Annual Equipment Service and inspection Pricing

[jringold]

You guys know, this is EXACTLY why people buy on-line vs LDS'. Had I not checked here, I would have blindly forked over $650 and thanked them for it. I buy almost everything on-line - heck, 4 days a week an Amazon box is on my doorstep when I get home. I could have ordered my gear on-line and saved some bucks, but I wanted to have someone local I could trust with this new hobby. Well, that trust just went out the freaking window. I'm about 10 shades of pissed off right now.

 

[grf88]

If you want to continue diving with them then have them service the regs with free parts but don't have them touch the computers as there is nothing they can do to them except change the batteries and give them a pressure test. When the batteries need changing then do that yourself. As for the BC's and Air 2's do they have to be serviced on an annual basis.

 

[jringold]

I should add a HUGE thanks to this community for helping me not get fleeced. I'm mostly a lurker on Scubaboard but constantly read posts. The content on this site has been a constant source of great info. Who said divers are not passionate about their opinions??? Where were you guys 25 years ago when that car dealer was talking me into that awesome finance deal? :-0

 

[redacted]

I am not one to often defend dive shops (understatement) and yours seem to have prices a tad on the high side; but you may not be able to find one any better in your area. Scubapro does recommend (require) full service every two years with inspection in to off years. If the shop does a proper service of your computer, that would include checking the accuract od tank pressure readings as well as depth reading in addition to the battery changes. While I see little value in a warrenty or PFL program (I do all my own service), If you intend to keep yours, you may want to take y7our shop's offer. But you should only need your regs serviced and you should be able to take care of your computers and BCDs.

I would rate your shop as rather typical. But you can find better dive ops.

 

[grf88]

I would agree with awap. If you want to maintain your parts for life warranty allow them to service your regs only. That will give you time to decide whether the parts for life program is valuable to you or not. I would look around for dive ops that do not have the requirement of service tags which should not be difficult as I have never heard of such a practice and from some of the other posts it would seem that not many have. Look in to getting an IP gauge and learning how to use it, do a search on this board and you will get plenty of information.

 

[Damselfish]

I was wondering about the parts thing too, why they were charging you if you'd been following "the rules." I think there used to be official "grace" periods on some of these programs, I don't know anymore. I seem to recall some even had a way to buy your way back in.

Basically you have to be comfortable with what you decide. Getting just the regs serviced with the free parts now may be a good compromise. Then you can decide as you go forward which way you want to go with all this. I think your experience is a pretty common process many divers go through if they stick with diving for long, kind of figuring out how things work in the real world.

 

[Wookie]

I never say never, but this is a classic example of the warranty not being worth the price of servicing the regs. An excellent brand like ScubaPro or Aqualung (to name a couple) don't need servicing more frequently than maybe every 5 years unless you're making hundreds of dives a year. Even if you are, I don't service my Atomics (basically ScubaPro Mk20 clones) but when they need it, and I do make hundreds of dives a year. I understand how to use an IP gage, and service my own regs myself, but it's more to keep them O2 clean than it is because they need service.

I would never have a "service tag" on my gear. That's an invention by SSI to goad you into far more frequent service than you can possible need. I was a dive operator for the past 20 years, and will be again, and I never asked someone when the last time their gear was serviced. As Damselfish stated back on page 1, the only time we saw regulator failure was after service.

My wife and I are doing not much else right now aside from performing service for our LDS, as we are excellent at it, and they are not. We're waiting for our boat to come in, and when it does, we'll be back taking divers out. But I think we will continue to do gear repair, as most of the repair facilities out there are so bad.

 

[KeithG]

I should add a HUGE thanks to this community for helping me not get fleeced. I'm mostly a lurker on Scubaboard but constantly read posts. The content on this site has been a constant source of great info. Who said divers are not passionate about their opinions??? Where were you guys 25 years ago when that car dealer was talking me into that awesome finance deal? :-0

i suggest your next learning goal is to be able to inspect your own gear.

then you can decide when it needs service. if treated properly gear will go hundreds of dives before needing service (my first bcd lasted 15 years with no service required). inspection is quick and easy and you can perform it on a regular basis as often as you want.

i claim that by the time your current gear actually NEEDS service, you can sell it and buy new gear (from a different manufacturer) that you can then service youself.

 

[scubafanatic]

As there are no diving opportunities to speak of where you're located (unless maybe the famous aquarium there?) why do you tolerate this absurd 'tag' policy ? I've never ever heard or seen this policy anywhere before (expect for the current scuba tank hydro/visual sticker requirement) and if you travel to dive you will never encounter any such requirement anywhere else, so why get caught up in their 'game'?

 

[grf88]

Apparently the OP was faced with this requirement in Florida, has anyone else had such an experience there.
Maybe the OP could let us know the dive operator so that we could avoid them.