Need Reg Servicing in So Cal Area

[AllanHarr]

I'm looking for advice regarding a very reputable dive shop to do my annual work on my regs. Does anyone have any advice in terms of who is good? (And maybe who to avoid...) Thanks!

 

[scubapatton]

What brand of regulator?

 

[Hatul]

I've had good results at Pacific Wilderness in Orange with my temperamental Oceanic reg.

Adam

 

[beachnik]

Pacific Wilderness has a good reputation. Fair prices. The shop in San Pedro has a small pool 'in store'. I haven't asked them, but I assume they would allow you to go into the pool to check your gear after a service. Some people like to do that.

I don't know if the Orange Super Store has a pool.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

We're not phsically located in SoCal but our customer service presence sure is! Lot's of SoCal divers use us for gear and for service - our staff is factory trained & certified for every major brand, and the turnaround is typically a day or two, assuming parts are in stock.

Send me an email and we'll be glad to take care of you!

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Pacific Wilderness has a good reputation. Fair prices. The shop in San Pedro has a small pool 'in store'. I haven't asked them, but I assume they would allow you to go into the pool to check your gear after a service. Some people like to do that.

I don't know if the Orange Super Store has a pool.

I have found Pacific Wilderness to provide consistently poor and dishonest service. I would not not anywhere near that place. They are why I started servicing my own gear.

 

[FrankPro1]

I have found Pacific Wilderness to provide consistently poor and dishonest service. I would not not anywhere near that place. They are why I started servicing my own gear.

Which store are you talking about? I got my certification and specialty classes through the San Pedro store and I have had nothing but good experiences with them. Their prices for equipment are lower then anywhere around "besides the internet" and I am on a first name basis with most of the workers there. The service tech has been working in the industry for god knows how long and both him and the owner have served under Jean Michel Cousteau during his Galapagos expeditions. I can't see Jeff "the owner of both stores" letting anyone under him provide any services or sales which are anything but top notch. Can you elaborate on your bad experiences with them?

 

[fnfalman]

Sea D Sea in Redondo Beach is an honest shop. They don't do Scubapro though, at least not the modern ones. Barry is the owner and technician. If there are parts available for it, he can fix it...except for new Scubapro because he's not a Scubapro dealer. But Atomic (I'd recommend sending back to Atomic because they would swap out the plastics for new pieces), Mares, Aqualung, Oceanic, Sherwood are good to go. Sea D Sea is not a Cressi dealer either.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Which store are you talking about? I got my certification and specialty classes through the San Pedro store and I have had nothing but good experiences with them. Their prices for equipment are lower then anywhere around "besides the internet" and I am on a first name basis with most of the workers there. The service tech has been working in the industry for god knows how long and both him and the owner have served under Jean Michel Cousteau during his Galapagos expeditions. I can't see Jeff "the owner of both stores" letting anyone under him provide any services or sales which are anything but top notch. Can you elaborate on your bad experiences with them?

Sure I can elaborate. My experience is with the San Pedro store.


(1) They broke the cover plate on my second stage and charged me for it as a pre-existing condition when I knew it was not a pre-existing condition.
(2) They did essentially the same thing a year later with an octo.
(3) I had a poorly performing reg after a summer of hard beach diving, which they charged to repair, and they did nothing to resolve the issue.
(4) They did an annual service and failed to replace most of the parts that Oceanic says should be replaced annually. Is there something about "annual" that is hard to understand? What exactly is being paid for if they do not replace the parts the manufacturer says they are supposed to?
(5) Their estimates of time to complete repairs have been wholly inaccurate.
(6) And there was an event with a BC.

A lot of my dissatisfaction with them comes from them lying to me about about breakage to my equipment. They could say up front that there is some risk in servicing equipment, and if there is breakage it will be the customers cost. That might be a risk I would be willing to accept. But if they break things in the course of service and then lie about it that is never OK.

Sea D Sea in Redondo seems to be a relatively better shop.

 

[FrankPro1]

Sure I can elaborate. My experience is with the San Pedro store.


(1) They broke the cover plate on my second stage and charged me for it as a pre-existing condition when I knew it was not a pre-existing condition.
(2) They did essentially the same thing a year later with an octo.
(3) I had a poorly performing reg after a summer of hard beach diving, which they charged to repair, and they did nothing to resolve the issue.
(4) They did an annual service and failed to replace most of the parts that Oceanic says should be replaced annually. Is there something about "annual" that is hard to understand? What exactly is being paid for if they do not replace the parts the manufacturer says they are supposed to?
(5) Their estimates of time to complete repairs have been wholly inaccurate.
(6) And there was an event with a BC.

A lot of my dissatisfaction with them comes from them lying to me about about breakage to my equipment. They could say up front that there is some risk in servicing equipment, and if there is breakage it will be the customers cost. That might be a risk I would be willing to accept. But if they break things in the course of service and then lie about it that is never OK.

Sea D Sea in Redondo seems to be a relatively better shop.

1&2: That would put me off too... Do you know if your cover plates were seized up to the body before sending it into service? I know that if you don't periodically take them off, many brand's cover plates/rings will seize onto the body and then prying them off can cause them to break. In any case, its still a questionable occurrence.

3. You sent it in for repair "since it was breathing hard" and they did nothing to resolve the issue, even after paying for the service? Did you buy the reg through them? If you didn't, you should expect them to charge for such a service. Did you return and question them, about the reg still performing poorly?

4. Are you sure your thinking of an annual service parts kit, instead of a complete overhaul kit? I know that there is an inspection and replacement of certain parts "if needed" that are involved when doing an annual service, but those are very different then an across the board overhaul. Again, if you had direct evidence and knowledge of your service not being done properly, did you approach any store employees on your concerns?

5. Can happen at any store, but if they quoted you a certain time window for repair, they should have stuck by it.

You definitely have good reason to steer clear from them, but did you ever approach the owner about the problems you've had and see if he could make things right?

If I had these issues, I too would never go back to such a store. I would possibly even go a step further and contact the BBB. Its strange that I've had such a radically different experience with Pacific Wilderness and that I've never heard but good things about them. I find their employees and instructors to be of the highest caliber and would trust them for any service or class. I'm still going to support them and refer my friends to them, but after reading your experiences I will be more weary from now on.