Short version:
My Seaskin Ultra (compressed neoprene) drysuit had a tiny leak in the right foot since it was new. I finally sent it back, they verified it had a leak and that they could not just patch it. I paid the difference in cost to have them replace the boots with their newer "Tech boots". I got the suit back today and I can't see anything that would be a clue it's not a new suit that came with these boots from the start. I.e. they replaced the boots and the job looks factory original.
Long version:
I ordered a Seaskin Ultra about a year and a half ago. At the time, they only had one option for attached boots, so that's what I got. I received the suit in January of 2020.
From my first weekend of diving it, it seemed like it had a tiny leak in the right foot area. It was weird because it leaked so little that I didn't notice it on the first dive. Then I started to notice it, but it was as if it only leaked when I first got in the water, during the initial squeeze of the suit to get the air out. It seemed like it would leak then, and then not leak any more, no matter how long the dive was.
For a while I thought maybe it was just my imagination and that the dampness on my right foot was from sweat condensing. However, eventually, I knew that it was actually leaking a little.
I emailed Seaskin about it for the first time at teh beginning of April (2020). I sent the email as a Reply to the sales rep that had sent me my original sales order confirmation. He responded promptly, but referred me to their repair manager, whom he CC'ed on the email. I emailed the repair manager again, directly, in mid-May. I never did ever hear back from that guy.
I procrastinated more. I emailed the sales guy again at the beginning of October. By that time, I had also developed a problem with the left boot where I did a couple of 200' dives and the left boot didn't let water in, but after the dive, walking on it felt very squishy. As if a big air bubble had formed between the insole and the outsole. It seemed to me to be likely the same kind of problem as in the right boot. I did not hear back from the sales guy.
This time I only procrastinated a couple of weeks before I finally did what I should have done in the first place. I went to the Seaskin website, found their "Contact Us" email address and sent an email to that. They responded promptly and told me to ship them the suit with their Drysuit Warrantee and Repair form filled out and enclosed.
I finally did that and got it in the mail to them on December 12th. I procrastinated for a long time, but I finally made sure I sent it back before my 1 year warranty expired.
It took the USPS a full month to deliver it! I shipped it on Dec 12th and it was finally delivered to Seaskin on January 12th! USPS was wasy cheaper than FedEx or UPS...
Anyway, the Seaskin factory has been running on and off for the last year because of COVID and shutdowns in the UK. It took them a little while to get to my suit. When they finally did, they did a pressure test and told me that they did find a tiny trickle of bubbles coming from the right boot. They said they could not identify exactly where the boot was leaking, and they couldn't fit a hand in down in there, so they needed to replace the boot.
I had requested that if they had to replace the boots under warranty, they please replace them with the newer Tech boots. They did, so they did. I finally received the suit back today.
I was afraid of what the suit might look like after having the boots replaced. I had a different drysuit a while back that I sent off to a place in the US and had the original boots replaced with attached socks. When I got that suit back, they had just cut the boots off below the original boot-to-suit seam, and then glued and taped the socks on. The cuts for removing the boots weren't even parallel to the boot-to-suit seam. So, while the socks fit and didn't leak, it was very obvious if you looked at the suit that the socks were not factory original.
I am very happy that the new boots look like they were put on originally when the suit was made.
My other fear was that the Tech boot sizing might be different or some other thing might happen that resulted in my suit coming back with boots that didn't fit me correctly. The new boots feel like they may be just a *little* looser than the original boots, but I would say that a size smaller boot would definitely be too small, so I think these are right. I only tried them on with a thin sock. I think with my normal thick sock, they'll be just right. And I could wear 2 socks if I really want to and still be comfortable.
So, all in all, I am pretty happy with how things went and with Seaskin service. The process took a long time, but that was mostly me and my procrastination, and also me emailing the wrong people, instead of going in "through the front door" so to speak. And COVID definitely played its part in the time it took.
Bottom line: Mistakes happen. But, something like a brand new suit having a leak seems like quite a rarity with Seaskin. I am still just as happy as ever with my Seaskin suits.
A couple of pics with the new boots.
