ScubaPro Annual Service

[ams511]

So you're gonna get your air, nitrox or trimix where?

Lets see I can get it from the dive park, from the dive boat, or from a dive club. If there is a demand then someone will meet it. You do not need a dive shop.

---------- Post Merged at 06:12 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:10 PM ----------

Such heresy! May the ghost of Jacques Cousteau haunt you forever! Conshelfs rule!

I was not the one who said they were bad, my old instructor did because he didn't get commission on sale items.

 

[chrpai]

I'd love to see an ExpressFill franchise. Think Subway in terms of low cost setup and training. If there was a turn key solution for a basic air fill station I'd invest in one and start selling fills in my neck of the woods.

 

[ams511]

I hope you meant the sales of the new equipment.

Not every diver can service their equipment, do their vis and have a fill station

You can send your equipment for service to TDL, Scuba Toys, DRIS, or even DA Aquamaster (if he allows you to) if you want. You do not need to have it done locally. You call also have a company like fill express do the viz and fills.

---------- Post Merged at 06:26 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:22 PM ----------

I'd love to see an ExpressFill franchise. Think Subway in terms of low cost setup and training. If there was a turn key solution for a basic air fill station I'd invest in one and start selling fills in my neck of the woods.

I was thinking more along the lines of cylinder exchanges like propane dealers do. Drop off the empties and pick up a full one.

 

[Paladin]

I was not the one who said they were bad, my old instructor did because he didn't get commission on sale items.

Relax, my friend. I was just yanking your chain a bit!

 

[halocline]

You call also have a company like fill express do the viz and fills.

I was thinking more along the lines of cylinder exchanges like propane dealers do. Drop off the empties and pick up a full one.

You're not suggesting shipping a tank to get a vis, are you? Like pay $60-80 at least in round trip shipping to get a $10 inspection? As far as the propane idea, I seriously doubt anyone who invests anything in their scuba tank is going to be interested in simply trading it for a full one.

There will always be a need for local fills and some sales and service wherever there is diving or even dive training.

---------- Post Merged at 11:16 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:13 PM ----------

I'd love to see an ExpressFill franchise. Think Subway in terms of low cost setup and training.

I'm wondering how the already comically inept understanding and handling of dive cylinders would fare with the equivalent of Subway employees managing the fills. And I apologize if I've offended any Subway employees reading......

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I was thinking more along the lines of cylinder exchanges like propane dealers do. Drop off the empties and pick up a full one.

We had an air club for a couple decades and the local dive shop got it's start using the club compressor and air bank. The club provided the compressor and the shop provided the space, compressor maintenance, and training of new members in tank fill procedures in exchange for the shop's use of the compressor for it rental tanks, non-member customer fills, students, and nitrox fills. A set of fill whips remained outside in a combination lock box allowed for for 24/7 self serve club member air fills. Over the years the funds and some shop investment allowed purchase of a larger compressor and an expanded air bank, so air was never in short supply.

The problem was that the old shop owner sold the shop to a new owner who no longer honored the arrangement and declared that the most recent compressor belonged to the shop - as well as the old compressor and original airbank apparently. Since any paperwork had long since disappeared the club had no real recourse.

This same dive shop under new management also had really crappy evening and weekend hours - not open past 5pm and only open 4 hours on Saturday morning with nothing on Sunday. (They ran a collection agency as their original business and bought the local dive shop, but brought with them their same collection agency customer unfriendly business model.) The problem was that many of the avid divers did not live in the actual city they were located in, but drove there from 50 or so miles away, so they could not drop by over lunch or after work, which meant their only chance to pick up or drop off tanks was on Saturday morning, cutting into prime dive time and making tank rental very problematic as it for all practical purposes involved being charged for a full week. Even for tank owners, given the volume of fills on Saturday morning, the shop would not guarantee fills that day, so you could show up with tanks for the weekend, wait around and not be assured of getting fills.

I figured if they wanted weekends off they could still accommodate divers with drop boxes, either for the diver's tanks or as exchange for rental tanks along the lines you suggested. They ignored the suggestion entirely and also refused to modify their really inconvenient hours.

In the end I just bought my own compressor and chose not to do business with them. I moved away a year or so later, but if I had stayed I had been developing plans to buy a larger compressor and an air bank to start a new air club located near the major dive location in the area (the shop was about 30 minutes away anyway). Then being a bit passive aggressive at heart, I'd have probably expanded it into a small full service shop with weekend hours since I had done the service work for the old shop anyway (before the change in owners).

