Tusa charging $90 for "under warranty" reg service!

[paperdesk]

There are no Tusa dealers anywhere near my home in NorthEast WA, so I sent my reg, first and one second stage to Tusa for service. They are charging me $50 for first stage and $40 for second! This is $90 for just labor, parts are free! I feel like I've just been ripped off! What should I have done differently! If it's always like this I might as well not do service and just buy a new reg every two years, since it only cost me a couple hundred in the first place for my Platina RS-130.

Any suggestions? Are they overcharging me or is this what is normal if you send it to Tusa? Is there anywhere else I could send it for less since my LDS don't support Tusa?

Thank you one and all!

Ted

 

[mnj1233]

There are no Tusa dealers anywhere near my home in NorthEast WA, so I sent my reg, first and one second stage to Tusa for service. They are charging me $50 for first stage and $40 for second! This is $90 for just labor, parts are free! I feel like I've just been ripped off! What should I have done differently! If it's always like this I might as well not do service and just buy a new reg every two years, since it only cost me a couple hundred in the first place for my Platina RS-130.

Any suggestions? Are they overcharging me or is this what is normal if you send it to Tusa? Is there anywhere else I could send it for less since my LDS don't support Tusa?

Thank you one and all!

Ted

Where did you buy it???/ On-line maybe?????

 

[paperdesk]

I bought it from SCUBA toys.

 

[Wayward Son]

Did you not ask them what they charged for service before sending it to them?

 

[Wayward Son]

Why didn't you sent it back to scubatoys for service? Larry only charges about $40 to service the regs he sells.

 

[mnj1233]

Why didn't you sent it back to scubatoys for service? Larry only charges about $40 to service the regs he sells.

I would send it to Scuba Toys as well. As a rule I always make sure the seller is going to service the product as well.

 

[paperdesk]

Oh! Somehow I didn't realize SCUBA Toys offered that! I'll definately do it next time! I'm also wondering if you think this would be standard for TUSA, or is some employee making a mistake?

 

[Wayward Son]

Prolly their std rates.

Typically under warranty you pay for labor, parts are covered. I dunno the specifics about TUSA's warranty. But the shop can charge whatever they want for service. What TUSA is charging is, IMO, high. The LDS's I deal with don't charge that much, but I've heard of some who do.

TUSA may be willing to provide service if you can't get it locally, but charges a high rate to discourage people from using them. If they charge competetive rates, then they start competing with their dealers for service work, and the dealers would not appreciate that.

 

[paperdesk]

Makes sence wayword. Guess you learn some the hard way!

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

You could always contact Scubatoys about your situation - there's a slew of posts on this board with how well they have sorted out less than clear situations for their customers. Nothing to lose by doing so.

FYI, I have had ONE experience with a shop charging me similar fees for PARTS ALONE - then adding labor - which I wrote off as my learning the hard way by not requesting rates when I dropped off the regs to start with. Much like jumping into a scuba vacation spot taxi and only telling the driver my desired destination, without negotiating before the wheels start turning. I too should have known better at my age - just happens sometimes.

The regs in my story were pre-owned, no warranty issues. but I found a different authorized dealer who charged about 1/3 the fees for the same exact parts and service.

The first shop I mentioned changed ownership after a couple of years, but I stuck with the shop that treated me right - once sold, I stayed sold on a service provider.