cost of servicing regulators and alternative air source

[Banker Boy]

I recently switched LDS s due to the old shop closing. In the past I had my reg/air source and BC serviced/overhauled annually for about $80. The new shop qouted me $78 plus "parts" when I dropped just the reg and airsource off about 3 weeks ago. I am handling the BC service myself this year.

When I picked the gear up today the total was $156...in addition to the $78 quoted I was charged for "freight" and "parts". The local shop doesn't service my aqualung gear so it was sent out.

My question is was I getting a great deal from my old shop or was I overcharged by the new place? With these service prices I could simply relace the gear every fourth year.

Thoughts and opinion welcome. I would love to hear from LDS owners regarding their practices.

 

[Footslogger]

I recently switched LDS s due to the old shop closing. In the past I had my reg/air source and BC serviced/overhauled annually for about $80. The new shop qouted me $78 plus "parts" when I dropped just the reg and airsource off about 3 weeks ago. I am handling the BC service myself this year.

When I picked the gear up today the total was $156...in addition to the $78 quoted I was charged for "freight" and "parts". The local shop doesn't service my aqualung gear so it was sent out.

My question is was I getting a great deal from my old shop or was I overcharged by the new place? With these service prices I could simply relace the gear every fourth year.

Thoughts and opinion welcome. I would love to hear from LDS owners regarding their practices.

====================================

I've got Aqualung gear and the annual service is about $85, unless they have to actually repair something. So, I'd say your old LDS was pretty close to market average. As for the $156 ...I'm thinking the middleman might have gotten a cut. No way to know for sure without asking them directly though. Do you have an itemized breakdown of the total cost ??

MJ

 

[weaserm99]

The shop i work for charges this for regulator service.

$20 a stage for the regulator, so if you have first stage, second stage and the air 2 it would $60.
$20 for BC service

Those are just the service charges so it would be that plus the parts.

 

[Banker Boy]

Yes I do have the detailed bill:
regulator service 1st stage $22
2nd stage $22
Air II $27
labor materials $3
Regulator parts $60
freight $10
tax $12

I again appreciate the feedback

 

[oly5050user]

Yes I do have the detailed bill:
regulator service 1st stage $22
2nd stage $22
Air II $27
labor materials $3
Regulator parts $60
freight $10
tax $12

I again appreciate the feedback

Looks right to me..If the regulator was purchased at an authorized dealer and the lds is an authorized dealer for that product the $60. spent on parts and $10. on "freight" would not have been charged.
It appears to be high because of the need to pay for parts and the fact that you have a 3rd second stage in the AirII that was done.
The reality is that if it was under warrenty and done at an authorized dealer the cost would have been $71. which is reasonable.

 

[wnfdivermel]

I work as a repair technician for a lds in the central fl area, and prices seem to vary across the country for service fees. Parts, on the other hand should be around the same pricing.

we charge $38 + tax for service on 1st and 2nd. parts for aqualung regs 1st and 2nd stage kits run anywhere from 15-30 or so, depending on your model. And we charge $25 service fee for o/h on air sources + tax, plus parts.

Your bill of $150+ seems a bit high, but then again...could be the lds "middleman" taking too many cookies out of the cookie jar. If you had to pay for other parts not included in the annual repair kit, the cost goes up, but you should have been informed by the technician who worked on your gear, what exactly was done. You could also try to find a dive shop that is an authorized Aqua lung dealer and repair facility.

My suggestion to you - - - check around other local shops and do price comparisons. And also look at service quality - - - does your local dive shop take care of you? If your reg needed a bit of fine tuning after your service, would your lds take care of it? Or charge you more money?

Good work ethics and customer - owner relations are important as well.

 

[fisherdvm]

I find that my local LDS charges from $120 to $150 for labor, parts, etc. for my reg/octo set. I hate to say it, but the same service from scubatoys.com was about $75. Go figures. Same O rings, same little parts that comes back with the reg.

 

[mike_s]

I recently switched LDS s due to the old shop closing. In the past I had my reg/air source and BC serviced/overhauled annually for about $80. The new shop qouted me $78 plus "parts" when I dropped just the reg and airsource off about 3 weeks ago. I am handling the BC service myself this year.

When I picked the gear up today the total was $156...in addition to the $78 quoted I was charged for "freight" and "parts". The local shop doesn't service my aqualung gear so it was sent out.

.

First off, if you bought it from an Authorized Aqualung retailer, they have a FREE PARTS FOR LIFE program. Your parts cost should have been nothing!

You should have only paid labor. Most shops charge $20 to $25 per stage for labor. So $60 to $75 for labor is about the norm, in my opinion.

The fact you took it to an non-authorized dealer who had to send it out screwed you on the parts cost, not to mention the freight.

Yes I do have the detailed bill:
regulator service 1st stage $22
2nd stage $22
Air II $27
labor materials $3
Regulator parts $60
freight $10
tax $12

Two things I can't figure out....

1.) Labor materials. W-T-F is this? is this like where the auto dealers charge you a "shop fee" ? While only $3 bucks, seems bogus to me.

2.) Tax. You only had $60 in parts. You should have only paid tax on parts, not parts and labor. How'd they get $12 in tax off that? $12 in tax on $60 bucks is a 20% tax rate. Seems They screwed you there also. Seeing how you should have gotten these parts for free anyway, you got double screwed.



There are several other shops that will service that, do it correctly, and not screw you.

It cost me $30 to $60 total to get my Aqualung reg set serviced every year by a very qualified technician. I've never had a problem and hundreds others use them and never have problems either.

hope that helps..

mike

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Labor materials could have been stuff not included in parts kit like packing materials since it was sent out. Also if they did indeed send it out since they were not the owner of the reg the other shop would most likely have charged them for parts. I can service oceanic regs under warranty at the shop. I can also service just about any reg even though I'm not "factory authorized". If I want to service another brand I have to get the parts from another dealer. If it's scuba pro for instance another dealer is technically not allowed to sell me the parts. I could find one who would I'm sure but it would void the warranty, the dealer could lose his dealership, and if anything went wrong I'd be totally liable myself. Easier to send it out and charge what he charges me and pass it on with a little for myself. The other shop may indeed charge "competition" more than they'd charge a guy off the street just because they can.

 

[Stu S.]

In January, Oceanic Alpha 7 annual service was $88. That was $50 labor, $36 parts, plus tax. Service included the gauge and octo. Each parts kit was $12 per stage, and that seemed a bit high when looking over the used parts.

What to do? The job if was done as a free-parts annual, it would have been $50. This one went two years before service and cost $88. So, I saved $12 and either added risk of failure due to lack of service -or- avoided risk that bad service may have caused.

When the reg turned a year old, I figured "it ain't broke, don't fix it".