Warranty and Regulator Maintenence Question

[jbichsel]

dealer for 15 years. My original instructor, for Sherwood and Aqualung.
I have my reg services at least once per year, sometimes more depending on # of dives.
Gregg has never charged my anyhting. Not labor, not o-rings.

Of course some of that may be due to the fact that I was one of his DM's for about 12 years.

But I know other folks who take their regs to him and only pay labor if it's under warranty. Small parts like o-rings are provided under the labor charge. Usually $40-$60 for service.

 

[Zaphod]

The warranty requires that you have the equipment serviced every other year and inspected every year. If, during the inspection, the technican determines that you need to have the regulator serviced (rebuilt) then the parts are free.

I think part of it depends on the shop. If you're willing to pay for the service, the shop I'm with will provide the parts for free regardless of the service interval (as long as it's less than what Aqualung requires). We'll deal with getting reimbursed and Aqualung really doesn't care. As an example, we service the instructor/DMs regulators every 3-6 months and get reimbursed for all the parts.

You are right. I didn't study enough, as I'm new.

I checked Aqualang/Apeks (cannot get info from Scubapro's website), they have the "Free Parts for Life Agreement". However,there's a limitation (still better than that of Zeagle's). It only provides service parts every other year. You are good to have your regulator serviced/overhauled every other year if you dive 50 times or less per year. You have to have it serviced every year if you dive more, but you don't get free parts for that. Sounds like saf_25's regulator was just allowed for its first year's inspection, but they did (or he asked for) an overhaul.

 

[Aerodog]

There are actually probablly an easy 5 AQ dealers that I could have taken it to - if you want to head into LA, many more than that. The one I took mine to was the biggest chain around - need I say more?

Hmm, the largest chain around....but at least they have PST tanks in stock! BTW, I USED to take my equipment to the largest chain around So Cal for service but after having to:

Wait over 2.5 months to get equipment back for annual service (happened 2 years in a row)

Send equipment back after annual service because of "leaking" 2nd stages (again, more than once).

I stopped using them for regulator servicing.

Also, I have also had problems with "the largest chain" concerning charges for parts that should've been covered under warranty. That was caused by shoddy paperwork on their part and/or uninformed personnel. I always provided them with all the service records to prove annual servicing. To be honest, all problems did get taken care of (removal of charges, regulators stopped leaking, etal) by talking to the department manager but that really does get old after awhile.

 

[beepbird]

I just got my Sherwood Oasis reg back from my LDS.
$65 for the labor
$11 for the parts
$10.00 surcharge

It's been 2 years since I got the reg and I've got may be 15 dives on it. This is the first time it's been serviced.

Isn't this a little outrageous? Did I get ripped off?

Beep bird

 

[aquaoren]

There are actually probablly an easy 5 AQ dealers that I could have taken it to - if you want to head into LA, many more than that. The one I took mine to was the biggest chain around - need I say more? I would have gone to some of the smaller stores that are nearby, but the big one is the most convenient for me (I drive past it on the way home from work) and it was where I had bought it at, so I thought that would make it easiest for them to access the warranty info. Next time, one of the other ones it is.

Actually, the problem I think was that the person who helped me initially was new, so he didn't know how to answer my questions well enough - if he did, I would have taken it to one of the other places to start with. Then, when I picked it up yesterday, I spoke to the store manager, not the dive shop (it's a general sporting goods store) so I don't think he really knew what he was talking about.

What really got me is that I brought my tank in for a vis at the same time, and they've butchered that as well. Again, long story, but basically, they were suppossed to call me if it failed so it could get sent for a tumble right away - they didn't call. When I went to pick it up a week ago, it first needed to be sent for the tumble. So, when I went to pick up my regs, guess what was still sitting there, a week later, not sent in yet? You guessed it! So, I was annoyed to start with, then with this whole thing with my regs - I was not a happy camper last night!

I'd really suggest a different LDS next time

 

[ChrisA]

How many shops are in OC??? How many are AQ dealers???

There are over 20 dive shops in Orange County California, There are over 45 in Los Angeles County