Issues with Customer Service

[gcarter]

The warranty is a contract that you were well aware of and understood, yet ignored. In order to avail yourself of your rights under that contract, you need to execute your responsibilities.

The mfr is doing you a solid by ONLY charging you $10 even though you ignored your own responsibilties.

For clarity and certainty, I am with DSS on this one.

 

[chris0827]

I didn't ignore the warranty- in fact I acknowledged it and noted how I would have accepted the cost of labor/materials. Not sure how that is ignoring my responsibilities? I wasn't rude or unpleasant to the rep on the phone, I gave my credit card number and completed the transaction.

If a $10 repair is DSS cutting me a deal on a more expensive repair then I am fine with that and HAPPILY accept it, but they never indicated that is the case. If $10 is the cost of repair regardless of the circumstances then I'm sorry, it's petty because it doesn't even equal a full hour of time, overhead and materials anywhere in this country! Like I said, $10 is as small potatoes to me as it is to DSS and seems like a small price to pay to maintain a VERY satisfied customer vs. creating a somewhat irritated one.

This isn't a case of "the customer is always right" but more an issue of WHY NOT make an existing customer/potential future buyer/word of mouth advertiser EXTREMELY happy vs. charging them an annoyance for something that should have been right in the first place?

As an aside- If this was an issue of "ego" or "needing to be right" I wouldn't have posted the entire letter, been truthful in telling the story, asked for opinions or even checked back. I am not unhappy with the support, turn around time and hopefully the repair (wing hasn't been shipped back yet). It's a $10 charge that annoys me- something I'd waive for one of my customers who had purchased gear from me in the past (especially considering that after Mastercard gets their cut, DSS is only clearing $7-8!). This is something that several LDS around here routinely do for their customers (like when they serviced the quick disconnect in my bubbling DSS wing when it was brand new - check my previous posts)! I'm disappointed DSS is unwilling to provide the same level of consideration to their customers... It may only be ten dollars, but it speaks volumes about how a company regards the people who support them.

 

[MarineResearch]

I didn't ignore the warranty- in fact I acknowledged it and noted how I would have accepted the cost of labor/materials. Not sure how that is ignoring my responsibilities? I wasn't rude or unpleasant to the rep on the phone, I gave my credit card number and completed the transaction.

If a $10 repair is DSS cutting me a deal on a more expensive repair then I am fine with that and HAPPILY accept it, but they never indicated that is the case. If $10 is the cost of repair regardless of the circumstances then I'm sorry, it's petty because it doesn't even equal a full hour of time, overhead and materials. Like I said, $10 is as small potatoes to me as it is to DSS and seems like a small price to pay to maintain a VERY satisfied customer vs. creating a somewhat irritated one.

This isn't a case of "the customer is always right" but more an issue of WHY NOT make an existing customer/potential future buyer/word of mouth advertiser EXTREMELY happy vs. charging them an annoyance for something that should have been right in the first place?

Well, I would have to agree. DSS should have paid you for the pleasure of servicing your equipment. As an American and Chicago resident, you are entitled to top notch service and a little kickback, you know, sort of like the Chicago politicians. DSS needs to understand that they are here to serve us and that profit is immoral.

 

[koozemani]

I didn't ignore the warranty- in fact I acknowledged it and noted how I would have accepted the cost of labor/materials. Not sure how that is ignoring my responsibilities? I wasn't rude or unpleasant to the rep on the phone, I gave my credit card number and completed the transaction.

If a $10 repair is DSS cutting me a deal on a more expensive repair then I am fine with that and HAPPILY accept it, but they never indicated that is the case. If $10 is the cost of repair regardless of the circumstances then I'm sorry, it's petty because it doesn't even equal a full hour of time, overhead and materials anywhere in this country! Like I said, $10 is as small potatoes to me as it is to DSS and seems like a small price to pay to maintain a VERY satisfied customer vs. creating a somewhat irritated one.

This isn't a case of "the customer is always right" but more an issue of WHY NOT make an existing customer/potential future buyer/word of mouth advertiser EXTREMELY happy vs. charging them an annoyance for something that should have been right in the first place?

As an aside- If this was an issue of "ego" or "needing to be right" I wouldn't have posted the entire letter, been truthful in telling the story, asked for opinions or even checked back. I am not unhappy with the support, turn around time and hopefully the repair (wing hasn't been shipped back yet). It's a $10 charge that annoys me- something I'd waive for one of my customers who had purchased gear from me in the past (especially considering that after Mastercard gets their cut, DSS is only clearing $7-8!). This is something that several LDS around here routinely do for their customers (like when they serviced the quick disconnect in my bubbling DSS wing when it was brand new - check my previous posts)! I'm disappointed DSS is unwilling to provide the same level of consideration to their customers... It may only be ten dollars, but it speaks volumes about how a company regards the people who support them.

