Scuba Sciences Regulator Repair Problem

[booth22]

Who's the 3rd?

Avoidthebends- Rob
Scuba Sciences- Tina
Scubapig52- Paul :mooner:

 

[Lehmann108]

You did well, dude, keeping it together in a rather freaky situation. As far as the LDS is concerned, avoid them like the plague and let others know in your area. They should be ashamed of themselves for such shoddy work.:no

 

[scubajcf]

I just watched the video in the OP again. Everyone has been talking about what was done wrong up to this point. I just wanted to talk about the positive.

First, way to go in noticing the problem and switching to your secondary.
Second, once the incident happened, way to go in keeping a cool head and remaining calm and going to one of the buddies you were diving with.
Third, you were diving with a really head-on-straight buddy who took control of your ascent (and you) while you were trying to figure out what was happening and getting your bearings.
Fourth, way to go for the rest of the team who reacted to assist with the incident (there were a lot more than two people in the video). Especially the guy in the end who went up to help control your ascent.

That's just good training. At 100' this incident (no matter what the cause) could have been catastrophic. There were a lot of people who reacted correctly and made this a business issue not a funeral.

Way to go!!!!!

jcf

 

[avoidthebends]

I just watched the video in the OP again. Everyone has been talking about what was done wrong up to this point. I just wanted to talk about the positive.

First, way to go in noticing the problem and switching to your secondary.
Second, once the incident happened, way to go in keeping a cool head and remaining calm and going to one of the buddies you were diving with.
Third, you were diving with a really head-on-straight buddy who took control of your ascent (and you) while you were trying to figure out what was happening and getting your bearings.
Fourth, way to go for the rest of the team who reacted to assist with the incident (there were a lot more than two people in the video). Especially the guy in the end who went up to help control your ascent.

That's just good training. At 100' this incident (no matter what the cause) could have been catastrophic. There were a lot of people who reacted correctly and made this a business issue not a funeral.

Way to go!!!!!

jcf

I agree 100% with this post. The negative aspects of this situation have been well documented(14 pages). Thanks for focusing on the positive side of this. I would also agree the end result was excellent training and multiple divers keeping cool heads in a rough situation.

 

[Lehmann108]

Hello Everyone,

I was under the impression that Stores were not to be named, only as a "LDS". But since we were named, we will reply to this post.

1. Scuba Sciences has been in business since 1971. In these past 36 years, we have trained several thousand divers, serviced thousands upon thousands of scuba equipment and ran tons of diving trips.

2. Scuba Sciences is (to my knowledge) the only Scuba Training/Retail Store in the Valley that is a member of the BBB. We have been members of the BBB since June of 1994. We are in the business to provide the best services to our customers with training, equipment servicing and dive trips, not to rip anyone off.

3. Scuba Sciences serviced several hundred regulators at our Metro location alone last year. It is not unusual, a few regulators come back for readjustments, but NO MAJOR PROBLEMS.

4. Scuba Sciences follows the strict servicing requirements of the Professional Order of Service Technicians Form, which is required of American Nitrox Divers International (ANDI). It shows a complete check list of everything that is completed during a regulator, bc and/or cylinder service.

5. After our Service Technican is done with the service, he completes a bench test and a water test to look for any bubbles or things out of adjustment. These tests were done to Mr. Just's regulator and showed no signs of anything unusual.

6. According to our computer records, Mr. Just has been very inconsistent with having his equipment serviced annually as required to maintain the manuf warranties.

7. Mr. Just picked up his regulator in late October, 2006, tested it on our testing machine, signed the Repair Agreement and left. Both Scuba Sciences facilities have on-site, indoor, heated salt water pools for our divers and customers to test and/or familiarize themselves with any new or recently serviced equipment. Mr. Just did not take advantage of this opportunity to test his equipment before his trip.

8. Mr. Just claims to have had problems during his trip from Late November to Early December, but never notified Scuba Sciences until early January, 2007.

9. Scuba Sciences' Repair Agreement says in part "...SCUBA equipment, it is highly subject to damage and/or change in adjustment during transportation and/or with misuse. For that reason this company cannot accept any responsibility for the condition or function of the equipment once it has been inspected and accepted by the person signing this document and it has left the premises of this company..." This form was signed by Mr. Just when he picked up the regulator and he admits the regulator was working properly when he tested it on our machine.

10. When Scuba Sciences was notified of Mr. Just's issue, we offered to completely overhaul and re-service the regulator from top to bottom and test his equipment in either of our pools at NO CHARGE. This offer was made to Mr. Just in early January, 2007 and still stands today. At this time Mr. Just has refused our offer.

11. When this regulator left Scuba Sciences, there is absolutely no question that it was working properly.

At this time we are still willing to completely overhaul and re-service Mr. Just's regulator and allow him to test his equipment in the pool. We are awaiting Mr. Just's decision...

Tina
Scuba Sciences, Inc.

Sorry for the long quote, but your attitude is beyond belief. You're not in court. If this is how you respond to a customer having a very SERIOUS problem with a regulator that YOU serviced regardless of what he signed, did or did not do, you need to apologize to him and figure out what the hell went wrong. Drop the ego, it makes you guys look like arrogant idiots. Show some concern instead of this knee-jerk defense that only proves to yourself that you did nothing wrong. :no

 

[avoidthebends]

If you don't enjoy diving the lakes, whether you given it a go or not is fine with us, and not posting at all or in the AZ forum is also your choice and I respect that, heck even the OP of this thread is a long time reader first time poster, nothing wrong with that. And contrary to opinions we don't give a rat's *** what shop you spend your money at. It wasn't the point and I think you know that.

