There was recently a thread on SB by a guy with the user name Bubbafishing, where he accused omer of bad customer service, you can read it here This thread initially made omer look bad. Having read it after recently becoming a dealer for some omer products I became concerned about warranty issues, and contacted Mark Labocceta, the omer distributor in the US. I was informed of omer's 2 year warranty, and as I mentioned the SB thread I also got the following information. Looks like there's another side to this story.
QuoteDisplay MoreHere’s what people don’t know about that case:
That guy bought them from Divers Direct in West Palm Beach in 2007. He used them not as he described, “a few times”, tricking all these people out of the loop from the truth, but for 3 years using them for commercial scuba and spearfishing with tanks. Imagine how many giant stride entries with tanks on his back the fins went through.
Anyway, the story is I met him in 2008 at the Blue Wild Expo while the fins were still under warranty. He asked me if, considering the fins were only 1 year old, if he could send them back. I agreed.
He then sent an email in February 2009 stating that he bought them “about ten months ago” and wanted to send them back now. I replied on an email the same day that it was fine. He never sent them back. It was a year and a half at this point from date of purchase.
I then get an email in February of 2010 from him again. He said he had been “out of the country for a year” so that was why he was sending them back so late…After we saw the fins in February (2.5 years from date of purchase) not only were they out of warranty, they were TRASHED. Used and they had not failed at the breaking point where the legitimate warranty fins were breaking. These were a single run of defective fins in 2008 and only in one size, not the size that B******** aka. Bubba sent back!
At some point we have to draw the line somewhere.
It gets worse: In June of this year he sends me an email claiming warranty issue for a second pair of fins (mind you these are the same fins) not a second pair because he could not prove proof of purchase of a second pair and if you want to make a warranty claim you should be able to prove where and when they were purchased. I call Divers Direct in WPB and they confirm the only pair of fins they sold them are the ORIGINAL pair in 2007 that he tried unsuccessfully to claim under warranty after 2.5 years that had been trashed.
He sends back just the pockets this time thinking that we’re dumb enough not to recognize these are the same foot pockets from the same old fins. Warranty claim denied. He gets upset and unloads on Spearboard. If people only knew the real truth….See the attached invoice and the price he paid (30% below 2007 retail price of $155.00 for the Millenium Black fins). I have his emails and my replied documenting everything I just told you.
Here's the invoice, I edited out Bubbafishing's last name and address.
If I was in omer's shoes I would have posted this information on the SB thread, but they chose the high road. Not really my business and I would've left it that, except for something that happened today that prompted me to post this. I have a couple of used spearfishing items advertised for sale on another board. From two months ago when I first posted them I started getting pms from this very same Bubbafishing. This guy would make me ridiculous offers to buy the stuff, which was already at a fair price, for less than half what I was asking for it, at the same time telling me BS stories that he's getting it for someone else :blahblah2: After politely replying a couple of times that the price is firm I stopped responding to his pms. I really really dislike people who low ball like that without any leverage, they have no class. It's been a while since the last pm and I was surprised to get another one today, this time with a slightly higher offer. But now the user name clicked! I have no problem believing that this cheap individual tried to scam omer based on my experience with him.