My Seaskin Ultra (compressed neoprene) drysuit had a tiny leak in the right foot since it was new. I finally sent it back, they verified it had a leak and that they could not just patch it. I paid the difference in cost to have them replace the boots with their newer "Tech boots". I got the suit back today and I can't see anything that would be a clue it's not a new suit that came with these boots from the start. I.e. they replaced the boots and the job looks factory original.
Long version:
I ordered a Seaskin Ultra about a year and a half ago. At the time, they only had one option for attached boots, so that's what I got. I received the suit in January of 2020.
From my first weekend of diving it, it seemed like it had a tiny leak in the right foot area. It was weird because it leaked so little that I didn't notice it on the first dive. Then I started to notice it, but it was as if it only leaked when I first got in the water, during the initial squeeze of the suit to get the air out. It seemed like it would leak then, and then not leak any more, no matter how long the dive was.
For a while I thought maybe it was just my imagination and that the dampness on my right foot was from sweat condensing. However, eventually, I knew that it was actually leaking a little.
I emailed Seaskin about it for the first time at teh beginning of April (2020). I sent the email as a Reply to the sales rep that had sent me my original sales order confirmation. He responded promptly, but referred me to their repair manager, whom he CC'ed on the email. I emailed the repair manager again, directly, in mid-May. I never did ever hear back from that guy.
I procrastinated more. I emailed the sales guy again at the beginning of October. By that time, I had also developed a problem with the left boot where I did a couple of 200' dives and the left boot didn't let water in, but after the dive, walking on it felt very squishy. As if a big air bubble had formed between the insole and the outsole. It seemed to me to be likely the same kind of problem as in the right boot. I did not hear back from the sales guy.
This time I only procrastinated a couple of weeks before I finally did what I should have done in the first place. I went to the Seaskin website, found their "Contact Us" email address and sent an email to that. They responded promptly and told me to ship them the suit with their Drysuit Warrantee and Repair form filled out and enclosed.
I finally did that and got it in the mail to them on December 12th. I procrastinated for a long time, but I finally made sure I sent it back before my 1 year warranty expired.
It took the USPS a full month to deliver it! I shipped it on Dec 12th and it was finally delivered to Seaskin on January 12th! USPS was wasy cheaper than FedEx or UPS...
Anyway, the Seaskin factory has been running on and off for the last year because of COVID and shutdowns in the UK. It took them a little while to get to my suit. When they finally did, they did a pressure test and told me that they did find a tiny trickle of bubbles coming from the right boot. They said they could not identify exactly where the boot was leaking, and they couldn't fit a hand in down in there, so they needed to replace the boot.
I had requested that if they had to replace the boots under warranty, they please replace them with the newer Tech boots. They did, so they did. I finally received the suit back today.
I was afraid of what the suit might look like after having the boots replaced. I had a different drysuit a while back that I sent off to a place in the US and had the original boots replaced with attached socks. When I got that suit back, they had just cut the boots off below the original boot-to-suit seam, and then glued and taped the socks on. The cuts for removing the boots weren't even parallel to the boot-to-suit seam. So, while the socks fit and didn't leak, it was very obvious if you looked at the suit that the socks were not factory original.
I am very happy that the new boots look like they were put on originally when the suit was made.
My other fear was that the Tech boot sizing might be different or some other thing might happen that resulted in my suit coming back with boots that didn't fit me correctly. The new boots feel like they may be just a *little* looser than the original boots, but I would say that a size smaller boot would definitely be too small, so I think these are right. I only tried them on with a thin sock. I think with my normal thick sock, they'll be just right. And I could wear 2 socks if I really want to and still be comfortable.
So, all in all, I am pretty happy with how things went and with Seaskin service. The process took a long time, but that was mostly me and my procrastination, and also me emailing the wrong people, instead of going in "through the front door" so to speak. And COVID definitely played its part in the time it took.
Bottom line: Mistakes happen. But, something like a brand new suit having a leak seems like quite a rarity with Seaskin. I am still just as happy as ever with my Seaskin suits.
A couple of pics with the new boots.