 

[elan]

You can send your equipment for service to TDL, Scuba Toys, DRIS, or even DA Aquamaster (if he allows you to) if you want. You do not need to have it done locally. You call also have a company like fill express do the viz and fills.

---------- Post Merged at 06:26 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:22 PM ----------



I was thinking more along the lines of cylinder exchanges like propane dealers do. Drop off the empties and pick up a full one.

Well even if I lived in the US I would not do that because of the shipping. For an average Joe shipping the regs somewhere for just say hose replacement will be quite costly.
As for tanks, I would not do the propane thing either. I take care of my tanks, fill them at the place that I know takes good care of their compressor. Even in our big city we have very few places with a good station. The rest can easily fill you with a "trimix" ( air, water, oil or any combination of those)

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Well even if I lived in the US I would not do that because of the shipping. For an average Joe shipping the regs somewhere for just say hose replacement will be quite costly.

Most reg monkeys and even shop sales people and managers can change a hose. It's not rocket science.

But oddly enough many customers are happy to pay shioping to and from to get good service, even though it adds about $25 to the total cost.

One of the thoughts behind regional mail in service centers is that with the lower overhead from not having to maintain a local full service dive shop on site, the labor cost can be substantially lower and offset the shipping.

For example, many techs work for about half of the labor charged to the customer (if the customer is charged $30 per stage, the tech probably gets $15, or maybe $17.50 if he has to provide his own insurance), and most techs only work part time with a real job on the side.

However if the overhead is kept low and the tech can work full time or nearly full time or nearly full time out of a home based business or small repair shop only space - that same tech could charge the same labor $15.00 to $17.50 per stage labor rate direct to the customer, with the customer paying the shop's cheaper commercial shipping rates, and make more money based on higher volume of work, while the customer pays less than they would at a local dive shop, or no more than they'd pay locally, but with higher quality service from a more experienced and full time tech. That would be a no cost to the company qualitative item that could be marketed as a value added attraction on that company's regs.

As for tanks, I would not do the propane thing either. I take care of my tanks, fill them at the place that I know takes good care of their compressor. Even in our big city we have very few places with a good station. The rest can easily fill you with a "trimix" ( air, water, oil or any combination of those)

I don't think the propane tank analogy is perfect as we are talking about the end user having to own a tank to put into the system. But for shop rental tanks or club owned tanks the system would be great, getting maximum utilization out of shop or club tanks with minimum staff time and maximum customer convenience.

A variation on the theme is just a drop box service where divers could drop off their own empty tank and pick up their own newly filled tank a day or so later at their convenience.

 

[ams511]

You're not suggesting shipping a tank to get a vis, are you?

No I am talking about sending off regulators for service, not tanks. There is a guy up in Broward that is offering cheap Vizs and hydros and we are not short of dive shops in South Florida.

---------- Post Merged at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:44 AM ----------

Well even if I lived in the US I would not do that because of the shipping.

Some people do this because of crappy local service, I went the DIY route because the LDS screwed up my Beuchats and charged me $140 to do it.

---------- Post Merged at 11:59 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:44 AM ----------

I don't think the propane tank analogy is perfect as we are talking about the end user having to own a tank to put into the system. But for shop rental tanks or club owned tanks the system would be great, getting maximum utilization out of shop or club tanks with minimum staff time and maximum customer convenience.

A variation on the theme is just a drop box service where divers could drop off their own empty tank and pick up their own newly filled tank a day or so later at their convenience.

Well I was thinking the diver just buys the tank from the company and then gets it filled and when he no longer wants to do it he can turn the tank in for a partial refund. The advantage is you don't need to worry about VIPs and Hydros.

The air club could also work, we had one at the university but there you could just use their tanks for a dollar more than the price of the fill.

---------- Post Merged at 12:03 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:44 AM ----------

A variation on the theme is just a drop box service where divers could drop off their own empty tank and pick up their own newly filled tank a day or so later at their convenience.

I don't like the drop box idea because of the possibility of the theft of tanks, a better idea maybe is to contract with a local sporting goods store and have them be the drop off/pick up location.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I don't like the drop box idea because of the possibility of the theft of tanks, a better idea maybe is to contract with a local sporting goods store and have them be the drop off/pick up location.

I was thinking individual lockers with combinations for the customers and a master key for the shop - but the sporting goods store is a great idea if you can get a store to agree with that.