Regulator Service...was I scammed?

[ScubaTodd77]

Hi,

I'm a new open water diver and went to have my regulator, octo, and bcd serviced. I was charged $150.00 I bought my gear from scuba.com last year and it's still under warranty...(Oceanic reg and bcd) I asked to have the parts that were replaced and was told that they were thrown away. Then I was told that he would not give me the old parts anyway for fear of a liability, in case I was to put the old parts in another reg myself. Is it starndard practice to not receive or even see the o rings diaphragm etc that come out of your reg? I feel that I just flushed 150.00 down the drain

 

[redacted]

Looks to me like that price was punishment for not buying from your local shop in the first place.

 

[Fishpie]

$150 is not horrendously out of line for a complete, expertly done service of 1 1st stage. 2 2nd's, SPG and BC.
As to was it was a complete and expert job??????
Was it necessary???

Did you get charged for service kits?
I personally would like to get the old parts back as it would make me feel better that they actually did a service.....but there's nothing to stop an unscrupulous shop from grabbing a handful of old o rings and seats and telling you that they came from your reg.

If you got the service kits under warranty the shop might have had to send them back to the manufacturer to get free replacements....I don't know if this is Oceanic's policy.

As for not giving you back the old parts bs, it is just that, bs.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

The shop I work for always gives the parts to the customer. I see it as proof of work done.

 

[ScubaTodd77]

Yeah that's how I feel too. The dive shop that I used was an hour drive away, and the nearest Oceanic dealer. I should have asked more questions prior to having it serviced.

 

[mike_s]

Scuba.com is an authorized Oceanic dealer....

your annual service at your LDS should have covered the "warranty service parts" at that LDS even though you didn't buy it there.

can you give us a detailed breakdown of your bill? (or post a copy of it) so we can see exactly what you were charged for?

It sounds like to me that they charged you for parts for 3 stages that most likely should have been covered by warranty. If that is true, I'd have a talk with the store owner/manager about getting refunded the cost of the parts. Depending on his attitude, you might need to vote with your wallet and goto another dealer. There are lots of other quality dealers that won't feed you that crap.

 

[ScubaTodd77]

Yeah he charged me for parts..I had my warranty cards with me but he said that he needed some other info regarding the "Alliance Service Agreement"...and told me he would have to charge me for parts, since I had no paper work on the Alliance agreement. When I received my equipment I regestered all of my stuff on the oceanic website, through "my dive locker"....I told him he could get online and take a look but he claimed he had to have it in writing and that Oceanic should have sent me something regarding the Alliance Service Agreement.....at that point I just paid for the parts and decided that from now on I'll take my biz elsewhere.

 

[herman]

Sounds a little high if the parts were covered under warranty, $25-30 is about the normal for servicing a stage (x3= $75), add in some for the BC and computer batteries if they were changed.

As for the parts, IF they were replaced under a warranty plan, then the parts are the property of the manuf- they basically traded parts with you. On the other hand if you PAID for the parts they are YOURS reguardless of what the LDS says. They are your property and they have no right to keep OR distroy them. This is the opinion of a larger repair center near me- an opinion that they changed to when a customer pointed out to them that they were his parts that he owned and they were hired to replace them. They must return them to you if you request it and in the condition they were removed..ie, diaphrams are not cut on purpose to prevent use, otherwise they are stealing from you and/or distroying your property. The whole liability thing is purely a BS smokescreen...the liability for stealing or distroying another persons property....now that is a real issue.
I do wonder about the credibility of any shop that stands firm on an issue like this. In reality (discussed a lot in other threads) there is little need for annual service on most regs, it would be very easy to do a quick cleaning and a performance check and claim that they did a full service, lot of extra profit to be made that way and without removed parts in hand most divers would not know how to tell the difference. I am not saying they did, I have no way of knowing but it would be easy to pull off.

 

[herman]

You posted again while I was typing...I think I would send a letter to Oceanic with copies of your paperwork - warranty and bill- and ask for a refund of the parts cost. You might not get it but it may get the attention of Oceanic and they may want to have a talk with their (ex?) dealer.

 

[goodeatsfan]

you should ALWAYS request for the replaced parts back. I've known of servicing centres that re-use almost all the parts (especially o-rings and even soft seats) and claim they replaced them... the only part they actually replaced was the filter.