My personal experience with a Sporasub One and its manufacturing company

[asianspearo]

In June 2010 I bought a Sporasub ONE 95 from a fellow Spearboard member. The gun being meant to be brought along on my 6-month trip to Vietnam the following year of 2011, I did not test fire it yet.

When came the date of my flight, I carefully packed my ONE 95, along with 2 other guns and some dive equipment, in an Armor-bag which would be part of my check-in baggage. Once at LAX though, to my horror, I learned from the ticket-counter people that, since my plane was going to make a stop-over in Hong Kong, I would be arrested upon landing due to spearguns being banned there. Never mind that my final destination was VN, not HK, I would be arrested anyway, they said. So, in order not to miss my flight (which had been booked months in advance) I had to remove all 3 spearguns from the bag and pay $35.00 for someone to bring them to my son’s home (it was now close to midnight), a 15-minute drive away from LAX…

Fast forward to late April 2012: I had made another trip to VN, this time on a different airline and after making sure my flight was not going to stop anywhere near Hong Kong. My 3 spearguns having made it safely with me to my sea-side city of destination, I took them out on a spearfishing trip to be test-fired for the first time. To my disappointment I found out that, while the other 2 guns performed as expected, the ONE 95—albeit extremely well built—had an unusually stiff trigger pull. Shot after shot (both with the original single 18mm band and with an additional 16mm band), the stiff trigger caused me to "throw" the shaft off target…

Upon returning home I sent an e-mail to both info@omerdiving.com and info@sporasubamerica.com to ask for help. To my surprise, the reply came the following day from Mark Laboccetta of Technosport Inc. He told me he had forwarded my inquiry to Italy and they were going to replace my trigger mechanism for a new one; and “Marco Mariani from their Tech department would be in touch.” Mark also said, “This will be only the 2nd trigger mechanism for ONE spearguns that I've seen with this issue but since you're in Vietnam it will be easier for them to send you one from Italy.”

There was next a period of 10 days delay caused by miscommunication: Marco Mariani was waiting for me to provide him with my postal address in Vietnam while I, on the other hand, was waiting for his e-mail message… Mark came to the rescue through another e-mail which clarified the situation. He also forwarded my VN address to Marco. Mark’s e-mail was next followed by Marco’s on May 23, 2012, in which he apologized for the late reply and advised he had just sent me via air-mail a package containing the required spare parts, maintenance instructions, and a small gift. I should receive the package within 10 days...
Vietnam’s Postal Service has never been known for its punctuality or its reliability, so I didn’t really hold my breath while waiting for the parcel to arrive. I thought to myself I’d be lucky if I’d eventually receive it at all; and were it to arrive at my home within a month, I should seriously start buying lottery tickets…
Lo and behold, a disheveled, out-of-uniformed Postal worker on a beat-up Honda moped showed up at my front- gate on the 9th day, my much-anticipated package in hand! I nearly ran out to kiss him but stopped from fear he might punch me in the nose: Vietnamese men don’t take it lightly when there was a possibility their manliness was being questioned.

(to be continued)

[asianspearo]

I immediately opened the package, whose content was exactly what Marco had said: spare parts for the trigger mech.; several pages worth of color photographs showing how to replace those parts; a bunch of small plastic O.M.E.R. decals; and a very well-made baseball-cap with the O.M.E.R. logos on it (the only thing I didn’t like about this cap was the little tag that read, “Made in China,” which I promptly removed).

I went right away to work to fix my speargun… Well actually, being mechanically challenged, I had to recruit the help of Cuong, a local locksmith/speargun manufacturer/speargun counterfeiter.

[A note about Cuong: his favorite counterfeits are the old Voit—now JBL, and the Arbalete Canon: he makes meticulous clay molds of the original handles into which he then pours molten aluminum to make replicas and hand-carves the muzzles out of blocks of plastic. The tubes come from discarded weed-whackers, and he cuts the trigger mech. out of heavy sheets of stainless steel. He claims his products, which have been “improved” in design, are functionally superior to the originals! … I don’t approve of Cuong’s counterfeiting activities, but he (1) never claims them to be the real things; (2) fills a need for the population in an area where “real” spearguns are very hard to come by; (3) and most important of all—is a younger friend whose sharp eyes I can count on to straighten my shafts whenever they have been turned into near-pretzels by some uncooperative Giant Trevally]…

Despite the fact that Cuong had declared the spare parts from Italy identical in size and shape to the old ones (with the exception of the new trigger itself, which was plastic whereas the old one appeared to be stainless steel)—thus hinting that no change should be expected at the end of the operation—when I subsequently took my ONE 95 out to the ocean for test-firing, the result was to my delight exactly what I had expected of a higher-end gun such as the Sporasub One... And Cuong had even retained the old SS trigger for it looked much better than the “ugly, cheap-looking black plastic trigger” (Cuong’s observation, not mine).

(to be continued)

[asianspearo]

Anyways, in closing I wish to say Thank You and Kudos to Mark Laboccetta of Technosport Inc., and Marco Mariani and the Omer-Sporasub company. I fully realize I had bought the ONE 95 second-handed; have had it for almost 2 years before the problem was discovered—and how long its previous owner(s) had had it I still do not know; and as a result, Omer-Sporasub was under no obligation to honor any warranty as related to my gun. Yet, at my first cry for help they reached out and fixed the problem, in doing so absorbing all cost without any questions being asked except for my current address. They even included a few little gifts to make me a happier man.

I’d call that SERVICE ABOVE and BEYOND “CUSTOMER SERVICE.”

