Scuba.com Free VIP Program with tank purchase

[Spear_Man]

This is my first post on the forum. A friend of mine recommend this forum to me.

I'm looking at this tank XS Scuba 130 Cubic Foot High Pressure Steel Scuba Tank X8-130 with reviews at scuba.com

It says it comes with a free VIP program. I called scuba.com and they said that the tank is VIP'ed before shipped. The valve is removed for shipment and the tank is capped. They said all I have to do when I get the tank is put the valve on and go get the tank filled.

I've never just put a valve on a tank and went to get it filled. Has anyone purchased a tank from scuba.com with this program? I'm worried about screwing the valve on myself and just taking it to get filled. I'm also worried the dive shop will want to do their own VIP on the tank because it has no pressure in it.

Daniel

 

[oly5050user]

The LDS that fills it will want to perform their own vip as it is an empty tank .I know we would...the valve is not removed by them for shipping.It was never on it when they shipped it,so they lied about removing it.If they fibbed about that who is to say they lied about vip it? At a cost of $419. that sounds high to me,especially that you need to pay the lds to fill it. Do not have the price for a 130 tank in my memory right now,but a 100 cu ft tank is something like $340.here and a alum 80 is $159. again with vip and O2 ready, filled with air or nitrox.. They also say its ready for up to 40% nitrox..What, its not o2 clean? We get them O2 clean ready for any nitrox mix using partial pressure method.
Buy it at a lds and it comes with a vip and usually a complementary fill too.

 

[chrpai]

The LDS that fills it will want to perform their own vip as it is an empty tank ..the valve is not removed by them for shipping.It was never on it when they shipped it,so they lied about removing it.If they fibbed about that who is to say they lied about vip it?

Who's to say that LDS's don't lie also? According to one local LDS, they claim that a nearby Hydro station lies about doing hydros. The whole damn industry can get scummy like this. I know none of the LDS's around me are PSI certified nor carry PSI stickers. They are just store stickers and for all I know they have a high school kid doing the procedure who learned from another high school kid.

Eitherway, the easy way around this is to put the valve on and transfill the tank. I wouldn't actually do that though not because I doubt that it's safe but because I really don't want to deal with the scorn of an LDS getting annoyed at filling tanks from an online retailer. ( No, they would NEVER do that... ) Just peel the VIP sticker off and take it in for inspection.

BTW, along the lines of "if you can't beat them, join them" be sure to check out buying a tank from your LDS. They might offer fill deals that make it worth your while. Mine doesn't so I just bought used off Craigslist.

 

[Scared Silly]

Buying a cylinder on-line that is not shipped with some pressure is always a crap shoot. Legally they can be shipped with 20-30psi (or something like that). That said, the scuba industry standard is to inspect a cylinder that no pressure in it before filling it. Whether they charge you or not is another question.

I would agree with Chrpai and look locally, there are probably more dive shops around than you can shake a stick out. And you will probably get just as good of a deal if not better without the hassle.

 

[Spear_Man]

Thanks for the replies so far. What has been said pretty much confirms my concern. I would rather buy local, but think I can get cheaper online. My LDS has an XS scuba 120 steel that was originally $500, but marked down $100 to be sold at $400 (about $430 with tax). They probably did that because it's a year old, but brand new. The thing is that I can get an XS scuba 120 steel shipped to me for $400 total, but just have to get the VIP and fill ($15-$20). It's probably a wash in price, but if I order the one online it should be maybe 1-3 months old.

I have already bought an XS scuba 120 used, but want another one. Even used steels in my area don't come cheap and are rare to find. I paid $250 for a 4 year old tank, plus I had to get a VIP because it was up in a month from the purchase date. It took me 8 months of searching craigslist everyday just to find that one. I don't think I'll be able to find another used one as soon as I'd like.

Does anyone have any negotiation techniques to get the tank cheaper from the LDS? I'm looking for a 120 or 130 steel (non-painted) probably with Nitrox certifications. I think $400 for a tank is steep, but as an air hog there is a benefit.

I totally understand the taking tanks to get filled that were not bought at that dive shop. I've inherited tanks from a friend who doesn't dive anymore that needed a VIP and Hydro. I got crap from the LDS that I didn't buy the tanks from them! It was the same case when I bought some great used alm 80's from a guy of craigslist. Once my air card is done at that shop I'm moving to a shop that does better fill jobs anyways.

