Going back to last week's post, this is a shot I took of the computer in February while I was diving. If you can't see the detail, click it to see the high-res version on Flickr. As you can see, the Stinger believes it is at 101' while in fact looking at the analog gauge you can see that I'm actually at a hair under 80'. This was the first time the computer mis-read the depth. It fixed itself shortly after and I continued the day on it.
The second photo is the same sorta sorta, it was taken a month later on my next dive trip. It was reading 53' when I was actually around 40 feet near the bottom of the mooring line. 
Shortly after that while I was back on board, the computer never reset itself and thought it was diving deeper and deeper with each "episode" until the depth went off the scale and it just displayed - - - and then the decompression info went off the scale as well and displayed - - - as well. According to the computer, I should be dead. The alarm was going off constantly to remind me that I was wayyy in violation of the decompression algorithms. At this point, I took the watch off, stuffed it in my t-shirt, wrapped it in my towel and shoved it in my backpack and stowed that under a seat on the boat because the beeping was driving everyone crazy. I did the second dive on tables and remarked to my dive buddy that I was going to go drop it off at Divers Supply after lunch as it was pretty close to the five year warranty expiring.
I spoke to Jon that first day on Sunday and explained what happened. I told him that the battery had been changed about 18 months ago (by them) and that it had been working fine up until that day in February. I also said that I had loaned the computer to my then-roommate Seb as a backup gauge for a dive on the Carrie Lee. He immediately asked me if Seb had opened the computer and I said no. If there's another person on this planet who's more anal about diving equipment than Seb is, then I haven't met him. Of course he didn't open it.
Tuesday I stopped in to see what the status was. I spoke to Jon again (he's really the only person there that I still know socially, outside of work) and he and another guy, Steve, told me that they put it in the pressure pot to test it and it failed, so they left it alone after that, and they were waiting to hear from the manager on how to proceed. They never called again, so Sunday following I stopped in there after having breakfast nearby at McCoy's. This time when I went in, they all looked a bit nervous when I asked about my computer. They brought it out and showed it to me, and it looked like the picture to the right. The LCD had cracked and 'leaked' all over the front of the crystal. "What happened??" I asked. Jon told me that when they opened it up, the o-ring had been pinched, so that had allowed water to get in and caused corrosion and that's what caused the depth sensor to give false readings. Waaaaiiiitaminute, you told me on Tuesday that you didn't open it because it failed in the pressure test, how did you find out the o-ring was pinched? "Well, I guess Ales must have opened it then" (Ales being the manager) And is that when the LCD got broken? "We don't know." Great. So now they passed the buck and told me I had to speak to Ales the manager.
I finally tracked down Ales about four days later when I stopped in on my way home and had a discussion with him. He stuck to his theory that someone had opened it, because if the o-ring was faulty, then it would have flooded within a few dives of it being changed. He also told me that they have a log book and that every time they do a battery change, they pressure-test it before and after the change to ensure integrity. Surely they would have my last service in their log then? Unfortunately, no. Those records were mostly destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, so they have no proof that they did the service on the watch. Since they cannot prove that they were the last ones to open the case, they weren't going to do anything about it.
I disagreed. I told him the o-ring was not at fault to begin with, it was the INSTALLATION of that o-ring. The o-ring was pinched and so it failed. The only way that could have happened was when their technician changed the battery last. My theory for why it didn't happen sooner was that the depth of the dives I had done on it since then were shallow enough that there was not enough pressure to fail the o-ring, but when Seb took it down to the Carrie Lee, there was sufficient pressure to cause the o-ring to fail. He said that was unlikely. Unlikely, yes, but not impossible.
Ultimately he said he would send it to Suunto for repair, but that it would require a new module (basically the entire guts of the computer). It would cost $60 to send it, insured to Suunto HQ in California. Once it was there, they would make the call as to whether or not it was a warranty issue and replace it. He then told me (and I specifically remember these words) that Suunto would say that the o-ring was not faulty, that it was the installation and it would be back "on us" to pay for the replacement. Good. That was the answer I wanted to hear. He then told me that he was expecting the SeaQuest/Suunto rep to come down to Grand Cayman in the next month or so, and if I could wait, he would send it back with him to save me the shipping costs. Since I don't need the Stinger on a daily basis anymore, I said that would be fine. At my suggestion, he even gave me one of their crappy rental computers to borrow in the meantime. Unfortunately, this is where their customer service stopped.
A couple weeks later I stopped in to inquire whether or not the Suunto rep had been down to Divers Supply in Grand Cayman yet and picked up my computer and they said no, not yet. About ten days later I ran into Jon at one of the pubs along Seven Mile Beach and asked him if the Suunto rep had been by yet and he said no, not that he had seen. Again, I waited another week or so and called again, just to see if he had even been down yet, and no, not yet. I wasn't too concerned because I still had that warm fuzzy feeling knowing that my ass was covered, Ales the manager told me so.
