Did I just get taken by ALL WET Scuba in Tempe??

[OldNSalty]

I think overall, the cost of maintenance is disproportionate to the cost of the goods being serviced and I am talking in general here, not this specific case. Wouldn’t this be like a $5000 service charge on a new Honda?
I know, I know, shops have to make money, service has to be done, blah, blah,blah. I just think that while these charges might be ‘in line’ the entire concept is a little wacky to me.

 

[rstofer]

<snip>
Labor $120 each
</snip>

It looks to me like the labor was $60 each.

<snip>
2nd stage kit 9000-13 $10
2nd stage 9000-13 $14
</snip>

I wonder why the 2 kits were priced differently. But it's only $4

Other than that, it looks like $60 per regulator plus parts. If you guess $25 per stage for parts times 6 stages, that's $150. So the total doesn't look wildly out of range. In fact, it looks fine to me!

I hope there is another shop in town for your next service. I think this relationship is blown...

Richard

 

[newmexicodiver]

I just got mine and wifes serviced. Both Scubapro (in warranty so no parts) MK25/600, 1 with octo and 1 with AirII. Including the BC inspection the total was $219.10 for only labor.

 

[PhilEllis]

I think overall, the cost of maintenance is disproportionate to the cost of the goods being serviced and I am talking in general here, not this specific case. Wouldn&#8217;t this be like a $5000 service charge on a new Honda?
I know, I know, shops have to make money, service has to be done, blah, blah,blah. I just think that while these charges might be &#8216;in line&#8217; the entire concept is a little wacky to me.

I agree that the price can sometimes be a substantial percentage of the original cost of the regulator. However, the price of service is not based upon the original cost of the item, but instead is based on labor and parts cost.

We have an industry where we have a product (a regulator) that has been sold on the basis that it will "last forever". It needs to be serviced at some frequency to assure proper performance. The manufacturers of that product have suggested 1 year for a number of reasons, and many have provided a "free parts" arrangement to encourage that. For those who do not have the skills to do the service themselves, they must go to someone that is equipped to do that service. The resulting cost is seemingly high. There is always the alternative to simply purchase another regulator. After all, that is what we do with laptop computers.

I purchased a clothes washing machine, brand new, for $398. About two years later, it stopped working and I called a repair technician. The repair cost was $135.00; a substantial portion of the original cost of the washer. If you think honestly about it, this is a situation that happens with a great many consumer products. There is nothing unique about scuba in that regard.

Phil Ellis
www.divesports.com

 

[PhilEllis]

Wouldn’t this be like a $5000 service charge on a new Honda?

And no, it would be just like a $130 dollar repair on a used Honda you purchased for $800.

Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment

 

[redacted]

$60 each for labor, for a job done right, is reasonable. The quoted parts prices look like the usual 100% markup over LDS cost. But if they did not explain that their quoted price of $60 each was only for labor and that parts would be extra, then I can understand why you may think you were scammed. I also would have expected them to provide an estimate of parts costs to give you a more accurate estimated total cost.

 

[Web Monkey]

Labor $120 each
Hose protector $8
1st Stage kit 9000-01 $25
2nd stage kit 9000-13 $10
2nd stage 9000-13 $14
M15 kit #10.600.041 $25
R190 kit 11.300.045 $12
D400 Kit 11.012.045 $21
Comfort Mouth piece $8.50
Misc shop supplies $5
. . .

All this for a Scubapro D400 and a Titan Micra

Now I dont want to be off base here but would it not be a normal protocol to call the customer before adding in all these types of items when you told them when they dropped of the regulators "It will be $60 each plus the cost of the mouthpiece".

It's a little hard to tell from your list, but it looks like they rebuilt two first stages and 4 second stages.

If you actually got six regs completely rebuilt for $258 including parts and labor and they did a good job, it's a good deal.

Terry

 

[OldNSalty]

And no, it would be just like a $130 dollar repair on a used Honda you purchased for $800.

Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment

and no, I said NEW Honda.

 

[OldNSalty]

I agree that the price can sometimes be a substantial percentage of the original cost of the regulator. However, the price of service is not based upon the original cost of the item, but instead is based on labor and parts cost.

We have an industry where we have a product (a regulator) that has been sold on the basis that it will "last forever". It needs to be serviced at some frequency to assure proper performance. The manufacturers of that product have suggested 1 year for a number of reasons, and many have provided a "free parts" arrangement to encourage that. For those who do not have the skills to do the service themselves, they must go to someone that is equipped to do that service. The resulting cost is seemingly high. There is always the alternative to simply purchase another regulator. After all, that is what we do with laptop computers.

I purchased a clothes washing machine, brand new, for $398. About two years later, it stopped working and I called a repair technician. The repair cost was $135.00; a substantial portion of the original cost of the washer. If you think honestly about it, this is a situation that happens with a great many consumer products. There is nothing unique about scuba in that regard.

Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment

So just how many man hours goes into servicing 1 reg? I am not talking about the time that parts might sit in a solution somewhere (if they do, I don't work on these things) but actual time spent inspecting, breaking down, replacing and putting back together. Are we talking 1 hour, 8 hours? what?

sucks for your washer but I would think that is out of the norm. Most last much longer then that but do cost way too much to fix when they break.

 

[Web Monkey]

I purchased a clothes washing machine, brand new, for $398. About two years later, it stopped working and I called a repair technician. The repair cost was $135.00; a substantial portion of the original cost of the washer. If you think honestly about it, this is a situation that happens with a great many consumer products. There is nothing unique about scuba in that regard.

SCUBA reguators are just about the most long-lived equipment I've ever seen.

With a good manufacturer, you really can keep one pretty much forever. I still dive with my eBay SCUBAPro Mk1, and somehow, the tech always finds parts for it. The reg is probably the oldest functional mechanical thing I own.

Consumer items like electronics and appliances really are "throw away". Part of this is caused by economic pressure for "cheaper", but part is that good service technicians are simply not available.

When I was just out of high-school, I worked for an appliance repair shop for a few years. There were maybe 10 good technicians on the road doing washers, dryers, microwaves, etc. Now 30 years later, I stopped by to say "hello" and a few of the guys are gone, but the rest are "old timers". The owner said that he's just never been able to find anybody who wants to do the work and is qualified.

At least around here, high-school no longer teaches "auto shop" or anything similar to regular students. It's reserved as a place to dump trouble-makers and kids who can't handle regular classes. There's really no path for kids who might actually like the work and would be good at it, which is leaving us with a really short supply of service technicians for all sorts of things.

Terry