Kudos to Salvo Diving for Dive Light repair; Thumbs down to Halcyon warranty policy!

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wb416:
A couple of months ago Penny picked up a nice dive light from a friend of mine in Indiana. He was forced into a dive hiatus by sinus issues and a newly expected addition that would be joining his family, so he was liquidating much of his dive gear.

He'd only owned the dive light for a few months with a single digit amount of dives on it. The light is a Halcyon 18W 9ah HID. When Penny dove the light for the first time, she found about an inch of water a few days later in the bottom of the canister. Sometimes this happens if the O-ring on the canister isn't lubed lightly or perhaps has grit preventing it from sealing. Unfortunately, the battery had sat in the water for a few days. Grimacing, I advised her to dry it out and later try to charge it anyways (I'd had this happen on a 10W HID a couple of years early and the battery was toast.) Luckily, the battery took a charge and she awaited the next chance to try it.

The following week, I met Penny again for diving, and after looking over the light carefully during assembly, she dove with it. The same thing resulted. She opened the light canister shortly after the dive, and there was about an inch of water that poured out of the bottom. Ugh!!! There was something else wrong that wasn't immediately apparent. It could be things like "light switch boot" torn, or poor "gland seal" on the light cord going into the battery pack.

I took her light home and looked it over. When I decided to cut open the plastic on the bottom of the battery pack, there was a dismal amount of corrosion that was certain to doom this battery in short order.... dang!! I told her to send it Barry Miller (owner of Salvo Diving) to check it out and see what he could do. (Barry had made me a nice battery for my old 10W a couple of years ago, and had treated me well on other small purchases.)

So... A few weeks ago I'm doing electrical/programming training for some folks at the Jeep plant in Toledo and get a message from Barry at Salvo saying that Penny gave him my number and wanted to discuss her dive light. I called him back on lunch break and he says that the light is practically brand new and he hates to touch it since it should be covered under warranty. I advised him that she was the second owner, and he says "So what? If it was a Salvo light, I'd repair it under warranty no matter how many people owned it!"

So, rather than ship it back, we stopped down at Salvo to pick up the light (before Penny's cave training) and take it over to Halcyon about 1 mile away. Halcyon was closed, but Extreme Exposure next door was open, and they are a duly authorized Halcyon representative and repair coordinator. We told them the situation and they told us that since Penny wasn't the original owner, Halcyon would NOT warranty the work. Trying not to get disgusted, I reiterated that the light was about 4 months old and was only used a handful of times. They said sorry, that's the policy.

Okay... deep breath... how much do you think it will cost to repair and what would you guess is wrong with it. They took some best guesses about the problem (as good as anyone could have done), and also said that the battery would have to be replaced. The battery alone was going to be $400!! Yikes!! (Understand, that this light brand new is just over $1500 and Penny got hers used for around $900. Still, I couldn't help but wonder why I advised Penny not to go with a brand new Salvo light, and instead get this used Halcyon 18W HID instead. Perhaps I thought my experience with my Halcyon 18W HID I bought used a few years ago would mean hers would be positive as well.

So I continued to talk with the folks from EE. So... this looks like it's less than a year old right? Oh, definitely, you can tell by these newer features on it... Okay, is it typical for cords and switch boots to fail with less than a year on them? (The light has very few marks on it from diving) ...well no, it isn't. So... wouldn't it make sense that this would be a warranted item for this and also the battery since it caused it to corrode? Sorry sir... the warranty only applies to the original owner. But maybe you can get a hold of the person in charge of repairs and come up with a special arrangement, or talk the original owner into talking to Halcyon for you. {Deep Sigh} Okay (remaining polite despite being awake for about 36 hours and driving twelve hours to Florida)... thank you very much for your time and for looking at the light.

We walked out of EE/Halcyon and drove the mile back up to Salvo. A few years ago I had to battle tooth and nail for a couple of weeks to get warranty repair done on a 10W light that I WAS the original owner on, so guessing what the end result would be I wasn't about to advise Penny (or anyone else) to spend more time or another dime on Halcyon if this is how their warranty policy was going to be to deal with.

The lady at Salvo was like... uh oh... you guys are back quickly... so I explained the situation and said since Barry had treated us fairly and tried to help us do the right thing, that we'd rather that Salvo, not Halcyon, get the money for the light repair. She told us the battery alone would be around $200-250, but wasn't sure what else Barry might find. So we accepted that, hoping for the best, and Penny went off to do her cave training.

