I know locally non commercial VIP stickers are not terribly welcome. The expressed concern is the lack of liability coverage backing the inspection. I'm sure protecting the revenue stream is part of it too. I've seen resistance when others have been travelling regionally looking for fils in unfamilar places.
For the hassles involved so far I have been letting the LDS have the business and me keep my time.
They do hydro onsite and while there may be an opportinty to save a little elsewhere there's not enough left on the table to bother for the interval involved.
I use TDi stickers and write my cert on the sticker. If they won't fill they get zero of my business. I own 11 tanks and in 2 years that class pays got itself. Add $100 for tools to do the job right it's 3 years.
---------- Post added November 21st, 2012 at 02:30 PM ----------
My guess is when you do the math, you will be paying more than $20 if you truly figure in all your expenses by having your own compressor.
I just had someone drive an hour to fill their 2 cuft. cylinder. They were very happy that we were able to provide the service.
Should we lose money on fills?
I've done the math. Realistically air would cost me a little over $8 a fill for my current volume of dives. I pay $10 for that now. I buy my gas from a guy that bought his own compressor because he got tired of the BS like in availability of nitrox and rising costs. He does a very low volume of fills and still makes to justify keeping his service available. For $2 isn't worth the hassle of me owning a compressor. $12 certainly would be.
Note I advised the OP not to buy a compressor if he'd given prices like yours my feedback would be different. Be glad I don't live in you area. I'd create a compressor co-op just to show how inflated your $20 fill is.....