Suunto TERRIBLE Customer support - D9

[El Diablo]

First of all, let me clarify that I am (was) a huge Suunto fan since I started diving back in 2002.

I've owned 2 Stinger(s) and still own a D9 and a D5.

Recently I had 2 issues that really made my faith in the brand crumble...

The story (more like a nightmare) goes as this:

Issue n.1 :
In mid July I decided to replace the battery on my D9 as I was preparing for a dive trip in August. To my surprise, I was informed that the watch had to be sent to Finland as the 1st generation of D9 cannot be serviced locally (!?!) That was kind of weird as I've always serviced my computers in the official Suunto service centers as per their website. I agreed and waited patiently, looking forward to my vacation.

1 week later I got an email from the dive store saying that he received an email from Suunto stating that "the pressure sensor is oxidized beyond repair" (!!!) and that they will keep the watch for disposal (!!!). Say what? as you've heard, their top of the range dive watch made for diving in salt water suddenly became a paperweight and I had to pay to get it back lol. For your info, I take extreme care of my equipment, the watch looks brand new, not even a scratch after so many years. In fact, it is so pristine that the diving store was wondering if I ever used it...

Doing some research, I understand that there was a law suit and a formal recall in the US due to sensor issues. In EU, nothing followed. Weird...

The funny thing is that the previous official service center, replaced my battery without sending the watch to Finland, according to him, he pressured tested it AND the watch was fine... The crazy thing is that since the last battery replacement, the computer stayed stored together with my DSLR lenses in my dry cabinet as last year's holiday destination changed and I didn't dove with it at all. I mentioned this to the dive center as this can be seen from the dive logs.

Bottom line is, I don't know if I should sue Suunto, their "official" repair centers or just live with it and keep moving... I do understand that electronic equipment has a lifespan but this specific watch has 200 dives on it more or less.

Issue n.2
Following the unfortunate events with my D9, I purchased a Suunto D5 with a transmitter via their official website as I still needed a dive computer urgently. I paid via PayPal and waited for it to be shipped.
2 days later, I had to call customer service to ask for an update on the shipment and I was (again) negatively surprised to hear that my order was automatically cancelled without any apparent issue and that I should order a new watch if I wanted it delivered before leaving on holidays. I was also assured that the previous amount will be shortly refunded. So I did, and bought another D5 to get going...

Bottom line is, 3 months after my purchase, I am still in an open dispute with PayPal, Suunto and their importer for Germany, Salomon (or Amer Sports) and none of them seems to be responsible to refund me my freaking 599€... the importer (Salomon) advised me to sue Suunto as they haven't received the money (!!!), Suunto is saying that I should open a formal claim through PayPal (!!!) while PayPal has already opened a dispute with Salomon (they are the ones that invoiced me) and is waiting for an answer (!!!)

This is absolutely incredible and I am really, really fed-up with this company. Shame.

Please excuse me for the huge rant but I thought that the members should know.

ps. The D5 is amazing and color screens are definitely the future.

Dive safe.

 

[happy-diver]

I buy used

 

[scuba2you]

Just amazing to see the companies that have changed ownership.......

Amer Sports Oyj (formerly Amer-Yhtymä Oyj) is a Chinese-owned Finnish sporting goods company with brands including Salomon, Arc'teryx, Peak Performance, Atomic, Suunto, Wilson, Precor, Armada, ENVE Composites, Louisville Slugger, DeMarini and Sports Tracker.[1] The company is a subsidiary of Anta Sports.

 

[El Diablo]

Just amazing to see the companies that have changed ownership.......

Amer Sports Oyj (formerly Amer-Yhtymä Oyj) is a Chinese-owned Finnish sporting goods company with brands including Salomon, Arc'teryx, Peak Performance, Atomic, Suunto, Wilson, Precor, Armada, ENVE Composites, Louisville Slugger, DeMarini and Sports Tracker.[1] The company is a subsidiary of Anta Sports.