So again, you are willing to pay a fair price for parts and labor (first sentence), but are dissatisfied that you were charged less. So you either wanted to pay through your teeth or not pay at all?

 

[dvankirk]

I'm becoming a fan of Deep Sea Supply.

+1. They are on my radar now as somebody that I would love to do business with.

 

[Cave Diver]

This isn't a case of "the customer is always right" but more an issue of WHY NOT make an existing customer/potential future buyer/word of mouth advertiser EXTREMELY happy vs. charging them an annoyance for something that should have been right in the first place?

If the customer isn't happy with the outcome of this situation, it's not likely that any other outcome would produce that result.

A company stands behind a manufacturing defect for a specified period of time. I'm not aware of ANY company that that would offer such great service to repair something once that time has passed. You dropped the ball by not sending it in when you noticed the issue, or at the very least sending them notice of the problem and making other arrangements. I think they've provided excellent service by fixing the issue and turning it around so quickly, after the warranty has expired.

 

[nimoh]

I have to side with the majority on this thread. DSS has been more than fair, and I would even suggest they have provided excellent customer service.

I am guessing that after reading the posts in this thread, you are probably starting to see that your complaint is unjustified.

 

[mdax]

My honest opinion is that I feel you owe ME $10 for reading your posts and feel bad for DSS having to deal with you and your wing.
Your whining side of the story paints a positive picture for DSS in my opinion.

 

[TSandM]

My husband owned a small company for twenty years, so I know some of the trials and tribulations of such ownership.

To you, as the customer, it's a silly charge -- after all, how much does it mean to the company to make $8, when they could have made you sing praises by waiving the fee? But to the company, that $8 may be multiplied times dozens over the course of a month. If you basically give away an hour or more of employee time and possibly materials, and you do it again and again, it can make a difference.

It's easy to see a company with a nice website and a group of dealers as being a big concern that can ignore such things. But DSS is a typical diving entrepreneurship; it's a small business, and small businesses have to watch small contributions to the bottom line.

I think anybody who searches, will find twenty or more threads praising DSS customer service, for every complaint. Enough said.

 

[chris0827]

My honest opinion is that I feel you owe ME $10 for reading your posts and feel bad for DSS having to deal with you and your wing.
Your whining side of the story paints a positive picture for DSS in my opinion.

Not sure how this and some of the other posts are constructive- but thanks to others for taking the high road.

Also not sure how describing a situation as objectively as possible and asking for opinions is whining or trying to "get something"- especially after the cost has been paid?

When all is said and done with 2 way shipping, I will have over $40 into this repair that never should have had to be done in the first place if DSS quality control hadn't missed it at the factory! Even if the wing WAS repaired during the warranty period - would I still have been liable for the $30 round trip shipping? After this experience I can't help but suspect so.

I get the majority opinion here- "get over it, it's $10" (payment has already been made) but that doesn't mean I'm not irritated by it because it IS such a petty amount. Granted, the thing was stored for longer than the warranty was in affect, but this isn't a wear, age or storage issue. A manufacturing defect at the time of mfr is still a defect 1 year from now as much as it is 10 years from now!

---------- Post Merged at 11:26 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:20 AM ----------

My husband owned a small company for twenty years, so I know some of the trials and tribulations of such ownership.

To you, as the customer, it's a silly charge -- after all, how much does it mean to the company to make $8, when they could have made you sing praises by waiving the fee? But to the company, that $8 may be multiplied times dozens over the course of a month. If you basically give away an hour or more of employee time and possibly materials, and you do it again and again, it can make a difference.

It's easy to see a company with a nice website and a group of dealers as being a big concern that can ignore such things. But DSS is a typical diving entrepreneurship; it's a small business, and small businesses have to watch small contributions to the bottom line.

I think anybody who searches, will find twenty or more threads praising DSS customer service, for every complaint. Enough said.

I really do understand the potential for the cost of this compounding over time- but given that DSS IS a small business (one of the reasons why I decided to support them in the first place) I guess I was expecting more. From a company like OMS a $10 charge wouldn't surprise me and I would have just shut my mouth and paid the stupid thing, but from a small business with such a stellar rep for CS as DSS I was surprised and annoyed over the trivial amount.