Bad experience with LDS

[deg]

Ok so I just got back from the LDS I always rent,buy and get service at and was really disappointed with their customer service.

3 weeks ago, my girlfriend and I rented two sets of regulators and 2 tanks as we were going on a 2 dive charter and we only have one tank each. I dive a 119cuft and my girlfriend dives a 100cuft both HP steel. We ended up doing both dives on the same tanks. So we come back with the rentals and full tanks and the LDS didn't want to give us anything back for the cylinders saying that they could've rented those tanks to someone else (there was about 30 full tanks ready to to go on the floor), alright no problem.

So yesterday, around 5pm I go rent 2 more regulators because we just added SS backplates and SS STA for our Zeagle Rangers and we wanted to go dive the local pound for a skills dive before family comes over for the rest of the weekend. We wake up, it's pouring outside, so we call off the dive and go directly at the shop to bring back the regulators as they are closed tomorrow. We had the regulators in our hands for about 16 hours and didn't use them and the LDS didn't want to do anything about that either.

So my question is, has it ever happen to anyone here and how did you manage this issue?

Is this common practice for pretty much any dive shop or they should just loose the two of us as customers?

 

[tomfcrist]

The fact that you left the shop with the gear and brought it back a day or even days later, you will not be refunded rental fees. At least not in any shop I know of. It's not their fault that you didn't use the tanks you rented nor the regs you rented.

 

[chrpai]

It's common practice at the shops I've been at. I think once or twice a local dive that they sponsored was cancelled and in that situation they refunded.

I wish my LDS offered anything other then an AL80 so you are lucky there. My gut is you are becoming a "local diver" and you are going to really quickly outgrow renting gear and so the problem will go away on it's own.

 

[Gren]

If I go to any other type of rental store, rent a product, then return it unused, I expect I will be paying.

I think you are responsible for knowing what equipment is required and planning for weather.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Wookie]

I gotta go with what's been said above. You rented the equipment, you took possession. What you did with it after that is your business, and if you didn't use it for any reason, well, that's your business.

 

[Rhodesaz]

You walked out the door with the gear. Sorry, but you need to pay.

Ask yourself this, if you rented a car, drove 1 mile to your house and never drove it again for the weekend. Would you be responsible for the cost of the rental car?

 

[Dsix36]

I have to agree with what the other have already said. I will however make one small observation. If the gas in the tanks has not been used then you "might" be allowed a very small refund for that. Since the actual cost to the LDS to fill those tanks was quite small, the amount would not even be worth squabbling about. If you really wanted to be a arse about it, you could dump the tanks prior to returning to force them to fill again, but this is childish and will do no good for anyone involved.

Bluntly, just "Cowboy Up" and accept that this is way it it is. Deal with it or buy your own gear.

 

[chrpai]

Ask yourself this, if you rented a car, drove 1 mile to your house and never drove it again for the weekend. Would you be responsible for the cost of the rental car?

Conversely, on one of my BlackBeard's trips I scheduled an extra day in Miami and booked a room at the Hotel Edison. I checked into the room, went to the internet cafe to check my email and my wife called. She really wanted me to come home early. $100 to AA (no fare change) for the change and I went back to the hotel to check out.

I pulled out my credit card to pay for the room and the lady said no charge. I didn't expect it, but it was very nice of them. I think they realized how often I flew down to Miami to go diving...

 

[deg]

Well as chrpai and Dsix36 said, we'll end up not needing to rent pretty soon. thanks for the quick feedback, I wasn't sure about it but now I know it's common practice at least. thanks everyone!

btw the steel tanks are ours. we rented AL80's.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

While, technically, everyone who's replied so far is correct, a good dive shop ... one who recognizes that you're becoming a regular customer, and wants a continued good business relationship ... would've found a way to cut you a break, either by a partial refund on unused equipment, or by giving you "store credit" for future purchases or rentals.

There are dive shops that will find a way to win your loyalty, and dive shops that assume you owe it to them. It often boils down to how many options you have available in the form of other local dive shops.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)