Amphibico Failures & Customer Service

[BCS]

I am having a bit of trouble w/dealing with Amphibico's customer service on a problem (electronic controls failed) w/a 5 month old housing and was curious if anyone else had ever experienced any electronic issues and had to deal w/thier customer service department.
So far, this is going to cost me ~$500USD to have it fixed and shipped back to me. they charge $100 per hr. labor...does that sound right??
I know in the past I recommended the housing, but given the customer service and warranty issues I am experiencing, I really hope noone else has had to deal with this problem.
I would be interested to hear if this is the norm or am I getting poor treatment from this company?
Thanks for any help gang!

Best,
brandon

 

[sharksdelight]

While I am not an Amphibico user, I have heard several stories of less than stellar performance about their customer service dept. What I find puzzling is that your housing is only 5 months old.....shouldn't it be covered under warranty? That is unless it was a non warranty issue like dropping it on the cement curb or something.
Steve:14:

 

[seamonster01]

I have used an amphibco for the last three years,(after finding an old TR101 at a garage sale)on occasion I have e-mailed them various questions.
I called a sales rep.in the procces of deciding to upgrade.A good experince there too.
Last week I recived my new housing, and had reason to call their service dept. for some for some basic figuring it out stuff. They seemed a little confused (or I couldnt explain it right) but once I got the right guy he knew exatly what my concern was and was very helpful. But this was of course not a major repair issue.
I am very satisifed with amphibico-for now

 

[BCS]

While I am not an Amphibico user, I have heard several stories of less than stellar performance about their customer service dept. What I find puzzling is that your housing is only 5 months old.....shouldn't it be covered under warranty? That is unless it was a non warranty issue like dropping it on the cement curb or something.
Steve:14:

No, I haven't done a thing to it....I was 20 minutes into the dive when the controls started acting weird....couldn't get it to record, then the White Balance stopped working, etc....I thought it was the camera at first.
I had heard good things about the product as far as the image it produces....and it has produced stellar images. But the fact that it crapped out on me after ~20 minutes into the dive and it is only 5 months old was a bit troubling. I understand that nothing is perfect, but when I saw that they are NOT honoring the warranty and are charging me a $100/hr labor rate and for a grip at $345 USD, I was a bit surprised. Amphibico makes premium equipment (or so I thought) and charges a premium price, but I am certainly not rec'ving premium treatment.
Take a look at Light & Motion's warranty vs. Amphibico's if you are ever in the market for a housing....I should have and after owning at least a half dozen housings I really should have looked into how they stand by their products a bit better.
That's just part of it though, I just haven't had a good experience w/their customer service dept. and they certainly don't use the "customer is always right" motto.
My wife ran customer service for UPS International from HQ in Greenwich a while back, so she has a ton of experience running/providing customer service and her take is that these guys aren't really thinking things through too well in regard to standing behind their products and keeping a customer. I won't go into the e-mail exchanges I have had, but suffice it to say, if I was President of Amphibico I would have a serious talk w/the customer service rep regarding manners and treatment of customers. From using excessive exclaimation marks when answering questions to seemingly purposely spelling my name wrong (after 4 e-mails you'd think he'd get it right), the appearance they give is as if the company could care less about the customer's satisfaction as long as they have the money. I know it sounds a bit picky, but I think these little things should go w/o saying when dealing w/customers that spend thousands of $$ on a piece of gear and have it crap out after a few months.
Oh well.....chalk it up to experience.

Best Regards,
brando

 

[alcina]

Hmmm, I deal directly with Amphibico in Canada and have never had a problem with their customer service.

I had some bad handles a couple of years ago and things were dealt with quickly, professionally and with a friendly demeanour.

I have several Amphibico housings and love them.

FWIW it's not the housing that will produce stellar images, its the camera and the shooter

I can't comment on the handles too much but they are relatively expensive to replace. Those wires are fairly fragile and you really do need to take a lot of care as it won't take too much to break one and make everything wonky. It's the downside to electronic housings. So saying, I run mine out through hire and daily during our peak season and bar one strange year, haven't had problems. Been using Amphibico since about 1996.

 

[BCS]

Hmmm, I deal directly with Amphibico in Canada and have never had a problem with their customer service.

I had some bad handles a couple of years ago and things were dealt with quickly, professionally and with a friendly demeanour.

I have several Amphibico housings and love them.

FWIW it's not the housing that will produce stellar images, its the camera and the shooter

I can't comment on the handles too much but they are relatively expensive to replace. Those wires are fairly fragile and you really do need to take a lot of care as it won't take too much to break one and make everything wonky. It's the downside to electronic housings. So saying, I run mine out through hire and daily during our peak season and bar one strange year, haven't had problems. Been using Amphibico since about 1996.

Hmmm....maybe they just don't like us Americans!...
I just find it unusual given the competition like Light & Motion's warranty on the same type of equipment vs. Amphibico's which they can seemingly just choose to deny the warranty at thier discretion. My handle is fully intact and was not dropped or mishandled....as a matter of fact the camera just stopped functioning correctly 20 minutes into the dive.
As far as images....I'm mostly talking about the lens and the ability to use WB controls. You're right though, the shooter and the camera are critical, but compared to the other housings I've used, I was really happy w/this housing's performance as far as ease of use and balance/weighting etc...it's a disappointment to experience the issues I have been dealing with from them w/customer service.
Thanks for the reply, I am mostly just trying to see of this is the norm or is it just me that is rec'ving this kind of customer service.

Best,
b.

 

[alcina]

I am American

 

[BCS]

Wow!!
Not sure why (because I never replied to the e-mail billing me for nearly $500 except to ok charge to my cc) but I rec'd a nice e-mail this a.m. explaining that they "revised" things and my grip is in fact, covered under warranty and I will only be charged shipping!
So I am a satisfied customer now, I wish it would have been a bit more friendly right from the start, but I did want folks to know that Amphibico did finally step up and take care of this under the warranty.

Best Regards,
brando

 

[ronrosa]

Good. Glad to hear they are making things right.

 

[sharksdelight]

That's great, maybe they had a spy watching this forum and realized the bad press that can get around. Never the less, I think I will stick to Gates housings and their excellent service and products.-Steve:14: