meridiano tank rental cost

[DandyDon]

I have no problem with dive operators making profits, none at all. I don't know if the island might have too many dive ops for the market to bare, that's beyond me, but I want the ops to make good money, to be happy doing business while living well, while supporting safety throughout the diving sport/industry there.

That said, there are two reasons I don't dive nitrox on Coz...

1. I'm an old, fat, lazy air hog and diving air on 100cf tanks keeps my computer happy enough and me safe in my opinion.
2. I would prefer to dive nitrox some still, but not at the usual add-on prices.

If you want free Nitrox...open your own shop

Who asked for free nitrox? I don't think anyone did. There was some mention of ops who do include it free I think, but no one asked for free nitrox - so there.

i was told it was 91 peso for an allum 80 with 32% nitrox. for those of us that are mathematically challenged, that works out to aprox 6 dollars canadian or aprox 4.50 u.s. now don't nickel and dime me here guys this is the aprox cost depending on the exchange rate you are paying. but it certainly gives you an idea of the cost. we were also told all we needed to do was leave a piece of ID until the tanks were returned. previously i was told my cert card was good enough to use as ID but did not ask this time around.
.
i am not 100% certain of the cost of an air filled allum 80 but i believe it was 31 peso. so if it was 30 or 40 peso it would be aprox 2 or 3 dollars.

Yep, that jives with their published prices. Air is 31 MXN for 80 cf vs nitrox at 91 = 60 Pesos more = $3 USD additional cost.

Christi, I am a small business owner and sympathetic with you but $12 for a $3 item when you already have charged for handling the air tank seems excessive. I pump my own nitrox and have my own analyzers and am very aware that the cost of analyzing a tank is almost nothing.

That's my thought exactly.. Yeah it is more trouble to handle different tanks and match them up to the divers and their boats, and yeah you do have to supply O2 analyzers as well as keep them safe and maintained, but not that much. You are already supplying the tanks from the fill station. As far as analyzing, get a few CooTwo analyzers that check for CO and O2 levels at the same time. They are a little pricey for us tourists to own and bring, but some of us do. It'd be very few pennies/tank for the Ops to supply those - really. I support ops that support safe diving, but you have to be willing to provide tank testing - for both.

Ever go to a restaurant? What do you think the wholesale cost was for that $100 meal you just had?

They don't just pickup the tanks and put them on the boats. Not even similar. Again, I don't think any of us object to ops making decent profits. We're just discussing one add-on cost that seems out of reason.

With risking offending some great shops...

I too find the higher markup shop's nitrox tank upgrade cost a little unsavory. It's understandable to pay premium for better service or a better product but to have the same product (analyzed?) upsold at a 400% profit margin is a tad extravagant.

From one business owner to another respectfully.

The tanks are going anyway, right?

I think you really need to look at the whole package of what a dive op is offering you for the price you are paying. There is enough competition with dive ops in Cozumel that I am sure they police overpricing themselves. Without knowledge in the industry one reason I could see for a high MU is if Nitrox extends dive times, it extends work times for DM's and captains. I am sure there is much more to it than I could imagine.

Ok, that is a good point. If there are others, we are reading...??

Running a business is a lot harder than most people think. While the op might be realizing a decent profit on nitrox, that is only a tiny piece of the operation.We don't get charged extra on the day or week the the boats are not full, something major breaks, or any number of factors that make it tough to make a profit .

I don't think anyone here disputes that. We want the ops to make decent profits, be happy in their business and life, and be happy providing for us. We're just discussing one add-on. OK?

Are people really arguing over $10 bucks...a day over a week period? stop hitting up Starbucks then

See Definition of DISCUSSION

I have no idea how you got those numbers and even the one you have is a cost of $4.50 for an aluminum 80 with nitrox.

As he said in post #1...

i was recently on the island and decided to go by the compressor station again to verify the current cost and to share that info here .

The prices they gave him match the published prices on their illustrated price list pictured above. Yes, $4.55 USD for a nitrox 80cf, or $3 add-on over air cost.

Fact: Meridiano charges us 190 pesos for a HP 120 fill of 32% nitrox and even though exchange rates vary, that is pretty darn close to the $10 we charge. We have not lasted 25 years by "ripping off" customers as you insinuate.