Penny received a call on her second day of training that the light was ready, so while she continued class, I drove back to High Springs (from Luraville) to pick up the light. Barry was there to greet me and explained to me what they'd done. Okay, I'm thinking, what's the damage... cringe... Barry says $150 repair cost, including battery replacement. Huh?!? Well now...this wasn't even his model light, and he was treating us more than fairly. So I asked if they carried Aluminum backplates and harness kits since Penny needed one anyway. Sure, right over here all put together... You can have it for the Sale price too (I think the sale was over in December). Wow.... okay!!

So... as you might understand, even though I've purchased 1000's of dollars of Halcyon product over the years and recommended them to buddies, I may never spend another dime with them again. Between warranty disputes with lights and discussions with the Halcyon personnel (that prompted me to sell my two Halcyon Explorer wings and buy a bright red Oxycheq), I think I'm done. (In fairness to JJ, CEO of Halcyon, he did send me a nice and very well written follow-up email after my discussion with one of his personnel.)

So... if you're looking for unsurpassed service... you may want to consider Salvo as one of your options.

Safe Diving…
Bob Overstreet

BTW... Salvo did an awesome demonstration with their HID canister light head. They joked it was a 'roach-killer' and proceeded to smash it repeatedly on the counter with a great deal of force, then turned the light on. (Don't even think of trying that with any other HID light unless you have a spare bulb!!)


Bob,
Dan just let me know about the thread... Man, I am sorry. This blows my mind. As you could tell from the light, it wasnt used but maybe 5 dives in Blue Spings quarry with only 1 dive to a whopping 50 feet! Dan and I bought both bought one at the same time, so maybe we need to look at his as well? What was the eact problem or did Barry tell you? You should have called me while you were standing in EE and I would have called EE or Halcyon right then myself and we could have got it handled. I could have had the dealer call if need be too. Brando, Scott, Dan, etc all have my number as well if needed. Its not my light anymore and i am kinda pissed over it.
Well, things like this is why I have sent alot of people Barrys way, and when i get back in I will get my stuff from barry for sure. With things like this and all the other BS that has came and went around Halcyon, GUE, etc etc etc..... I am over it all and will definately patronize people like Barry.
While we are on it...what wing plate combo did you go with for her? I have been eying Barrys 2 different brands and wonder how they compare and dive to my old explorer 55...
Sorry again. Let me know if I can help...
 
wb416:
... In fairness to JJ, CEO of Halcyon, he did send me a nice and very well written follow-up email after my discussion with one of his personnel...
So what did JJ's note say? I'm curious. I don't have a dog in this fight, but it would be nice to know what the other owner said.

I am huge on customer service and I am amazed at the stories I hear about H. I would think that someone who expexts excellence in so many facets of diving, especially in his instructors which he pretty much hand picks, would have the same expectations of people selling his gear. Why is there such a disconnect? Anyone?

Chris
 
jrudicel:
Well, things like this is why I have sent alot of people Barrys way, and when i get back in I will get my stuff from barry for sure. With things like this and all the other BS that has came and went around Halcyon, GUE, etc etc etc..... I am over it all and will definately patronize people like Barry.

this has been the trend the last couple of months. people are not stupid and will take their business elswhere. did i forget that customers will always patronize a brand that has good exceptional after sales service? it seems that barry is doing something right. customers like to be treated well long after a sale is made. whoever can fill this need will have repeat customers and damn good product recognizion.
 
I've been waiting 3 or 4 months for some replacement valve stems for one of my older Halcyon manifolds (I dropped a set of doubles and bent a stem).

To make a long story short... 'indefinite backorder'. Hey... I thought that was an OMS deal! Now I can't get Halcyon parts?

Of course, this deal was preceeded by a 6 month-long attempt to get a weighted Halcyon STA shipped... from two different H retailers. What a joke that was!

For the past several years I have started buying most of my stuff from the competition... they're just that good!
 
Stephen Ash:
Of course, this deal was preceeded by a 6 month-long attempt to get a weighted Halcyon STA shipped... from two different H retailers. What a joke that was!

For the past several years I have started buying most of my stuff from the competition... they're just that good!

i guess they werent always like that. just becasue they are growing doesnt mean they can neglect the needs of their customers. that will bite them in the back eventually. good for their competitors
 
It is a typical business behavior..... They are doing business very well and getting fat..
And then, they are spoiled... So, that is the reason why we need an endless competition.

BTW, Bob, did you hear anything about the court case? I hope everthing goes well without any further conflicts...

Princess became a cave diver... Huh... It is an amazing progress in a short period of time.
Congratulation. It was a cave I, wasn't it....
 