Suddenly about a week after that, I got a voice mail from Steve at Divers Supply telling me that they heard back from Suunto and that Suunto said it was not a warranty issue, since the o-ring was not defective. In light of the fact that I loaned it out to a dive instructor who worked at a dive shop who may have the special tool required to open the case, If I wanted to repair the computer, I would have to pay for a new module which was somewhere between 300 and 500 dollars. The other option I had, Steve told me, was Suunto was willing to offer me "Keyman" pricing on any other Suunto computer. He then spent the next minute or so on the VM message explaining to me what Keyman pricing was (like I wouldn't know... but then again, he's "new" and had no idea that I probably have more teaching experience than all of them there put together). In any case, could I please bring in their computer and let them know what I wanted to do because they "had" to close this account.
As soon as I got that message, I called Seb and told him that Divers Supply Grand Cayman was being rather unprofessional (again) and attempting to pass the blame off onto another dive shop for their shoddy installation. As expected, Seb got pissed off and took it to work to bring up with his boss. In the end, his boss called Divers Supply and asked Ales to keep them out of it: they didn't have the tools to open it, and they certainly WOULDN'T have, as they're not a dealer and they know better, so kindly stop trying to blame us for your technician's mistake.
After that, I stopped in at Divers Supply Grand Cayman to speak to Ales two or three times, but each time he was out of the office or otherwise unavailable. Finally last week, I believe it was Wednesday June 14th, I stopped in and he was in the office and I went upstairs to meet with him. His entire posture from the time I got to the top of the stairs was one of defence. He showed me how the watch goes together and how the o-ring can get pinched if not installed correctly, and that the only way the computer could possibly havd flooded was if someone had opened the case. I asked if he had heard from the other dive shop, and he said yes they spoke on the phone. "OK, so then can we put behind us that they did not open this computer?" "Yes, but SOMEONE must have done it. It's physically impossible for it to have happened without someone opening the case" "well obviously it DID, since there's a ziploc baggie full of the bits and pieces of my computer on your desk."
In light of all the evidence, he absolutely refused to take any responsibility for one of Divers Supply's technicians who had incorrectly installed a new battery in my computer. He also interrupted me four times to answer his phone, which I considered extremely rude while in the middle of a meeting. In the end, he told me that it wasn't Divers Supply Grand Cayman's fault that my computer had flooded and that I was welcome to take it up with Suunto directly, but as far as he was concerned the issue was closed. I asked him about his 180 degree turn from our last meeting when he admitted to me that the repair cost would be "on them" and he conveniently forgot that. As he tried to give me the bum's rush out of his office, he told me that he would forward me the contact details for Suunto along with the case notes and the case number. It's now been over a week and I haven't heard a peep either by phone or email. All of which leads me to believe that he's not going to do it at all.
For the last eight years, I've used Divers Supply Grand Cayman EXCLUSIVELY for equipment and service. They're not the cheapest game in town, but everyone always supported them, sent business their way and bought equipment and accessories through them because they always treated us right. They'd also throw a party for all the Divemasters on the island twice a year with free beer and giveaways to show their support for us. This is how they repay eight years of loyalty. This is how they treat a Dive Professional who has exclusively used Suunto all the way back to the Solution Alpha nitrox computer, through the Spyder, the Vyper and then the Stinger. This is how they treat a customer who encouraged my students and customers who asked me what kind of computer they should get to look into Suunto and in some cases even drive them to Divers Supply Grand Cayman after work and help them pick one out!
Last night, I was having a beer with my old boss from back in the old days, and we talked about this ass-raping that I've gotten from Ales, Steve and the rest of Divers Supply Grand Cayman. He even went so far as to do a little role-playing with me where I was the manager and he was the customer ready to reach over the counter and slap the shit out of me. Ultimately, when we reversed roles and he was the manager, he asked me "what was it that I was looking for?" and I said "I would like the module replaced. There need not be an admission of guilt or an apology, all I wanted was for you to do the right thing for a longtime loyal customer" I even said that I would be willing to make a compromise! If Suunto was willing to give me Keyman pricing on a new computer, why not give me keyman pricing on the replacement MODULE? I'd be happy to "split" it with them like that.
Instead I get spit on, handed the bits and pieces of an $800 diving instrument and told to fuck off. As I made my way out of the store, Steve even had a smart-ass comment for me on the way out! I was flabbergasted! I just ignored him and walked out, but man oh man it took a whole lot of self-control not to open a can of verbal whoop-ass on him right there in the middle of the store in front of all their customers. Instead, I waited until I got home and put it all down here. After all, if I called them out in the middle of the store, only five or six people would have heard it and maybe one or two of them would have thought twice before buying there. Putting it down here gets it seen by approximately 300 people per day.
I'm still going to deal with Suunto to get a replacement, so I'm going to hold off on switching my allegiances to another Dive equipment manufacturer. They still have a chance to keep me a loyal, happy customer. I'll be sending my equipment to Miami for service from now on regardless of the extra inconvenience. If Divers Supply Grand Cayman has trouble dealing with a dive computer, how can I trust them with my life-support equipment?