As I recall, this all started when you quoted something similar. Generally we look at a dive ops prices and decide to take or leave them, including the nitrox add-ons - but you brought this up, so I looked. Rick did not ask about high pressure 120s, he only asked about costs of air & nitrox in 80s - but the prices they gave him match the prices they publish online - again, see photo above. Their menu says 168 Pesos for HP 120 nitrox, so I have no earthly idea why you are paying 190 - and it's your business to explore that if you wish. The add-on for nitrox vs air HP 120s is 168 - 45 = 123 Pesos to upgrade = $6.15 USD to upgrade from air to nitrox, so sure - if you charge $10 more, that sounds reasonable to me.

The op I've been using charges $10 USD to upgrade 80 cf tanks, and I hear some charge $12 more. Again, I usually take it or leave it but since you brought up gas costs, now we're curious why they're charging us 3 or 4 times as much just for a different gas when they are supplying tanks anyway.

 

[BRT]

Dear BRT,

If you think anyone in this business is "getting fat" you are grossly mistaken. In our case we have a different cost basis than Christi and others by buying and using a Brownies Third Lung membrane system--but our cost overall is comparable. However we think that is safer and more reliable since we have consistent fills that cannot be more than 40% O2 and cannot be dangerous without measuring.

Fact: Meridiano charges us 190 pesos for a HP 120 fill of 32% nitrox and even though exchange rates vary, that is pretty darn close to the $10 we charge. We have not lasted 25 years by "ripping off" customers as you insinuate.

I have no idea how you got those numbers and even the one you have is a cost of $4.50 for an aluminum 80 with nitrox. That is a mark up of roughly X 2 for the handling. Who is the real businessman here?

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Dave, Cool down. People don't understand my costs of doing business either. I already said I like nitrox and will pay the price until I don't have to. So far for me I believe that has been $12 but I think it is dropping to $10. I've never rented a tank of nitrox from Meridiano so don't know what that costs for sure. I'll find out what an AL80 of nitrox costs in 6 weeks. I do know that air was cheap in an AL80. On the mainland nitrox costs me slightly more than air. I hear nothing but good things from Aldora and I'm sure you will have full boats regardless of what you charge. I do think that you are forgetting that you are already handling an air tank so probably handling a nitrox tank instead wouldn't be too much more difficult. One question. Is there any chance your divemasters are diving nitrox when the customers are on air? That would be the reason I'd want to charge more for the customers to use nitrox. I've talked to people down there who quit leading dives because of the push to do more and more dives and the increased DCS risk.

I have no delusion that running a dive shop in Coz or anywhere else is a road to riches. Problem is more and more people pump their own 32% and are aware that the added cost over air is tiny, so the $10 upcharge rankles a little. But not enough to stop paying for it,

 

[ggunn]

They don't just pickup the tanks and put them on the boats. Not even similar. Again, I don't think any of us object to ops making decent profits. We're just discussing one add-on cost that seems out of reason.

I disagree. You want fries with that? They'll charge you a buck for a nickel's worth of potatoes. It is the same thing; you have to look at the whole package, not just the markup on a single item. If nitrox costs too much for you, you can always decline.

 

[lionfish-eater]

Tank prices have many components.

I hope meri-D doesn't try to recoup these costs by raising prices.






COZUMEL, 1 December.- Close to cause a tragic accident against people passing by the place was the operator of a truck carrying more than 200 oxygen tanks, leaving extensive damage in the rollover ostentatious suffered in the southern coastal road, up to the hotel Villa Blanca.
The operators of the Center for Communication, Computer and Command (C-4) received the report that in the southern coastal road up to the hotel Villa Blanca, Jonathan Vicariate was with an open lesion on the left side of the face and other injuries about 7 centimeters in the left arm, caused in rollover accident that caused ostentatious after losing steering control this by exceeding speed limits.
According to data provided by the traffic officer who arrived at the scene, Jonathan moved on the avenue exceeding speed limits, and on board the truck brand Izu blue color, with license plates, TB-27 -16-F of this state, which was carrying more than 200 tanks loaded with oxygen, owned by the company "Meridiano SA de C. V 87".
According to witnesses the place that provided data to theexpert on duty, the operator after leading we exceed speed tried to avoid a motorcycle traveling at his right side, but the tank loading speed and lost control after it is tilted the unit up against two palm trees impacted primarily located in the central ridge and then finish his mad dash on a concrete pole, owned by the Federal Electricity Commission.
After impact, tanks scurried to the sides, and two of them hit the windshield of the truck Chevrolet Silverado type of black color and license plate 410-ZKE, the Federal District, which was conducted by Monserrat Macias Castellan on the Rafael E. Melgar and direction from south to north.
Fortunately tanks that were scattered on the asphalt after disperse not made contact with the people walking along the boardwalk, staying away from the scene for fear they could explode and cause an unexpected tragedy, so the place came firefighters to safeguard the site.
Then it was cordoned off, the injured was helped by paramedics from the Red Cross, after some people rescued the injured from the twisted iron bars of the cabin, which was completely destroyed, the truck was taken to impound Transit for corresponding purposes, where the material damages were valued at over 260 thousand pesos.