Bob,

Glad to hear that you got good service from Salvo, certainly better than H. But I have to wonder when I read your post, if I had paid 900 bucks for a light from a friend and it leaked on the very first dive, I would be asking the friend why they sold me a light that leaks. And, if I were the friend I would have given you your money back.
And the H policy of of only providing warranty service to the original owner is what almost all companies do, so not much surprise there.
But glad to hear about the good experience with Salvo, will make me think about using them nex time.
 
In my experience small businesses tend to have very good customer support because they are run by very few committed people. As they grow, however, they employ more people who have less of a stake in the success and reputation of the business and the service starts to drop. There are exceptions of course, but in general that's how it goes.

Still, I think it's best to contact the owner or higher-ups in charge and they will often sort these things out. Has anyone actually contacted JJ or Halcyon's customer service department to verify that this is in fact their official warranty policy?
 
Jasonmh:
Bob,

Glad to hear that you got good service from Salvo, certainly better than H. But I have to wonder when I read your post, if I had paid 900 bucks for a light from a friend and it leaked on the very first dive, I would be asking the friend why they sold me a light that leaks. And, if I were the friend I would have given you your money back.
And the H policy of of only providing warranty service to the original owner is what almost all companies do, so not much surprise there.
But glad to hear about the good experience with Salvo, will make me think about using them nex time.


Jason
I have been watching this thread for a while now and have since talked to Bob as well. I am the original owner of the light. For what its worth, I bought my light(from a buddy who is a authorized dealer) and a cave buddies light at the same time. My dive buddy can vouch that the light was only dove maybe 5 times in a local quarry with only one dive to a max of 50 feet. This was when I was having sinus troubles etc right before a full cave class that I had to cancel. I sold the light because of some house remodeling and other things I was taking care of, plus I wasnt going to be able to dive for the winter at least, so was sitting out for a while. I knew Bob, and passed on the deal to him rather than lose to someone I didnt know.
Now, in regards to Bob getting ahold of me... I would have gladly handled the problem with H for him, or gave the money back. Fact is, I didnt even know about the trouble until after it was posted here and a buddy told me about it. Bob knows I would have handled it, but he said he was in Florida doing the dives, and needed something handled then to dive and not ruin a trip. Halcyon...EE.... whoever just didnt want to help and wanted to make him jump through hoops etc. Barry definately stepped up and helped out therefore getting a BP/Wing sale, plus will get future business from him and others as a result.
Now for my .02 worth on H and Salvo etc... My first experience with warranty stuff from H was this. I had been diving all H gear (BP,Wing, Pioneer, Scouts, Spools, Reel, Etc) and spent alot on their stuff . I bought my first light a 4.5 Helios and me and my dealer picked it up in High Springs on a cave trip. This has been a few years ago.. Anyway, we take the light back to our lodging after picking up a large order at H, and found the battery pack connector was screwed up. The next morning we took the light back to H and seen if they would replace it or fix it so we could do our dives for the day. They told my dealer and me we had to leave it and get it in a few days...all for a $2.00 anderson connector. We said, well, ok....but do you or EE have a loaner we can use? Nope... Sorry. And by the way,this wasnt Barry we were talking to. During a conversation my dealer had with some people there, we were talking to Dave Sweetin. He offered use of his personal light for a day or two. We picked it up at his house. Dave was great but I was shocked at H's position.
I then kept buying alot of H gear and constantly selling my old stuff and getting new. I went to a Helios 9 (old style) and dove it over a year. No problems at all. Sold it and went to the newest syle helios that has the new reflector, new goodman, new glands and cords etc... and thats the one Bob bought and was junk basically til barry revamped it.
Lastly...my personal opinion is that H stuff is for the most part good quality. Their service and warranty comes and goes, and at times takes forever to get anything from. One guy has good service, then they **** on the next guy. Depends on who they deal with. Add to that all the BS and politics that comes and goes inside GUE and Halcyon etc... thats one reason I sat out for a while. I was burnt out on it all and they all got alot of my money. My fault somewhat for reading alot on the internet too I guess.
I will be buying all new gear soon for this summer, and am wanting to further my cave (am GUE Cave 1 now)...and my tech training as well...but I can tell you that I will more than likely give most or all my business to people like Barry from now on and will pick my training based on the instructor and their methods before i rely solely on the brand name on the card.
Bottom line is that Bobs light got fixed, and Barry is the one that stepped up and now gets all the good feedback for. Keep up the good work Barry..it shows.
 
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