Complains about Mares Ariel BCD and MRS System

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Well lets hope the Chime in soon.....If I sold Mares I would send you some weight pockets...Sorry.....Im sure they will make it right....Lets just hope they read their forum

 

[CODMAN]

I agree! Distributors usually have a well established area and I'm sure it's not for Mares USA to intervene into something going on in Europe (which is too bad, knowing how Phil and Zak give great customer support here ).

This said, if I might give a bit of advice (or my oppinion)... I believe it should be the store you bought it from that should be fighting with Mares for them to warranty this. Obviously, this has happened before and you did not attack it with a screw driver (no comment on this remark they made...). Your first line of defence should be hassling the store again to push Mares to warranty it. Let them know you know it has happened before to others and that the screw driver bit is just... well you know...:no If the shop still insists they won't do anything for you, make sure you tell them you'll be taking your business elsewhere from now on... and move to tactic number 2... Contacting your local Mares distributor directly and try dealing with them. You never really know exactly how the dive shop pleaded the case to the distributor. Tell them the same things how this is not normal... How you were not satisfied with the customer support given to you by the dive shop. Who knows, it might work...

When dealing with this, be firm... but BE POLITE!!! Believe me, when dealing with warranty questions, especially ones that are past the official warranty period, mouthing off gets you nowhere quick!

If all this fails, I'm pretty sure the pocket could be fixed by putting in a new PoP rivet. Although, I do agree you shouldn't have to fix this in the first place...

Not sure could Zak on the board help as hes associated presumably with Mares America and not Europe

I hope you can get this fixed up! Good luck!

 

[murrayp4]

Thanks Codman. According to the Mares site the international warranty on the gear is 2 years. Its got to the stage that scubastore are now ignoring my emails
Heres a copy of the mail that I've sent four times

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Hi Maria,
Thanks for getting back to me. I'm afraid the opinion of the Mares technician in not correct. The part broke while taking weights out after a dive on 10-06-07. I can think of no reason why anyone would want to use a screwdriver or similar on the pocket?? Most of my gear is Mares (suit, bcd, regs, fins etc.) and I must say I am disappointed the response of Mares. As a loyal scubastore customer (I have made many purchases and have recommended you to friends) I hope you can further my case with Mares. I can post the broken pocket to you if you wish for your inspection.

Regards,


P. Murray

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They have chosen to ignore me and as they are an online retailer based in spain, I can't storm into the shop doing the disgruntled customer act.
I dunno... does it seem fair to approach a mares dealer here in Ireland with the problem?

 

[CODMAN]

Personally, I would say yes Murray! Especially if they are (were) still under warranty (2 years). Contact Mares directly and tell them in detail everything, including the poor service from scubastore. Be patient with them as this is your first dealings directly with them and you don't know exactly what scubastore might have told them.

Good luck!

 

[Zak OHara]

We have discussed this issue with the Mares distributor in Spain, and they are going to further review this. While I don't have a definitive answer now, I am certain they will come to a satisfactory resolution. I will update you re: any future correspondence I receive.

Sincerely,

 

[Phil Mintz]

I have spoken with Marc, my counterpart for Spain. He is now aware of the issue and will take care of it for the customer and Scubastore (who is a reputable dealer).

Unfortunatly, we all know that sometimes a comment does not read the way it is intended. When it is informal between two who know each other, is sent in an email and then ends up on a public forum it sounds/reads in an off base way. This should not have happened this way.

Phil

 

[murrayp4]

Zak and Phil, thanks very much, you may have just restored my faith in Mares.
I will PM you both the details of my order from scubastore just so they know who and what the complaint refers to.
As a matter of interest, have you seen this potentialy dangerous fault before?


I'll let you all know how the situation is resolved...

 

[CODMAN]

There is also the "translation" factor which can cause confusion misinterpretation/ misunderstandings when dealing with other countries. Nevertheless, it's great to see they will be taking care of the customer!!

Murray, do you really consider 1 out of 4 rivets coming appart during a dive a potentially dangerous event? Personally, I don't, since there are 3 more doing their job at keeping the weights in... Now if you were to keep on using the weight pocket with 1 rivet missing... That would be dangerous in my oppinion...

Personally, I take great care in handling my weight pockets when they are heavily loaded. And Lord knows, here in 45ºF with 14mm of wetsuit, they are heavily loaded!!!!!

Cheers!!

 

[murrayp4]

Murray, do you really consider 1 out of 4 rivets coming appart during a dive a potentially dangerous event? Personally, I don't, since there are 3 more doing their job at keeping the weights in... Now if you were to keep on using the weight pocket with 1 rivet missing... That would be dangerous in my oppinion...


Cheers!!

Potentially dangerous.
1 rivet goes pop while all 4 are carrying the load. So there is a flaw with the rivet(s)
Now we have 3 possibly flawed rivets (they came from the same batch I presume) carrying the same load. Worst case, you unexpectedly drop half your lead at 100ft, leading to obvious problems

 

[CODMAN]

I understand what you mean. But my take on this (and obviously, take it for what it's worth) is that the rivet probably let go/ got damaged while out of the BC (correct me if I'm wrong). Once in the pocket of the vest, the MRS gets extra lateral support from the vest material and the load on the rivets is probably much lower (at least that is what I suspect from seeing how mine react). I don't think the 4 rivets are going to let go all at the same time, dropping the lead. You should have time to spot this faulty rivet during an equipement inspection before the whole system gives away... If you inspect your gear regularly, you should notice that 1 rivet... and fix it or call off the dive (not cool, but certainly the best decision). Anyways, this is definetly something to keep an eye on. And just to share, I've always handled my MRS pockets by holding on to the actual "sac" and not the plastic plate. Probably just a reflex (they are really very loaded when diving up here), but that will definetly reduce the load on the rivets.

Just my 0.02$ (hey, with the new exchange rates, that amounts to about 0.021$ US$)

Cheers!