Oh the nerve of the guy.

[ScubaSarus]

Im in the LDS waiting for my fills. A guy comes strutting in and asked how much for a 1000 PSI top off so he can dive TONIGHT. The owner says normal price for a fill. The guy sulks and says OK and goes to fetch his tank.

He places his 2400 PSI tank near the fill station and as he walks out says "oh it also needs a vis". Turns out the tanks was 2 yrs out of vis and suddenly needs it tonight.

So he wanted the owner to fill a tank almost half empty on a tank 2 yrs out of vis or wanted an immediated vis so he can dive tonight.

Either way it was The Funny Business.

I know from experience this shop is very busy and I usually give them 2 weeks for any kind of service.

The owner was aggravated; but because this is the kindest shop I know, decided to oblige the customer.

I felt is was a bit tacky the way the customer acted.

 

[do it easy]

I think it would have been more reasonable for the LDS to rent the guy a tank. If they want to charge him for the rental or just include as part of the VIP service, that's up to them.

It is pretty unreasonable to expect that from a shop. If you knew the owners and the shop techs well, and it was a slow time, then maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

Then again, I go in to get airfills and expect to walk out with full tanks. Of course, it sometimes takes an hour or two

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Well, one local shop told my buddy it'd be almost a week before they could vip a tank. I mean honestly, how long does it take to vip a tank? If a shop is so busy that they can't service my gear in a timely manner (2-3 days for a vip, a week for a battery change, reg service etc.) then I'd go elsewhere. To be without gear for two weeks is annoying. It doesn't take two weeks to get my oil changed, I can do it myself in two hours, I can do it in about an hour if I'm fast and careful. Why should it take me any longer to replace a diaphragm or check for cracks or fill a tank?

The best shop near me almost never checks vip and you can pretty much fill the tank yourself and go inside and let the people know how much you owe them. And, service is fast there. Maybe I'm just lucky.





I wouldn't sulk about full price for a 1k psi fill top off, but if a shop filled my 3.3k tank to 3k cold and I asked them to top it back off and they wanted to re-charge me, I might be upset

 

[Scared Silly]

Funny I walked into one of my shops to top off my cylinders and they said thanks for be patient with us. The first time I came in only part of the bank had been fill well I emptied that sucker right down with two sets of doubles and two stage bottles. I paid for a full fill and said I will just use them and come back for a top off. No problem ...

 

[RonFrank]

The NERVE of some folks!

I often HOPE to get my tank filled while I wait, but never expect it.

I agree with DoItEasy, just rent the guy a tank. 1000psi top off!

Actually some shops do sell gas by the CF. But one has to buy in bulk. FillExpress does this, and if I lived in S. FL that is they way to fly.

 

[jefffalcone]

Vip on a steel tank takes about 1 minute. I don't really see a problem with asking for same day service. OTH that guys attitude sounds ridiculous. If you're asking for a favor, be nice about it, and don't expect it at a discount.

 

[PerroneFord]

Vip on a steel tank takes about 1 minute.

Really? Takes me a heck of a lot longer than that. In fact, it takes me longer than that to fill out the paperwork. Not sure how you do yours but I allow 30 minutes for a quality job. Longer if the tank needs things done like stickers removed, valve checked, o-rings replaced, etc.

And I won't even go into tumbling, Vis+, or any of the other things we do.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Yeah, vipping isn't super fast, and I want the guy to take his time and do a good job of it. But at the same time it shouldn't take more than 2-3 days, even if the shop is busy. If they don't have enough people around to provide better service, they need to hire more, until they can vip a tank within 2 or 3 days, and fill them within one

 

[TSandM]

Doing a VIP on a tank doesn't take terribly long, if the tank is in good shape and doesn't need any remediation. The tech can do it while I wait.

But what about the guy who brought HIS tank in two days ago? And the guy who's coming back in two hours for his Nitrox fill? Should I jump the line in front of them, simply because I'm there and they aren't?

I've HAD my shop do a VIP on a tank while I stood there, because they'd discovered the inspection was out of date, and I needed the tank for something special. But I'm a long-term customer of the shop, and sometimes I'm patient with them in return when they have an issue.

To walk into a shop you don't know and insist that something like this get done while you wait is a very arrogant attitude to me.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Exactly TSandM. This guy was never in the shop before and his attitude was like he's some special VIP.

Well the point is the tank hadn't been vised for 2 yrs and the guy suddenly wants it there and then and didnt mention it needed a vis until the owner was about to fill it (comitted) and he was walking out. This was 1 pm and the shop closes at 6 pm.

The shop aslo was busy repiring drysuits and servicing regs. They also had a load of tanks to hydro and inspect ahead of his. Stop everything for this guy.

He could have come in and asked if they could vis it today; but no he had to do it in such a round about way.

I give 2 weeks because I can plan ahead that far as they only need vis once a year. Why all of a sudden a tank sitting for 2 yrs suddenly needs a one day vis. Im not saying the shop takes 2 weeks; its what I always alow them out of my courteousy.

I told the owner I hope it gets tumbled before 6 pm.