Suunto appalling customer service !

[johnnythefox]

OK - Suunto is off my list now ...which watches can be recommended?

i have a lot of watches gshock upwards

the one i use most outdoors,swimming etc.is the issued CWC diver non date.
i cant see to well without reading glasses,this dial is clear and has good lume.
it also has a low profile which sits under a jacket sleeve unlike a bulky gshock.
use it with a nato strap and dont worry about getting it wet,strap i wash with my clothes.
the ones from silvermans havent been actualy issued but are the same with nato stock no [thats what i have].
most of my watches are mechanical this i prefer as a battery.

Cabot Watch Company
Royal Navy divers quartz watch silver without date
A truly superb timepiece, issued to the Royal Navy divers. Replaced the Rolex Submariner issued watch in the early 80s. Quartz movement, water-resistant to 300 metres. One-way time elapse rotating bezel. Stainless steel, screw back, battery life indicator, highly accurate quartz movement. 100% Swiss-made using Swiss components and assembled to the highest standards of construction.

http://www.cwcwatch.com/royal-navy-divers-watch.htm

 

[Sibelius]

Looks like Suunto have a little way to go yet - I spoke to them on the phone today and got the same brick wall. I have to send the watch in at my cost of £16 to find out if it will cost £143 to have it replaced.

I sent it away to Suunto with a cracked screen last August via Cotswolds, and I got the quote for EUR90. I paid it, because the watch was a 30th birthday present from my wife, but when it came back 2 out of the 4 buttons didn't work.

I needed the watch for a holiday, didn't want to send back for more delay, possible cost and lack of repair, so unscrewed the back, found some adjusters, and it worked fine. Recently it got fried by using in a swimming pool. Probably partly my fault, so am willing to pay a small amount to get it fixed, but still fed up that it came back broken last time.

Can't get past the 'send it in and we'll tell you how much' line. I've asked how much the internal unit is, and they say it will be a maximum of EUR143, with a £16 DHL charge. That's £150 on top of the £90 I paid last time - more than the watch originally cost on repairs.

I see that many of the posts here seem to relate to paying money to have faults fixed. Even Aku says 'which had to be replaced too because the pins that hold the bezel in place had fallen off." Fallen off?

Someone else said in Suunto's defence "Suunto's view might be that to maintain their quality and product reputation it's better to bring all issues in house repair and test to their satisfaction and then return them."

Quality & product reputation is not enhanced by their in house repair - quite the opposite, and it seems that Suunto's satisfaction is not found in looking after their customers.

Buy a Suunto. Pay twice? That question is aimed at Suunto.

 

[Sibelius]

Looks like Suunto have a little way to go yet ....QUOTE]

Helpful to know that someone else thinks the same:-
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f233/problem-suunto-yachtsman-175991.html

I feel like that guy is first in the queue for a response from Suunto, but I'd like one as well.

 

[sasquatch]

Gotta say I love wristwatches, I'll be treating myself to a new one this summer for my birthday. I was looking at something more outdoors friendly. I've come to expect the expensive battery changes with pressure tests but this thread has put me right off a Suunto! I've only had problems with 2 watches in the past and they didn't cost a fortune to fix and came back like new...sorry to hear about people's problems with these but thanks for the heads up at the same time.

 

[Mesquite]

Gotta say I love wristwatches, I'll be treating myself to a new one this summer for my birthday. I was looking at something more outdoors friendly. I've come to expect the expensive battery changes with pressure tests but this thread has put me right off a Suunto! I've only had problems with 2 watches in the past and they didn't cost a fortune to fix and came back like new...sorry to hear about people's problems with these but thanks for the heads up at the same time.

And me too... I'm in the look out for a good watch to replace the watch I was given to me by my mother for my 40th and Suunto won't be featuring in the search

 

[geordienemisis]

This has put me off a bit as I was wanting a suunto core, and I now feel a bit miffed about spending the dosh on a newby.

 

[British Red]

Well, that at least four customers Suunto have lost (counting me)

 

[hiho]

seeing as though where counting lost customers, count me as a possible 5th

 

[suuntolistens]

Hi Sibelius,

sorry to hear about your experiences. It is by no means our intention to make our customers pay twice! I think you've gotten quite unlucky having to go through two big repairs and it gets costly. As for the buttons not working properly after the first repair, that definitely doesn't sound right - we want to fix things, not break them! I can't really say anything else about this as I don't know the story and I think it's probably too late now to investigate. Whatever happened, I'm really sorry that your watch didn't work like it should have. Next time just let us know so we can do something about it.

Like I said in one of my previous comments, a big part of the cost of the repair comes from shipping and testing, not the parts themselves, and they all add up. However, we want to do the testing in order to guarantee the quality and longer lifespan of our products. I think I also mentioned that we'll review our prices so that they're on a reasonable level but until then these unfortunately are the repair costs.

I know this probably is not much of a consolidation to you right now but it's the best answer I can give you right now. Sorry and best regards,

Aku from Suunto

PS. As for the pins, they had not actually fallen but broken off. The watch had taken some hits and although durable, there's only so much even Suunto watches can take. Luckily it was still possible to fix the product though and it should now be almost as good as new.

 

[John Fenna]

I went for a Casio instead....

