What TICKS ME OFF about Equipment Manufacturers...

[Drewski]

...is certainly NOT what this thread is about!

Ya know, we often write posts about what's WRONG with the gear we buy instead of what was done RIGHT. For all of you out there who have lost faith in gear manufacturers, please read my little story.

I'm not a big time camera dude for Discovery Channel Communications. I never shot a single episode of Deep Sea Detectives. Heck, I don't even think I'm that good a videographer (YET!). But, I sure got treated like one. About 8 months ago, I purchased an underwater video monitor for my housing. You really can't shoot good video without one. Everything worked fine until one day I somehow flooded it. Sent it back, got it fixed in a week, started using it again.

This coming weekend, I'm planning on diving a wreck I've wanted to do video of for quite awhile. It sits in 160 FT of water off Hatteras Island, NC. LAST weekend, I added lights to my rig and needed to test them. Took my rig 35 miles off Virginia Beach on a test dive, got to the bottom and BAM, no picture on the video monitor. Lights swinging on the arms all over the place. Damn it Jim! Got back to the dock, suitably humbled, tried to figure what went wrong with the monitor. Tested it on another camera, changed the battery pack, metered the battery pack, did everything. Still no picture. Like I said, I'm not a camera dude for the Discovery Channel.

Picked up the phone on Monday morning. Called Gates Underwater Housings in California. Spoke to the person who helps imbeciles like me, a VERY nice lady by the name of Pam. Described the problem. Said I needed my video monitor back no later than noon on Friday so I could film sharks on Saturday. Pam guides me through a quick diagnostic (no luck) then gives me a FedEx account number. Says box it and ship it to us express overnight. I drop off at FedEx Monday night, 5 PM.

Wednesday morning at 10 AM (less than 48 HRS later), FedEx delivers a package to my Washington, DC office. Opening it, I find my completely repaired Gates Underwater Video Monitor. Not believing my eyes, I wait the hour for the time to catch up and call Pam at Gates in California. The problem? Battery pack got too hot and overloaded the electronics board. Complete replacement of the guts.

So, let's see. Overnight FedEx from Virginia Beach to California and back, Monday night to Wednesday morning. Repaired the equipment on Tuesday.

How much?

$0.00 - that's right, $0.00 !!!

Very few companies I've EVER encountered can even come close to this level of customer commitment or service, especially for a shlep like me, LOL.

I'm now a Gates customer for life...

Well done, Pam, WELL DONE !!!

Andy

[vladimir]

Hopefully your post will help bring in some customers they can make a profit on.

[Drewski]

Well, anything you buy that has the words "camera" or "video" and "underwater" all in the same description is hardly ever cheap.

BUT, like other high quality equipment manufacturers, you get what you pay for. And, from what I've experienced with Gates, you get a LOT.

With the diving I do, quality and dependability is more important than price. When you combine that with outstanding customer service, it will keep people coming back.

AND, for the local dive shop, there's a LESSON to be learned here. If more LDS's could just learn to deliver OUTSTANDING customer service, they'd find they'd have a MUCH easier time competing with Internet shops. Why?

Well, here's my take. Customers aren't attracted to purchasing diving equipment just because of price. Instead, they walk in an LDS, look around, and in many cases aren't treated that great. You see it again and again in posts on this board. So, they probably figure, WT-F? Why NOT buy from the Internet if I get treated like this? At least I'll get to save the money up front.

Look, sustainable sales are all about RELATIONSHIP, especially in diving. I'm not worried about the initial sale. I want the sales at year 2, 5 and 10. Multiply that by thousands of people and you stay in business...

Just a thought...

Andy