AERIS F.10 User Feedback

[Fondueset]

Hi Claudio,

I think they are being careful to check units with problems for both the hardware and firmware fix. I would suggest just sending it in. they seem to have had some problems tracking which units were fixed, updated etc. and it's probably better just to let them handle it.

It's a drag to be without your watch - but I think it is your best option. I would include a history of your previous return of this unit just o make sure they track it correctly.

I went through a similar process - this is the third unit and, as mentioned, it does work perfectly.

 

[Claudio]

Thanks Chris. I will send it in again, especially nice the diving season is over in my area.

Hopefully the third time will be a charm for me as well as I grew accustomed to my F10 and like it very much.

Cheers,
Claudio

 

[Fondueset]

Hi Claudio

I would email them first - referring to the rma# and tell them this will be your third watch - then include some notes on what was done. I thin Aeris/Oceanic is great - really good people - but they have had some problems with continuity around the F.10 issues. I expect they've got it all sorted by now but it pays to be safe.

I think today may be my first dive of the year with snow on the ground! I predict it will be cold

 

[Claudio]

Thanks Chris,

I just sent my watch to Aeris today. The tech support guy (Ron) told me that their latest firmware update should take care of the battery indicator issue.

He also told me (after I already sent the watch in) that users can do the update themselves, if they have the appropriate computer cable. However, for some obscure reason Aeris does not post firmware updates to their support site.

Rather their tech support team can send the firmware update directly to the individual user who requests it, and the user can follow the supposedly easy instructions to update the unit.

Personally I hope to circunvent this convoluted firmware update process by having them take care of the issue directly. Just posting here so people are aware of this option.

Cheers,
Claudio

 

[pseidman]

I called them, and they gave me this address, where the latest firmware is posted for download.
www.oceanicworldwide.com - /temp/

Worked perfectly (with the interface cable, of course).

They also have firmware for the GEO posted.

 

[mightyblues01]

Great work guys, thanks a lot! I'll give a crack tonight and see what happens!

Cheers!

 

[mamiz]

That's Great, man!!!

Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
-Maurizio

 

[rlobo]

What about the data download to ACI? Someone tryed? Well, i I tried downloading and it seemed that the data are not ok. I also have a doubt about the alarm EDT. Can I program it, for example, minutes and seconds (1:30)? I Like the F10 but was familiar with the efficiency of software Suunto (SDM).
I am also in the 3rd F10. I think now with the firmware version 1c, the most serious problems were solved. Thankfully, everything has been solved by the Brazilian representative of Aeris.
Cheers.
Rodrigo

 

[Fondueset]

I've had no problems uploading the data and viewing it in the interface. Seems good to me.

 

[mightyblues01]

Hi Rodrigo,

I'm very interested in your comments about the Aeris rep in Brazil... do you have a contact for him?

I bought my watch in Australia, but as I live in Brazil I need a local solution... your guy might be the answer!

To respond to your questions - my data downloads to ACI also seem to be fine.

To set the EDT alarm, hold buttons A and S until you get SET A, then scroll through pressing the A button to get to EDT, then use the S button to turn the EDT on, press A to accept, and then use S to change to the time you want, then press A to confirm. Your alarm can be the light flashing, or audible, or both, you choose.

If you would like me to explain in Portuguese if that helps, just let me know.

Abraços e muita água roxa,

Aidan.:friday

 

[Claudio]

Hi folks,

I received my serviced F10 back from Aeris today. They sent me a different unit than what I had before, as they had done when I sent my watch in the first time.

This one can with firmware r1d, which is a newer firmware update for those of you who got the r1c version recently. If r1c solved the battery issue, I am not sure what else new r1d version fixed.

Cheers,
Claudio

 

[Fondueset]

See if they fixed the 24 hour free mode issue

 

[Herup]

Interesting Claudio
Please keep posting

Best regards
H!

 

[aris ioannidis]

i bought the aeris few months ago - it runs out of battery every 1-2 months!

 

[Fondueset]

Hi Aris - read through the thread - it is a Warranty issue - contact Aeris and they will make it right

 

[aris ioannidis]

thanks Fondueset, will check it out!

 

[trux]

If you have the data cable, try upgrading to the latest firmware (www.oceanicworldwide.com - /temp/) - it is not excluded that the upgrade alone will fix the problem without the necessity to return the computer to Aeris.

 

[Blesum]

Below the ### symbols is a copy and paste of a post I put up on another board about the F10. Bottom line, Aeris/Oceanic is a terrible company. :naughty Watch design is good, and it's my understanding that the problems have been resolved, but based on my customer service experience with that company, I will never, ever buy another Aeris/Oceanic product again unless it was through Mako Spearguns.

Doug Krause received all of my emails (he was cc'ed in nearly every correspondence and can go look for himself to see that Aeris dropped the ball and ignored me. Their last correspondence to me was dated July 9 (from John "Lee", cc'ed to Rlandess and Dkrause) asking Rlandess what they could do for me. Rlandess never responded so on July 28th, i sent an email to everybody saying I was still waiting for a response from somebody with Aeris/Oceanic. Augst 6th, i sent an email to everybody saying "hello?" August 20th, I sent another email reminding everybody that I still needed to be taken care of and asked that my dive partner who also got a F10 at the same time as me be taken care of as well. Still NEVER got a single response. Screw them all. Thank God for Dano at Mako.

-Paul
###########################################

You know how sometimes we have bad problems with a company or a product and we get on here to share our experiences so that others are aware and less likely to end up going down the same path?

