Doubles air fill fee.

[duckbill]

My LDS charges $6 to fill any standard pressure AL80 or St72 (I know that's steep, but we are inland and one hour away from any competitors' dive shop).
Now, I have a nice set of steel 38 doubles, 1800 psi (76 cu ft total) on a manifold with a SINGLE YOKE. He charged me $3.50 per tank for a total of $7 for the fill.
I don't understand this, as they hold under 80 cu ft and only occupy one whip at the filling station. Independent doubles would be one thing- But this?! As an aside, I had to leave them for TWO DAYS before he finally got around to filling them as I walked in!
Does this sound right, or am I correct to be concerned?

(BTW I don't need remarks like "they can charge whatever they want". I already know and respect that.)

 

[JustinW]

Ditch Aqua Divers then, and drive up to chico or down to sac.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Does he know they are total less tahn 80 CF. I'de simply ask him or her in a kind joking way why you are getting charged more. Just ask in a way not to be too mean and they may oblige you for cheaper fill. Ive seen stores charge in different ways.

 

[The Kraken]

Get a roll of silver duct tape and wrap it around the tanks, that way they'll look just like one tank and then the LDS will charge you only the single tank fill rate.

I think ScubaSarus hit the nail on the head . . . one hookup, less than 80 cu.ft. Looks like one fill to me.

the K

 

[oxyhacker]

Personally, I'm suprised they aren't charging you $12 - a lot of shops charge per tank regardless of size/outlets.

I'd mention it to the shop and see if I could reason with them, but not get to upset if you can't. They may already think they're giving you a break!

 

[wedivebc]

A friend of mine was charged $12 recently to dilute a tank of nitrox with air. He had 34 and wanted 32 so he had them bleed a couple of hundred psi and top off. He was presented with a $12 blending fee for a single 80

 

[RonFrank]

Ditch Aqua Divers then, and drive up to chico or down to sac.

While I'd agree with the tone of this suggestion, at $3 for a gallon of gas, it's harldy worth driving ANYWHERE out of the way to save a couple bucks. If you happen to go to those area's on a regular basis, I'd agree.. get the tanks filled elsewhere when possible.

 

[captndale]

All dive shops struggle with how to charge for fills. Unless the store is doing a lot of fills they do not make money on them anyway. The costs of air compressor, bank and associated plumbing, along with maintenance, filter changes, air quality testing and labor make it nearly impossible for a small shop to make money on this service. The way the store charges for fills is more usually related more to how easy it is for them to do the billing than to the actual cost of the fill. Counting tanks is easy. Calculating the volume of the fill is more difficult. When I had my store I sold unlimited annual air fill cards to my regular customers. It saved them money and it saved me and my employees paperwork.

 

[matt_unique]

Personally, I'm suprised they aren't charging you $12 - a lot of shops charge per tank regardless of size/outlets.

I'd mention it to the shop and see if I could reason with them, but not get to upset if you can't. They may already think they're giving you a break!

I pay $12 to get my doubles filled regardless of the amount of air needed.

--Matt

 

[Hoosier]

When I had my store I sold unlimited annual air fill cards to my regular customers. It saved them money and it saved me and my employees paperwork.

Most LDS has no idea what you are talking about... And, they keep whinning..... LOL~~