Should I Pay ???

[Erik Il Rosso]

This is what has happened to me 3 weeks ago...

We were diving and my buddy was someone who will become DM very soon, I run short of air and the DM who were leading the dive send me and this learning DM to the surface...

We use his reel to reach the surface...
Once we reached the surface we discovered that we were far from the boat and the sea was quite rough...

I was pretty tired but he forced me to fin towards the boat...
After finnig for 20 minutes the boat was still far...
He still wanted to reach the boat finning but at this point I stopped him and said :"We are floating, we are breathing, lets wait here for the boat, as soon as the other people will be on board they will pick us up"...

I conviced him and while doing all these things the reel slipped from his hand...

When we reached the land the diving center said that this DM did not do things correctly...
The poor DM was really sad and so was I and I asked him if he wanted some money to buy the reel back, he said no...

Three days ago I was not at home and I found one message from this DM asking for money to buy the reel back...

Do I owe him something or not ???

Do not know what to do...

Ciao Erik Il Rosso

 

[Scubaroo]

HE dropped HIS own reel and expects you to pay for it simply because he was buddying you to the surface immediately before it happened? I would not be paying him a single cent / lira / euro / whatever you guys use.

 

[glbirch]

I assume he had the reel clipped somewhere for most of the dive and wasn't carrying it around the whole time. Assuming this, why didn't he clip the reel back to wherever he secures it when he got to the surface? I don't see any point to carrying it around for a twenty minute surface swim. From what you have said it sounds like he was careless with it.

 

[justleesa]

I would say you made an offer, he declined - end of story. Tell him that. If he keeps bugging you, you can always put him on your blocked senders list.

 

[mempilot]

No. Equipment that is passed off in an emergency or to stop an emergency is done so in aid of the other person and should be considered at risk. I didn't offer my friend gas money when he rushed me to the emergency room for stitches. Of course, we didn't loose his $170 car either. Now that I think about it, we didn't use gas. He was running with his feet through a rust hole in the floor pan.

 

[OneBrightGator]

I agree with the other posters, he dropped the reel, not you, so he's responsible.

Ben

 

[cyklon_300]

a beer for his trouble...he can buy his own reel.

 

[UWSojourner]

As far as it is possible be at peace with all. Maybe from his perspective, he attempted a good deed and suffered loss.

If you cannot afford it or it would be a hardship, tell him that. If its not a big deal financially, then I'd thank him for his help and tell him I'd be glad to replace the reel. But, I'm obviously in the minority here.

 

[Diver0001]

This is what has happened to me 3 weeks ago...

We were diving and my buddy was someone who will become DM very soon, I run short of air and the DM who were leading the dive send me and this learning DM to the surface...

We use his reel to reach the surface...
Once we reached the surface we discovered that we were far from the boat and the sea was quite rough...

I was pretty tired but he forced me to fin towards the boat...
After finnig for 20 minutes the boat was still far...
He still wanted to reach the boat finning but at this point I stopped him and said :"We are floating, we are breathing, lets wait here for the boat, as soon as the other people will be on board they will pick us up"...

I conviced him and while doing all these things the reel slipped from his hand...

When we reached the land the diving center said that this DM did not do things correctly...
The poor DM was really sad and so was I and I asked him if he wanted some money to buy the reel back, he said no...

Three days ago I was not at home and I found one message from this DM asking for money to buy the reel back...

Do I owe him something or not ???

Do not know what to do...

Ciao Erik Il Rosso

Ordinarily I would find his request a little odd. After all it's his reel and he dropped it..... However, you offered to pay at the time it happened. So......were you serious?

I'd say you don't *owe* him anything but if you're a man of your word then you should do something to show him you were serious. I would suggest to buy lunch the next time you dive together.....

R..

 

[ElectricZombie]

I would ask him how he expects to be a DM when he's such a clutz.

I wouldn't give him anything. He brought the reel out, he lost it...end of story.