 

[British Red]

I went for another Seiko - they know the meaning of "service"

 

[Sibelius]

GOOD NEWS

Hi Sibelius,

sorry to hear about your experiences. It is by no means our intention to make our customers pay twice! I think you've gotten quite unlucky having to go through two big repairs and it gets costly. As for the buttons not working properly after the first repair, that definitely doesn't sound right - we want to fix things, not break them! I can't really say anything else about this as I don't know the story and I think it's probably too late now to investigate. Whatever happened, I'm really sorry that your watch didn't work like it should have. Next time just let us know so we can do something about it. ....

My watch is on its way back from Finland, where it was sent in faith that they care. As we approach Easter, it's worth pointing out that faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed, in this case Aku & Suunto, who together are sending my watch back repaired free of charge and are therefore worth believing in! This makes me really pleased, and inclined to try to take up as much space on this thread saying positive stuff about Suunto as I took up moaning.

Grace always goes down well - getting what I don't necessarily deserve in aftercare from a bare legal sale contract, so I thought a bit of cheerfulness is merited!

Happy Easter

 

[sasquatch]

GOOD NEWS



My watch is on its way back from Finland, where it was sent in faith that they care. As we approach Easter, it's worth pointing out that faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed, in this case Aku & Suunto, who together are sending my watch back repaired free of charge and are therefore worth believing in! This makes me really pleased, and inclined to try to take up as much space on this thread saying positive stuff about Suunto as I took up moaning.

Grace always goes down well - getting what I don't necessarily deserve in aftercare from a bare legal sale contract, so I thought a bit of cheerfulness is merited!

Happy Easter

Glad to hear it's in the process of being sorted, but it came back from a repair you already paid for not working right last time. Chances are that's why the seal let water in and the buttons didn't work, so it should have been fixed for free anyway without any questions asked in my opinion. It's good it's been fixed for free but it wouldn't have without a public moaning. The squeaky wheel got the grease but with good customer service it shouldn't come to that in the first place.

Reckon I'll go with another Vostok diver's watch, they don't break in the first place and don't cost much either. At least you got a result, nice one mate.

 

[Wayne]

A couple of my instructor team own Suunto watches both had theres nearly destroyed in accidents, one climbing the other was an IED. Suunto fixed them with very little quibble. I would consider a purchase if I wasn't after a proper time piece.

 

[richardgale]

I have the same problem with them 95 euros to fix my vector or 35 euros to have it returned un-fixed its a total con I would never of sent it if I had know the cost of repair its just extortion.
Its not as if it has been damaged I would expect a £150 watch to last longer than 3.5 years

 

[Paul_B]

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/forum/forummessages/mps/dt/1/UTN/31312/V/8/SP/

Check out this link from another forum. Seems one person's bad experience and another person's good experience is not the whole story with customer support.

 

[mrrivers]

not my experience with suunto, i have to say. my core started playing up, then died. i sent it to suunto to advise on repair costs, they sent me back a brand new one free of charge.
the core was over a year old, so i am more than happy with suunto.

I also have a vector that is as tough as a chally tank.

 

[ED-E]

Suunto is off my list, too. Don't want to deal with poor customer service. Same reason to boycott Tatonka.

 

[Tony]

That's a good link Paul B different people really do have different experiences. The descriptions of costings in that thread are good I think though that people should make themselves aware that if they purchase a product it might cost a bit for it's upkeep and it seems that with a lot of things the more expensive the product the more the upkeep. The point I really want to make though is about us on the forums and how we can influence companies. Not picking on you here ED-E but you highlighted it by joining up and making your only post a blanket statement about Suunto, it's easy to jump on the band wagon and just yell with the others.."Yeah, they're crap".
What we need to be doing as a group of people is providing constructive criticism, let's explain why we don't like something and how in our opinion it could be better, there's nothing more helpful to a company than feedback they can use to improve and it's all of benifit to us as the consumer and it will also encourage interaction with them as they'll not take the complete defensive from being attacked.

So, when we have threads on the forums orientated around negative comments on products, manufacturers, shops etc let's make sure that they're filled with constructive criticism so there's a benifit to their existence. We've been thinking about this a bit and we'll moderate along these lines as well, if a thread gets jammed up with people jumping in just to have a pop we'll step in.

Hope all that makes sense.

On the subject...I think part of the problem is that the watches go all the way back to Finland, getting them sorted out in the UK when you're in the UK seems more cost effective, although i have to say that i've only got my H3's serviced and they're quite straight forward watches, the Suunto's are a wee bit more complicated and I can see why they might have to go back to their engineers in Finland....Do they have repair people in other parts of the world?

 

[Large Sack]

I think you'll find that if you do a bit of web searching you will find a few people that have had issues with the Core model.

That said, I try to buy stuff that comes from manufacturers that have a history af manufacturing certain types of equipment.

I am over simplifying this but Omega make watches, Oakley make eyewear, Zippo make lighters, Thermarest make mats....

I wouldn't buy a watch made by Dolce & Gabana regardless of how much it cost... because they don't make watches (it would be some cheap Japanese movement dressed up with bling).

I would buy a compass from Suunto

As I said, I have oversimplified this, and some companies have diversified very well...but food for thought?

Cheers
Sack