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

[lorien]

As someone who owns their own business I can tell you with 100% confidence that whatever I sell you I will warranty. Whites and your LDS is passing the buck. Before you get too upset with Whites,remember where you bought your suit. All of these calls should be made by your LDS. They should be paying to get the zipper fixed, then they can argue with the manufacturer of any product they want. If your local dive center is in good standing with Whites there should not be a problem. I have had suppliers replace parts that were damaged due to their part exploding and causing the problem.
This is all due to good business practice.
Good Luck

I have to agree here. I know that my LDS would make sure the problem is taken care of regardless even if they had to pay to resolve it. The old LDS's I used to deal with would not have solved the problem so they are no longer the LDS's I deal with Now they get none of my money and my current LDS gets 100%.

 

[carlislere]

Hi, Rick,
You should definitely check into the warranty issue. If they want to back their suits up for dependability, they should replace the zipper for no charge. Otherwise you should question them has to the dependability of their suits.
I also have a Whites. I've had it two years and 50+ dives and I have already had to re-glue the neck and right wrist seal. I am sending it back to Whites after I switch back to a wetsuit for new seals and pressure check. I am going to also argue about warranty.
I will tell them I had a DUI from 1990-2003 and didn't have any problem for the first 8 years. Why didn't I buy another DUI? The LDS where I teach sells Whites. Good luck!

 

[wedivebc]

As someone who owns their own business I can tell you with 100% confidence that whatever I sell you I will warranty. Whites and your LDS is passing the buck. Before you get too upset with Whites,remember where you bought your suit. All of these calls should be made by your LDS. They should be paying to get the zipper fixed, then they can argue with the manufacturer of any product they want. If your local dive center is in good standing with Whites there should not be a problem. I have had suppliers replace parts that were damaged due to their part exploding and causing the problem.
This is all due to good business practice.
Good Luck

I have to agree here. A store owner in good standing with Whites should have more clout than an individual calling them on his own and SHOULD be going to bat for Rick on this issue. I recently had a dive rite HID crap out on me. The dive store where I bought it said "nothing I can do call dive rite" Well what the heck are they there for? I have my own compressor, I have a computer with internet access why do I need a dive store? Service! If the dive store operators are not providing good service to the customers they have no cause to whine when we get our gear online.

Thanks for listening, haven't had my morning coffee yet. :11:

 

[Lead_carrier]

Thanks, i got it.
Someone else PM'd me the VP's extension, Paul-Andre, and I just got off the phone with him.
Very nice man. I stated my case, he stated his (I'll elaborate later). He said he'll check out the suit and get back to me tonight or tomorrow. I'll keep you all posted.

His point is that they don't make the zippers, but they pre-test them before shipping to make sure there is no manufacturer's defect - which is what they warranty. Since they don't make the part, they don't warranty the part.
I said, I don't expect to have to contact all the manufacturer's of all the parts of something I buy to see what they each cover.
Well, we'll see. He seemed like a very reasonable man.

They don't make the zipper so they don't warranty it? Hmmmm, I wonder if they make the glue, stitching thread, etc? Sounds like a major copout to me..

 

[scububa]

...and if you did get a hold of the zipper manufacturer, they would say, "We can't be responsible for how it gets installed."

I agree totally with the comments about how local shops can carp about their business and then they don't offer service or inventory. It kills me to have a shop tell me, "I can order that for you.", I can order it myself, usually quicker, cheaper...and when something breaks, "You'll have to send it to the manufacturer." Usually, it is easier to return a defective product that you mail ordered. I did get most of my gear thru a shop, but they certainly don't treat me like that. But, I don't deal with local bike shops, because I can't find one that doesn't act like that.

 

[Rick Inman]

The VP, Paul-Andre called me today and they are going to pay for the new zipper. The white rubber inlay of a bear in the knee pads has been coming off also, and he said that they would replace the knee pads as well. I told him, I don't care about the knee pads and not to bother, but he pretty much insisted. So they're covering everything, including shipping.
Yesterday when I talked to him, I told him about this thread and other positive posts I've written about Whites. He asked exactly how to access the thread, and I told him to do a search under my name and the word, "Whites", and he'd see all my posts. I don't know if ScubaBoard had any effect, or if he even looked, but he did decide to cover the whole thing. But he still blamed me, said they normally wouldn't cover the zipper, but that he was being a "nice guy".
Another thing that concerned me is what he said about the condition of the zipper. He said it was dry and brittle and looked as if it had not been maintained/lubed properly. He proceeded to give me a polite lecture on the care and maintenance of the dry suit zipper. My issue is that I have waxed this zipper (with the wax they recommend) before every dive with utmost care - just like I have my old DUI and OS Systems, which are fine.
This is the only thing I can think of: I built a gear storage/cleaning room (insulated) in my garage, and I keep it heated at 52F with an electric space heater. I know that these heaters are very dry and suck the moisture out of the air. Could this have effected the zipper condition?? Could this be effecting the rest of my gear??
The other thing is, he said to wax the inside of the zipper as well, and I have only been waxing the outside. Opinions? I don't want to have issues again.
Bottom line is, the VP was polite but firm in his belief that the zipper problem was MY fault (of which I am still dubious). But he took lots of time to talk to me and physically looked at the suit himself. And in the end, they are taking care of the repair in full.
Thanks for the advice from SB members in their posts and PMs!!
Would I buy another Whites dry suit? You BET I would. Right or wrong about the zipper, not too many companies would take the time Paul-Andre did with me (long phone calls). He did exactly what he said he would do, calling me back as promised, looking personally at the suit. And even though he thinks the zipper is not technically covered under warranty (right or wrong), they are covering it in full and making it right.

 

[Rick Inman]

I have to agree here. A store owner in good standing with Whites should have more clout than an individual calling them on his own and SHOULD be going to bat for Rick on this issue.

BINGO!

 

[wedivebc]

BINGO!

Service is what it's all about. Glad to hear they took care of you. A shame you had to do the leg work yourself though. Store owners complain that internet sales and Costco road shows are killing the business but I think the store owners are killing their business. Whites has definately stood behind their product in this case. I can see Paul-Andre's reason behind putting the blame on you otherwise he would be inundated with "fix-my-zipper" demands. This way he still has first refusal option. I don't believe you caused the damage to your zipper and I don't think the Whites guy truly does either.

 

[bluewatertoy]

Good for you in being persistent Rick. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease right. I still believe your LDS should have went to bat for you on this. JMHO

Kelly

 

[scubamate]

I happy it worked out.