fnfalman
Contributor
I had two Venture wings (a Venture 360 and an old style Venture 30-lbs) that got holes in them recently and within three weeks of each other.
I contacted Kathleen via PM and discussed the situation at length. Kathleen directed me to Jess who works the Customer Service department. When I called and talked to Jess, she already received the PMs and photos I sent to Kathleen and already was aware of the problem and she had me sent the backplate with harness & wings to her for evaluation.
I initially thought that maybe there was a burr along the edge of the backplate that caused the tear. I did find a burr but it was on the side that doesn't make contact with the wings.
Anyway, I kind of had a feeling that the Venture 360's leakage was caused by me because in my haste to move from one house to another, I crammed the BC in my overstuffed gear bag along with all the other dive gears. The 30-lbs wing's leakage was probably caused by a handler that works for a transport company which ferries gears back and forth from Casino Point dive site to the dock at Catalina Island. That was the only time that the BC was out of my sight. The leak was found when I was cleaning my gear that particular night.
Since that the two wings developed holes in two separate areas, it's pretty obvious that equipment defect isn't the case.
So, where does the kudos for Dive Rite come from? Well, they didn't fix my wings (replacing the air bladders) for free, BUT it's the next best thing: they're replacing two air bladders for the price of one. And they're going to polish off the burr on the backplate even though it doesn't rub onto the wing.
Anyway, many thanks to Kathleen and Jess for helping me out. This is why I favor Dive Rite for gears. I'm sure that I'm not the only customer who had screwed up his gear and needed repair/replacement ASAP, yet Dive Rite handled my problem within less than half a week. I can't ask for better customer service than that.
Oh yeah, as a bonus, while I was talking with Jess on the phone about the state of the wings, I was making some remarks about how the Transpac doesn't quite "feel" right on my back. Gave her some descriptions of my annoyances and she in turn gave me some tuning tips to try out. So, the DR girls are not just pretty faces but active divers who know their products inside and out. When you talk to them, you don't get the "I gotta check with the expert" run around. They are the experts.
Kathleen, why don't you and Jess tell Lamar that he's been working the both of you too damn hard and you both need to do some PR work out in California as a "working" vacation? I'd love to take you two out to the oil rigs for some good old fashion blue water diving.
I contacted Kathleen via PM and discussed the situation at length. Kathleen directed me to Jess who works the Customer Service department. When I called and talked to Jess, she already received the PMs and photos I sent to Kathleen and already was aware of the problem and she had me sent the backplate with harness & wings to her for evaluation.
I initially thought that maybe there was a burr along the edge of the backplate that caused the tear. I did find a burr but it was on the side that doesn't make contact with the wings.
Anyway, I kind of had a feeling that the Venture 360's leakage was caused by me because in my haste to move from one house to another, I crammed the BC in my overstuffed gear bag along with all the other dive gears. The 30-lbs wing's leakage was probably caused by a handler that works for a transport company which ferries gears back and forth from Casino Point dive site to the dock at Catalina Island. That was the only time that the BC was out of my sight. The leak was found when I was cleaning my gear that particular night.
Since that the two wings developed holes in two separate areas, it's pretty obvious that equipment defect isn't the case.
So, where does the kudos for Dive Rite come from? Well, they didn't fix my wings (replacing the air bladders) for free, BUT it's the next best thing: they're replacing two air bladders for the price of one. And they're going to polish off the burr on the backplate even though it doesn't rub onto the wing.
Anyway, many thanks to Kathleen and Jess for helping me out. This is why I favor Dive Rite for gears. I'm sure that I'm not the only customer who had screwed up his gear and needed repair/replacement ASAP, yet Dive Rite handled my problem within less than half a week. I can't ask for better customer service than that.
Oh yeah, as a bonus, while I was talking with Jess on the phone about the state of the wings, I was making some remarks about how the Transpac doesn't quite "feel" right on my back. Gave her some descriptions of my annoyances and she in turn gave me some tuning tips to try out. So, the DR girls are not just pretty faces but active divers who know their products inside and out. When you talk to them, you don't get the "I gotta check with the expert" run around. They are the experts.
Kathleen, why don't you and Jess tell Lamar that he's been working the both of you too damn hard and you both need to do some PR work out in California as a "working" vacation? I'd love to take you two out to the oil rigs for some good old fashion blue water diving.
