Dive World Austin says they do not maintain rental equipment until it fails

[tholden1]

I took a trip a few weeks back from Dallas to Austin to dive Lake Travis. While I was there I dove with Lake Travis Scuba on the Giant Stride. They were a great tour and I highly recommend them. I also dove at Winy Point Private and they were great as well.

However, my experience with Dive World Austin was not so great. I didn't know anything about them. I needed rental gear and they were cheaper than the other shop near Lake Travis (Scuba Land) based on the prices on the website.

I rented two of each: a reg, BCD, weights, and tank. Although the BCD was not weight integrated and we had to use a weight belt, both BCDs worked fine. One of the weight belts kept slipping but it wasn't too bad.

The problems we experienced had a lot to do with the reg's. One of the primary mouthpieces had the bite grips almost completely bitten off to the extent where my friend had to hold the regulator in their mouth. Dive World Austin closed at 7pm and when we called at 7:20pm they said just to use the secondary alternate-air regulator. Also, I found it pretty hard to breathe out of my regulator. I just seemed to have to suck very hard to get air.

We had a boat trip scheduled with the Giant Stride the next day in the morning. Rather than dive it with faulty equipment, I decided to reschedule the trip to the afternoon and exchange the gear.

I got to Dive World Austin and exchanged both regulators. I told the owner that the bite grips were almost bitten off. What surprised me was that the new regulator that he was about to hand me also had the grips almost bitten off and he didn't even see it. I had to point it out when I pulled the grips up to show how they were hinging on a very small piece of rubber. I was amazed that he didn't even check the new regulator he was about to hand me when I had brought one in for the same problem.

We also tried to get some wetsuits for the deeper dives. They had a pretty small selection but we didn't really have a lot of time to go somewhere else and I didn't want to have to return equipment to two different shops. So, my friend got a 5 mil and I got a 7 mil because that's all they had in our sizes.

Well, a 7 mil was pretty major for diving in August (I discovered) and during the first dive I spent most of my time fighting to stay down because I wasn't weighted enough. I was close, but I still needed a bit more. No fault of the Giant Stride, they did a great job helping me (they had the weights). I just thought I was okay when I wasn't.

My friend however had difficulty with their wetsuit also. They got weighted okay but the heat above water (a 5 mil in August) made them sick so they fed the fishes a bit. Lessoned learned for both of us I guess. Buy and bring our own wetsuits.

And, the first dive was low visibility and there wasn't a whole lot to see. So I was looking forward to the next dive which was Wreck Alley (I think that's what it was called).

Well, I finally had myself properly weighted (thanks to the help of the folks on the Giant Stride) and was looking forward to a good dive. I got down to depth and noticed something strange (and scary). Air was pouring out of my instrument console.

Both at the bottom of the console and from a hole in the side, air was just pouring out. It was almost as much as you would see pressing the purge valve on a reg. It was really a lot. I kept track of my air but it I was pretty low after about 5 minutes or so.

So, as much as I hated to do it, I had to ascend. I luckily had time to ascend safely, no buddy breathing needed or anything and no need to spoil anyone else's dive.

I videotaped the release of air from the console and perhaps I'll figure out a way to post it. I was pretty bummed since I spent the first dive messing with the weight and now that I had that under control, I had to miss the next dive because of faulty equipment (again). The boat dive was the highlight of the trip down to Austin and it seemed as if at least for me, most of it was ruined thanks to the faulty equipment from Dive World Austin.

I took the equipment back to Dive World Austin. They turned on the air on the regulator and immediately heard the hissing sound coming from the console. I also showed them the video.

They said that it was an o-ring. I asked them if they maintained their equipment and replaced o-rings on a regular basis. He said no dive shop does that. He said that they just wait for the equipment to start leaking before they replace them. He said that normally it is a slow leak so it's not a big deal. I was shocked that they don't replace such a cheap part on a regular basis especially on something that is so vital to someone's life. It just gave me the impression that they really didn't care for the safety of the people renting their equipment.