 

[kelemvor]

Were they actually oxygen tanks or is Mexican news as bad as US and they were actually air or nitrox tanks? Looking at the pictures, I think most were 21% and a few had some higher oxygen content.

Also if I converted pesos to usd correctly, 260,000 pesos = about $12,607 usd. Not much damage for an automobile accident. I got in a fairly minor low speed accident with my minivan a few years ago and it cost almost as much to repair. Hopefully their insurance will cover the accident.

I would hope a business (merdiano) would have automobile insurance. Is it required in Mexico?

I couldn't understand from the translation if Jonathan (the speeder, I believe) was driving the Meridiano truck or the motorcycle. Looks to me like the truck driver is lucky to be alive. The driver's side of that truck is pretty squished.

 

[bamafan]

I would bet they are just nitrox and air tanks. My guess would be that he was going to or from the Marina down by Aerolito.

 

[DandyDon]

I disagree. You want fries with that? They'll charge you a buck for a nickel's worth of potatoes. It is the same thing; you have to look at the whole package, not just the markup on a single item. If nitrox costs too much for you, you can always decline.

You said "restaurant," not choke-and-puke.

A restaurant may spend a small percentage of their income on foodstuff as so much goes into preparation, delivery, etc. Nowhere near the same thing as ordering a different gas for tanks being provided anyway.

I don't know about choke-and-pukes. They may have tremendous markups on items that don't require much handling, like fries - but I would hope that dive ops are above that.

As far as take it or leave it, yes - that has been my action on nitrox prices on Coz, and I decline. Dave recently brought up costs to support pricing, which started this discussion in the other thread, and he has again here.

So dive ops can argue that there is a lot of costs to running a dive op on Coz, and we can agree with that. We are discussing a safety add-on, and that's different.

 

[kelemvor]

I think the fry analogy would work if it was regular fries vs sweet potato fries, but not fries vs no fries at all. A diver uses a tank of gas either way. If he's paid for air I'd like to see an upgrade price for trox, not have to pay full price. The dive shop still has to transport the tank regardless of what is inside, and only requires a $200ish tester per boat every few years. Analysis costs seem trivial to me.

 

[northernone]

I would bet they are just nitrox and air tanks. My guess would be that he was going to or from the Marina down by Aerolito.

Only people that never took the risk of opening up their own biz would complain about the costs associated with running a biz...there are soft and hard cost...fixed and variable costs and the odds of failure due to numerous causes...

If you want free Nitrox...open your own shop

While I appreciate the generalization of how misunderstood business operating expenses can be I've run busineses for over a decade (youngster here) and it was my motivation for providing feedback as a consumer to fellow business owners which prompted my contribution to this thread.

In a saturated market public perception is quite powerful.


Now about the accident. I was on scene (3 vehicles behind) and yes, standard mix of 21% and a handful of those precious nitrox tanks. No sign of their oxygen tanks.

Makes me less concerned with bumping tanks around seeing how robust they are when tossed like that.

 

[ggunn]

I think the fry analogy would work if it was regular fries vs sweet potato fries, but not fries vs no fries at all. A diver uses a tank of gas either way. If he's paid for air I'd like to see an upgrade price for trox, not have to pay full price. The dive shop still has to transport the tank regardless of what is inside, and only requires a $200ish tester per boat every few years. Analysis costs seem trivial to me.

You are splitting hairs. My point is that markups for individual items elsewhere in the marketplace are frequently in excess of 400%. You can walk away from, say, a restaurant whose markup on food is too high for you, just as you can decline to buy nitrox if you don't want to pay the asking price. The dive ops do not have to justify their markups on individual pieces of their economic picture to you or to me, and they are not doing anything wrong by charging $10 for a nitrox tank. Take it or leave it.

I ate in an upscale restaurant the other night where I paid $36 for a dozen Gulf oysters. I ate a couple of nights later at a cheaper place where I paid $16 for a dozen of the same oysters (actually they gave me 15 because they were small). Am I going to go back to the first place and tell them that they overcharged me? Of course not; it was my choice to get them or not.