Shearwater Research

Last weekend, my four year old predator flooded during a dive into Peacock Springs. The computer had over 100 dives since the last battery change and there were no visible clues why the computer had failed. I used my backup computer and completed my dive safely.

I immediately called the dealer where I purchased the Predator to see what I needed to do. The shop was open but the owner was teaching a class. The person on the phone was not sure what to do to protect the computer or the next step to get it evaluated. I called the owners cell phone and left a message. I never received a call back. Four days later and I am still waiting for a response to my voicemail.

Later that same night. I emailed Shearwater Customer Support and explained my issue. I received a response from Curtis McNamee within three hours. On a Sunday night! He explained what he thought the issue might be and asked me to ship the computer to him. Curtis even offered a loaner predator while he had mine! Monday morning and the predator was wrapped and shipped to Washington priority mail.

Today, four days later, Curtis let me know my Predator was repaired and on its way home. He explained there was a small crack near a screw hole on the lens due to no fault of mine. The circuit board, lens, and battery were all replaced. I asked what the final bill was and he replied "it was covered under warranty." I couldn't believe it.

Most manufacturers dismiss you outright or force you back to the dealer to get anything handled. Shearwater Research not only met my expectations, they have exceeded them more than I ever could imagine. I have been diving for 20 years and Shearwater Research not only has some of the best technical dive computers on the market, they have the best customer service backing them.

This is good to hear. I hope I have no issues with mine but it's great to see they will stand behind it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chicken

Last weekend, my four year old predator flooded during a dive into Peacock Springs. The computer had over 100 dives since the last battery change and there were no visible clues why the computer had failed. I used my backup computer and completed my dive safely.

I immediately called the dealer where I purchased the Predator to see what I needed to do. The shop was open but the owner was teaching a class. The person on the phone was not sure what to do to protect the computer or the next step to get it evaluated. I called the owners cell phone and left a message. I never received a call back. Four days later and I am still waiting for a response to my voicemail.

Later that same night. I emailed Shearwater Customer Support and explained my issue. I received a response from Curtis McNamee within three hours. On a Sunday night! He explained what he thought the issue might be and asked me to ship the computer to him. Curtis even offered a loaner predator while he had mine! Monday morning and the predator was wrapped and shipped to Washington priority mail.

Today, four days later, Curtis let me know my Predator was repaired and on its way home. He explained there was a small crack near a screw hole on the lens due to no fault of mine. The circuit board, lens, and battery were all replaced. I asked what the final bill was and he replied "it was covered under warranty." I couldn't believe it.

Most manufacturers dismiss you outright or force you back to the dealer to get anything handled. Shearwater Research not only met my expectations, they have exceeded them more than I ever could imagine. I have been diving for 20 years and Shearwater Research not only has some of the best technical dive computers on the market, they have the best customer service backing them.

---

Having problems with a Shearwater is REALLY uncommon, but in all instances that I know of, they have been quick to resolve situation to the customer's satisfaction. Doesn't seem to be but a handful of companies like that. I've had similar good luck with Light Monkey and DiveRite companies.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Trey R

This is good to hear. I hope I have no issues with mine but it's great to see they will stand behind it.

---

This was a early predator. They had just released it a few months prior to me obtaining mine. They not only stood behind it but made it better! I now have the new screen overlay, current circuit board, ect. I was expecting this to be a costly repair or throw away. The only other company with similar support has been Light Monkey and Dive Rite.

Good to hear. I just bought a petrel. Can't wait to dive it. I sold my liquivision X1 (liked the battery options and the larger screen) even though their customer service was great to me too.

I had an issue with my petrel in June (3 months old at the time). After returning to my motel room for the night, I emailed Shearwater (thinking that the issue was a software glitch that may be able to be taken care of "in the field"). I was surprised to receive an email response at 11:30 at night, and that I would receive a call from someone the next morning. The call the next morning (at 8 a.m. EDT) was from Curt McNamee--calling me from Washington state! I discussed the issue with him (I did a short dive to "repeat" the issue with the computer to properly diagnose the problem the day before). Curt said that while he couldn't ship me a loaner in time to finish my trip (I only had 2 days left for the trip), he gave me a list of local dealers that should have a loaner available. I shipped my Petrel a couple days later when I returned home, and Curt guaranteed that he'd have my computer back before my next diving trip--or send me a loaner. Turned out they had to replace the entire board in the computer--but had it returned in plenty of time for my next trip, and the only money I had out of pocket was shipping my computer to Shearwater Research. Easily the best customer service of any company I have ever dealt with. When I start Trimix, my backup computer will definitely be another Shearwater!

call shearwater directly,skip the shop and poor customer service i have had buddies flood theres and have a replacement 7days later! By far the best customer support i have yet to deal with.

This was one of the final deciding factors of why I bought my Petrel. Ive heard story after story of their excellent customer service. I figured if I was spending this much money on a gadget, I would like a company that backs up their products like this.

Last month, my Petrel did an UNKNOWN SW RESET in the middle of a dive. That dive was to a max depth of 103' for 134 minutes, but the Petrel saw it as 3 dives (28, 29, & 45 in the log) of less than 15 minutes each at max depths under 20' each. At least the error message was clear that I wasn't going to be counting on that computer for my deco obligation.

Before I even spoke with him, Curt had already replaced the circuit board and the depth sensor. While the expected turnaround for getting mine back was great, I initially was worried that if the software was just reloaded, that may not have solved the problem and it would have had me worrying during every dive waiting for it to happen again. Not anymore.

I'm more than satisfied with both the promptness and the extent of the service.
Now I just hope the USPS doesn't forget to deliver it tomorrow.

My predator arrived home today! Six days since I mailed in and is as good as new. Thank you Curtis and Shearwater Research for the best service in the business.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I had a new predator with about 5 dives on it fail, it wouldn't advance through screens. Shipped it off through Cave Adventurers and got it back quickly. A full report was included explaining that there was a bad button replaced, and also included was results of the depth/pressure test. No cost to me. Great company.

Alister didn't even purchase the computer from us but we took good care of him! Not all shops are the same.