Wow! that's some research you've got there...
Nationality aside, it is a pity that they are treating their long time customers like this.
My Stinger started behaving "weird" 5 years ago and more specifically, not showing the depth until the first 3m or so and then, kept that gap in depth through the dive rendering it useless. However, as it is almost 20 years old and I dove it quite a lot, I can understand that.

Regarding the D9, absolutely not. The watch although 1st generation, is and looks brand new.

 

[formernuke]

Never again will I buy or recommend a suunto. My story isn't near as bad but still I'm done with them.

 

[BoltSnap]

First, I don't understand why you bought another Suunto product after your D9 experience, it is beyond me.

In regards to D9, I have had the same issue with mine as well as my Cobra (replaced twice and I had to pay for the replacements). I will NEVER buy or recommend ANY Suunto product!!!


PayPal will most likely come on your side since you never received the product. You shouldn't have bought the D5 until you actually got the refund from them. You are putting yourself in a very tight spot by yourself.

 

[Bigbella]

Yikes!

Knock on wood (or peckerwood plastic, for that matter), I have had few issues with Suunto, over the years; and still have old, functional Solutions, which date from the early nineties, and their former distribution through SeaQuest, in the US; and the first two Cobras, which are showing their age, from the early two-thousands -- but whose depth sensors, thankfully, jibe with all of my analogue equipment.

After the serial, nasty issues, that I have read, through far too many threads -- over lawsuits; piss-poor customer service; and many changes of ownership, I have no intention of ever purchasing Suunto products again, after some thirty years of use . . .

 

[BoltSnap]

How owns Suunto now?

 

[El Diablo]

First, I don't understand why you bought another Suunto product after your D9 experience, it is beyond me.

In regards to D9, I have had the same issue with mine as well as my Cobra (replaced twice and I had to pay for the replacements). I will NEVER buy or recommend ANY Suunto product!!!


PayPal will most likely come on your side since you never received the product. You shouldn't have bought the D5 until you actually got the refund from them. You are putting yourself in a very tight spot by yourself.

I understand your reasoning and if I had more time I would probably have changed my mind BUT I was under immense pressure to get a dive watch as I had to fly in 2 days time... I did looked briefly at other dive computers reviews but honestly speaking, the D5 stands out in relation to how intuitive and easy it is to operate and read.

Also, I’ve had set a few pre-requisites for my new purchase that limited my choices: I wanted a watch style computer, a rechargeable battery, a color display, air integration and not go overboard with my budget* (more on this at the end).

The Teric was the closest 2nd choice and I almost pulled the trigger but in Germany it is almost double the price and the display IMO is a little cluttered.

Closing, I’ve already mentioned that I am a Suunto fan since I started diving, 20 years ago. I don’t know if I will buy another of their products in the future as this certainly hurt. I do hope that other manufacturers engage further into head-up displays as dive computers haven’t change much the last 15 years.

* that’s the reason I didn’t wanted to spend a crazy amount, I am waiting for more head-up display options in the next couple of years besides Scubapro in order to update my gear.

 

[El Diablo]

Yikes!

Knock on wood (or peckerwood plastic, for that matter), I have had few issues with Suunto, over the years; and still have old, functional Solutions, which date from the early nineties, and their former distribution through SeaQuest, in the US; and the first two Cobras, which are showing their age, from the early two-thousands -- but whose depth sensors, thankfully, jibe with all of my analogue equipment.

After the serial, nasty issues, that I have read, through far too many threads -- over lawsuits; piss-poor customer service; and many changes of ownership, I have no intention of ever purchasing Suunto products again, after some thirty years of use . . .

I feel you... same weird position here although I did bought the D5 after all.
I do hope that someone at Suunto’s headquarters understands how critical it is to treat customers with respect and how their approach is alienating fans of the brand. They are lucky that their Sport watches sell like crazy and keep them afloat.

The moment Garmin & Shearwater become a little more affordable, we will have a different conversation.