I argued with the owner and in their defense they did give me some of my money back (not all, but some). I had to argue with him to do it (I explained to him how we had driven down there from dallas and I paid for a boat trip and one of my dives on it was ruined by his equipment and we had to reschedule things and now we are back a third time to get equipment). And, they did replace the faulty equipment again and this time it worked so we were able to get in a couple more dives at Windy Point. But, the boat trip was partially a bust for me and I was tired of having to go back and forth to the dive shop and mess with it. So, it just really put a bad feeling on the whole trip.

So, all in all, Dive World Austin's faulty equipment really put a damper on our vacation. I can't say enough good things about the Giant Stride or the people at Windy Point Private, but my advice would be to steer clear of Dive World Austin for rental gear.

As an alternate, a lot of people recommended Scuba Land which is also near the lake. They appear to have weight integrated BCD's which is nice. I have no experience with them so I can't say for sure, all I know is that everyone I talked with seemed to have a good impression of Scuba Land, and a poor impression of Dive World in regards to the rental gear. And, some people suggested getting Scuba Land to price-match Dive World if there's a price difference.

So, now I know. I can honestly say that after renting in Thailand, Mexico, Plano, and ClearSprings that this is the first time that I've had these sorts of problems with rental gear. So, that would put Dive World's gear a step behind Mexico and a step behind a third-world country, in reliability.

Of course, after my experience I'm much more motivated to go out and buy my own equipment rather than renting again. But if I did rent again in Austin, I'm certainly not going to go to Dive World Austin again. I'd much rather have fun on my vacation than wrestle with bad equipment.

 

[rakpix]

a high preassure swivel failure would not drain your tank in 5 minutes. in fact, it would not drain your tank in 15 minutes. proof YouTube - Cutting a Scuba Divers Regulator Hoses it is not a saftey risk to rent an SPG that bubbles, nor a second stage that isn't well tuned. rental equipment is rental equipment, and its a bad idea to slam an LDS in your first ten posts. however, for better service in the future i strongly suggest you stick to one of austin's stalwarts: oak hill scuba & scubaland (and join one of their clubs!)

Welcome to Oak Hill SCUBA
Scubaland Adventures

 

[richerso]

tholden,
I am sorry to see that you had such a crap experience. That always sucks.

With regard to the mouthpieces on the regulators, most shops won't make parts replacements on rental gear until the gear shows definite signs of failure. Now you could say that a mouthpiece dangling by one fiber of rubber exhibits definite signs of failure. Fair enough.

Unfortunately, in my experience, and I am not picking on anyone here, a lot of dive shop owners simply can't see an imminent failure until it becomes an undeniable, past-tense, has occurred failure. Remember, most dive shops are run by men. It's like men and dirt. We simply can't see dirt. It doesn't matter that dirt is on the dinner plate, on the floor, in the bathroom, whatever. We are men. We don't see dirt. So, to some dive shop owners, being able to see a failure is like being able to see dirt. It just doesn't happen.

As for the wetsuits, this is just an operational issue. I have had to wear a drysuit before in the middle of July because of the dive profile we were making. It's friggin' cold at depth. That doesn't change the fact that I was standing out in the sun in 98 degree weather before I got into the 90 degree surface water wearing my dry suit. It's tough. I agree.

I regularly wear a 5 mil suit when diving from the Stride in the middle of July--scratch that, August. There have been times when, as an operational requirement, I have had to don my 5 mil full-body wet suit and then take a quick dunk in the water to cool off before proceeding with my surface operations preparations. It's just part of the plan. Sorry.

Weight belts. Another operational consideration.

O-rings and other equipment frailties: This is like seeing dirt again. Dive shops simply won't replace these things until the failure has occurred. Part of it is arrogance. Part of it is simply being stingy with business operations. Part of it is experience. Part of it is the desire to maximize profits and maximize utilization of gear before replacing it.

The bottom line is, you have learned a valuable lesson here. Buy your own gear. Period. By the way, when you purchase your own gear, you will eventually encounter some of these same failures. Oh, you won't encounter the obvious failures like the mouthpiece; but you will encounter some sort of goofy catastrophic failure at some point. It happens to all gear. Even our personal gear. It happens and then you go repair the failure just like the dive shops do.

As a final disclaimer, I don't know anything about this Austin dive shop. I will never be there to rent gear because I don't have to. I own all of my gear.

