer to pay). If you're within warranty, strong arm your dealer into an RMA.

I took a video a couple of years ago of 3 of my suunto computers doing their own dives in my garage.
 

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