Well, I'm happy to share that I had the opposite experience with Mako. I purchased a F10 Aeris watch when they first came out from the local dive shop thinking I would have good customer service/support should I have problems with this then unknown device.

A few days later, it kept flashing a battery dead warning. I went back to the local dive shop and the owner basically said to take it up with Aeris and gave me their contact info. Dive shop: Westside Dive and Tackle.

So I took it up with Aeris/Oceanic. They told me to just change out the battery. I told them I would not do such a thing. I paid for a primo, brand new watch that was properly sealed and I did not want to risk screwing this up. We went back and forth via emails and finally they relented. I drove two hours over to their center and was given a new replacement. I turned in my old one.

A few weeks later, the same thing started happening again! I was pissed! Told the shop I wanted a refund. No luck. Went to Aeris and told them I wanted a refund. They said no, and to take it up with the shop.

:crazy:

Aeris and I went back and forth via emails for a few months and they refused to take care of me. Finally they started ignoring me outright back in July. What a terrible company. :angry5:

Fast-foward almost half a year later. I heard a few days ago on the Hawaii Skin Diver Forum that Mako Spearguns (which I have had minimal dealing with, but always seemed outstanding, and I have heard some incredible stories about their customer service from other members) was going to start carrying the Aeris F10 watch along with the GoPro Hero HD and new custom mounts and a few other things. I then posted:

Cool about the GoPro, can't wait to see the mounts.

I'd buy a pair of the new FG blades if they will go into my sportasub Revolution footpockets. I doubt they will, but will they?

Uh-oh about the Aeris F10. Terrible company with horrible customer service. They have pretty much abandoned me despite now knowing that there is in FACT a charging defect with their watches. I was still within the warranty window. WestSide Dive and Tackle who sold me the watch didn't really want anything to do with this either. Kinda scary to see Mako become a dealer for this company considering Mako's stellar reputation.
l

Less than a few hours later, I was told that Dano, the owner of Mako Spearguns had heard about this and was not too happy to hear about what happened and thought that even though I didn't buy the watch through his company, I deserved better. Especially from a company he was going to start carrying products for.

Guess what's coming in the mail at no charge? A brand new F10! Unbelievable!

I gotta go around posting this experience up. I will definitely be making Mako my #1 stop for all internet spearo-related shopping from now and on. I've heard so many good stories about them too, and their prices aren't just competitive. They're killing everybody else out there it looks like on the prices. I have no idea how they stay in business, but I love it.

Regarding the F10 - Half a year later, I finally heard about what the problem is. Apparently there's a static charge build up issue with the first batch of F10 watches released. This has been resolved a while back, and I heard that a distributor in Australia simply added some type of shim inside to resolve the problem on the first batch. The other option is to just ignore the battery warning completely which is what I have been doing and the watch is still going strong despite flashing the warning frequently. It's the best dive watch I've used besides the annoying battery flashing icon. Not going to be a problem in a few days though.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Fondueset]

Well - since my experience with Aeris has been positive I'd like to make a few comments I've seen them go way out of their way to happy up a customer.

First - I agree; Aeris has continuity issues with their tech support. I think there are a couple of reasons for this - first they are a quite small operation. I think they could do with some attention to their support tracking structure. Second I think they are geared more toward working with dealers than end users (thats an hypothesis on my part) and they found themselves dealing more with end-users on the F10.

Now first I'd like to mention that the shim fix was devised by Aeris. This was an educated guess on their part because they were never able to duplicate the problems. I worked directly with them on this and sent them my watch - which had the static issues. These were - blank screens, sudden time loss, random resets and actual accelerated battery useage. They took that watch and tracked it through their support and testing process - but they were not able to duplicate the issues.

What they did was reason, on the basis of described symptoms and past experience, that some of their watches were having static issues associated with the buttons. They put insulators in the buttons and you can feel the difference on the watches that have these - there is not as much travel in the buttons.

This fixed the static issues - but not the battery indicator. Based on the time you exchanged your watch and your description of it's behavior (battery indicator - but battery is fine) I think they gave you one with the insulators.

Next was the indicator problem. I got the idea that maybe there was a problem with the firmware - maybe the algorythm calculating battery useage was incorrect. We discussed this and pretty soon I got a firmware revision that has indeed fixed that.

I'd like to respond directly to some of your points:

As stated - I do think Aeris could use a good look at their support tracking. Your grievances there are justified - though I would have replaced the battery.

Their prompt and dedicated work on identifying and resolving the issues with the F10 does not support the conclusion that they are a 'Terrible company'. Not all F10s had the problems - in many cases they took months to appear and they are random - and Aeris was never able to duplicate them. They were flying blind and had to rely on user feedback - an awkward and time consuming way to resolve issues. Once they got a grip on the fact that it was not just bad batteries they dedicated a lot of their staff and time to fixing it.

This was further complicated by the fact that bad batteries are not all that uncommon. The battery in my Suunto D3 died in about two months. I replaced it.
The logical first step for the symptoms the early F10s exhibited was to simply replace the battery - a process which is made easy (easier even than the D3) by the ingenious battery door seal on the Aeris gauges.

Of course you were within your rights to demand a new watch - but if you don't want to change the batteries you should probably have opted for a Suunto D4 - which must be sent in for battery replacement (for a small fee).

So yeah: Support and communication could be better - in the absence of results they apparently just didn't communicate - better to have at least let you know they knew there was a problem and were working on it.

AND: The problem was gnarly - so it took awhile - but they busted their asses on it.

 

[ptoot]

does the new firmware log a dive's DATE and time?