Regulator service: acceptable treatment?

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vondo

Contributor
Messages
1,038
Reaction score
82
Location
Aurora, IL
# of dives
500 - 999
I just got back my regs from my LDS for their annual service. In addition to the usual service kits, labor charges, and $15 for "extra cleaning" two parts were replaced on my setup without my knowledge or consent: my BC hose and a mouthpiece. Total charge for the two parts was about $40.

I wasn't contacted prior to doing this, no notice on the service notes was given as to what was "wrong" with things (I could spot a few pin-hole sized holes on the mouthpiece). I made them take the mouthpiece off as it wasn't exactly what I would buy myself.

Last year I told the intake-clerk specifically not to replace the HP transmitter battery, but that was done as well. I flat out refused to pay for that; they declined to take their new one back.

So is this acceptable standard practice? I view this as taking my car in for an oil change and getting it back with a new set of tires or brakes that I didn't ask for. Am I off-base?
 
None of what you describe is normal. At least on my bench. I do an evaluation and then send a quote. You approve the work gets done. If in the course of tearing down the regs I discover another issue I stop, send a message, and get your approval. Unless it is something really small.

Your mouthpiece for example. I have one set of regs here that when I took the mouthpiece off I discovered a tear under the zip tie. Standard factory mouthpiece. These regs happen to be for someone overseas. Well I missed it in the eval so I replaced it. Charge for that - 0.00. Mouthpieces are cheap. I did note it when I sent the invoice for payment.

Your LP hose? What was wrong with it? Did you get the old one back? On these same regs I discovered a cracked and split 6" HP hose. That was in the original eval and the service price quoted included it. I would not have replaced it without his OK.

After your experience last time why did you take it back to this shop?

No extra work should have been done without your OK. Even if they refused to go through with the service if there were legit things wrong that you did not approve. For example if I see a bad hose I am going to get your ok to replace it and I will send pics or show you the hose. If you refuse to have the hose replaced then I may refuse to service the reg if I think you will dive it with a bad hose. But you will know this before I even start the work.

I advise people to not just take a reg in and say "here, needs an annual." Have the tech do an evaluation and test. It may not need a rebuild. Just a good cleaning and adjustment. Get an estimate before they do the work and ask why this or that needs done. And get your old parts back.

That they replaced a battery after you specifically told them not to would tell me that this is the wrong place to take anything.

Guess that's why I get people sending me regs from all over. These ones I was just talking about. They are on their way back tomorrow. To my customer in Okinawa, Japan.
 
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None of what you describe in normal. At least on my bench. I do an evaluation and then send a quote. You approve the work gets done. If in the course of tearing down the regs I discover another issue I stop, send a message, and get your approval. Unless it is something really small. Your mouthpiece for example. I have one set of regs here tha that when I took the mouthpiece off I discovered a tear under the zip tie. Standard factory mouthpiece. These regs happen to be for someone overseas. Well I missed it in the eval so I replaced it. Charge for that - 0.00. Mouthpieces are cheap. I did note it when I sent the invoice for payment.

Your LP hose? What was wrong with it? Did you get the old one back? On these same regs I discovered a cracked and split 6" HP hose. That was in the original eval and the service price quoted included it. I would not have replaced it without his OK.

After your experience last time why did you take it back to this shop?

No extra work should have been done without your OK. Even if they refused to go through with the service if there were legit things wrong that you did not approve. For example if I see a bad hose I am going to get your ok to replace it and I will send pics or show you the hose. If you refuse to have the hose replaced then I may refuse to service the reg if I think you will dive it with a bad hose. But you will know this before I even start the work.

I advise people to not just take a reg in and say "here, needs an annual." Have the tech do an evaluation and test. It may not need a rebuild. Just a good cleaning an adjustment. Get an estimate before they do the work and ask why this or that needs done. And get your old parts back.

That they replaced a battery after you specifically told them not to would tell me that this is the wrong place to take anything.

Guess that's why I get people sending me regs from all over. These ones I was just talking about. They are on their way back tomorrow. To my customer in Okinawa, Japan.

I got my old hose back with a tag on it saying "do not use" and all the other old parts. This shop treats me well in every regard but my service. Perhaps I will have you do them next time as they are the brand you sell. I probably have a spare BCD hose sitting around. All I can assume (maybe know IIRC) is that it has a tiny leak.
 
In my experience a service will usually entail anything that needs replacing in order for your reg set to be fully functional and that includes hoses and mouth piece. If your hose and mouth piece were shot I'd expect them to be replaced. Is your issue that you had to pay $40 extra or that they didn't advise in advance? A service fee is usually fixed at parts and labour unless something else is discovered along the way. Personally I don't see it as being big deal. If you had a specific mouthpiece on it like a SeaCure or Jax then I'd expect to be consulted but if it was a generic mouth piece maybe not. Not the best communication admittedly but doesn't seem particularly bad either. I don't think you car analogy is apples to apples. If you continue to use them maybe in the future you can tell them at service time to call you if they come across anything else or extra that needs doing. Cheers.

