Story about Underwater Camera Pros

[KidK9]

So I'm in desperate need last week to acquire the Inon D-180 strobe with a tray and arm before I head to Crystal River, Ginnie Springs, and Devil's Den over the Memorial Day weekend. I ask advice on this board. Told to talk to Yuzo or UWCP. I first try Yuzo, but he is out of the D-180 until the 25th of May - not gonna cut it. So I call Ryan at UWCP.

I actually tried to put the D180 with some cheaper equipment to "make it work"...he is so knowledgeable (and convincing), that I go with his D180 package which includes the D180, and ULCS arm and tray. I call on Wednesday of last week. He says, shipping is free unless you bump it up to be speedier. I say yeah, I'd like to have it soon, so bump it up one level. He says, ok 2 day mail, thats an extra $10 is that ok? Sure not a prob. He says - what is the absolute last day you must have this, I say - Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend. He says - shouldn't be a problem.

Wednesday comes....it's not here. I call Ryan and ask for my tracking numbers. He says - uh, your package is sitting right here in my room boxed up, but hasn't gone to shipping yet. I give a snort, and he says - when do you need it by. I say, Ryan, I leave Thursday at 4pm for Florida, my whole intention of ordering this setup was for the weekend.

He says, yeah, the credit verification service we use, isn't the greatest and gave us problems, so we finally got your shipping address verified. He says - I'll get you the gear, and I won't charge you shipping. I say, ok, we'll see.

Next day, on my doorstep by noon.

Bottom line - who offers customer service like this??? NO ONE. THIS WAS THE MOST PHENOMENAL SERVICE I HAVE SEEN OUT OF A MAIL ORDER SERVICE. So much so, when I hit Tennessee on the drive, I called to tell him so. More people should be like this.

Order from Ryan and UWCP.
-KidK9

 

[H2Andy]

that's awesome to hear. i've had very good service from B&H camera as well, and
also DiveRiteExpress.

 

[DesertEagle]

I also use B&H. They aren't always the cheapest but they are fast.

My equipment is serviced at Underwater Photo Tech. They are a 1 hour drive from my house in Boston. In 1995 I flooded my Nikonos during a shark dive in the Bahamas (the strobe cord was bitten through). I thought the camera was a papeweight and a week before my next trip I called to order another, explaining what had happened to the camera. They said to bring it in. The repair with parts was about $250 and was completed in 3 days.

Service, service, service!

 

[clive francis]

that's awesome to hear. i've had very good service from B&H camera as well, and
also DiveRiteExpress.

i ordered a nikon sb800 flash for my D70 from B&H got it sent to my mate in St. Louis and his parents brought it back to the uk for me

it cost me £180 as apposed to £320 here in the UK, admittedly if it was posted to the UK i might have had import duty as well

 

[chickdiver]

B&H isn't always fast. I ordered a housing from them last year, and waited 2 months for it. After numerous phone calls, each telling me they were waiting to receive it from the manufacturer, I called Amphibico. I had an answer in less than an hour, apparently my housing had been sitting in the B&H warehouse for about 6 weeks. Amphibico shipped me a housing direct and I had it a few days. Next time I buy direct from Amphibico. I will NEVER do business with B&H again.

 

[mandrake]

1) You place an order for 2-day delivery with a week to spare and pay extra for the rush delivery.
2) You specify you must have this by a certain date.
3) After 7 days there is no receipt and no attempt to contact you.
4) YOU have call the vendor and find your goods are sitting in his shop.
5) They're unshipped because of a technical problem on his end that he's aware of.
6) And finally when it's at red alert level he expedites it because you've called to nag him about it.

And this is the best service you've ever received? You're easy to please.

 

[KidK9]

1) You place an order for 2-day delivery with a week to spare and pay extra for the rush delivery.
2) You specify you must have this by a certain date.
3) After 7 days there is no receipt and no attempt to contact you.
4) YOU have call the vendor and find your goods are sitting in his shop.
5) They're unshipped because of a technical problem on his end that he's aware of.
6) And finally when it's at red alert level he expedites it because you've called to nag him about it.

And this is the best service you've ever received? You're easy to please.

Maybe I'm easy to please. Point is, I needed it by a certain date and it got here. You're right, the part about not contacting me was off, I thought the same thing. But when one corrects the mistake they've made, I'll take it. Life's to short to sit there and whine constantly about everything that goes wrong and then hold a grudge about it. Besides, I've had plenty of bad service from dive shops, operators, resorts and the like, and darnit, I'll post the problems on here immediately. Why? Because I WANT to hurt their business b/c they make no effort to correct it. This guy made an effort. He comes highly recommended by people I respect on this board and for that reason, I see no obligation to bash him when the goods showed up. Just my opinion and thought I would post about a mail order company that was actually GOOD for once.

 

[ReyeR]

TBH I've never dealt with anyone better than Yuzo:

* he replies to your e-mail within a couple hours (time zone dependent), even if the e-mail is not about a purchase
* he tells you up-front that he doesn't have stock and can't make the delivery. If it's urgent he will try and re-route something for you
* he ships the same day you make the payment (by Paypal) and sends you a tracking number telling you your parcel has been shipped. The items are at my doorstep in 3 days by international EMS
* never has he shipped out the wrong items or left something out
* his prices are very reasonable

That's 5 star service in my book.

I wish he sold more US products like LMI etc.

 

[Kim]

I can see where you are coming from - you were obviously pleased to get your gear in time - I can understand that. I personally would have experienced relief with a large amount of irritation. Quite clearly this guy didn't do what he promised you until he was really pushed - he clearly knew he was totally wrong. You had to tell him twice when you needed it by - and point out again that you had paid for a fast delivery. Add on the fact that he worried you for at least a couple of days that it wouldn't arrive, and I don't really think that you got GOOD service - you got a basic minimum - and you had to push for it as well. Maybe we have a different idea of 'service'. What would you think if you hired gear from a local dive site for a dive - the LP hose split and emptied your tank - but the DM just managed to get you to the surface - frightened but alive? Would that also be 'good service'?

 

[ChrisM]

I just continue to be amazed that we all (me included) end up ordering a bunch of complicated and expensive equipment a mere days before we want to take it to a foreign country and submerge it underwater..........

why is that?

Anyway, when I called Ryan for a housing he said it would be a couple weeks unless I wanted the model he kept on the store's shelves. Having broken the cycle, I don't have any trips coming up (well, expensive ones, I go locally every weekend), so I said no worries.

What would you think if you hired gear from a local dive site for a dive - the LP hose split and emptied your tank - but the DM just managed to get you to the surface - frightened but alive? Would that also be 'good service'?

There's a saying in my business: Analogies suck. This is why.

Chris