Did I get taken for a ride??

[Scared Silly]

I read through all of the posts. Sounds as though three people and three cylinders. So swapping O rings from an empty cylinder is not quite going to work. Not unless they found someone who was done for the day but it sounds as though meeting up with other divers is not the common.

But I wonder if the OP tried all of the permutations such as trying all three regs of the suspect cylinder? Failing that removing and flipping the O-ring (sometimes this can be done sometime you trash the O-ring removing it). Seems like I need more information before going back to the store.

That said I do not blame the OP for not having a spare o-ring in his kit. I have used stuff from mine and forgotten to replace it. That said I have about 6 different o rings in mine and need to get some different ones now that we have DIN valves.

As for the store, I would have at least ask them to attach a reg and see what happens. Especially if you did truly try everything. Did you take your reg in with you and have them look at the situation?

I think more could have been done before asking to a refund. But if it was done a refund might be in order all depends. Look at this way you will probably never forget to do some post rental checks in the future.

 

[ClayJar]

I'm beginning to understand why the shops I patronize like me so much. Apparently, there are a lot of headhunters out there who spend their days trying to find out by whom to have been wronged next.

Frankly, if a single non-refunded rental with a very incomplete story is enough to get you to demand to know what shop to hate now, I pity you. Even if the circumstance, as described, was the entirety of my experience with a shop, it would not be sufficient to make me do anything. It would certainly not increase my appreciation of the shop, but I certainly wouldn't write it off and hand it over for all the hotheaded soldiers of misfortune to crucify on the net.

Tell you what, if the revolting villagers here will PM me their addresses, I'll *personally* send them each a *pair* of valve face O-rings as an olive branch on behalf of the unnamed shop in question. That should settle it, eh? The root cause was simply the lack of a spare O-ring. Like the shop in question, I would also say that it is inexcusable for a divemaster to demand a refund for not having a spare O-ring, and since I agree with that, it's only right for me to put my O-rings where my keyboard is.

(Note: Only revolting villagers up through post 82 are included in this offer.)

 

[MBH]

Woo hoo!!!

I'm getting a free o-ring!!!

 

[ReefHound]

Tell you what, if the revolting villagers here will PM me their addresses, I'll *personally* send them each a *pair* of valve face O-rings as an olive branch on behalf of the unnamed shop in question.

If you ever get the address of the OP, send my pair of o-rings to her. I have plenty in my kit already.

 

[dallasdivergirl]

No excuses for not having a spare o-rings. Before my first dive in the quarry (the second half of class) I had a spare parts kit. It is with me on every dive. I have had dive operations borrow from me. It should be basic check just like do I have mask/fins etc. Plus they went to the dive shop to get the tanks so the o-rings could have been picked up on the same trip.

The refund on the tank wasn't necessary but would have been a great good will gesture on the shop's part.

I can't recommend the guys at scuba toys enough. I feel very fortunate that they are my lds.

 

[TSandM]

I carry spare o-rings, but I've gotten to a dive site and discovered that the bag's been removed from my save-a-dive kit and I haven't got it. Either I took it out at home and forgot to replace it, or somebody else (who shall remain nameless) did so. Nothing's ever perfect, although having three divers get to a site without spares ought to be pretty rare.

Regardless of the fact that somebody should have had a spare o-ring, the shop lost an opportunity to be gracious at very little cost to themselves. Unless EVERY rental tank they had was out that day, they would have lost nothing by simply offering a credit for the tank.

I do suggest trying various regs on such a tank, though -- My husband and I both have Aqualung Titan regs for our singles setups, and mine is consistently much more finicky about seating than his is. Often, I can't get mine to stop leaking on a tank, but his will settle down immediately.

 

[Cheekymonkey]

When I rent tanks from a diveshop in the area I know and trust, then ulness I am going back to get the tanks myself which is sometimes the case. I trust them to have done the checking for me.

First, the LDS is not only wrong but stupid to alienate someone over something that didn't cost them any real money. Sounds like they just ignore teh o-rings and let their customers maintain the tanks. If you used a credit card, file a chargeback just for the principle of it.

But I'm floored that you're a divemaster and have never rented a tank before and didn't know what to look for. As a DM, you're supposed to be able to tell other newbies what to look for and how to deal with this kind of issue. I'm also confused why you didn't get to use the tank. Just swap the o-ring out with one of the other tanks after it was used. If you needed all three at once then I guess someone sat out a dive.

 

[Cheekymonkey]

Put a couple of o-rings around your watch band.

I love that idea, I put o-rings on my watch band about 5 minutes after I read this

 

[Cheekymonkey]

thinking the o-ring was ok because they were able to fill it, quote]

Yea but they coulda filled it a month ago, and meanwhile the sun could have been beating on the o-ring every day making it crack

 

[hugedodge2000]

I had a rental regulator when I first started diving that had a hole in the hose under the hose guard. I hit about 40ft. and heard the air coming out. I took it back and told the
LDS what happened and they gave me a credit for the next time I went diving. Its pretty much the same thing.If the LDS cant give you safe gear they cant keep the money you payed to rent it. I think they should have refunded you man. HAPPY DIVING!!