Garrett,

I have been to the lakes(Pleasant and Saguaro) a few times and just don't enjoy the lack of visibility and marine life. It's just not for me, but to each his own. I have done some navigation work and so forth, but to dive there recreationally doesn't do anything for me.

Where in my post did I say anything about spending money at any shop??? And thanks for keeping it pleasant and professional with your rat's *** comment. :shakehead IMO...that is classless. Your point could have been made without that.

Rob

 

[mdb]

Hey guys, I've never posted here, and I'm not sure if it is appropriate. If not, just let me know and I'll remove it. But, I just thought you might like to be made aware of a serious issue with one of our local dive shops.

In November, I took my regulator in to Scuba Sciences for annual service. On November 28th, I took my newly serviced reg on its first dive in Grand Cayman. About 5 minutes into the dive we had reached 100fsw and I noticed some bubbles coming out of my 2nd stage. The bubbles started to get progressively faster and I switched to my backup octo to get a better look. While I was examining it, the mouthpiece blew apart in my hands. The hose started whipping around violently as my air was rapidly depleting. About 30 seconds later I was out of air. Luckily I was able to grab my buddy and share air as we made a controlled emergency accent. The dive master was able to retrieve the pieces from the ocean floor. To my surprise, there was nothing wrong with it! It has simply come apart because it had not been correctly reassembled. This is an extremely serious issue. We count on licensed service providers to properly care for equipment that our lives depends on. While everything ended alright in this instance, things could have gone horribly wrong. Major equipment malfunctions at that depth can be fatal. Scuba Sciences put my life in danger.

What makes this incident all the more disturbing is it isn't the first time this has happened with this shop. I was telling the story to another dive friend of mine a few weeks after it happened. The first words out of his mouth were "you didn't have it serviced at Scuba Sciences did you?". I couldn't believe what he said next. He went on to tell me that almost the exact same thing had happened to him after his regulator was serviced by the same shop.

I contacted the company about the problem and asked for a refund for the service. I'm not trying to scam them, and I'm not looking for any compensation for other 'damages'. All I want is the money returned for a service I paid for but didn't get. They replied that they cannot accept any responsibility for the condition or function of the equipment after it leaves the shop. They went on to say that I tested it in the shop and had signed a form saying everything was okay. They offered to take a look at it for free. Unfortunately, I have lost faith in their service department and I would not feel comfortable trusting my equipment to them again. I am obviously not a licensed technician and I am not qualified to make an informed decision on whether or not they had performed the service correctly. If I were to take my car to have the tires replaced and they didn't put the lug nuts back on the wheel, the company would still be responsible... even if I tested the car in the parking lot and everything seemed fine... eventually the wheel is going to fall of the car.

If anybody is curious, there is a short video of the event that can be seen at http://www.nvaria.com/hose_problem_small.wmv. In the video, you'll notice the bubbles coming out of the mouthpiece, then the camera pans away from me momentarily while you hear the hiss of the hose breaking apart. After that you can see the hose in a complete free flow because it doesn't have the 2nd stage attached any longer.

cjust: Your post, and the video, have been of good service. Lots more divers now know to do a pre-dive check after "service" and also what to do if a problem does occur. Rick, and others, have had some very good input here. It does seem sad that the store seems, still, to be in a very defensive and denial mode. Why not: "Maybe we made a mistake, here is your money back." Instead we get all the denials and excuses. In any case, you and your friends did well. Glad it all turned out OK.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

I just watched the video in the OP again. Everyone has been talking about what was done wrong up to this point. I just wanted to talk about the positive.

First, way to go in noticing the problem and switching to your secondary.
Second, once the incident happened, way to go in keeping a cool head and remaining calm and going to one of the buddies you were diving with.
Third, you were diving with a really head-on-straight buddy who took control of your ascent (and you) while you were trying to figure out what was happening and getting your bearings.
Fourth, way to go for the rest of the team who reacted to assist with the incident (there were a lot more than two people in the video). Especially the guy in the end who went up to help control your ascent.

That's just good training. At 100' this incident (no matter what the cause) could have been catastrophic. There were a lot of people who reacted correctly and made this a business issue not a funeral.

Way to go!!!!!

jcf

For discussion purposes only and not to be taken as flaming the OP, I see some problems with the way this was handled. I would have (and have) done it differently.

 

[cjust]

First, way to go in noticing the problem and switching to your secondary.

You know, I've thought a lot about that since this event. I am really glad that I had already switched to my backup before the problem occurred. As it happened, I could still breathe while I was trying to wrap my head around exactly what had happened. I think I would have been a lot more freaked out if all of a sudden I had no air.

Third, you were diving with a really head-on-straight buddy who took control of your ascent (and you) while you were trying to figure out what was happening and getting your bearings.

Absolutely! There were a couple people involved that were extremely valuable in helping me handle the situation.

 

[cjust]

For discussion purposes only and not to be taken as flaming the OP, I see some problems with the way this was handled. I would have (and have) done it differently.

No offense taken at all. I'm sure I did things wrong. The whole event was extremely unexpected and definitely took me by surprise. Now that it has opened my eyes a little, I feel like I will be better prepared for other emergencies in the future.

Feel free to comment on things you would have done. I won't take it as a flame. I'm open to learning how to improve.