i have been shooting underwater stills for about 20 years and after experimenting shooting video on a dslr i decided to make the switch to an hd video camera and housing. so i purchased a new video housing and hd camera to take on a five month trip to film whale sharks in honduras (utila), followed by a two month trip to ecuador (galapagos liveaboard and isla de la plata).
i headed off with my new equipment, amazed at the opportunity of the year ahead of me. the housing leaked at 40 feet on its first use in honduras, a small slow leak but one which made it impossible to use the housing. five months of seeing whale sharks every other day and not a second of hd footage shot.
i returned to the states sent the housing back to the manufacturer and in tens days it was shipped back to me “repaired” and ready for my trip to ecuador.
on the first dive in ecuador the “repaired” housing leaked again, this time at 30 feet but now it was no longer a small leak, this time it flooded in, filling the housing. my video camera was ruined in a matter of seconds. now i’m in the galapagos followed by a month as a volunteer on a giant manta research project at isla de la plata and yet again not a second of footage and a ruined video camera.
in both honduras and ecuador i had pro cameramen look at the housing and in both instances the consensus was that there was no problem with the o rings but the latches that secured the back of the housing didn’t seem to be pulling tight enough to create a water tight seal.
i emailed the manufacturer from ecuador but received no reply.
as soon as i returned to the u.s. i sent it back to the maker and demanded a refund. after a month and several unanswered emails they finally got back to me saying that they would not issue a refund, the housing was fine. despite “repairing” the housing after its first use, the maker claims none of their housings have ever flooded due to maker error, implying it must be my fault.
it seems to me my housing was a manufacturing LEMON, it has never been water tight, not even after being repaired and i have never been able to use it for its intended purpose, to shoot video!
i’ve never asked the maker to pay for my ruined camera or to compensate me for the tens of thousands of dollars i spent to go on trips which were specifically to shoot underwater video. they seem to think that they should send me the housing back and i should just buy another video camera and try using the housing again.
what a great position for a manufacturer, deny all fault and blame the customer for any problems with their product.
to be clear, this is not about money, its about principals.
if a product is sold and never functions for its stated purpose, is “repaired” but continues to be faulty, shouldn’t the customer be refunded their money?
