A while back there was a thread about compasses in which someone had brought up two problems with the Brunton 8099 compass - bubbles in the capsule and rubbing off of the printing on the bottom of the baseplate.

I had read about those problems in other 8099 reviews, so I wrote Brunton and asked them to comment on these issues. I thought you might like to see the the response I received:

[color:"blue"] These are 2 frequent questions we get. More so for the bubble. I’ve only actually dealt with a few cases of the number rubbing off the bottom of the base plate, but I have seen it. I can’t honestly say I have a solution for that, but I have passed that info on to the people who need to know, they just haven’t given a good answer to this. Sorry for that. As for the bubble situation that was very frequent I’m happy to say we have a solution for that. We discovered that the magnet that directs the needle was actually emitting a gas that was creating a bubble. This was caused cause the magnet wasn’t appropriately sealed. We have recently changed the magnets in hopes to not have bubbles! Now I’m sitting and waiting for the feedback on whether it solved the problem…no complaints so far.

Thanks for your concerns, and I will press the product managers on the ideas of different methods of applying the scales to the bottom of the compass. Hope this helps.

Thanks

Chris | Customer Support Supervisor [/color]

If I get more information from them I'll relay it back to this forum.

Ken K.

Well, I gotta admit, whomever that Brunton person is who wrote that response, they sure seem like a decent person. It actually sounds like it was written by a honest human and not some automated-machine-drone trying to pass the buck as is typical in many other companies.

I hope my 8099 does not develope these problems. But if so, my guess is that Brunton will make it right. Judging by this one response from one of their employees.

I had a Brunton bubble problem probably 20 years ago, at that time they told me that it was caused by going up in altitude, and that by going down the bubble would go away. I had never had it higher (at that time) than maybe 5000 ft, and was at about 100 ft when talking to them, bubble still there. You will notice that in neither case did they actually offer to do anything about the problem, like offer a replacement compass...

I sent my 8099 in once a few years back after developing a bubble.

I recently noticed that it has once again developed a bubble but I have not as yet returned it for repair or replacement.

They used to say that the bubble would not effect an accurate reading but I haven't put that to the test under field conditions.
Still, I'd prefer that it not develop the issue to begin with.

Whenever I see (or get) a response like that from a company service representative, it boosts my loyalty up several notches for the company. It isn;t so bad when a business manufactures something that doesn't perform perfectly, but it is bad when their reply contains some boilerplate wording that reads more like an advertisement than a response.

This fellow (Chris) took the time to think about the customer's view and problem with their product. I don;t think that's necessarily rare, but it sure isn't common either. I wonder if upper-management at Brunton would ever read the response he wrote and know what an asset they have in that guy?

Coming from a customer service background, there's only one way to make sure they DO find out about him. Let them know. Either by way of a survey or an outright letter to his management team. If you aren't sure of his manager's name, ask him directly or look on the web. And I always favor companies with good support and customer service. It usually means they care about their product and their customers' satisfaction.

In my experience, it never hurts when you catch someone doing something right and let them (and hopefully their upper echelon) know about it.

Regards,
Comanche7

I have had my 8099 capsule replaced 2 times and Brunton provided exceptional service both times.

However, the compass will NOT function with a large bubble and because it developed a huge bubble EVERY time I went to higher altitude I will never carry it again....no matter how nice the replacement policy is, a non-functioning compass is junk when you most need it.

Now if the magnet was indeed the problem, I may just carry it to altitude again and get it replaced a 3rd time....however it will never be my main compass again ever. Compass card type compasses are, in my view, unacceptable designs as a bubble puts them out of service, where a needle type compass can easily function with a bubble.