 

[peterbj7]

The OP's experiences are only going to become more common, as margin pressure on operators intensifies. I know that most operators here, a resort environment, simply can't afford to maintain the equipment in what I would consider an adequate fashion. There's simply too much pressure to keep dive prices down. Dive operators have been going out of business the world over for several years now, and I see that trend continuing. If you care about the condition of the gear you dive with (and who doesn't?) then take your own - don't rent.

 

[cbrich]

I have been accused of stealing from Dive World while I waited for my dive buddy to get his gear from them so we do a dive. You should have called before getting your rental equipment and asked what kind of gear they rent out. I know Scubaland on the lake only rents out Scubapro MK25/S600 regulators, and Scubapro Knighthawks, both top of the line regulator and bcd.

 

[rakpix]

If you care about the condition of the gear you dive with (and who doesn't?) then take your own - don't rent.

very true.

 

[Lake Travis Scuba]

a high preassure swivel failure would not drain your tank in 5 minutes. in fact, it would not drain your tank in 15 minutes. proof YouTube - Cutting a Scuba Divers Regulator Hoses it is not a saftey risk to rent an SPG that bubbles, nor a second stage that isn't well tuned. rental equipment is rental equipment, and its a bad idea to slam an LDS in your first ten posts. however, for better service in the future i strongly suggest you stick to one of austin's stalwarts: oak hill scuba & scubaland (and join one of their clubs!)

Welcome to Oak Hill SCUBA
Scubaland Adventures

It doesn't matter how many posts he has under his belt, he is entitled to express his opinion about the quality of the equipment he rented and his experience with the LDS. If you want to take that position, you should not have commented about the Fling or any other operator/LDS/agency as you have little experience to base your comments. Just because you post a lot doesn't mean what you're saying is of any value.

As for safety, you did not see the equipment and you should not be posting such comments about whether it is a safety risk.

 

[cbrich]

a high preassure swivel failure would not drain your tank in 5 minutes. in fact, it would not drain your tank in 15 minutes. proof YouTube - Cutting a Scuba Divers Regulator Hoses it is not a saftey risk to rent an SPG that bubbles, nor a second stage that isn't well tuned. rental equipment is rental equipment, and its a bad idea to slam an LDS in your first ten posts. however, for better service in the future i strongly suggest you stick to one of austin's stalwarts: oak hill scuba & scubaland (and join one of their clubs!)

Welcome to Oak Hill SCUBA
Scubaland Adventures

I read your comment, and WTF a leaky hose or a poorly tuned second stage is not a safety risk . A leaky hose, or a poorly tuned second stage causes undue stress on a new diver, and can send them bolting to the surface.

 

[driftwood]

First, there is an implied warranty of serviceability from the lessor. Any leak in an air supply is a big concern. Bad accidents are most often not the fault of a catastrophic failure, but a series of minor problems compounding. Dive World has an obligation to rent gear that is safe for it's intended use. Tholden1 has the responsibility to check the gear before he jumps in the water, so a partial refund is appropriate.

I personally own my own gear and go to the trouble to take it with me on trips. That being said, I have no problem with renting gear that I personally inspect. I know that Scubaland regularly inspects and rebuilds all their rental gear, also the gear they use in their classes, which is regularly sold as used gear that is replaced with new equipment.

Rakpix, if you think diving with gear that has problems on the surface is acceptable, I don't want to be in the water with you. You are a danger to yourself and everyone else you are diving with.

 

[jalistair]

Wow sounds like a great trip turned sour! I would try to reschedule some time to go dive Lake Travis again, Robert has some cool sites to see. Of course it would be great to own your own gear but not everyone can afford that. Something to keep in mind though is that not all of the gear has to be new. About half of mine was purchased used and it works fine. As for the wet suits the 7mil may seem like a lot while out of the water but I dive in a 3 mill and start to get cold in that around 60feet in Lake Travis though I will still go down to 90 or so, its just really cold. So it may not be such a bad idea to have a thick suit like that. On O-rings I learned (the hard way) to check those myself each time I rent tanks (that is something I don't own.) I have yet to have a scuba shop not replace a worn out O-ring when I point it out to them before leaving the shop.