Radar - DAY Marine 0 points, Raymarine 5 points

Look - no radar

Sea Bunny's radar stopped working in mid scan on the way from Sunda Strait (Indonesia) to Cocos Keeling (Australia) - screen blank..

Emails to and from Raymarine in the UK elicited the assumption that the PCB inside was faulty and that the unit would need a service centre or be returned to the UK for replacement.

Raymarine service agent (definition: able to troubleshoot and repair most Raymarine equipment) in Mauritius - where we would go after Rodrigues. This was DAY Marine.
It transpired that DAY Marine have no facilities to test radar, relying on a remote diagnosis from the UK. To test and eliminate a cable fault required a new cable to be shipped from the UK, and back, at our cost. The subcontract technician who eventually attended the boat (day before our visa expired) had limited knowledge of the Seatalk HS network which combines the radar signal with other data.

In the end, replacing the PCB did not fix the problem and the unit had to be returned to the UK,  6 weeks after initially contacting DAY Marine. It was returned to us in Reunion inside a fortnight.

The down side - abortive work cost some 800 euros in shipping costs, clearance charges, VAT and labour and the delays meant that we had lost the time to go to South Arica via Madagascar.
The upside - Raymarine carried out the repair as if it were a warranty claim, so there was no charge for the repair and return shipping. As a result we are probably only slightly out of pocket in money terms.
Lesson learned - unless you are absolutely certain that an agent is fully equipped and confident to test and repair equipment - return it direct to the manufacturer.