Venture Heat - Buyer Beware

[Marty_C]

My friend bought the Venture Heat Heated Dive Vest (2 batteries, about $850) about 2 years ago. He loved it. Unfortunately he passed away last year. I inherited the vest. Following their instructions and speaking with tech support we could not get the remote to pair with the vest. The vest is outside of their 1 year warranty.

This is the response that their technical support emailed back to me when I requested repair service for a charge outside of the warranty period.

Sending it in not under warranty we only would tell you if it salvageable or not.

Other then that there wouldn't be anything for us to do since we do not have a repairs department so we are unable to fix products on our end. We also do not have access to those parts/components here in the US, since the items are manufactured overseas.

So in plain english, out of warranty vests are totally rendered useless if something goes wrong.

I did try and contact the CEO and received no response.
I also left a message on their Facebook page, also no response to date.

It is unfortunate that there are companies that take this very short sighted approach to making money but I felt potential future buyers be aware of the lack of support for a product you might want to buy.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

That's disappointing, as I was looking to picking up one of those vests if my Thermolution vest died. I guess in that case, I'll have to pony up the bucks to have an externally powered heating system (which is safer anyway). Now that I think about it, for my future expeditions, an external battery is a requirement, as having a short failure when I have a lot of deco and letting in water to compensate doesn't make for much fun. While riding a helicopter is fun, it isn't when the ride is to the nearest island with a hospital burn unit.

 

[Marty_C]

That's disappointing, as I was looking to picking up one of those vests if my Thermolution vest died. I guess in that case, I'll have to pony up the bucks to have an externally powered heating system (which is safer anyway). Now that I think about it, for my future expeditions, an external battery is a requirement, as having a short failure when I have a lot of deco and letting in water to compensate doesn't make for much fun. While riding a helicopter is fun, it isn't when the ride is to the nearest island with a hospital burn unit.

Very disappointing especially when Venture Heat promotes themselves with a mission statement where they want to be the leader in industry with quality and trust.

 

[tursiops]

My friend bought the Venture Heat Heated Dive Vest (2 batteries, about $850) about 2 years ago. He loved it. Unfortunately he passed away last year. I inherited the vest. Following their instructions and speaking with tech support we could not get the remote to pair with the vest. The vest is outside of their 1 year warranty.

This is the response that their technical support emailed back to me when I requested repair service for a charge outside of the warranty period.

Sending it in not under warranty we only would tell you if it salvageable or not.

Other then that there wouldn't be anything for us to do since we do not have a repairs department so we are unable to fix products on our end. We also do not have access to those parts/components here in the US, since the items are manufactured overseas.

So in plain english, out of warranty vests are totally rendered useless if something goes wrong.

I did try and contact the CEO and received no response.
I also left a message on their Facebook page, also no response to date.

It is unfortunate that there are companies that take this very short sighted approach to making money but I felt potential future buyers be aware of the lack of support for a product you might want to buy.

I see nothing on their website to make me think they do repairs outside of warranty.
Inside warranty, you'll probably get a replacement; outside, nada.
Best to think of it as a one-year investment, after which you are on borrowed time.
It is clothing, after all, not a brass first stage with o-rings.

 

[Marty_C]

I see nothing on their website to make me think they do repairs outside of warranty.
Inside warranty, you'll probably get a replacement; outside, nada.
Best to think of it as a one-year investment, after which you are on borrowed time.
It is clothing, after all, not a brass first stage with o-rings.

Do you own any other equipment that costs $800+ and when it breaks after a year it is useless?
Their mission statement. Note, the bold emphasis is their's not mine.

Who We Are: About Us

Venture Heat is the most trusted brand in the heated apparel business. We operate with a simple philosophy: to create responsibly made products that are unrivaled in price, quality, and workmanship. Shop our line of heated jackets, sweaters, shirts, gloves, pain relief and motorcycle gear.

www.ventureheat.com

Over the years, Venture Heat has pioneered much of the wearable heating technology that is now seen as industry standard. It is our goal to continue to be the most trusted brand in the business.

We operate with a simple philosophy: to create responsibly made products that are unrivaled in price, quality, and workmanship. That's why we design everything we make and never stop innovating. Our customers know and trust us to provide products that will allow pain-free, comfortable, and enriched lifestyles.

 

[lexvil]

I have one and although it works well I don’t think I would suggest anyone buy one,you would probably be better off with layers.



something to aware of with any small speciality manufacturer, they can just disappear in a moments notice of course this can also happen with some of the big names too.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I have one and although it works well I don’t think I would suggest anyone buy one,you would probably be better off with layers.

Not me. To get the same warmth I'd have to become the Michelin Man. More weight, less flexibility, just a bad solution. I'd look like @decompression 's old profile pic where he fully inflated his dry suit for a photo.

I fully admit that I am an outlier when it comes to cold tolerance. Complete, total, utter wimp when it comes to cold temperatures.

 

[lexvil]

Not me. To get the same warmth I'd have to become the Michelin Man. More weight, less flexibility, just a bad solution. I'd look like @decompression 's old profile pic where he fully inflated his dry suit for a photo.

I fully admit that I am an outlier when it comes to cold tolerance. Complete, total, utter wimp when it comes to cold temperatures.

I guess our stuck then, maybe a better custom made drysuit would help

 

[Marie13]

Not me. To get the same warmth I'd have to become the Michelin Man. More weight, less flexibility, just a bad solution. I'd look like @decompression 's old profile pic where he fully inflated his dry suit for a photo.

I fully admit that I am an outlier when it comes to cold tolerance. Complete, total, utter wimp when it comes to cold temperatures.

You should compare notes with @Tracy. He bellyaches a ton about cold.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I guess our stuck then, maybe a better custom made drysuit would help

External battery most likely. A much bigger investment, but doesn't have the problem of a short where you can't ensure it is turned off externally. It is inevitable. I won't be crazy like the 2 Jeffs (people in my area know to whom I'm referring) who build their own custom setup as they'd dive for sometimes 5 hours at a time.

I expect the deepest I'll ever dive is 100 meters, and that's going to be a fair bit of deco (haven't done the numbers yet). But that will be in the Aegean, not Puget Sound.

You should compare notes with @Tracy. He bellyaches a ton about cold.

I'm sure in contrast to me, he's Wim Hof.