Daniel

 

[Graeme Tolton]

I got sick of bs politics and bought a compressor. I had a shop owner yell at me over buying something online. Never went back in his store after that. That was when i was looking to buy some steel tanks. He ended up having the best price around, 360 for a x8 119. I bought them elsewhere because i didnt want to deal with his attitude.

 

[scubadiver888]

Does anyone have any negotiation techniques to get the tank cheaper from the LDS? I'm looking for a 120 or 130 steel (non-painted) probably with Nitrox certifications. I think $400 for a tank is steep, but as an air hog there is a benefit.

I totally understand the taking tanks to get filled that were not bought at that dive shop. I've inherited tanks from a friend who doesn't dive anymore that needed a VIP and Hydro. I got crap from the LDS that I didn't buy the tanks from them! It was the same case when I bought some great used alm 80's from a guy of craigslist. Once my air card is done at that shop I'm moving to a shop that does better fill jobs anyways.

Daniel

It is not my place to teach a dive shop how to run their business. If the shop owner is too stupid I'll just let him know just how much business he has lost and leave.

I'd say I went to 5 or 6 shops before I found one run by a business person who dives (rather than a diver who thinks running a business is easy). The shop I frequent now understands that if he fills my tanks he makes money. If he treats me nice he gets to do my visual inspection every year. He'll be the guy to do my hydro. Heck, I only bought one tank from him and it was one sale but I just dropped $200 on annual visual for all my tanks, regs, etc.

With him I usually just go in, see if he has what I want and ask if he can do it for $xxx, wher $xxx is an online price or some competitor. He doesn't ask why I want it for that price. He just tells me if he can match it. Once I ask what is his best price on something and he beat the online price by a few bucks.

Hopefully you can find such a shop. If you cannot you might want to help the best shop owner understand your position and try to be sympathetic to his.

 

[chrpai]

Thanks for the replies so far. What has been said pretty much confirms my concern. I would rather buy local, but think I can get cheaper online. My LDS has an XS scuba 120 steel that was originally $500, but marked down $100 to be sold at $400 (about $430 with tax). They probably did that because it's a year old, but brand new. The thing is that I can get an XS scuba 120 steel shipped to me for $400 total, but just have to get the VIP and fill ($15-$20). It's probably a wash in price, but if I order the one online it should be maybe 1-3 months old.

Price seems fair for new to me. It is what it is. Yes, it's a wash cause that $400 delivered would become $420. You lost 20% of the hydro ( about $4) but it'll have a fresh VIP so I wouldn't care that it's a year old.

As far as negotiating, I wouldn't ask for a discount. I'd ask what his fill promotion is. I'd expect to get atleast 10 fills and ideally free fills for a year. You suddenly might find your older tank as your "#2" tank.

 

[ffdiver]

The LDS that fills it will want to perform their own vip as it is an empty tank .I know we would...the valve is not removed by them for shipping.It was never on it when they shipped it,so they lied about removing it.If they fibbed about that who is to say they lied about vip it? At a cost of $419. that sounds high to me,especially that you need to pay the lds to fill it. Do not have the price for a 130 tank in my memory right now,but a 100 cu ft tank is something like $340.here and a alum 80 is $159. again with vip and O2 ready, filled with air or nitrox.. They also say its ready for up to 40% nitrox..What, its not o2 clean? We get them O2 clean ready for any nitrox mix using partial pressure method.
Buy it at a lds and it comes with a vip and usually a complementary fill too.

What shop are you gettin 80s at? I'm in the market for a couple.

 

[Colliam7]

They said all I have to do when I get the tank is put the valve on and go get the tank filled. . . . I'm worried about screwing the valve on myself and just taking it to get filled. I'm also worried the dive shop will want to do their own VIP on the tank because it has no pressure in it. . . . Does anyone have any negotiation techniques to get the tank cheaper from the LDS?

Three thoughts: 1. Nothing wrong with screwing the valve on yourself and having it filled. Whether the shop will want to stick you for a new VIP charge or not very much depends on the shop, so that part is a crap shoot. A good shop won't. 2. $419.95 IS a bit high for a HP 130. I would expect to pay $399.95 locally. But, the price includes 'free standard shipping' which is certainly not 'free' so they have to make up for it somehow. 3. While I don't know if you can negotiate a significant discount on the tank sale price, you probably can turn the sale into more of a value proposition by asking about / for free fills. The shop where I teach always gives 10 free air fills with every new tank sold, the first VIP is part of the purchase price.