Online purchases & warranties & annual services.

Has anyone purchased their gear, Regulators, Computers etc… online, and then tried to have it service at a local live shop? Did anyone really have any issues with warranties (Scubapro) being voided due to being purchased online?

Thank you!

I've purchased a few things online, actually most of my gear. No problems. It's the don't ask, don't tell policy. To be honest, I've been asked, I just say I bought the gear while I was away on a dive trip. All the online shops have physical locations, and I've been to almost every one at least once during trips, so it's not entirely untrue.

Some dealers aren't "authorized dealers" and include their "own warranties" in stead of the manufacturer's. These are known as 'grey market' dealers.

Chances are you can get your LDS to fix it if you bought it from a 'grey market' dealer, but maybe not.

You can get it serviced at a LDS w/o a problem. It's just that you might not get the "free parts" warranty that comes with some regulators. So you might have to pay for parts when you get it serviced. Average will be about $60 a year if they have to use a parts kit. So after 4 years, you'll have paid an extra $240 in parts on average. Question is, did you save that much by buying it from a "grey market" dealer? (maybe you did.. maybe you didn't).

Better thing to do is to find a LDS (that is an authorized dealer on what it sells) that matches any advertised price.

My LDS does that, so I don't have to buy "grey market" stuff. In reality, I've never had to ask him to match a "grey market" price because he gives me prices a lot of the time that are cheaper than the "grey market" dealer on major purchases.

This is a very interesting thread, does anyone have any stories on how they were “caught”, and or were rejected by a LDS for having "grey market" equipment? What happened???

Ok.... Let's talk this only with ScubaPro case. Yes. SP voids the warranty if you get their product from online. But, you can get the annual service if you are willingness to pay more for the service. Depending on the shop and place, the labor is same no matter where you get your equipment. You only need to pay for the parts.

There are getting more online service centers that are servicing the regulators. So, it is your decision..... Time has been changed....

Sea Girl:

This is a very interesting thread, does anyone have any stories on how they were “caught”, and or were rejected by a LDS for having "grey market" equipment? What happened???

Click to expand...

There's nothing they can do if you are "caught" with grey market gear. The major grey market dealer that most people refer to is Leisure Pro. They used to be one of the lowest priced dealers out there. There are now a lot of dealers that will match their prices and you still get the warranty. The problem is some manufacturers, like SP and Aqualung, don't allow online sales, so there's no matching to be done there "online". There are ways around this. Anyway, I bought a lot of my initial gear from LP. My computer did have an issue about a year after I bought it. I brought it into my LDS at the time for servicing and a battery change. No problems other than they tightened the battery compartment cover too tight and cracked it. Hairline crack, unnoticed until the computer started malfunctioning. They called the manufacturer and the computer was replaced, under warranty, with no questions asked. Remember, this was a grey market computer! So guess what? I had a computer with a serial number that was no longer grey market. Maybe I just got lucky. I don't own the computer anymore, and all the gear I have has been purchased from factory authorized dealers.

BTW, Sea Girl, I noticed you live in Scottsdale. You should visit the Arizona Scuba forum. You should also try to make it to one of our local dive trips. We'll be at Lake Pleasant on July 30th and then the last full weekend of the next 2 months.

I bought my BC, regs, and computer from Larry at ScubaToys (and I don't live in Texas!). When I need annual service, I just send my regs to them and not only do I get free parts, but I also get my service for $39, which is at least $20 cheaper than local shops charge.

I was considering purchasing BC from LP, as their advertised price was substantially less than was originally quoted by LDS. During course of several emails discussing what we could do about this pricing difference I was told this

Be very careful about buying any Aqua Lung merchandise over the internet.
AL does not authorize ANY internet sales! Therefore there is NO warranty with them. If you bring it to us for any service or warranty issues, we look up the serial numbers and we are not allowed per AL to even touch it if it was not purchased through an authorized dealer. These items are considered "grey" market items and are acquired through 3rd party sources.
You can read more here http://www.aqualung.com/internet_mail.html

Click to expand...

We were able to come to an agreement as to pricing, so service will not be a problem for me, but I am composing an email to AL suggesting that their policy sucks if a person buying used will not be able to get any service from authorized dealer should the original purchaser have gone thru grey market source. If they want to void their warranty on grey market equipment, that is fine, but to deny customer right to have equipment serviced at all seems stupid. I see someone going in to LDS with a service need on their equipment, being denied, and someone (hopefully AL but just as likely LDS) being sued when an accident occurs with the unserviced equipment.

I really like some AL equipment, but due to their policies, and obvious lack of desire to track down suppliers to the grey market (somewhere an authorized dealer is selling them this equipment and a quick check of serial number would reveal who, in the event LP is not buying direct from AL) this BC may be my last purchase of AL equipment should their policies not change.

NadMat:

I really like some AL equipment, but due to their policies, and obvious lack of desire to track down suppliers to the grey market (somewhere an authorized dealer is selling them this equipment and a quick check of serial number would reveal who, in the event LP is not buying direct from AL) this BC may be my last purchase of AL equipment should their policies not change.

Click to expand...

Many of us have already quit purchasing Aqualung. They way they treat their customers and dealers and their corporate policies and that they allow 'grey market' sales in spite of supporting their dealers is clear.


Aqulung knows exactly which dealers the "grey market" goods are coming from. They just quietly allow it.

Think about it, they move tens of thousands of extra gear a month which increases their sales numbers, and they don't have any warranty expense. For Aqualung, it's the perfect customer/dealer situation because they don't have to deal with their "dreaded customer problems".


With LeisurePro, serial number checks by the manufacturer have worked in some cases and not in others. Example, Oceanic ordered several regulators from LP to find out where they were coming from and I think "canned" that dealer.

However, Zeagle did the same thing, only to find that LP had "cut" the tag off the BC that had the serial number on it.

With Aqualung, it's obvious that they openly allow sales to "grey market" dealers because the new ACD regulators were available "in stock" at Leisure Pro days before the regular dealers had a chance to get them. So when I "grey market" dealer gets the product first at the opening of a new product, it's pretty clear that Aqualung was "very much involved".

Mike, I am aware of the AL issues, but had decided on the Pro QD+ after much time and some money spent trying out different BC's. My first BC was a SeaQuest purchased in '80 and was good to go with only 'at home' maintainance until 2001. I did try to purchase from Phil Ellis, so he could get rid of his stock of AL merchandise, but he did not have any left in a large. At that point it was down to LP or AL authorized LDS (or used, but no joy finding a large there either).

When LDS dealt with my pricing concerns satisfactorily, I arranged to purchase through them ( I am buying it as my "birthday" present to myself ) and will be diving it next month. But, as stated, will probably be last AL purchase because of their policies. If the quality is still as good as first SQ BC was, I won't be needing new BC for another 20 yrs (maybe retirement present to myself?) and if it goes bad soon, just another strike against AL.

It just really sucks that they produce such good equipment but have such F'd up and unrealistic policies. But by time I need new BC, my guess is they will have made a policy change or will have driven themeselves (and perhaps some of their authorized LDS's) out of business so will hopefully be a 'non issue' by then.