Quality Question
- Thread starter YukonJack
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Caveeagle
Contributor
@YukonJack.. The above comment directly from the owner of D6 says a lot about the differential in credibility between this "new" company vs your LDS. Try returning a set of ScubaPro regs after you have put a few dives on them and have a hose leak. (probably not happening)...
And just to be clear.. I have never met cerich, and have NO stake in his products. I will say that the only reason I am not currently a customer, is because I have about 10 sets of regs and 4 of them were newly purchased before D6 hit the market. So it would be kind of silly for me to sell of nearly new regs to switch over..
I am just a big fan of the business model. Not because I want local shops to go out of business! (I don't). But because I see D6 (and HOG) as forcing the market to shift to a more customer centric model that does not encourage gear sales & service that are NOT in the best interest of the typical diver. At least one other major reg manufacturer has recently made a change where consumers can attend service clinics and buy parts for their regs. I hope this becomes much more normal over the next few years.
What I think the typical LDS is missing here, is that they will probably benefit from this in the long run. Most divers have little interest in servicing their own regs. Many avoid it all together, or dabble in the self-service game because they have been burned by cost for 1/2yr service that was ~50% of the cost of new regs. Adding insult to injury is the attitudes promoted that there is some mysterious voodoo around reg service, and that your "gonna die!" if you don't use 'brand X' and get it serviced every 12 months etc.
...Sorry for the rant..
On a constructive note.. I think Local Shops, should make a change ASAP. They should offer an annual diagnostic check for $20, or $15 with gas fill (something like that).. that will encourage traffic into their stores and promote safe diving with good running regs. This would build trust, education and have virtually no cost to the local operation if done correctly.
Dude, the "DG6" is killing me. 
I keep thinking it's DGX or Dive Gear Express until I read the 6. D6 or D6G would be more appropriate. Don't get me wrong, I figured it out and it's stupid minor... just a tad confusing.
I keep thinking it's DGX or Dive Gear Express until I read the 6. D6 or D6G would be more appropriate. Don't get me wrong, I figured it out and it's stupid minor... just a tad confusing.@Caveeagle
The problem with dive shops doing a diagnostic check as you say is, if a technician performs an inspection outside of a manufacturers recommended service interval, they are shifting liability from the manufacturer to themselves. If a failure then occurs and there is an injury, who is to blame the manufacture who suggested a full rebuild or the technician who said it was safe to dive? I personally am not willing to risk the shop that I work for, or the jobs of my co-workers, much less my personal career and finances. Frankly, because I see how well people "maintain" their gear. Pleas don't forget, this is not just sports gear, this is life support and should be treated as such.
The problem with dive shops doing a diagnostic check as you say is, if a technician performs an inspection outside of a manufacturers recommended service interval, they are shifting liability from the manufacturer to themselves. If a failure then occurs and there is an injury, who is to blame the manufacture who suggested a full rebuild or the technician who said it was safe to dive? I personally am not willing to risk the shop that I work for, or the jobs of my co-workers, much less my personal career and finances. Frankly, because I see how well people "maintain" their gear. Pleas don't forget, this is not just sports gear, this is life support and should be treated as such.
Can you cite an instance of this actually happening? I can see someone's death resulting in a large net being cast, but I haven't heard of a simple inspection resulting in any litigation. Not trying to be contrarian, but putting an IP gauge and a magnahelic on a set of regs shouldn't open you up to excessive liability. Write down your findings and give a copy to your customer.
Caveeagle
Contributor
Joe, I get your point, but we can find numerous examples were manufacturers post op some ridiculous schedule for "inspections" or service. How often do you inspect the brakes on your car? Or check tires for road damage? I'm not pulling out my owners manual, but they often list some frequency that is far above what anyone is likely to do.
How many roadside tire and break stations will gladly give you their "50 point" break and safety inspection just to get you in the door! And to they assume liability when I drive away without a new set of brakes/tires/struts? ..I don't think so.
And as far as LDS transferring liability.. I think that's a bit of BS. If I bring a reg into a LDS and specifically ask them to check the IP and breathing resistance.. and it passes all tests.. how does that make them liable if I have a failure down the road? We all know an o-ring can burst at any given time. I have had HP seats go bad on regs that were less than 6 months hold. Where's the liability there?
Feel free to make more excuses for local shops that are not adapting to the times. I am just offering up a suggestion that could help build trust and get them in the door. Shoot, it would probably drum up more business for them. Heck, a reg that is 5-10psi out of spec for IP might still breath just fine, and the customer would never thing twice about taking off for a dive vacation. Offer them a free or low cost "safety Inspection" and I bet many would pony up the ~$150-$250 for the full service treatment when you show them the results of the test.
You're either a trained tech or you aren't. If your faulty logic was correct, you would refuse to do any service yourself and send all product back to the manuf.
On top of that, many brands recommend inspection between service intervals that are now often longer than annually. The expectation is that a trained shop/tech can properly do such inspection.
Understood, and yes most manufacturers have gone to a 2 year interval with inspection on the off year (I didn't specify annual), but if you blatantly go off book from what a manufacturer says, I'd say that puts you in a bad spot. Also, I'm all for people learning to service their own equipment, with the proper training, you for one should know that.
"off brand"!? So their definition of a legitimate "brand" is limited to a brand sold through dive shops, like theirs. A brand they have never heard of is not a brand? Or is it just their own ignorance of how the world of dive gear is evolving beyond what they have been familiar with? If the comment was made by some 17 year-old part-time help at the shop, maybe I would ignore it. But if this is how a shop speaks about brands they do not sell and/or know nothing about, they would not get my business. Ignorance and denigrating products a dive shop knows nothing about turns me off.
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