Did I get taken for a ride??

[ClayJar]

My solution would be as follows:

When the shop refused credit, say OK I don't want to return it yet.
Go out to the parking lot and open the Valve all the way. Let all the air out. Now you have used the air you paid for, the dive shop has to visual the tank, the tank also will have a shorter life span from the temperature change of releasing all the air so quickly.

• "Now you have used the air you paid for" (and shown yourself to be the type who gets all bent out of shape when some small thing doesn't go their way)
• "the dive shop has to visual the tank" (How should I reply? "No, they don't" or perhaps "And I'd certainly charge you for it" or something else?)
• "the tank also will have a shorter life span from the temperature change of releasing all the air so quickly" (*sigh* :shakehead I believe you have quite a unique concept of compressed gas cylinders.)

If you really would do something that you believe would cost the shop time and money just because you didn't get a refund for not using the air (in a spare cylinder you weren't intending to use anyway!), well...

Oh I forgot to add, NEVER step foot in the shop again.

It's rarely a good idea for a shop to alienate a customer, but it's hard to miss some of you when you leave.

 

[redacted]

My solution would be as follows:

When the shop refused credit, say OK I don't want to return it yet.
Go out to the parking lot and open the Valve all the way. Let all the air out. Now you have used the air you paid for, the dive shop has to visual the tank, the tank also will have a shorter life span from the temperature change of releasing all the air so quickly.

This little stunt is both unnecessary and ineffective. A shop that is not satisfying its customers will receive its just reward: reduced profits and, perhaps, a going out of business sale. Some shops would just miss the drained tank when they hooked it up for refill. Hopefully most would catch the empty tank as they prepared to refill it and pull the valve to take a peek before they returned it to service.

Now if you just have to do something petty and meaningless (and not endanger another diver) one might drain the tank, pull the valve and drop in a good sized SS nut, and then use your equalizer hose to put a little gas back in. That should eventually get some interesting head scratching. But if you were capable of doing something like that, you probably would not be renting tanks qand you would be carrying a supply of spare o-rings

 

[Hemlon]

Tsk, tsk...

Do local dive shops really want to keep our business?

They could start by giving decent customer service.