Does SSI take gear inspections a little far?

[Jasonmh]

um, no. not likely to be a ssi requirement, but a shop requirement.

Yup, what she said.

 

[JPENDERGRAST]

I didn't figure it to be an SSI thing, but it did seem a little suspect that the two shops in the area are SSI, and BOTH require that their stickers are on your gear in order for you to use their pools. My regulator has been serviced, and will be fine, and I have no problem getting my gear inspected - even if they charge a few bucks. If I get up there, however, with the rest of my gear, and they want to charge me $100 to inspect / service my stuff(all of my gear is less than a year old), they will get a different, not-so-positive response.

 

[rstofer]

That being said there is another SSI shop in the area that has more ways to nickle and dime you than the IRS. If you don't buy your equipment from him. HE has to O2 clean it before Nitrox class

You know, if I had to pump pure oxygen into someone's tank, I would want to O2 clean it myself. OK, so it was cleaned, way back when. How do I, a simple tank monkey, know that you haven't polluted the tank with crappy air after is was cleaned?

It's odd, LDSs are willing to accept the 'Nitrox Clean' from tank manufacturers before doing partial pressure blending. But that's not what the tank manufacturer said. They said the tank was clean for EAN40, not pure O2. I have always wondered about that...

Richard

 

[Web Monkey]

I'm sure some feathers will be ruffled with this question in regards to safety, but I assure that it is nothing more than a face value question.

I'm currently going through my Advanced Open Water through an SSI shop where I live. The people at the shop are great, and I'm very glad to do business with thim. HOWEVER, they want to inspect virtually all the gear that I own (except exposure protection). My BC, reg set (no brainer there), computer, mask, and EVEN my fins! Is this common with SSI, or any other agencies?

Inspect it for what and is there a fee?

Our instructors "inspect" student-supplied masks before starting OW class to make sure they're tempered glass (or unbreakable plastic like the HydroOptix) , but there's certainly no charge for it.

Terry

 

[fisheater]

In addition to a "hidden" fee for the inspection, I'd be wary of the hard sell coming with the inspection.

"Oh. THAT regulator is a problem. THAT brand has a horrible reputation. Here. You need by THIS brand. After all, it's life support."

 

[redacted]

If there is no charge, I'd thank them for the service even if I didn't think I needed it.

If there is a charge, I'd take my training business elsewhere.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

I will dive with whatever gear that I see fit. I am a certified diver and am free to make my own choices. If I choose to use an old double hose regulator attached to a converted fire extinguisher and use a bleach bottle as my buoyancy compensator device... I will look like an idiot.... BUT I might be diving in a safer manor than someone who has everything brand new from your SSI shop. I would immediately see this as a cash grab and find a new shop.

 

[fnfalman]

It's a free country. The shops can set whatever requirements they want to set vis-a-vis pool usage and training, and the customers can also take their money elsewhere as well. Then the shop can come to Scubaboard and cry about how LeisurePro/Scuba Toys took businesses away from them.

 

[rockjock3]

You know, if I had to pump pure oxygen into someone's tank, I would want to O2 clean it myself. OK, so it was cleaned, way back when. How do I, a simple tank monkey, know that you haven't polluted the tank with crappy air after is was cleaned?

It's odd, LDSs are willing to accept the 'Nitrox Clean' from tank manufacturers before doing partial pressure blending. But that's not what the tank manufacturer said. They said the tank was clean for EAN40, not pure O2. I have always wondered about that...

Richard

Ok, so you O2 clean my tanks, then fill them. I then go diving for the next two months and fill my tanks with regular air from my home compressor. I tend to be suicidal though so I use a gas compressor, with no venting and just use an old oily rag as my intake filter. Now I decide to bring my tanks back to you because I want some good ole O2. You cleaned them, but you have no idea what I put in them.

The sticker tells you when it was O2 cleaned and regardless of whether you put the sticker on it yesterday or another shop did 6 months ago, you still have no idea what has been put into once it leaves your sight.

This sounds like a perfect example of LDSs "give me money" line.

 

[vladimir]

I'm sure some feathers will be ruffled with this question in regards to safety, but I assure that it is nothing more than a face value question.

I'm currently going through my Advanced Open Water through an SSI shop where I live. The people at the shop are great, and I'm very glad to do business with thim. HOWEVER, they want to inspect virtually all the gear that I own (except exposure protection). My BC, reg set (no brainer there), computer, mask, and EVEN my fins! Is this common with SSI, or any other agencies?

I'm a strong advocate for everyone having a safe and fun dive (which is why I'm planning on doing my Rescue Diver immediately after this class), but I have a hard time beleiving that inspecting some of that stuff is anything more than another income source. The Reg set and computer I can understand, but the BC and other stuff? The BC works as long as it inflates AND dumps! The fins, and mask though.... That's just rediculous.

When I went through PADI OW class, none of that was mandatory, but I had my regulator checked regardless. I'm not putting down safe measures, It's just that I question the BC, fins, and mask stuff, and was wondering if anyone else had run across this. The Memphis area, for the most part, is void of a serious diving market, and the stores in the area are notorious (to the local diving community) for finding different ways to nickel and dime people.

This sounds like a tax on equipment not bought from them. Their business model, like many shops, is to offer training cheaply as a loss leader to generate profitable equipment sales. This worked well for decades, but now Leisurepro, ScubaToys, etc, grab some of those gear sales and squeeze the margin on the others. So for customers like you, who already have their equipment, the shop is left with the unpalatable prospect of training you at a loss or finding some other revenue. Hence the gear inspection. And they have every incentive to train you as cheaply as possible, too.

Time for a new business model, I'd say, but it's easier said than done. If they price the training where it generates a profit, they'll be undersold by the loss leader model. They can't price the equipment competitively unless they can generate the kind of volume the big internet dealers do. The answer is, I guess, to stop competing on price. Differentiate their business by offering excellent training, and charge accordingly. Again, easier said than done--who knows if the market actually exists for premium-priced training.