[A little note about Mark Laboccetta: my 1st time contacting him was about 10 years ago, when he had extended me the same type of courtesy, offering to refurbish my Omer air-powered speargun—which I had also bought second-handed—for a very nominal fee. I mailed the gun to him and the turn-around time was truly insignificant. That gun is currently serving someone else in VN, and serving him well, last that I know].

Di Au

[pernicia]

Di Au,

I was the person who sold the gun to you, and to clarify, the gun was Brand New when it was sold. I never had a chance to get it wet..... I won the gun at the Blue Wild Expo.

Although it's not my fault, I'm really sorry abt your inconveniece with the gun. I'm glad you were able to solve the problem.

Jose

Originally Posted by asianspearo

Anyways, in closing I wish to say Thank You and Kudos to Mark Laboccetta of Technosport Inc., and Marco Mariani and the Omer-Sporasub company. I fully realize I had bought the ONE 95 second-handed; have had it for almost 2 years before the problem was discovered—and how long its previous owner(s) had had it I still do not know; and as a result, Omer-Sporasub was under no obligation to honor any warranty as related to my gun. Yet, at my first cry for help they reached out and fixed the problem, in doing so absorbing all cost without any questions being asked except for my current address. They even included a few little gifts to make me a happier man.

I’d call that SERVICE ABOVE and BEYOND “CUSTOMER SERVICE.”

[A little note about Mark Laboccetta: my 1st time contacting him was about 10 years ago, when he had extended me the same type of courtesy, offering to refurbish my Omer air-powered speargun—which I had also bought second-handed—for a very nominal fee. I mailed the gun to him and the turn-around time was truly insignificant. That gun is currently serving someone else in VN, and serving him well, last that I know].

Di Au

[asianspearo]

Originally Posted by pernicia

Di Au,

I was the person who sold the gun to you, and to clarify, the gun was Brand New when it was sold. I never had a chance to get it wet..... I won the gun at the Blue Wild Expo.

Although it's not my fault, I'm really sorry abt your inconveniece with the gun. I'm glad you were able to solve the problem.

Jose

Hi Jose,

Thank you for the clarification. You might have said something to the effect that the gun was brand new when I bought it from you, I just can't remember (blame that on old age if you wish--you'd only be too correct! ). At any rate, my post was not meant to place not-even-a-hint of any blame on anyone--not the least you for, to be truthful, you gave me a fantastic deal on a gun that I had been dreaming to own but could not afford to pay full price for... Rather, the post was to highlight the exceptional service the manufacturer has extended to an "indirect" customer, which helped turn a somewhat negative situation into a positive experience, and to say how happy I am now thanks to that.

Di Au

[pernicia]

Hi Di,

No worries, my post was not meant to discuss responsabilities, it was just to let you know that in fact the gun was brand new, never fired. I'm happy to know that you are finally using the gun, never thought somebody would wait 2 yrs to shoot a gun... hahaha

Best of luck and dive safe!

Originally Posted by asianspearo

Hi Jose,

Thank you for the clarification. You might have said something to the effect that the gun was brand new when I bought it from you, I just can't remember (blame that on old age if you wish--you'd only be too correct! ). At any rate, my post was not meant to place not-even-a-hint of any blame on anyone--not the least you for, to be truthful, you gave me a fantastic deal on a gun that I had been dreaming to own but could not afford to pay full price for... Rather, the post was to highlight the exceptional service the manufacturer has extended to an "indirect" customer, which helped turn a somewhat negative situation into a positive experience, and to say how happy I am now thanks to that.

Di Au

[asianspearo]

Originally Posted by pernicia

"never thought somebody would wait 2 yrs to shoot a gun..."

"The longer the wait, the better the taste" (Confucius--not! )

Di Au

[Land&SeaKahuna]

Talk about an adventure

[North Star]

Great writeup and great company. I use some of their products and have been very happy. Glad to know their customer service is first class.

[asianspearo]

Originally Posted by North Star

Great writeup and great company. I use some of their products and have been very happy. Glad to know their customer service is first class.

Thanks, North Star. I do want the whole spearfishing world to hear about this story.

Have a great day,

Di Au

[spearq8]

Sporasub is now owned by Omer, and the Spear One is probably the best speargun in its class. Although I haven't bought one yet (next on my list) I have tried it and really liked it. Anything by Sporasub is great and I really wish they had not changed their original Spear One shaft (with barb ring) to the newer ones. I use those shafts on any gun I can fit it on, and now I only have 2 remaining and there are no longer on sale anywhere. It is by far the most accurate shaft I have ever tried, and I wish someone would pick up and develop a similar shaft again.

[asianspearo]

Originally Posted by spearq8

Sporasub is now owned by Omer, and the Spear One is probably the best speargun in its class. Although I haven't bought one yet (next on my list) I have tried it and really liked it. Anything by Sporasub is great and I really wish they had not changed their original Spear One shaft (with barb ring) to the newer ones. I use those shafts on any gun I can fit it on, and now I only have 2 remaining and there are no longer on sale anywhere. It is by far the most accurate shaft I have ever tried, and I wish someone would pick up and develop a similar shaft again.

I second your opinion on the original ONE shaft. I, too, tried to buy a few of those shafts to use as spares for my ONE gun as well as my other Euroguns, but was unable to locate any.

Di Au

[Otis Driftwood]

I hope they don't get swamped with repairs on second hand gear, but I've also been well taken care of in the past by Technosport, and I had old, beat gear...

Thanks Mark!

[zenspearo]

Epic story. I enjoyed this thread.

[Mattedhead]

I have to agree completely, Mark and the whole Technosport/OMER/Sporasub family have always taken care of me very well!