Did I get taken for a ride??

[daniel f aleman]

I am a working Divemaster, 30 years. I inspect everything before it leaves the shop, before a dive, and after the dive. I also inspect all other divers' equipment (as well as the divers themselves) on my boat.

I expect all divers to inspect their equipment.

 

[Racket]

Could you be more stupid?

Wow nice comeback. Do you want to go play some tetherball at recess?

Could you what part of what I said makes me "stupid"?

 

[Racket]

I am a working Divemaster, 30 years. I inspect everything before it leaves the shop, before a dive, and after the dive. I also inspect all other divers' equipment (as well as the divers themselves) on my boat equipment

In 30 years you have never ended up w/ a tank w/ a bad o' ring at a dive site?

 

[ClayJar]

Let's not give the mods a hard time here...

 

[daniel f aleman]

In 30 years you have never ended up w/ a tank w/ a bad o' ring at a dive site?

Sure. And I always had several dozen o-rings in my kit to replace them - as as does any competent DM. You guys are concentrating on the "bad attitude of the dive shop owner", I'm concentrating on the diver.

 

[Doubles]

Yes he could.......................

And he usually is

 

[Splitlip]

I just got certified, so I have zero experience renting SCUBA gear.

However, I play in some jazz groups and rent a lot of other gear. If a fuse blows, it's basically a wearable part and I need to go into my bag and pull out a fuse. If I don't have a fuse, I need to go buy a fuse. What I don't do is whine to whoever rented me the gear that a part that is designed to wear out worn out.

That said, I would hope the shop would remind you at checkout to see if you need o-rings, silicon lubricant, or any other repair parts necessary to properly service the wearable parts of the gear you're renting.

But when all's said and done, there's no way the shop can know if you used the tank or not. It's possible to fill a tank away from a dive shop.

You make good points. This is life support equipment and we all should be self reliant and partcularly vigilent with every piece of gear.
I don't want to beat up on the OP any more, but jeeze, she is a DM. I did not see it, did anyone check the pressure before taking off for a lengthy trip? I honestly would have been embarassed to post this.

 

[plot]

Sure. And I always had several dozen o-rings in my kit to replace them - as as does any competent DM. You guys are concentrating on the "bad attitude of the dive shop owner", I'm concentrating on the diver.

both the diver and shopowner were in the wrong, the diver admitted to both of his mistakes in the original post (not inspecting the orings before leaving the shop and not having spares), and he's learned from it and probably wont make the mistake again.

The shop on the other hand has shown poor maintenance and unwillingness to work with the customer... which the diver has also learned, and going back is a third mistake he probably wont make again.

Thanks to the advent of the internet, e-commerce beating every shop in the price market, reviews of equipment from multiple people doing all types of diving at your fingertips, as well as sites like this which lets the word get out about how decent a shop is quickly and effectively... customer service is about the only thing an LDS has left... one that isn't willing to go the extra step to satisify a customer is one you won't see around much longer.

 

[ClayJar]

The shop on the other hand has shown poor maintenance and unwillingness to work with the customer... which the diver has also learned, and going back is a third mistake he probably wont make again.

We haven't heard the shop's perspective in this. Does the OP DM for the shop? Has the OP been negligent (no, not criminally, just regular old everyday) before? Did the OP come in and cop an attitude (and only become humbled for the post here)?

I'm not saying any of those were the case, but there could be *many* ways the story could be incomplete, and hotheaded people launching boycotts over it just seems a bit over the top. I mean, hey, maybe the guy just dropped a set of doubles on his toe right before the OP came in and was not in the normally very helpful and happy state of mind (or maybe he was irregular).

I've stopped going to shops because of bad customer service, but if one little thing were enough to set me off (as it appears it would be to some of us), I'd better be looking into buying a compressor.

 

[ReefHound]

Was it a popular dive site? Did you look around on the ground for a better one? Another better prepared dive party?

The Comal is a spring-fed fast running little river that is mostly popular for the tubing. It's a cool dive because it is one of the few places in Texas with clear water, it is 72 degrees year round, there are fish and plants to see, and you move so fast in places it is like flying. There are even chutes and white water rapids. Max depth is about 14' and typical is about 9'. In many places, you can simply stand up.

So there is really no safety issue here from a leak, unless it was just massively leaking that it would empty in minutes. A AL80 tank will usually last 90 minutes for even an air hog. One could simply snorkel it with your fellow divers and be part of the group.

There are no dive shops along the length of it but there is one in the town. It's popular enough with divers that there are usually several groups out there on a given day but not so popular that you tend to run into them. There's no single entry point where you could expect to find an o-ring lying around.