I was forced to go to LeisurePro.
Yup, I was. My dive buddy recently purchased a Mares Abyss for me for my birthday. I now have 3 sets of high performance regs....two identical Mares Abyss 1st stages w/ MR22 2nd stages for my cave rig, and one Mares V16 w/MR22 2nd stage for my openwater rig. Well, I want a second MR22 2nd stage for my OW rig as I believe your secondary should be the same high quality as your primary........
NOooooo....that's not available anymore from Mares. They will NOT sell MR22's as OCTO's anymore....Nope, Nix, Nein, NADA! My buddy is a certified Mares tech and he services his regs and mine and says the current line of Mares regs aren't worth the powder to blow them to H@$% if you go below V16 for the 1st stage or below MR22 for the 2nd. (and lovely....you can't get an MR22 with the V16 anymore either!) Okay...this is no big deal....got 2 Abyss 1st stages and 1 V16 first stage, and 3, count them....THREE MR22 2nd stages..... I need ONE MORE!
The saga continues.... I go to my LDS, faithful parttime employee that I am.... and the very knowledgeable person at the shop contacts Mares to order an MR22 Octo for me....(okay, it's yellow...I can live with that.....) She's told by Mares...."No, we don't sell MR22/Abyss Octo's anymore". ARGGHHH! She calls the sales rep....He had no clue about this new policy or development. He checks around and there's not one to be had at the warehouse....nor from any of the LDS's he reps for. He's just as shocked as we are......go figure. Mares is only supplying the nasty Proton ICE or Axis (or lower) as Octo's now. GEEZ! My buddy and I tried out an ICE....NOPE...don't like it. I want an MR22! At this point I don't give a rats patootie if it's got the Abyss faceplate, or the Orbiter faceplate or a dayglo Yellow faceplate....just as long as it's the MR22 guts on the inside!!!! Mares won't sell me an MR22 without the FIRST STAGE...they won't break up a set. Talk about excellent customer service!! NOT!
So....my buddy and I are standing in the shop aghast (like that 50cent word?) at this new policy. My chin is hanging on my chest as I am racking my brain trying to figure out how to get an MR22 out of Mares, when the knowledgeable shop employee says...."The rep told me that he found out Mares blew out all the yellow MR22 Octo's and no more are in stock....he suggests and so do I, that you try one of the internet houses....maybe Leisure Pro or Divers Direct, if you don't have any luck there, we can try ordering all the parts and building one ourselves, but it will be pricey."
I came home last night.....about 1130pm after teaching an AOW confined session.......signed on to Leisurepro.com, found a Mares MR22/Abyss Octo (yes, it's yellow, I'll live!) and it will be here Friday.
End of story. And we wonder why the LDS in floundering in this country.
Yup, I was. My dive buddy recently purchased a Mares Abyss for me for my birthday. I now have 3 sets of high performance regs....two identical Mares Abyss 1st stages w/ MR22 2nd stages for my cave rig, and one Mares V16 w/MR22 2nd stage for my openwater rig. Well, I want a second MR22 2nd stage for my OW rig as I believe your secondary should be the same high quality as your primary........
NOooooo....that's not available anymore from Mares. They will NOT sell MR22's as OCTO's anymore....Nope, Nix, Nein, NADA! My buddy is a certified Mares tech and he services his regs and mine and says the current line of Mares regs aren't worth the powder to blow them to H@$% if you go below V16 for the 1st stage or below MR22 for the 2nd. (and lovely....you can't get an MR22 with the V16 anymore either!) Okay...this is no big deal....got 2 Abyss 1st stages and 1 V16 first stage, and 3, count them....THREE MR22 2nd stages..... I need ONE MORE!
The saga continues.... I go to my LDS, faithful parttime employee that I am.... and the very knowledgeable person at the shop contacts Mares to order an MR22 Octo for me....(okay, it's yellow...I can live with that.....) She's told by Mares...."No, we don't sell MR22/Abyss Octo's anymore". ARGGHHH! She calls the sales rep....He had no clue about this new policy or development. He checks around and there's not one to be had at the warehouse....nor from any of the LDS's he reps for. He's just as shocked as we are......go figure. Mares is only supplying the nasty Proton ICE or Axis (or lower) as Octo's now. GEEZ! My buddy and I tried out an ICE....NOPE...don't like it. I want an MR22! At this point I don't give a rats patootie if it's got the Abyss faceplate, or the Orbiter faceplate or a dayglo Yellow faceplate....just as long as it's the MR22 guts on the inside!!!! Mares won't sell me an MR22 without the FIRST STAGE...they won't break up a set. Talk about excellent customer service!! NOT!
So....my buddy and I are standing in the shop aghast (like that 50cent word?) at this new policy. My chin is hanging on my chest as I am racking my brain trying to figure out how to get an MR22 out of Mares, when the knowledgeable shop employee says...."The rep told me that he found out Mares blew out all the yellow MR22 Octo's and no more are in stock....he suggests and so do I, that you try one of the internet houses....maybe Leisure Pro or Divers Direct, if you don't have any luck there, we can try ordering all the parts and building one ourselves, but it will be pricey."
I came home last night.....about 1130pm after teaching an AOW confined session.......signed on to Leisurepro.com, found a Mares MR22/Abyss Octo (yes, it's yellow, I'll live!) and it will be here Friday.
End of story. And we wonder why the LDS in floundering in this country.