I suppose I could submit this for DOG of the week, but I dunno.
Here's a little back story, but as a diving professional ill omit the names of people and shops.
When it was time to buy my drysuit I had decided that if I was going to be spend the money for a suit I was going to be as warm as possible. I went to the 'dive shop' and decided I wanted to go with a Signature Series CLX450 as I was a big fan of the tri-lam and its drying time. Plus I just didnt like the CF-200's call me crazy I guess. Anyway I got all my measurements done and when it came time for customizations I said I wanted the warmest undergarments for Monterey etc. My 'instructor' at the time came into the 'dive shop' at this time and suggested I get the CF-200 pads instead of kevlar. He also convinced me to get dry gloves.
Fast forwarding a few dollars and month and a half or so, the suit arrives and its time for me to go to the 'dive shop' and pick it up. Well the shop's 'employee' tells me he has no idea how to install my dry gloves. He said I would need to contact my 'instructor' to have him install them. The were the PSI-Tek (sp?) glove system. I said this was no acceptable and said if they could not install what I paid for I was not taking the suit and would demand a refund. In the end the 'shop's' owner came down and tried to install them himself. While he tried, it did not work as the glove rings kept coming off. I was lucky enough that the 'instructor' was kind enough to allow me to drop off the suit with him and allow him to try to install the gloves as he was kind enough to do so.
In the end, the suit went back to DUI and IIRC I paid around another $600 to get it fixed up to what I had anticipated what I ordered. I wasn't happy about this. Even now DUI did work well with me, as far as discounting the work some and allowing me to returned a used glove system.
Moving ahead a hear and a half, due to some "screw ups" on the shops part, especially as far as not including all things I didn't at the time know existed the suit broke itself. Basically I asked for all the warm options and didn't get the DUI 400 gram booties. However, the shop had DUI size the rock boot socks for this garment. However without it there was a lot of extra room in the socks and when in the boots they folded under themselves. After time they actually work a hole in the tips of the boots. Obviously this leaked.
I sent my suit into DUI and called them the other day to find out what was happening with my repairs. I also was having my neck seal replaced since it was going in. DUI totally went above and beyond at this point. I called in to see what was going on, and was shocked. Apparently a zip seal on the suit was "cracked" and was replaced under warranty at no charge. Also the $60? pressure testing fee was waived. When the bootie question was asked they said they were going to patch them. After I questioned them about the "patch" we got into a little of my back story. The Jennifer (IIRC) put me on hold and when she came back she reminded me why I bought a DUI. Basically since im wearing much thinner socks the booties have way too much fabric. Initially for $220 I could get one size smaller socks to make up for this difference, however after checking with whomever she did she informed me DUI would replace the XXL booties with XL booties at no charge. AWESOME! This is a what real companies do for customers that aren't totally satisfied and are frustrated. They took the initiative to fix my suit, so this wouldn't be a problem in another year.
In the end, once my suit ships on the 4th, ill have what I wanted a year and a half ago. Im totally happy now, nothing to be concerned about, and proactive fixes to prevent more failures in the future. Go, DUI and your epic customer service.
I cant say what any other manufacturer would have done, but this is clearly unexpected and has probably made me a loyal customer for the rest of my diving life.
Hopefully others out there find this helpful when considering what to buy as there are many options.
Here's a little back story, but as a diving professional ill omit the names of people and shops.
When it was time to buy my drysuit I had decided that if I was going to be spend the money for a suit I was going to be as warm as possible. I went to the 'dive shop' and decided I wanted to go with a Signature Series CLX450 as I was a big fan of the tri-lam and its drying time. Plus I just didnt like the CF-200's call me crazy I guess. Anyway I got all my measurements done and when it came time for customizations I said I wanted the warmest undergarments for Monterey etc. My 'instructor' at the time came into the 'dive shop' at this time and suggested I get the CF-200 pads instead of kevlar. He also convinced me to get dry gloves.
Fast forwarding a few dollars and month and a half or so, the suit arrives and its time for me to go to the 'dive shop' and pick it up. Well the shop's 'employee' tells me he has no idea how to install my dry gloves. He said I would need to contact my 'instructor' to have him install them. The were the PSI-Tek (sp?) glove system. I said this was no acceptable and said if they could not install what I paid for I was not taking the suit and would demand a refund. In the end the 'shop's' owner came down and tried to install them himself. While he tried, it did not work as the glove rings kept coming off. I was lucky enough that the 'instructor' was kind enough to allow me to drop off the suit with him and allow him to try to install the gloves as he was kind enough to do so.
In the end, the suit went back to DUI and IIRC I paid around another $600 to get it fixed up to what I had anticipated what I ordered. I wasn't happy about this. Even now DUI did work well with me, as far as discounting the work some and allowing me to returned a used glove system.
Moving ahead a hear and a half, due to some "screw ups" on the shops part, especially as far as not including all things I didn't at the time know existed the suit broke itself. Basically I asked for all the warm options and didn't get the DUI 400 gram booties. However, the shop had DUI size the rock boot socks for this garment. However without it there was a lot of extra room in the socks and when in the boots they folded under themselves. After time they actually work a hole in the tips of the boots. Obviously this leaked.
I sent my suit into DUI and called them the other day to find out what was happening with my repairs. I also was having my neck seal replaced since it was going in. DUI totally went above and beyond at this point. I called in to see what was going on, and was shocked. Apparently a zip seal on the suit was "cracked" and was replaced under warranty at no charge. Also the $60? pressure testing fee was waived. When the bootie question was asked they said they were going to patch them. After I questioned them about the "patch" we got into a little of my back story. The Jennifer (IIRC) put me on hold and when she came back she reminded me why I bought a DUI. Basically since im wearing much thinner socks the booties have way too much fabric. Initially for $220 I could get one size smaller socks to make up for this difference, however after checking with whomever she did she informed me DUI would replace the XXL booties with XL booties at no charge. AWESOME! This is a what real companies do for customers that aren't totally satisfied and are frustrated. They took the initiative to fix my suit, so this wouldn't be a problem in another year.
In the end, once my suit ships on the 4th, ill have what I wanted a year and a half ago. Im totally happy now, nothing to be concerned about, and proactive fixes to prevent more failures in the future. Go, DUI and your epic customer service.
I cant say what any other manufacturer would have done, but this is clearly unexpected and has probably made me a loyal customer for the rest of my diving life.
Hopefully others out there find this helpful when considering what to buy as there are many options.
