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I recently serviced a 3 year old MK25 S600 R395 with around 50 dives on it for a customer, the reg was well used and corroded.
I charged him $60 per hour and it took me a good 3 hours to service the regulator. It needed an Ultrasonic clean and took a while to strip as it was corroded.
Parts cost $70 and purchased on island.
So total cost was 180 + 70 = $250
The guy was horrified at the price, even though he was initially quoted $200 for the service? I even stripped the SPG and replaced the O rings at no extra cost.
Is there an average cost for servicing by the hour, by volume, by specific regulator?
Here a website of a service schedule,the second is from a different dive shop, but it's scheduled service which usually means annually. Most people don't realize when you don't take care of your equipment, and it quits on you it cost more to get it serviced. Just like a $19.95 oil change is cheaper than a $2000 engine
we service the following brands: Aqualung, Apeks, Seaquest, Sherwood, Scubapro, Suunto, Spare Air, and U.S Divers. The rates listed below will cover most service needs but there are certain instances that may require more labor and therefore cost a little bit extra.
Annual Service & Clean:
$70.00 for Regulator 1st & 2nd Stage plus parts
$35.00 for Alternate Air Source / Octopus plus parts
$35.00 for BCD Inflator plus parts
$35.00 for most Computer Battery Changes plus Battery & O-Ring
$20.00 for Pressure Gauge Spindle Cleaning & O-Rings
$20.00 for Vip, Neck O-ring & 3000 PSI Fill
$23.00 for Vip, Neck O-ring & 3300 PSI Fill
$45.00 for Hydro, Vip, Neck O-ring & Fill
Other repairs quoted as needed
Last edited by Incognegro; October 15th, 2011 at 09:45 AM.
You made a very nice profit on that one customer including the 100% markup on the kits. The real question is how many other potential customers will be sent elsewhere. Would it really have been so bad to just stick with the $200 estimate quoted??
I do my own regs and take my time so it is nothing to spend an afternoon servicing a "new" acquisition, typically a full set of old Scubapro metals with plenty of green stuff. But I am also very inefficient doing one stage at a time. I would have expected a professional to be more efficient.
I'm about to take mine in for annual service. Parts will be free, since I'm keeping up with the warranty program. Labor will run around $70. And I know this is not the same situation as the 3 year old corroded one, but just offered as a point of comparison.
I have to come from the other side of the spectrum, if I would have serviced it, I would have charge $79.95 (Complete reg overhaul, ultrasonic clean, reassembly & gauge service) plus parts (if not under warranty) & Tax. Is my price too cheap????
I once heard that in business, your price is set by your competition, and your profitability is determined by your costs. Competition on St. Martin is different than in NJ, I'm guessing.
I have to come from the other side of the spectrum, if I would have serviced it, I would have charge $79.95 (Complete reg overhaul, ultrasonic clean, reassembly & gauge service) plus parts (if not under warranty) & Tax. Is my price too cheap????
Does it usually take you 3 hours? And you have to take into consideration that this is on an island, where almost all goods are imported and cost more.
While I'm a consumer and not a dive shop/dealer, I don't want to be unreasonable to someone who's trying to run a business, not a charity. Pricing is somewhat dictated by local cost-of-living variables, so I have no idea if $ 60/hr is reasonable for your area. It sounds as if you are fairly new/inexperienced at reg repair, hence your uncertainty about appropriate pricing and your 'underbid'. As your $ 200 bid wasn't wildly off base (vs $ 250), and assuming you're trying to build up a reg servicing business/reputation, I would have suggested absorbing the $ 50 differential and chalked that up to your 'educational expenses', thus keeping your customer, building your referral base. It's common practice to ask the customer up front what their max 'investment' would be (was $ 200 a hard ceiling for this customer?) and to let the customer know if you were seeing it heading 'over budget' what would he want you to do ?
Another thought, when you see something coming into the shop in a trashed condition, maybe let the customer know the price of a new unit (new 1st stage) so they have a reference point, if a customer is going to spend 50% of the price of a new unit on repairs, they might actually be happier with a new unit instead.
Finally, your price quote for $ 200 would have actually been pretty much on target, had you not diverted labor hours into the 'free' SPG overhaul, probably would have been better to stick to budget and fix the REG ONLY @ $ 200. Let the customer know the $ 200 didn't include any SPG work, and let him know, given the overall poor condition of the unit, realistically he was looking at also needing SPG overhaul at additional cost, and let the customer decide if/when he can include that into his budget.
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Originally Posted by lowviz
