charlie269•9d agoMost Upvoted

Wasted $450 on a drysuit zipper repair that failed in 2 weeks

I took my Viking drysuit to a local repair shop in Norfolk back in March. They told me a new zipper would be $450 installed. I paid it and got it back 5 days later. First dive after that was a harbor inspection job. Water started leaking through after about 20 minutes. I surfaced and found the zipper tape was already pulling away from the shell. When I called them they said I must have snagged it on something. Total excuse and they wouldnt fix it under any warranty. Ended up shipping it to DUI in Buffalo who actually know what they are doing. That cost me another $200 plus shipping. So now I tell everyone go straight to the manufacturer for zipper work. Has anyone else had a local shop botch a drysuit repair like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

perez.thea9d agoMost Upvoted

Dude you are way too wound up over a zipper repair. $450 sucks but its just a zipper on a drysuit not like they welded your car frame back together with chewing gum. Things break, sometimes shops mess up, move on. I've had mechanics do worse work than that and I just chalked it up to a bad day. Sending it to Buffalo worked out so whats the big deal now?

lucas_carr248d ago

You gotta pick your battles with gear repair shops, learned that the hard way after my local dive shop left a pinhole in my suit's wrist seal and tried to tell me it was "normal wear." Sometimes you just eat the cost and find the guy who actually knows what he's doing, like that Buffalo place you mentioned. Once you got a reliable shop, stick with them for everything even if it costs a bit more, saves you the headache of playing repair roulette.