Horrible Customer Service Experience

[cool_hardware52]

And some people will complain in a Public Forum just to get free stuff. I am, FTR not saying that is what the OP is doing. I do not think he is. I think he genuinely believes Tobin/DSS were in the wrong. But throwing free stuff to everybody that complains just perpetuates the cycle and guarantees that eveery customer expects the same.

Close, but not exactly why I choose the course I did. I'm not too worried about "every customer" Most folks are pretty reasonable, and few expect freebies. Only a tiny minority are 100% certain of their own infallibility.

We truly want to have happy customers who are having success with DSS gear. That's the key reason I spend as much time as I do helping divers select the right components.

When the gear fits, and is appropriate for their application there is a much better chance they will have success, and enjoy the experience.

OTOH furnishing replacement parts "on demand" to any user who has experienced a failure, without first determining the cause of the failure is highly counterproductive.

This would be true if the problem lay with DSS, or with how the goods are being used. To pick a example at random lets say we got a bad batch of zip ties. Sending out more of these "bad" ties isn't going to make the problem smaller, it's going to make it bigger whether we hand them out for free or not. We would need to recognize the problem, and institute a change, or the problem simply repeats.

The same holds true for "user error" Unless the problem is identified and the user modifies how they use the goods, repeat failure is near certain. Handing out free replacements on demand only makes the problem bigger, not smaller, for the customer and the producer.

Tobin

 

[Rhone Man]

This whole thread comes down to either you believe DSS or the OP. There is no right answer because this is an ethics issue and everyone has a different ethics. This thread will continue as more and more people defend there ethics and what they believe. Leave it alone and move on. Buy from DSS or not that is your decision. The number one marketing for a business is word of mouth.

I have to say, I trawled through 18 pages of this thread, mostly because I couldn't believe that a customer had a serious complaint about DSS service, and also because the OP sounded very genuine and credible. I wanted to see how the story ended...

But at the end of the day, I just find myself thinking: "You know, sometimes weird stuff happens. And once in a while, not very often but just once in a while, weird stuff will happen twice."

 

[gkndivebum]

We of course attempted to resolve the matter privately. It was the OP who choose to "go public"

I've stated this several times already, but once again;

Throwing free parts at the problem would do nothing to solve it if the user is still convinced he is doing nothing wrong.

Th easiest short term solution would be to provide repairs and replacement parts free of charge, but that is almost certainly to lead to future problems for the customer.

True customer service IMO is actually solving the problem long term, so the customer is not repeatedly without operable gear.

All wings are subject to damage if mishandled, this thread alone has seen multiple divers report multiple similar problems with wings from multiple manufacturers.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

Handing out free bladders over and over with no change in how they are being used is insanity.

Tobin

Your goals, though admirable don't line up with the customers goals. They (customers) don't give a rats a$$ about long term solutions, for the most part they care about immediate gratification especially if they feel (rightly or not) that they have been short changed some how. [...]

I have no dog in this fight, but I feel inclined to point out that when I contacted Tobin (by email) about a failure of one of my Sierra lithium batteries my phone rang within minutes with specific suggestions about what to check and how to go about doing it. For myself, I was concerned that it was something in my care and feeding of that battery pack which had caused the failure.

For this customer long-term solutions matter. If there was something that I did to cause the failure I wanted to know about it and know how to prevent it from happening again.

And, BTW, I had a brand-new pack within 2 days. Impressive, given that I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific and shipping these things around is not easy given that they're considered hazmat.

Customer service also includes customer education, if necessary. Just my not-quite-humble opinion.

Oh, and regarding the bladders: My vote would be the TSA rummaging around in your luggage and dropping something on it. Those monkeys have a special talent for destroying dive gear.

 

[Splitlip]

Well..that tears it for me. (I crack me up)
That is a pinch flat occuring exactly where we would expect it. Not a manufacturing deffect.

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/500/medium/P10102261.JPG

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/500/medium/P10102271.JPG

The impact damage is easily seen just below the lower left corner of the plate. This is typical damage of the damage done if the plate is dropped vertically and the lower corner of the wing wraps back under the plate. Also possible if the "rig" is jammed into a tank holder on a boat.

This just doesn't happen when packed in a box during UPS shipments. It doesn't happen in a suit case, unless perhaps the wing was wrapped around a back plate. It happens when a back plate is dropped vertically on the wing.

We usually cut out the a section of the damaged bladder and return it with the repaired wing to the customer so they can see what happened.

In this case the OP demanded we return the wing without repairing it, so we documented it with photographs before we returned it.

Tobin

 

[ScubaSteve]

Oh, and regarding the bladders: My vote would be the TSA rummaging around in your luggage and dropping something on it. Those monkeys have a special talent for destroying dive gear.

This I could easily go along with in general terms. Twice I have had my dive bag completely turned upside down by TSA and "care" is not in their vocabulary. Maybe (or not) specifically in this case.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Splitlip]

I doubt the damage was done in a suitcase. I say boat bench.

I can drop my BPW's all day long, won't get a pinch flat. I always keep the wings partially inflated. What does concern me more is damage to the OPV/fitting when a friendly deck hand tries to seat me with my tank in a PVC boot. With my 18 # wing, the plate almost contacts the OPV.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I doubt the damage was done in a suitcase. I say boat bench.

I can drop my BPW's all day long, won't get a pinch flat. I always keep the wings partially inflated. What does concern me more is damage to the OPV/fitting when a friendly deck hand tries to seat me with my tank in a PVC boot. With my 18 # wing, the plate almost contacts the OPV.

Pinches occur when the wing gets caught between two hard objects. It's pretty clear that one of the two "hard objects" in this case was the back plate. The location and shape of the damage is consistent with the edge of the plate.

Unless the wing was wrapped around the back plate and placed in the bottom a duffle bag I too doubt the damage seen was suffered in transport.

Tank holder on a boat? Sure that could do it, but so can dropping the plate vertically onto the lower corner of the wing. Imagine holding just your plate by one upper corner (or one shoulder strap) 6-8 inches above your bare big toe and then dropping it.

Tobin

 

[Splitlip]

I won't argue.

 

[Pullmyfinger]

I doubt the damage was done in a suitcase. I say boat bench.

I can drop my BPW's all day long, won't get a pinch flat. I always keep the wings partially inflated. What does concern me more is damage to the OPV/fitting when a friendly deck hand tries to seat me with my tank in a PVC boot. With my 18 # wing, the plate almost contacts the OPV.

Right on!
That's some sage advice.

 

[ScubaDocER]

Pinches occur when the wing gets caught between two hard objects. It's pretty clear that one of the two "hard objects" in this case was the back plate. The location and shape of the damage is consistent with the edge of the plate.

Unless the wing was wrapped around the back plate and placed in the bottom a duffle bag I too doubt the damage seen was suffered in transport.

Tank holder on a boat? Sure that could do it, but so can dropping the plate vertically onto the lower corner of the wing. Imagine holding just your plate by one upper corner (or one shoulder strap) 6-8 inches above your bare big toe and then dropping it.

Tobin

I fail to see how this is clear at all. I can appreciate that that is an educated assumption, but not clear. There was damage to the bladder. That much I think is agreed upon. The issue to me is that it is not clear when or how the damage occurred. I know what I did with the wing. I have described it earlier. Merely placing the wing on the tank should not "pinch" the bladder. That is the extent of its contact with anything solid. The assumptions you have made are not indeed facts.