kydaka
Registered
in my humble Canadian opinion your offer is going above and beyond and i will look you up for future purchases
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I try hard to be concise in my posts, but there are those that insist on debating the warranty replacement issue, even though Ive been very clear that I have no expectation of resolution. Responding may take a little bandwidth.
First, sincere apologies to the dive community at large for singlehandedly causing any restrictive new warranty policies that dive retailers may implement. My bad.
Now lets address some incorrect assumptions.
No professional dives were done using the gear in question. The assumption that the gear was used for a full season is also incorrect. If it had been inspected as suggested in the HOG remedy, that would have been obvious, but
The gauges were ordered on Nov 27, 2010. Medical issues kept me (and the gauges) on the shelf for over 23 months, starting mid-January, 2011 (nobodys problem but my own). I reported the failure to TDL in September 20, 2013, just under 3 years after purchase, and conceivably out of warranty. But I wouldnt know as none was stated. (Do you really replace your cellphone, laptop or TV when the warranty expires if theyre still working?)
Im getting ready for another cave trip soon, so I turned to the manufacturer for one last try. And here we are today.
TDLs offer of replacement covers their costs, but doesnt do as much for me. $41 for a replacement (only one failed) means Ill ultimately pay close to the cost of three gauges to get two that work. I recently bought another pair of gauges (yes, at a promotional price), so it doesnt make sense to inventory another SPG.
Ill pass.
One more time: this thread is about industry perception of Canadian dive customers, not warranty issues.
Let's recap. ams511 directs readers to a request for assistance in the Equipment forum, and Wookie names names. But they play no part in outing the manufacturer? And I like most Americans.
I have never ordered from TDL, nor do I own a piece of HOG equipment. I commend both Chris and Joel for going far beyond what any customer should expect.
And he knocks it out of the park. For Christ's sake, do you think Americans are retards?
Well, I can't say that Canadians are any different consumers than Americans.
I suspect the only reason Canadians were singled out to Chris is because he is Canadian and his US retailers know that.
Just a general point of conversation.
Like,
"Hey Joe, you’re Canadian, why do they eat that mess called poutine up there?"
Or
"Hey Chris, you’re Canadian, why are they such jerks sometimes?"
My Canadian self –
I certainly make generalizations about Americans, British, French, Quebecois, Native Canadians, etc....but usually not in a mean spirited way. But, sometimes in a mean spirited way if I have just had a bad encounter with {insert nationality here}.
Just human nature I think.
As for HOG gear - I've been quite happy with it so far and plan to continue to use into the future.
I purchase it with an outlook to the future of having a few Tech courses eventually, and taking the regulator servicing course at that time.
And the price is reasonable.
Warranty - like the OP, I usually purchase items when they are on sale with future needs in mind.
Sometimes, they sit in the box for a year before I use them, so I too would be disappointed if the item did not work when I got around to using it.
You do run into the problem of the warranty expiring before use if you let it sit on the shelf for a while.
But, I think that is a risk you choose to take if you do not test it soon after purchase.
While it would be nice to have anything broken replaced at anytime- a business is not going to be around long with that model of customer service without an initial higher price point to offset future replacement costs.
I can understand both sides of the above email exchange -it just looks like some frustation was vented as well.
I purchase from companies with good customer service reputations – Shearwater, BARE and HOG.
I have sent my Petrel back – a replacement was sent within 2 weeks, at Christmas time.
I have sent my Bare SB system drysuit back – no replacement yet, but covered under warranty.
I have not had to return any HOG products yet. So far so good.
A while back someone posted a thread looking for help repairing a piece of Abyss equipment. I referred the person to Joel at TDL because I remembered he used to work for Abyss. The posted how happy he was because Joel had the part and shipped it to him for free (or maybe just for the shipping as I don't remember exactly). Abyss must be out of business for at least 10 years now. So yes, Joel is a stand-up guy.
I'm Canadian and not offender by Chris.I don't take Chris's comment as slander, libel whatever or even as a negative comment on all Canadian customers but then I'm not Canadian, maybe I would have if I was.
JS1scuba,
I don't think many suppliers (probably none) on this side of the border would be as accommodating as you've been.