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

[Texas Torpedo]

I absolutely feel that dive shops have an obligation to service the equipment they rent out in a proactive manner.

As for Scuba World aka "Austin's Premier Dive Shop" (choke.. choke.. can't breathe), I have direct experience with similar maintenance problems with their rental gear.. I have a freind who was visiting from out of state (Florida Keys) who hadn't planned to dive and needed gear. We intended to go to Scuba Land (Lake) to rent the gear but got mixed up with the directions and hit the first dive flag coming down 620. (This was my first trip to Austin / Travis to dive)

Our first dive was WPP. My friend thumbed the dive after about 5 minutes and let me know he felt the regulator wasn't breathing well. I/we attributed his shortness of breath to the thermocline we descended into, which also made my breathing more difficult, especially considering the suit sizes we were wearing. (This was also dive <10 for me) We 'tested' out the reg on the surface (ha-ha) and it seemed to breathe alright. A short time later we joined Robert on TGS for a sunset charter.. While we were descending with the group, my friend signaled me that he was having a hard time breathing again (no thermocline this time) and I ended up giving him my octo and I took his primary to check it out. The breathing effort was considerable compared to my reg.. We ended up exchanging back and he called the dive..

I don't specifically recall the details of my friend's call with the shop contact but he wasn't happy and no refunds were forthcoming. Of course, by the time we were back at the shop they were closed and we had been instructed to leave the tank in the bed of a truck.. Of course, my friend salvaged the night for himself when we went to drop off the tanks.. Earlier, when we were picking up the rental gear, the guy had given my pal a bumper sticker for the store and joking (not really) asked him to apply it someplace on the Giant Stride.. Well, it ended up on the truck.. and not on the bumper..

Just my "2 PSI"..

 

[scubafanatic]

I rent tanks on a regular basis and the O-rings are almost always bad (either that or I'm just unlucky). I almost make a habit of swapping out the O-rings just because I don't trust theirs or there is obvious wear (have had at least two blowouts, both above water). I usually have O-rings with me, but Robert even gave me a couple, heh. Fortunately, I haven't had an SPG O-ring issue yet, but it doesn't sound fun.

I've dove many places (especially Bonaire) where I think I'm the only person updating tank O-rings.....not uncommon for me for a week in Bonaire to swap out 30-40 O-rings for me and buds...I feel like Johnny Appleseed sometimes! Just got back today from a week in Coz (Casa Del Mar/Del Mar Aquatics, did 19 dives, 18 were 'boat' dives) but only had to swap out a couple of O-rings, so for whatever reason Coz was much better than I've experienced in Bonaire. I'm a major scuba gearhead and admit I'm a bit 'anal' about things like air leaks/O-ring blowouts, and will happily replace them at my own expense if needed, I refuse to have the worry over a questionable O-ring intrude on my hard fought vacation experience!

 

[scubafanatic]

Moral: you are responsible for the equipment that you use when diving. Period.

I'm guessing that whatever it is you do for a living, it has nothing whatsoever to do with customer service.

 

[scubafanatic]

Very limited opportunity. Belize operates draconian import duty laws, and gear starts out significantly more costly than it would in in the US. Can't compete.

....another good example is Equador (Galapagos Islands) where there is a 300 % luxury import tax on scuba gear!

 

[MikeSK]

I just came back across this thread and wanted to give a little picture of perspective.
I earlier stated that it is Not too much to ask to receive working gear from an LDS rental. Too true.

However. I just want to give a statement. I took my boat out yesterday. Every diver on the boat rented equipment. Now that was 7 sets. 7 Zeagle bc's, 4 Drager regs, 3 Apeks regs, 3 masks, and 3 sets of fins. I am very fussy about watching my divers wash gear. Even though I watch them, I just finished rewashing Every single set. They leave the inflator hose dangling down the back, leave covers off the regs unless I watch closely, don't wash the water and then rinse the bladders, never unroll a smb or open a pocket. Straps left twisted, equipment stowed badly.....ect. They just don't treat it well. Even the nicest of my divers. They don't completely or carefully wash what is not theirs.
They would treat their own gear much better. As a result, I take apart my sets and rewash and rack everything, every dive. Including our own gear, that makes 10 sets. I do this because you can note that my gear looks brand new, though much of it is very old. Even with super care, there is still something little always cropping up. That is why I carry an extra set on every boat. Do you think that large operations EVER rewash gear that comes in? Most cannot or will not take the time. The shop is is not the only reason gear goes bad. It takes the diver too. Okay, done.

True..up to a point. However, When people rent gear (or anything else for that matter) there's no pride of ownership. They use it and throw it back. You obviously care enough to take care of things.

But no amount of crappy divers excuse shoddy maintenance. That's only "punishing" the next diver.

 

[fire_diver]

I'm guessing that whatever it is you do for a living, it has nothing whatsoever to do with customer service.

There is more at issue than JUST bad gear from a particular shop. We are all adults, trained to inspect our gear for safety before we dive. If a shop gives bad gear, tell them about. Help them be a better shop. If they don't take that opportunity to improve customer service, then find a better shop.

It all still comes down to the individual diver, making sure they are diving safely.