Review of Costa Del Mar Fathom Polarized Sunglasses

Costa Del Mar Fathom Polarized Sunglasses - Costa 400 Glass Lens
By: Costa Del Mar Average Rating: 1.5 Total Reviews: 3
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Poor material, worst customer service

On: 2010-07-25

These sunglasses work great for about 2 years, and then fall apart soon. The companys "lifetime warranty" is a lie, and they will find every excuse to charge you. There are handling fees, shipping fees and part cost...
After about 2-year of normal use, the part of the sunglasses frame that touches the nose started to delaminate (in the form of small "bubbles" underneath the surface), and the glossy finish started to chip off. I asked a Costa Del Mar salesman about this problem at the Fred Hall fishing show at San Diego. He told me that the plastics Costa Del Mar used their older models was sensitive to sunscreen, and they have fixed the problem by switching to different material. He suggested me to return the sunglasses to Costa Del Mar for warrant repair. However, when I did what he suggested, the repair facility manager Samantha refused to honor their warranty and insisted that the delamination was normal and not covered by their lifetime warranty. I found this explanation appalling. If they think this is normal, they should inform consumers that "our sunglasses will delaminate under normal use in a bout 2 years and it is not covered by warranty". She also claim that the fault is not on their defective material, but instead she said my skin is the problem that caused the problem. I have multiple pairs of brand name sunglasses for years, such as Maui Jim and Smith, yet I have NEVER had any delamination problem with them. Last time I checked, I still have the same skin when I wear these sunglasses. Instead of finding lame excuses for their defective product, I think that Costa Del Mar should admit the use of defective material, honor their promise to consumers and fix the sunglasses for me.

Great Sunglasses Until You Drop Them

On: 2010-02-24

Ive had 2 pairs of Costas with the 580 glass lenses. I loved them until....they fell off my head, to the ground, the lenses on both pairs of Costas shattered. Im not in the habit of dropping sunglasses with glass lenses but it does happen. Costa does not back their lenses from breakage and they told me it will cost $100 to repair one lens.

Ive had a pair of glass lens Revos for 15 years, they dropped many times and the glass lenses never broke. Being that Costa markets to the sports fishermen you would think the lenses were more durable. With Costa, if it is not a known "manufacturer defect", they dont back it. Other brands of glasses with a similar price have better warrantees. You should steer clear of Costas if this is a concern of yours.

Poor design

On: 2009-07-08

I have owned 2 pair of fathoms. On both pairs, the rubber on the legs of the glasses comes off. I sent the first pair back and requested they replace the legs with solid plastic such as on the triple tail models, but they charged about $80 to replace the glasses and sent back the same pair, which shortly thereafter began shedding the rubber on the legs. The glass is great, but I would suggest checking out a different model.

Bait 'n Switch? Item Not As Advertised

On: 2009-04-07

I recently ordered a pair of these because the advertised price was great for a pair of Costa del Mar sunglasses with glass lens. However, the sunglasses did not come with Costa 400 Glass lens but with CR-39 (polycarbonate) lens. While Costas plastic lens are decent (Ive had a pair for over 5 years), the quality is not as good as glass. Backcountry (the vendor) offered full refund, but did not honor the advertised price for glass lens even though the packing list stated "Costa 400 Glass lens". I like Costa products, but will not buy from Backcountry again.

Good as long as you don't need service

On: 2005-07-12

These glasses are near the top for performance in the sun but their service department hoovers near the bottom. There is no correspondence and they cant give you specifics when you call. Evidently they use a lame sloth as a mail carrier and think 3 weeks is an acceptable delivery time.