third-coast-dive
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Two and a half weeks ago I dropped $4000.00 USD cash at my local shop, same shop I took my PADI OW, Enriched Air, and Advanced OW. Of this $3000.00 was Oceanic Gear. Wetsuit, BC, Delta4 Reg, Proplus2 computer, Air XS, mask, fins, boots, gear bags, computer interface cable, etc. I would think that this was a nice sale for both the dive shop, and Oceanic. On the third dive with the Delta4 reg, the purge valve failed, lucky for me it was 70 deg. freshwater, and I was only at 20 feet or so. I was on a sponsored trip with the dive shop, so I showed the reg to the owner of the shop, he was not concerned in the slightest, this finished my dive trip (about 500 miles round trip) I was mad enough to call Oceanic the following day, and I inquired into some history of this gear. I wanted to be comfortable with the equipment or it is worthless to me. I finally got the Customer Service Manager on the phone after 30 minutes of the service tech jerking me around. We settled on me taking the gear to another local Oceanic shop for inspection. While at this shop, I was told that they would replace the reg, and the dive computer that appeared to have been pried open at one time. I felt that this was an appropriate solution. The following day, they had changed stories after the Customer Service Manager spoke with the shop that sold me the equipment. They would send a call ticket to have the reg and computer sent in UPS 3-day, (I purchased the equipment with 2 day air shipment) What really pissed me off was the tone he took with me, and he told me that I was inexperienced and had caused the reg malfunction myself, and that there was nothing wrong with the equipment as it was brand new. They will not honor the 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so I am stuck. I wish I had purchased a different brand. I am sure that other manufacturers would stand behind what they sell. Too bad I paid in cash (because the dive shop offered me a better price for cash, gee I wonder why?) or I would stop payment, and see if that would get some attention. Funny thing is my girlfriend is now in class to get certified, and we were picking out an Oceanic setup for her!, You can bet that will not be happening. I am at the point where I could have saved a thousand dollars or so if I bought off the internet, from a non-authorized dealer, and would have received the same level of support, or maybe even better. So I will hang the reg and computer on the wall to remind me of the $1500.00 hit I just took. I am not the kind of person that can sell this to someone else, and I will not risk my life by using it. Beware!