---------- Post added March 30th, 2014 at 10:39 AM ----------

None of what you describe in normal. At least on my bench. I do an evaluation and then send a quote. You approve the work gets done. If in the course of tearing down the regs I discover another issue I stop, send a message, and get your approval. Unless it is something really small.

Your mouthpiece for example. I have one set of regs here that when I took the mouthpiece off I discovered a tear under the zip tie. Standard factory mouthpiece. These regs happen to be for someone overseas. Well I missed it in the eval so I replaced it. Charge for that - 0.00. Mouthpieces are cheap. I did note it when I sent the invoice for payment.

Your LP hose? What was wrong with it? Did you get the old one back? On these same regs I discovered a cracked and split 6" HP hose. That was in the original eval and the service price quoted included it. I would not have replaced it without his OK.

After your experience last time why did you take it back to this shop?

No extra work should have been done without your OK. Even if they refused to go through with the service if there were legit things wrong that you did not approve. For example if I see a bad hose I am going to get your ok to replace it and I will send pics or show you the hose. If you refuse to have the hose replaced then I may refuse to service the reg if I think you will dive it with a bad hose. But you will know this before I even start the work.

I advise people to not just take a reg in and say "here, needs an annual." Have the tech do an evaluation and test. It may not need a rebuild. Just a good cleaning and adjustment. Get an estimate before they do the work and ask why this or that needs done. And get your old parts back.

That they replaced a battery after you specifically told them not to would tell me that this is the wrong place to take anything.

Guess that's why I get people sending me regs from all over. These ones I was just talking about. They are on their way back tomorrow. To my customer in Okinawa, Japan.

You Jim, unfortunately, are not the norm.
 
Many will give their input here, the majority will be in the lines of "evil LDS trying to rip your money from you", as far as that, I'm only gonna limit myself to say that the service was bad ACCORDING to what you described, I'll let others be more detailed, I'm a bit lazy typer some times, sorry.

But I just wanted to point out, a hose with a tiny leak or a huge leak means exactly the same thing, hose gets replaced, period!

I got my old hose back with a tag on it saying "do not use" and all the other old parts. This shop treats me well in every regard but my service. Perhaps I will have you do them next time as they are the brand you sell. I probably have a spare BCD hose sitting around. All I can assume (maybe know IIRC) is that it has a tiny leak.
 
In my experience a service will usually entail anything that needs replacing in order for your reg set to be fully functional and that includes hoses and mouth piece. If your hose and mouth piece were shot I'd expect them to be replaced. Is your issue that you had to pay $40 extra or that they didn't advise in advance? A service fee is usually fixed at parts and labour unless something else is discovered along the way. Personally I don't see it as being big deal. If you had a specific mouthpiece on it like a SeaCure or Jax then I'd expect to be consulted but if it was a generic mouth piece maybe not. Not the best communication admittedly but doesn't seem particularly bad either. I don't think you car analogy is apples to apples. If you continue to use them maybe in the future you can tell them at service time to call you if they come across anything else or extra that needs doing. Cheers.

---------- Post added March 30th, 2014 at 10:39 AM ----------



You Jim, unfortunately, are not the norm.

My issue is not being consulted, primarily. The prices for both items were not great and in both cases I would have chosen either to replace with parts I already own or to buy something else.

A mouthpiece may "look" generic, but I've spent a lot of trial and error finding exactly what I like.
 
My issue is not being consulted, primarily. The prices for both items were not great and in both cases I would have chosen either to replace with parts I already own or to buy something else.

A mouthpiece may "look" generic, but I've spent a lot of trial and error finding exactly what I like.

I hear you, fair enough. To be honest I gave up on getting my gear serviced by LDS a few years and taught myself with some good books and help from some if the good folk here on SB after having issues post service on all but one occasion. In my experience good techs with good communication etc are not that common unfortunately. To be honest I'd be happy if my reg was serviced and actually worked properly. Maybe next time you can send it to someone like Jim. What did they say when you spoke to them about this?
 
The guy at the desk was not the tech nor the manager of the store. I wanted to come here first to find out if that was SOP. Next will be an e-mail to the manager/owner.

I'd be interested how they respond. Let us know. Cheers.
 
I guess I have been lucky because I have never had the kinds of problems a lot of people do.

However, if it didn't seem right to you when you picked the regs up it would have been better to solve the problem before you left the shop. I would have asked to speak to the owner/manager and expressed my concerns before leaving. If they weren't there then I would probably find out when they were going to be there and give them a call. Unless I had some kind of a deadline and needed the gear, I would have probably not paid for it and waited until I talked to the manager/owner.

A face to face discussion usually yields better results than an impersonal email when you are local. That's just my experience. YMMV

Good luck, I hope you get the issue solved to your satisfaction.
 

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