Regulator service: acceptable treatment?

[teknitroxdiver]

A possible reason for the cheap sales tax is that in some states, labor is not taxed.

The tax rate itself is cheap, 6.25% as printed on the receipt.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

6% here on goods.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

9.75% here.

 

[AfterDark]

RI is 7%, MA was 5% but they raised to 6.25%. I guess they were making too much money at 5%. I know we used to go over the state line to buy things at the 5% rate, save some money. Now at 6.25% why bother?

 

[Peter69_56]

Jim, like your style. I may have to send my gear over from OZ. I agree totally with your methods. You have to make money, but not at the expense of ripping off customers. A bit of communication goes a long way, and demonstrating being fair means people do know about the good and bad shops. I don't mind paying a reasonable price for a good job by hate being ripped and then finding the job is second rate. I suppose for the bad LDS they go hand in hand.

I have had mixed experience. Had 2 sets of regs (primary and 2 secondaries each) serviced in Cairns for about $140 each with full kits which I thought was very reasonable and they both worked fine. All the old parts came back in bags.

Had a deco reg set serviced and cleaned from a LDS where I dive, and didn't ask the price (based on trust). Got it back and was charged $25 for the mouthpiece replacement which had nothing wrong with it as I had checked it all out prior and checked internally for cleanliness and it was all good (noticed in several other LDS that the same mouthpiece sold for $8) and was charged a total around $200 for the one primary and reg (which I thought was a bit steep as their advertised price for a service and clean on individual parts was less than this). I however paid it as I didn't ask for a quote so was obliged to pay the cost. Took it for a dive and the primary environmental seal cap, seal and accompanying rings all fell off into the dark blue. Suspect the environmental cap was cracked on assembly as this was the first dive and I am particular with not bumping gear about. Contacted the LDS and asked what the cost was for replacement parts so I could replace them. No response to my email from the repairer even to this day (who recently sold his retail side of the shop and now only does repairs). Apparently he mustn't care anymore?

Anyway needless to say all my work is done elsewhere and I recommend no one to the shop now. "Good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster".

Just found the receipt for my reg service and O2 clean

US Divers Legend 1 and 2 stage; All regs stripped and cleaned, parts replaced as required. All reg, hose and HP swivel O rings replaced. Reassembled tested adjusted O2 cleaned.
Reg service and O2 clean $100
Legend 1st stage service kit $65.80
Legend 2nd stage service kit $23.16
US divers mouthpiece $29.00
O ring kit $2.10
Ties $0.44
Lubricants $10.00
Total $230.50

Then on the first dive with it the end cap and environmental seal and spacer rings all fell off. On emailing the LDS to ask the cost for replacing it, I received no comment other than that the email was passed on to the service centre. I went elsewhere and paid an additional $100 for the replacement parts.

I pulled the first stage down and found that not all the O rings had been replaced with Viton O rings. The diaphragm showed aging. I believe that this regulator ahd been partly serviced and not to the level required for a reasonable service. I also believe that the pricing for some of the service was excessive ($10 lube, $29 mouthpiece).

I had 2 other secondary regs I bought second hand an had serviced ??? in Tweed Heads. They never every operated well and one constantly free flowed. Took this reg to same LDS and asked to have it fixed. It was never successful. I pulled both of these regs down the other day and found both had the seats badly cut and on removing them found both seats had been turned over for reuse. SO again I believe that neither the first service, or the second attempt at repair were done to a reasonable standard. I believe both service centres did a quick fix to get the regs out of their centre as cheap as possible. Not using the required parts as required. Also one was full of grease to a point of over greasing. I don't know everything about regs, but I do know when a crap job has been done and I have been ripped.

So for those service centres who do a good job, please understand the customers view point as well, from being ripped off a number of times. I don't mind paying reasonable pricing for a good job but detest being ripped off for a crap job. I am now looking for a service centre on the East side of Melbourne where I can get work done "in a reliable manner" when I need to.

I also had 2 sets of regs (primary and 2 secondary each) serviced by Divers World in Cairns Queensland. Total cost including all service kits for the 2 reg sets $379.40. Both reg sets had the replaced old parts with them on return and both sets have worked to perfection since. This is what I expect, reasonable pricing and quality work.

 

[Hickdive]

I pulled the first stage down and found that not all the O rings had been replaced with Viton O rings. The diaphragm showed aging. I believe that this regulator ahd been partly serviced and not to the level required for a reasonable service. I also believe that the pricing for some of the service was excessive ($10 lube, $29 mouthpiece).

How do you know if an o ring is viton or not? Colour is no guide to material.

That said, the other elements of the "service" you have received from the un-named shops are clearly unacceptable.

 

[The Chairman]

Chriostolube is expensive. $10.00 does not seem unreasonable.

 

[redacted]

Chriostolube is expensive. $10.00 does not seem unreasonable.

You are kidding - right?

Sure, Christolube is $20 per ounce. Maybe half that is larger volume (10 oz.). But an ounce will service more than 20 regulators. $10 is a RIPOFF. Any additional charge, unless it is for packing an ambient chamber, is a RIPOFF. If an LDS is charging for christolube and is not packing an ambient chamber, it is ripping off its customers.

I'd put this on par with an oil change business charging for grease rags.

 

[halocline]

Chriostolube is expensive. $10.00 does not seem unreasonable.

If it's for packing the chamber, yes. If it's just for lubing o-rings, no.

But why the $65 for a first stage kit, unless it includes environmental ptfe grease?

 

[The Chairman]

If it's for packing the chamber, yes. If it's just for lubing o-rings, no.

But why the $65 for a first stage kit, unless it includes environmental ptfe grease?

If it was for packing the chamber, then it would have been a lot, lot more. A small tube of it runs $45 retail. You can find it for less, but why expect a shop to sell it to you at their cost. As for the cost of the kit, I just don't see that as outrageous if it includes the diaphragm and seat. Again, we're talking retail and not shop cost.

Hey, we all hate "add-ons". Get on a plane and instead of increasing the ticket price, they charge you dearly for your bag. Go to the sutoshop and you'll likely see a "Shop supplies" and even a "Disposal" charge. Why? These costs have sky rocketed over the past 20 years. You can't simply dump this crap down the drain any more or the EPA will put your butt in a sling. If you think it's bad at the shop end, it's even worse at the manufacturer's end which is why all this stuff is skyrocketing in price. When I worked as a service manager I was careful to give quotes that included all of the extras, including shop fees and taxes. I wanted no surprises when Joe Customer came to pick up his ride. I wasn't always that way. I started working on cars in 1969 and things were a lot looser and cheaper back then. The rules have changed, and it doesn't matter if you like them or not: you still have to follow them. In 1969 we simply blew out the dust from a car's brake system with compressed air. Now we have to use a dedicated brake washer and dispose of the fluid in an Eco-friendly way. It costs more for a mechanic to work on your car and instead of increasing the price on brakes, they add a shop fee. As these costs increased, I found my self sometimes at odds with customers. I didn't like that, so I eventually learned to be incredibly detailed and clear. Did I become more honest over time? No. I simply learned to communicate more frequently and completely. What people saw as being honest was merely an attempt to avoid needless confrontations. Some people learn this quickly and others never can figure it out. Hey, I communicate better now as a dive buddy and instructor than I did ten years ago. Ask Elena!