Tank rentals?

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Staticdiver

Guest
Messages
43
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0
Location
Tucson AZ usa
# of dives
25 - 49
when you rent a tank do you put a deposit down? I was looking to rent a tank in san carlos mexico and they want a $300 deposit.
 
Doesn't sound unusual to me. I've often had to either leave a cash deposit or a credit card number/imprint when renting tanks/weights.
 
With the cost of tanks these days and a bad case of empty wallet going around I am sure that dive shops have to be even more concerned about rental equipment not coming back. The fact that you were renting in a tourist area where most people are leaving in a couple of days and wont be seen again makes it even more likely. you are probably an honast person and the thought of not returning a tank wouldnt even cross your mind, so a deposit like that seems surprising and unnecessary. unfortunatly for all of us there are a lot of dishonast people out there that would see it as an oppertunity to get a free tank or two if they didnt have to put down a deposit. :shakehead:
 
If they accept credit cards, an imprint should do. Otherwise, I see their point. Would you give a stranger possession of your property without some assurance of getting it back?
 
Frankly, I'd be shocked if they didn't require a deposit (credit card).

One tip - given foreign transaction and currency conversion fees - you might want to pay the deposit in cash. It's not clear to me if these fees will be reversed along with the deposit when you bring the tank back.
 
when you rent a tank do you put a deposit down? I was looking to rent a tank in san carlos mexico and they want a $300 deposit.
From who? El Mar?
 
Deposit?, yes.....$300.00?......uhhh, NOOO.
You can BUY 2 brand new AL80 tanks for less than $300.
 
Wow...I have never heard of that before...in fact I have always paid for the amount of time that I was going to be renting the tank (1 day 3 days etc) and then if I held on to it longer than that I was charged when I returned it.

I could see a 100.00 or less deposit maybe, but 300...man, that is a lot!
 
Sounds to me like the shop has had tanks fail to find their way back home. However, tanks are difficult to stow in your carryon so if they were having theft problems it probably wan't the vacation divers failing to return the tanks. Unless the divers were smiply abandoning the tanks and not returning them to the shop.

I heard of a dive shop who tried to keep part of a tank deposit due to tank "damage." Get this..... they tried to keep a portion of the money because the tank had a scratch on the paint and we're not talking about a deep metal penetrating gouge. To make it even more amusing, the tank in question was well used and had more bare metal than paint. Sounds to me like the shop was running low on beer money.
 
I have to agree with mksmith and emcbride that $300 for one al80 does seem out of line. while I still think shops have every reason to take a deposit to protect themselves, it should be the retail price of the tank at the very highest.

It would be a little difficult to squeeze a tank in your backpack wouldn't it :D. I could however see somebody selling a tank to the drunk guy sitting next to them at the bar and being on a plane the next morning with all the money they spent on rentals back in their pocket. It could also be as simple as not being as carefull with how they treated the tank or where they left it sitting. people do some amazing things.

It sounds like the "tank damage" shop was run by the same people as the rental car companies. no not those scratches, not those either, no not that big dent, nope that bumper was broken by the last guy, this little mark on the door handle is what we are charging you for.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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