Disappointed in Aeris service

[TechDeep]

I would return to your retailer of purchase and explain your situation. Often all it will take is a call from them for you to get satisfaction.

This should not be an absolute requirement to get attention to an issue for a device which could be considered life support. People move away from their dive shops (my situation). And dive shops go out of business every day.

 

[Some X Dry]

Good idea, Some X Dry. In fact, that's what I did. They issued me a return and handled the process entirely themselves. And as I mentioned in my letter to Aeris, I let my retailer also know of my displeasure as well.

The problem could perhaps have been humid conditions. I did take pains to towel dry after rinsing, and then kept the computer away from items that might absorb water. However, I'm in Florida and even with the A/C running, we do get humidity. If that were the case, wouldn't that have just necessitated replacing the battery instead of the whole device? Heck, I'd have gladly paid the cost to do that. In retrospect, I wish I'd just assumed it was truly a weak battery and simply requested a swap.

Even here in FL if the CP is left out it should air dry enough to go asleep. Mine stays in my glove box overnight then back into its pelican case the next day.

Was your retailer on-line or LDS? I will and would never do a high dollar purchase with an on-line retailer. (Except for the local Cave Community On-line Shops) These people care about their reputations. And I can meet them in person if I choose.

I agree, it would make sense for them to just replace the battery if that were just the issue. If the CP is like my Elite T3 they should not have had to take the CP out of its wrist band to replace the battery. My assumption is they tested it and found re-placing it with a CP that they knew worked correctly was the better option. However, that is also assuming the CP ever really went back to Aeris. 2 month turn around is a long time. My longest wait was 2-weeks. If it were an on-line retailer, I would not be surprised if it never really went to Aeris. Rather re-placed by the retailer. Did the replacement come with a warranty?

 

[Some X Dry]

This should not be an absolute requirement to get attention to an issue for a device which could be considered life support. People move away from their dive shops (my situation). And dive shops go out of business every day.

IMO direct face to face purchases of high dollar warrantied equipment from a well established LDS will more times than not result in better service all around.

Short of a primary CCR CP, I would suggest honing one's skills to the point that a CP is not considered a life support device.

 

[TechDeep]

IMO direct face to face purchases of high dollar warrantied equipment from a well established LDS will more times than not result in better service all around.

Short of a primary CCR CP, I would suggest honing one's skills to the point that a CP is not considered a life support device.

Yes after I posted that I realized that I chose poor wording, but I think most readers are able to get the point I was trying to make without taking it so literally. And I would jump at the chance to go diving with you today if possible so that you might have an opportunity to advance my skills, or vise versa!

Look, I was as big a fan (maybe bigger) of Aeris/Oceanic as you are, until my compumask flodded in the middle of a dive. It wasn't just that event that shoved me off the bandwagon, it was the way they chose to handle it. Further reading and a dive duddy's experience told me that they had a flooding issue with the early compumasks. However, when I contacted Aeris support, they did not want to investigate at all if mine was one of those masks which I thought would have been reasonable given that my mask did flood through absolutely no fault of mine. But no, it was out of warranty, (1 month) and if I wanted a remanufactured replacement, I was going to have to pay. Case closed.

In the interest of full disclosure I did get a PM from Doug Krause. He indicated that I had a right to post about my experiences with Aeris, he simply asked that I also post that I did not keep my receipt for 2 years. So, I would like to disclose that I did not keep my receipt, and apparently they do require a receipt for warranty service. However I would add that I did register my mask on the equipment locker of their web site, and that was how I knew it was only 1 month out of warranty.

Normally, when you register a piece of equipment with the manufacturer, this precludes any need to keep a receipt for 2 years, which in my opinion is unreasonable anyway. But in this case, I'm not sure why Aeris gives us the opportunity to register our equipment with them. I can only speculate, but perhaps it's only to make us targets for future marketing? I really don't know, but no matter. I would just again like to make it known to all that I did not keep my receipt, and that is why I had to pay.

 

[amw5g]

I called and was told that the service I received is standard procedure. They said that in the future I could specify that I am willing to wait 90 days for them to do the full service on them. And that in order to give customers faster replies, they pluck one from a box of returns and send that as a replacement. Had I known that I needed to request my own device back, I would have done so.

 

[Some X Dry]

I called and was told that the service I received is standard procedure. They said that in the future I could specify that I am willing to wait 90 days for them to do the full service on them. And that in order to give customers faster replies, they pluck one from a box of returns and send that as a replacement. Had I known that I needed to request my own device back, I would have done so.

OK.. SOP

I would add, that had the CP been purchased as "New" chances are they would have re-placed it with new. Even with over a 100 dives logged. Under Warranty of course. As they did with me. To bad your retailer was unable or unwilling to help educate you on the warranty specifics with their vendor. Buyer beware..

Now being educated your future purchases and warranty issues will be tempered more with knowledge than expectations. Lessons the emotional response.. Dive and enjoy the crap out of the thing. You should still get your moneys worth out of it. Take Care..

 

[Superlyte27]

I've been dealing with this corporation for years, this seems out of the ordinary, and the question in my mind is.... did you get hosed by aeris, or did you get hosed by the LDS.

I'm an Oceanic retailer. When Oceanic ships a replacement, it looks and functions flawlessly. You cannot distinguish it from new.

This sounds to me like your LDS did the flip flop, not AERIS

 

[amw5g]

I've been dealing with this corporation for years, this seems out of the ordinary, and the question in my mind is.... did you get hosed by aeris, or did you get hosed by the LDS.

I'm an Oceanic retailer. When Oceanic ships a replacement, it looks and functions flawlessly. You cannot distinguish it from new.

This sounds to me like your LDS did the flip flop, not AERIS

Perhaps, I couldn't really know. I will say that as I repeatedly kept tabs on the situation with the retailer, multiple service reps would have had to perpetuate the lie to me through several updates. And given what Aeris told me on the phone today (see a few posts prior), I'm more inclined to believe Aeris did exactly what they say they did: swapped used for used without consideration for different grades of "used".

I think at this point, this particular issue has become moot, and I'll just move on. I've learned some lessons- mainly about the manufacturers I don't trust, but also about the retail model for dive gear (new & used).

 

[redacted]

I think at this point, this particular issue has become moot, and I'll just move on. I've learned some lessons- mainly about the manufacturers I don't trust, but also about the retail model for dive gear (new & used).

Don't forget the lesson on user replaceable batteries.

 

[amw5g]

Don't forget the lesson on user replaceable batteries.

Could you expand on this? The Manta has user-replaceable batteries. However, the Low Battery warning, as has been posted on numerous other threads, isn't always a sign of a true battery problem; especially since the computer had been in use ~6 months with approximately 25 dives. This indicated to me a higher probability of device failure than simply an exhausted battery. Had it been 2 years and 100 dives, I most certainly would have just done a battery replacement and been on my way.