Should a Dive Op charge you for rental gear in the case of your own gear failure?

[Catito]

I do have an opinion but since I was on both of the charters with you Saturday I will refrain from commenting.

Why not comment?

 

[gamon]

Why not comment?

I had the same thought.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I remember, you were sitting across from us towards the front of the boat, you were diving side mount.

You're still allowed to comment even though you were physically present.

Sorry I held you and everyone else up while I swapped out my nonworking 1st stage with my spare non working 1st stage.

Yup that was me. I sidemount (sling) my pony bottle. In the morning I was down from you on the same side next to the guy with the rebreather.

No worries on holding up the boat. It wasn’t long and wasn’t that big of a deal. I’ve seen far worse!

Given that you knew you had reg issues going into the afternoon charter I fully understand them asking you to resolve them at the shop between trips. If you couldn’t resolve them then arranging a rental was fully understandable. The spare reg on the boat is for issues that arise after the boat has left the dock. None of the charters like to leave knowing they have utilized that reg. What if another customer or crew member had a similar issue to what you had experienced in the morning after the boat had left the dock? They’d be out of luck because you’d already be using that spare reg. Every charter I've ever been on will want known issues resolved before pushing away and will save the spare reg on the boat for subsequent emergencies while underway.

The only thing I would have done differently is hit Force-E Riviera Beach instead of driving to Pura Vida's shop. It’s closer to the Pura Vida boat (you had to drive past it to get to PV), is the main reg service center for Force-E and also has a large rental fleet if you needed to go that route. Would have been a shorter, easier trip for you. However, you made it back for the afternoon trip so all was good!

Those are my two cents. It was nice to "meet" you even though I didn't know who you were on the boat! I dive with PV quite a bit so if you see me again please say "Hello".

 

[gamon]

The only thing I would have done differently is hit Force-E Riviera Beach instead of driving to Pura Vida. It’s closer to the Pura Vida boat

I know, and that occurred to me. I've rented gear from there before to do the Blue Heron Bridge.

But I thought Pura Vida wasn't going to charge me..lol

 

[Storker]

I'm slightly impressed at the number of gear failures mentioned in the thread. Me, I get my tanks hydroed and viz'd every 2nd year and my regs serviced every 2nd year or 50 dives, whatever comes first. Still haven't had one single malfunction. Never had to skip a dive because my gear didn't work as it should. Only issue I've ever had is drysuit or glove leaks.

Preventative maintenance, folks. Preventative maintenance. And personal gear with a known service record. It works.

 

[ljpm]

I didn't read the entire thread. Seems to be a consensus that the fee is warranted for at least the afternoon dive. Personally, I would expect to pay a reasonable rental for the morning dive as well and if I wasn't charged one it would become a tip for the staff.

 

[Storker]

Whats with that tip vs rental thing?

A tip is a gesture to show your appreciation of beyond-standard service. In some societies, it's expected, in other societies it's an insult.

If you need stuff not covered by the contract (e.g., a functioning reg when your own doesn't work), that's not an extra service. That's a new product which should be paid according to. So, rental fees to the op. If your DM provides extra service, by all means tip them. But a functioning reg isn't extra service. It's another product supplied.

 

[ljpm]

Whats with that tip vs rental thing?

A tip is a gesture to show your appreciation of beyond-standard service. In some societies, it's expected, in other societies it's an insult.

If you need stuff not covered by the contract (e.g., a functioning reg when your own doesn't work), that's not an extra service. That's a new product which should be paid according to. So, rental fees to the op. If your DM provides extra service, by all means tip them. But a functioning reg isn't extra service. It's another product supplied.

I'm not really sure what you are getting at. Basically, I would not consider a replacement reg as part of the contract as you stated and expect to pay. If the dive op refused I would still feel a need to pay and therefore add that amount to the tip if there was one or perhaps pay for the first round at the bar.

 

[Storker]

Basically, I would not consider a replacement reg as part of the contract as you stated and expect to pay.

My point exactly.

 

[USdiver1]

I am of the opinion that the vessel kept a spare regulator available on each dive trip to cover the exact situation that you experienced - diver paid for trip, had equipment malfunction, ship provided emergency use spare, dive trip saved. Stating that they needed the regulator returned at the end of that trip, so that it could be placed back into emergency spare inventory was the correct call. Any diver on the next trip could also suffer an equipment malf and would then get to use the spare reg. You by that time knew that your regulator was unusable, but you had the opportunity to rent another from the dive shop, so there was no dive trip ending emergency for your next dive on that vessel. You should pay for the rental regulator while your own is getting repaired.

From another scenario, say delayed dive gear luggage and a charter dive vessel / resort, in which a key part of your gear is delayed a day or two due to being mis-handled by the airline, I think that most live-aboards / dive resorts would lend you the needed gear free of charge until your luggage arrived, as they want to provide the type of experience that would result in repeat business / good customer service ratings.