Buyer Beware: Costa DelMar

[Deep C]

Now most that have fished with me recognize oversized sunglasses tethered by a section of mono as being part of the "Deep" look. When driving or even running I go with some cool looking mirror types of one brand or another but fishing has always been oversized shades, either Flying Fisherman or Costa DelMar.
The FF glasses are inexpensive but do a great job. After about a year though the tint/ polarization starts seperating. Also the frames don't stand up well to heat very well. At $20 its no issue to retire a pair now and then.
The Costas are a different story. I was retailing them in a shared booth at a show one year. Their regional rep tried talking me into a pair. When he said that they would be replaced free if busted that was the selloing point that put me over the top and I shelled out the big bucks.
As recently in the video with Tim you can see me proudly wearing them. Then on a bumpy day I had a customer back into me by accident, busting the temple pieces off. No biggie, I went back to the retailer I had worked with. He told me to contact Costa Direct. I did and the fun began.
Several unanswered calls on their service line prompted me to push a different series of buttons on the auto dialer. As predicted, once I hit a sequence they thought they could make a buck from. I got a live person. I explained I was uncomfortable putting my CC # on line and my situation. She told me to go ahead and fill out just part of the online questionaire and mail them in and that would be that.
The questionaire wouldn't give a case number without CC# so after several calls back and forth I finally put it in and shipped the glasses express to them.
Today, several weeks later, I get invoiced for just about what I paid for the glasses!
No break, no lifetime warranty or hazzard coverage as claimed. No slack for helping them at shows (giving them space in my booth for them to retail), just basically a boinking with a $10 handling charge on top of it... Not impressed ...

[bay banger]

That sucks!!! I just bought a pair for my dad this year for his birthday and he and I are great at breaking sunglasses. So did they charge you full price for the replacements? I was thinking of getting a pair for myself but after this and other negative comments I have heard I m,ay just buy another pair of h20's.

[gradywhite273]

and car dealers get a bad wrap geeeez

[robbarker]

i had a lense come out and break when it fell and they replaced the glasses with a new pair in two weeks. There is an online claims form you fill out and they email you a number and then you send the glasses back to them. Hope this helps

[Deep C]

i had a lense come out and break when it fell and they replaced the glasses with a new pair in two weeks. There is an online claims form you fill out and they email you a number and then you send the glasses back to them. Hope this helps

If it was a new pair and defect they probably would have been nice and quick. Still, I had been told they they did the same for just plain busted stuff by their rep and they don't. Just plain bad info, and will make me look like a jerk off cause I had told all those who bought them the same thing the rep told me... The new price was a shade over dealer cost... and it took a long time to get even that done...

As for car dealers.... They have it commin!

[fshsltwtr]

i had a similar run in with Costa. the nose pieces came unglued from the frame. after dealing with the online form and several phone calls, i was finally able to get the glasses repaired at no charge - except they put the old lens in the new frames. for $60, i could have rec'd a new pair, but after dropping $$ on the original, i opted not to. I spoke to a couple friends about this and they had different scenarios - they had their glasses replaced with a new pair, no questions asked. i think they changed their return/replace policy and didn't tell anyone. oh well, they still make a great lens...

[shoefish]

Looks like things are a bit all over the place with Costa. I've had a few pairs an love them. My most recent pair was a gift, and the lenses cracked where the screw that secures them is fitted. I printed the online form, sent it in, and within a few weeks had a brand new pair for a shipping fee. I'm not sure if the CC thing set them off the "Deep" end, but I've had nothing but good customer service from them.

[t bird]

Deep- sorry for your pain..
Maui Jim……..
I drove the cart over Ladyfishes
They sent another pair!!!!
They did note that a repeat of that kind of abuse will NOT be covered!

T

[JD5652]

Deep-

Sorry to hear about your experience with Costa.......I had a pair for about two years and the nose piece came unglued and then I broke one of the temple pieces.....filled out the online form and they replaced the frames at no charge in about two weeks....this all took place in October 2006......

[snakeeyes]

DEEP, TRY SEA STRIKERS, AT 20 BUCKS A CLIP I LOVE EM. GOOD LUCK...