Is Whites Treating Me Right... Or Not???

[Rick Inman]

I bought a Whites dry suit, new, from my LDS about 4 months and 50 dives ago. I take perfect care of it – rinsing, waxing the zipper every new dive day, laying it out flat when not in use, heck, I even lay it flat (not rolled into the carrying case) when I transport to and from the dive site.
Anyway, I discovered a zipper issue. I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s when you can easily bend flat the material between two teeth. I found this in one location only on the zipper.
My LDS sent it to Whites, and today Whites called and said, they don’t warrantee the zippers, but that they would split the cost ($300) of a new zipper and only charge me $150.
One side of me says, you’ve got to be kidding? I’ve had the thing less than 6 months, taken perfect care of it and these guys should fix it for me!
The other side says, I should count my $150 blessings. The zipper’s not under warrantee, and they could have charged me the full 300.00.
Which do you think is right???

 

[ScottZeagle]

Rick,

The zipper issue is the hardest to deal with when it comes to drysuits.

I believe you when you say you take "perfect care of it", but understand that nearly EVERYONE who has a problem claims that they take perfect care of their gear.
It is very hard for a manufacturer to pick and choose who to believe, because very few people call and say, "man, I really screwed this thing up - can you help me out? I know there will be a cost involved, and that is fine!"

I don't know which option you should persue, I am only offering a view from the other side...

Good luck!

Scott

 

[Saipanman]

Just taking a flyer on this one, but my vote is "No, White's doesn't seem to be right on this one."

My reasons, and please correct if I'm wrong:

I checked Whites website under warranty here http://www.whitesdiving.com/index.php?id=31 (I don't know if there's more than one "Whites" who sells drysuits, so If I messed this up, please disregard all that follows)

Anyway, on their page, they state that their warrant, assuming its a standard suit, not rental or used for commercial diving (and I assume its not custom, b/c you said you purchased it at the LDS:

All standard Whites dry suits and wet suits are covered by:

a Two Year Warranty offered to the original purchaser on workmanship
a One Year Warranty on materials.
Whites offers a Three Year Warranty to the original purchaser of dry suits that have Whites Seam Fusion Technology or Whites welded tape seams built into their dry suits.
Warranty is limited to the repair or replacement of Whites product at our option.

This doesn't strike me as a "workmanship" issue, so it looks like we're dealing with the 1 year "materials" issue. You purchased it 4 months ago, so you're within the warranty
period as advertized. Their site makes no mention of a zipper exclusion (at least, not one that I saw when skimming their site. Further digging may prove me wrong)

So, it seems to me that Whites should replace this free of charge, and perhaps they will, if you ask nicely, and remind them that their own advertisment (which you would refer to as "Exhibit A" in small claims court) seems not to disclaim zipper coverage

 

[Rick Inman]

I don't know which option you should persue, I am only offering a view from the other side...Scott

That's right. I forgot option #3: Pounding my heads against the wall and saying, "I should have bought a Zeagle...I should have bought a Zeagle..."

 

[jepuskar]

If Sai is right, then you have yourself an argument. I'm curious as to what DUI's stance is on this. Have you done any comparisons?

As a soon to be new drysuit diver, the manufacturers warranty should be something to take into consideration when purchasing a new drysuit....ummm, guess I'll wait for my next drysuit.

 

[Gary D.]

I bought a Whites dry suit, new, from my LDS about 4 months and 50 dives ago. I take perfect care of it – rinsing, waxing the zipper every new dive day, laying it out flat when not in use, heck, I even lay it flat (not rolled into the carrying case) when I transport to and from the dive site.
Anyway, I discovered a zipper issue. I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s when you can easily bend flat the material between two teeth. I found this in one location only on the zipper.
My LDS sent it to Whites, and today Whites called and said, they don’t warrantee the zippers, but that they would split the cost ($300) of a new zipper and only charge me $150.
One side of me says, you’ve got to be kidding? I’ve had the thing less than 6 months, taken perfect care of it and these guys should fix it for me!
The other side says, I should count my $150 blessings. The zipper’s not under warrantee, and they could have charged me the full 300.00.
Which do you think is right???

Rick, DO NOT DROP THE SOAP!!!!!

A zipper should only run around $180.00 from the mfg.. So I guess $150 is a deal, not!!!

Fight them on it. You can tell if a soft spot is from abuse or a defect. Bring it over and I'll look at it.

Gary D.

 

[ScottZeagle]

That's right. I forgot option #3: Pounding my heads against the wall and saying, "I should have bought a Zeagle...I should have bought a Zeagle..."

Nah, that is not at all what I was trying to say. White's has some really good suits!!!!

I will be at work in an hour - I will letyou know exactly what we charge to change a zipper - for comparison.

Scott

 

[ScottZeagle]

Wellllllllllllllll.......

Our MSRP for removing and replacing a zipper on a drysuit is $310.

If you simply wanted to buy a zipper and do the work yourself, it would be in the $180 - $200 range.

I am interested in hearing how this all turns out, Rick, so please keep us posted.

Scott

Edit: It took me over an hour, cause I couldn't find this forum!!

 

[hecker-the-wrecker]

Fight it as long as possible, get the suit fixed if you have to pay for it or not. Talk to someone "higher up on the food chain". As a last resort when you pick up the suit (and pay for it) explain that you will be selling it and needed it to be fixed. You will need the money to purchase brand "x" or maybe "z" right scott?

 

[scubamate]

IMO, you don't pay a thing. Call White's, explain the situation as you have here and if you don't get the resolution you expect (repair at no charge), ask for their next in charge, if you don't get the answer, go up again and keep going up until you reach the president. If that doesn't work, tag the suit as a lemon and display it at every dive site you visit with a poster that states your name, the problem and list the names and responses you got from each person, the date you bought the suit and any other pertinent muster.

I bought a Viking several years ago. Two years and about 300 dives later a small leak developed and I couldn't find it to repair so my LDS sent it back to Viking for repair. Less than a week later a box was delivered with a new suit and a note stating that it was a seam that was leaking and was under warranty. That's the way all companies should work.

BTW, a tip of the hat to Zeagle for basically doing the same thing with my Ranger after 8 months of hard use. The BC wasn't replaced but was repaired without question.