It’s been a while, but I can now provide some feedback. My aim with this post is not to name and shame and I really wish the report could have been completely positive. However, all in all the exercise was not a positive experience and I do think it’s important to share this experience with the market. For most people, an underwater housing is an expensive item to buy and in IMHO one would expect top notch back-up service when required.
Another reasons for my post is, as this is my first aluminium housing and only has had exposure to one manufacturer, namely Seatool, I would greatly appreciate to receive feedback as to if my expectations/standards are too high or if I have good reason to feel negative about the service received.
To aid this I have included a number of post repair photos.
I did informed Fisheye and Seatool that I will be placing a review of my experience on public forums and I will be forwarding them the link, so they will be able to respond if so desired.
In August last year I returned the housing to the dealer. (Joe from Fun-in Taiwan) He in return forwarded the housing to Seatool. After a substantial delay and a couple of e-mails, the feedback came that Seatool would repair the housing and what the cost would be. It was state that the dealer will cover 50% of the cost and the manufacturer the other 50%. (Later I learned that this 50% was covered by Fisheye which is not the manufacturer) It was state that the reason for the delay was because this was the first time Seatool have seen a housing which deteriorated like mine and that they needed time to figure out what to do.
Once I got the mail that they will repair the housing, I immediately replied requesting to know exactly what and how they will be doing this. I simply received a reply that they will be doing a professional job and it will look just like a new housing.
Not my fight to fought, but I also asked the dealer why he had to cover 50% of the repair cost. To me the problems experienced with the housing are directly related to a manufacturing default. The response was that it’s not worth the effort for him to fight with Seatool and he will simply pay the 50%.
I also asked that Seatool must take photos of the repaired housing before shipping it back to the dealer, so I could obviously see what the repairs look like and either agree or disagree with what has been done. This never materialized and I was once again reassured that Seatool will be doing a professional job and it will look as good as new.
The period before the housing was received back by the dealer also took a substantial time. I foolishly interpreted this to be due to a thorough and professional job being done. I imagined the housing being stripped completely, removing the existing finishing layer, inspecting and testing the raw aluminium for defects, check that all screws used are of the required specification to be use in underwater housings, that sufficient screw compound has been used with all screws, repairing the defects to the claimed just as new condition, apply new finishing layer and reassemble.
The reason why I think the detail process described above should have been used is because it’s clear that something out of the ordinary caused the defects...after all, even the manufacturer reported that this was a first for them. (It’s important to remember that the deterioration didn’t happen because the protective layer was compromised, but that it happened below the protective layer and then bubble the finishing layer)
Once the housing was back at the dealer, I was informed that it will be ship back to me the following day. Again I requested to first see photos of the housing. I was told that the housing looks like new and that Seatool have done a great job.
I strongly disagreed with this once I received the housing back and could view it myself. (Looking at the photographic evidence, I think it would be hard to argue that the housing was in a state as good as new.) I e-mailed Joe as soon as possible with the photos why I am not happy. He promised me he forward my mail to Seatool. Some days past without any reply. I follow up, still no luck and so it went on for a while until Joe advice me to e-mail Seatool directly.
After my mail to Seatool, there again was a long wait and finally Mr. Kaz Okada (International Sales Fisheye) replied to my mail. After that a few mails were exchanged between the two of us. One of the things he did during our communication was to explain to me the Fisheye/Seatool relationship. Basically Fisheye introduced Seatool (now known as Recsea) to the international market. So they act as spoke person, the reason why Mr. Kaz Okada replied to my mail, but AND it’s a big but, Fisheye has no authority over Seatool/Recsea. This sadly is a recipe for public relationship disaster because the customer can find himself in a horrible passing the bucket scenario in the blink of an eye. (Thinking about it now, it does not make sense to me why Fisheye paid the other 50% of the repair cost if they have no say in Seatool.)
I felt that Mr. Okada tried to help me and I do think, should the housing been manufacturer by Fisheye or if Fisheye had a say in Seatool, the situation would have been resolved by now.
But Fisheye has no say in Seatool and after a while Mr Okada adviced me to e-mail Seatool directly. (I think they were actually ignoring his request as well) That I did, but yet have to receive a single piece of communication from Seatool. So the bottom line is, I am still at square one and the manufacturer and only entity who can resolve the issue is completely ignoring me. I think it’s completely unacceptable that a company completely ignore a person who has bought one of their products. Just think about it, if you buy something as simple as a packed of sweets and the sweets are off, you can return it to the manufacturer and be sure they will resolve the issue, how much more should this not be relevant for an expensive item such as a housing?
From the photos attached I think most will agree with me that the level of workmanship related to the repairs fall far short from what one would expect from a professional operation. Man I have seen backyard mechanics take rust out of vehicles much neater than this! Why it took them almost two months to “repair” the housing is beyond me. The job they did could not have taken more than two days!
Further the housing returned with quite a few scratches to it which it didn’t have prior to sending it off.
The cherry on top for me was the finger prints left in the polycarbonate viewing panels. Yes you read correctly, left in, because a person who has handled the housing during the repairs had some chemical on his/her fingers and their finger prints are actually burned into the viewing panels. I mean really, if they had any self respect, Seatool would have waist no time to get back to me to short out this horrible mistake by one of their employees out. (Just had a look on their website and the display in big – MADE IN JAPAN – its so sad even a company utilize a notion like that and then don’t do it justices!!!)
To summarize:
Will I make use of Fun-in in the future?
Yes they will remain on my short list in spite of clearly different understandings of the phrase “as good as new”. In future I would demand photos of the actually product and if that can’t be supplied then there would be no deal.
My opinion of Fisheye:
I truly feel that if the housing was manufactured by Fisheye the out come would have been completely different. Mr. Okada came across sincere in his effort to try and resolve this issue, but in the end it was of no use as Fisheye has no authority over Seatool.
I do think it’s a sad state and would recommend to other buyers to establish who has what power when you look at buying housing. Mail the manufacturer directly and see if you get any response. If they fail you, then most likely they fail you when you need them! It’s one thing to introduce a company internationally, but if the company introduced has no intention to provide proper back-up service to these new markets, then its senseless to buy from them.
My opinion of Seatool:
Well I guess it’s not hard to imagine that I don’t have a good word for them. Its mind blowing to me, how a company can simply choose to ignore a customer when they so clearly have been in the wrong. In spite of having bought the Seatool housing for specifics features, I will most certainly not look at that brand for my next housing if the current situation remains the same. Luckily other manufacturers now offer housings with similar features as what made me choose the Seatool housing. So I won’t be losing out on those features and can only think that the level of back-up service will be light years ahead. I would most certainly not consider recommending Seatool as an option to any buyer. I do hope that this writing will deter people in the market for an underwater housing to go with Seatool until such time that they have sorted out their complete lack of communication and improve their level of workmanship to what can be classified as professional.
